How we make this list: we compare pricing pages, product documentation and public user reviews. Ratings come from G2, Capterra or Trustpilot, with the date we checked them.
Key takeaways
- Adalo is the closest swap: a friendly visual builder with a free plan and native apps for both stores.
- Glide turns a spreadsheet or database into a polished business app in hours, but it publishes as a web app, not to the stores.
- Bubble and FlutterFlow are the power ends of the range, for complex logic and for owning real Flutter code respectively.
- BuildFire and GoodBarber serve businesses that want managed, design led native apps rather than a DIY project.
- Watch the publishing tier: on several platforms the cheap plan builds the app and a pricier one is what puts it in the stores.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Adalo | Simple native apps on a free start | $36 per month | Yes |
 Glide | Business apps built from your data | $25 per month | Yes |
 Bubble | Complex web apps with real logic | $29 per month | Yes |
 FlutterFlow | Visual building with Flutter code export | See website | Yes |
 Thunkable | Drag and drop native mobile apps | See website | Yes |
 BuildFire | Plugin rich business apps with services | $165 per month | No |
 GoodBarber | Design led content and commerce apps | See website | No |
 AppMySite | Turning an existing website into an app | See website | Yes |
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
The best Appy Pie alternatives
#1Adalo
Best for: Simple native apps on a free start4.4/5 on
G2 (7 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit adalo.com
Starting price$36 per month
Free planYes
Adalo is the alternative most Appy Pie users mean. It keeps the promise (build a real app visually, publish it to the App Store and Google Play) and removes the per platform pricing trap, with a free plan to prove the idea before paying.
Its editor works in screens and components, backed by a built in database, with AI assistance for generating app structure. Consumer, community, booking and simple marketplace apps are its home ground.
On price, plans start at 36 dollars a month per current comparisons, while Adalo's own comparison material cites a 65 dollar flat tier for publishing with unlimited usage. Treat 36 dollars as the entry and confirm the publishing tier's price on the live pricing page; that gap is exactly the kind of surprise this article exists to prevent.
What we like- Visual editor as approachable as Appy Pie's, with components and screens you arrange directly, publishes true native apps to both stores from one project, free plan with real limits rather than a timed trial, pricing is flat per plan instead of Appy Pie's per app, per platform split
Watch out for- Comparisons cite both 36 dollar entry plans and a 65 dollar flat publishing tier, so verify which plan actually publishes before budgeting, complex logic and heavy data push against its simplicity, editor seats are limited on lower plans
#2Glide
Best for: Business apps built from your data4.7/5 on
G2 (796 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit glideapps.com
Starting price$25 per month
Free planYes
Glide answers a different question. If the app's users are your staff, your students or your members, and the app is really a friendly face on a spreadsheet, Glide builds it in an afternoon. Directories, inventories, trackers, check in tools and internal dashboards are its natural work.
The trade is distribution. Glide apps are web apps: users open a link and add it to the home screen. There is no store listing, no store search traffic and no review queue either. For internal tools that is pure gain; for a consumer product it is a deal breaker.
Pricing starts with a free plan and paid plans from 25 dollars a month for the Maker level, with Pro tiers above that adding users and data sources. Count your app's users before choosing, since team plans meter them.
What we like- Builds an app directly from a spreadsheet, Airtable or database, so the app starts from the data you already have, output is a polished progressive web app that installs from a link with no store review, templates and AI columns make internal tools genuinely fast to ship, free plan available, paid plans from 25 dollars a month
Watch out for- No App Store or Google Play listing, which rules it out for consumer apps that live or die on store discovery, per user pricing on team plans makes large audiences expensive, design freedom is narrower than Adalo or FlutterFlow, offline behaviour is limited compared with a native build
#3Bubble
Best for: Complex web apps with real logic4.4/5 on
G2 (166 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit bubble.io
Starting price$29 per month
Free planYes
Bubble is where Appy Pie users graduate when the app idea has rules. Two sided marketplaces with payments and messaging, booking systems with availability logic, SaaS tools with accounts and permissions: Bubble's workflow engine can express them, which template builders cannot.
That power is priced in learning time. Budget weeks, not evenings, to build something real, and treat the free plan as your classroom.
Plans start free, with Starter at 29 dollars a month and usage billed in workload units above the plan allowance. It is a web platform at heart; a native store presence means a wrapper, with the cost and compromises that adds.
