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
- Retool is the developer's answer: internal tools built from real components and queries, from 10 dollars per user per month.
- Appsmith and Budibase are the open source answers, self hostable for free, with paid tiers for companies that want support and controls.
- OutSystems, Mendix and Appian serve enterprises building customer facing systems, at platform prices far above PowerApps' per user maths.
- Glide and Bubble serve the opposite end: business users and founders who need an app this week without a platform team.
- PowerApps itself is rarely bought alone; it rides inside Microsoft 365 and per app or per user licences, which is the comparison every entry must beat.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Starting price | Free plan |
|---|
 Retool | Developer built internal tools | $10 per user per month | Yes |
 Appsmith | Open source internal tools | Free | Yes |
 Budibase | Open source apps and automations | Free | Yes |
 OutSystems | Enterprise customer facing systems | See website | No |
 Mendix | Enterprise apps with Siemens backing | Free | Yes |
 Appian | Process heavy enterprise automation | See website | No |
 Glide | Data driven business apps fast | $25 per month | Yes |
 Bubble | Full web apps without code | $29 per month | 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Is your product missing or out of date?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 PowerApps alternatives
#1Retool
Best for: Developer built internal tools4.6/5 on
G2 (359 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit retool.com
Starting price$10 per user per month
Free planYes
Retool is the alternative developers choose when PowerApps' drag and drop starts fighting them. Its apps are assembled from components, but the logic is real queries and code, the data lives in your actual databases rather than a platform's silo, and the result looks and behaves like software, because it is.
Internal tools are its kingdom: the refund console, the fraud review queue, the operations dashboard. Those are the apps PowerApps is most often stretched into, and Retool simply fits the hands of the people asked to build them.
Pricing starts free and Standard runs 10 dollars per user per month, with end user pricing tiers that reward doing the audience maths before rollout. If your builders are engineers, start the comparison here.
What we like- Builds the internal tools companies actually need (admin panels, support consoles, approval queues) from components wired straight to databases and APIs, developers keep real control with SQL, JavaScript and versioned apps, free plan for small teams, with Standard at 10 dollars per user per month, self hosting available for companies that keep data inside their network
Watch out for- A developer tool at heart
- The business user self service story is weaker than PowerApps', per user pricing reaches end users too, and large internal audiences need the maths done carefully, not a platform for public customer facing apps, advanced governance, SSO depth and environments sit on higher tiers
#2Appsmith
Best for: Open source internal tools4.6/5 on
G2 (67 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit appsmith.com
Starting priceFree
Free planYes
Appsmith takes Retool's idea and removes the licence. Its open source edition builds the same class of internal tools (CRUD apps, dashboards, admin panels) on your own servers, free, which settles the data residency argument that blocks cloud builders in regulated teams.
For startups and technical organisations, that trade is excellent: full control, no per user meter, and a codebase your engineers can inspect. The paid edition exists for the day you want granular access control, audit and a support contract, and its pricing should be checked live since Appsmith's editions have been restructured around usage.
Choose Appsmith when the builders are technical and the budget or the compliance review says self hosted. Choose Retool when someone else's cloud and polish are worth paying for.
What we like- Open source and self hostable for free, so internal tools can live entirely inside your own infrastructure, a Retool shaped builder (components, queries, JavaScript) without the licence meter running, connects to the usual databases and APIs, with Git based workflows developers recognise, a commercial edition adds support, access controls and scale for companies
Watch out for- Self hosting is your operations problem: updates, backups and uptime included, the component and template ecosystem is smaller than Retool's, business user friendliness is limited
- Builders are expected to think in queries, enterprise controls live in the paid edition, so free has a ceiling for governed estates
#3Budibase
Best for: Open source apps and automations4.5/5 on
G2 (66 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit budibase.com
Starting priceFree
Free planYes
Budibase is the friendliest of the open source trio. It aims at the operations manager who codes a little: build the app, set the automation (when a row changes, send the email, update the sheet), publish it to the team. That automation layer is its differentiator; Appsmith and Retool treat workflows as separate territory.
Its free self hosted tier is genuinely usable for internal tools, and its cloud removes the server question for a price. Small companies run inventory, approvals and field reporting on it happily.
Its ceiling arrives with complexity and scale, whereupon the code friendly rivals take over. For the wide middle of internal business tools, Budibase's balance of ease and openness is the sweet spot of this list.
What we like- Open source low code with automations built in, so apps can trigger workflows rather than just display data, self host free or use its cloud, with a gentler learning curve than Appsmith for semi technical builders, its own internal database lowers the setup for simple tools, while external databases connect as well, role based access and app portals suit small business operations tools
Watch out for- Smaller ecosystem and community than the leaders, complex applications push against its abstractions sooner than Retool's code first escape hatches, premium features (including richer automation and controls) sit on paid tiers priced per creator and user, and should be checked live, not the choice for very large scale public apps
#4OutSystems
Best for: Enterprise customer facing systems4.5/5 on
G2 (1,810 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit outsystems.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
OutSystems is the alternative for the conversation PowerApps was never invited to: core customer systems. Banks run onboarding on it, insurers run claims on it, and its pitch is software factory discipline (architecture, testing, deployment pipelines) at low code speed.
That scope explains its economics. Pricing is by platform and application footprint, quoted per organisation, and the buyers are CIOs with portfolios, not team leads with a form. A personal edition has historically existed for learning; the production conversation starts with sales.
Choose OutSystems when the app is the business and the alternative is a development department. For everything smaller, it is a cruise ship hired to cross a river.
What we like- A full enterprise platform that builds customer facing web and mobile systems, not only internal tools, visual development with real architecture underneath, plus AI assisted building in its current generation, governance, DevOps and scalability for organisations shipping software as a business function, a long enterprise track record in banking, insurance and government work
Watch out for- Platform pricing is quoted and lands in a different universe from per user low code tools, implementation usually involves partners and programmes, not a download and a weekend, the skills are platform specific, so staffing means hiring OutSystems people, using it for internal forms is the most expensive possible answer