What we like- The deepest logic of any no code platform here, with workflows, conditions and a real database, huge template and plugin market built over a decade, suits marketplaces, SaaS products and social apps that simpler builders cannot express, free development plan and a large hiring pool if you later need help
Watch out for- Web apps only on phones unless you pay a third party wrapper service, the learning curve is the steepest in this list by a wide margin, workload unit pricing means a busy app costs more than the plan fee suggests, responsive design is another skill to learn on top of the logic
#4FlutterFlow
Best for: Visual building with Flutter code export4.5/5 on
G2 (30 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit flutterflow.io
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
FlutterFlow is the exit strategy option. It is a visual builder like the others, but it generates Flutter code, and on the right plans you can download that code and continue as a normal software project. The lock in question that hangs over every builder disappears.
That makes it the grown up choice for a product with a future: start visually, validate in the stores, and hand the codebase to developers later without a rewrite.
Pricing is per seat and tiered around publishing and code export, with figures that comparisons place near 80 dollars per seat per month for full publishing; because plans restructure often, we list it as See website. Check which tier includes code download before paying, since that feature is the point.
What we like- Builds real Flutter apps visually, so the output is genuine native software, full source code export means the app can leave the platform with you, integrates with Firebase and APIs for real backends, free plan to start building
Watch out for- Seat based pricing rises as a team grows, and comparisons cite around 80 dollars per seat for store publishing tiers, you still own app store accounts, signing and release work, the visual builder assumes more technical thinking than Appy Pie, backend costs like Firebase sit outside the subscription
#5Thunkable
Best for: Drag and drop native mobile apps4.4/5 on
G2 (40 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit thunkable.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
Thunkable builds apps from snap together blocks, a style inherited from MIT App Inventor's teaching world. For a first app, a school project or a simple utility, it is genuinely welcoming: drag the screen together, wire the blocks, test on your phone.
The publishing maths is its catch. Per current comparisons, putting apps in the stores requires the Business plan at around 189 dollars a month, which transforms it from a cheap starter into one of the pricier options here at the moment it matters most.
Because its tiers have been rebuilt repeatedly, we mark the price See website. If you shortlist it, price the exact plan that publishes to both stores, not the plan that builds.
What we like- Block based building that suits beginners and education, a heritage in teaching tools, produces native iOS and Android apps from one project, free plan for learning and prototyping, live testing on a real phone while you build
Watch out for- App store publishing sits on the Business plan, which comparisons place at 189 dollars a month, a steep jump from its friendly entry, advanced behaviour gets fiddly in blocks, design polish trails GoodBarber and Adalo, plan names and prices have changed repeatedly, so verify before budgeting
#6BuildFire
Best for: Plugin rich business apps with services4.7/5 on
G2 (197 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit buildfire.com
Starting price$165 per month
Free planNo
BuildFire is Appy Pie's category executed for businesses with budgets. The builder is click and edit, the breadth comes from a plugin marketplace, and if DIY stalls, its own services team will build the app as a paid project. Gyms, churches, events, franchises and local service brands are the typical customers.
The honesty point is price. Standard is 165 dollars a month, Growth 315 and Scale 440, with annual billing discounts. You choose BuildFire when the app is a business channel worth a business budget.
What the money buys is certainty: managed publishing, a support relationship, and a feature library deep enough that your needs are probably already a plugin.
What we like- Plugin marketplace covers the features business apps repeat: loyalty, booking, e-commerce, directories, publishing and app management handled as a mature service, professional services can build or finish the app for you, aimed at businesses rather than hobby projects, with support to match
Watch out for- No free plan
- Standard starts at 165 dollars a month, which is a different budget class from Appy Pie, per app pricing still applies, custom development through its services adds project costs, more platform than a simple first app needs
#7GoodBarber
Best for: Design led content and commerce apps4.2/5 on
G2 (73 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit goodbarber.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
GoodBarber is the design answer. Its templates and typography produce apps that look like a studio made them, which is why publishers, radio stations, retailers and local brands pick it. Content apps and shopping apps are its specialties, with push notifications treated as a first class feature rather than an add on.
The commercial shape differs from most rivals: plans are billed yearly, and hosting, push and updates sit inside the fee, so the yearly number is closer to the true total than a headline monthly price elsewhere. A service tier will even handle store publication for you.
Choose it when the app is a brand surface (a magazine, a shop, a venue) and appearance is the product. Choose elsewhere when the app needs custom behaviour.
What we like- The most design led builder here, with native apps that look professionally art directed, hosting, push notifications and updates are bundled into the plan, a publication service handles store submission for you, 30 day trial without a card, and strong content and shopping app features
Watch out for- Pricing is yearly only, with no month to month option on the published page, no code export, so leaving means rebuilding, custom logic is limited compared with Bubble or FlutterFlow, plan prices are published in its own structure that needs care to compare, hence See website
#8AppMySite
Best for: Turning an existing website into an app4.2/5 on
G2 (426 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit appmysite.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planYes
AppMySite skips the building step. If your business already lives on a WordPress site or a WooCommerce store, it wraps that site into native iOS and Android apps that mirror it, so a blog post or product published once appears in the app automatically.
That makes it the pragmatic pick for content sites and stores whose real product is the website. The app exists to give loyal readers and customers a home screen icon, push notifications and a store presence, not to be a second product to maintain.
Its limits are the same shape: an app that mirrors a slow or cluttered mobile site is a slow, cluttered app. Fix the website first, then convert it. Confirm the publishing tier and push allowances on the live pricing page.
What we like- Converts a WordPress or WooCommerce site into native apps, so content and products stay in sync automatically, no rebuild: the website remains the single source of truth, fastest route in this list from having a website to having an app in the stores, free plan lets you build and preview before paying to publish
Watch out for- The app inherits your website's strengths and weaknesses, including its mobile speed, features beyond the website's own need extra tools or tiers, deep custom app behaviour is not the product, pricing tiers and add ons need a careful read, hence See website
How we chose
We shortlisted app builders available in October 2026 that publish real apps or installable web apps without native code. Appy Pie itself is excluded by the nature of the article. We recorded prices from vendor pages and October 2026 comparisons, marking FlutterFlow, Thunkable, GoodBarber and AppMySite as See website where tiers are seat based, publishing gated or inconsistently published across sources. AI prompt to app tools were left out in favour of builders with published plans and store track records. We did not test any platform hands on.
How to choose an Appy Pie alternative
Start with the store question. If your users must find the app in the App Store or Google Play, Glide is out and the publishing tier of every other candidate is the price that matters. If the app serves a known audience (staff, members, students), Glide's link installed web app may be the fastest value here.
Second, price the moment of publishing, not the moment of building. Adalo's entry and publishing figures differ across sources; Thunkable's store publishing sits on a 189 dollar tier; Appy Pie itself taught the lesson with its 60 dollar iOS tier. Read each pricing page for the exact plan that submits to both stores.
Third, decide your exit before you enter. FlutterFlow exports code. Every other platform here keeps the app; leaving means rebuilding. If the app could become a real product, that single fact may outweigh a year of subscription differences.
Finally, match the builder to the app's logic, not its screens. Screens are easy everywhere. Payment splits, booking rules, user roles and notifications are where simple builders run out. Sketch the three hardest behaviours in your app and test each candidate against those before paying annually.
Frequently asked questions
Why do Appy Pie users look for alternatives?
Usually price shape or ceiling. Per October 2026 comparisons, Appy Pie's entry plan covers Android only and iOS publishing requires a 60 dollar per month tier per app. Others hit limits in logic, design or code export and move to Adalo, Bubble or FlutterFlow.
Which alternative is most similar to Appy Pie?
Adalo. It keeps the friendly visual builder and template start, adds a free plan, and prices publishing to both stores in one subscription rather than per platform. Thunkable is similar for block style building, but its publishing tier costs far more.
Can I move my Appy Pie app to one of these?
Not directly. Builders do not export into each other, so switching means rebuilding in the new tool and resubmitting. Your data (users, content) can usually be exported as files and imported; the app itself cannot.
Do I still need Apple and Google developer accounts?
Yes. Every platform here submits through your own developer accounts: Apple charges 99 dollars a year and Google a one off fee. Some builders, like GoodBarber, will run the submission process for you, but the accounts and fees remain yours.
Which builder lets me keep my code?
FlutterFlow. It generates Flutter source you can download on the appropriate plans and continue outside the platform. Draftbit, not listed here, offers a similar code story. The rest keep the app on their platform for as long as you subscribe.
Sources we checked (0)
Is your product missing or out of date?
We review this list regularly. Vendors can request a listing, send updated pricing or ask about featured placement.
Shihab Mia · Founder, Rankite
Shihab has 5+ years in B2B and SaaS SEO. He writes Rankite's software buying guides from pricing pages, documentation and public user reviews. More about Shihab.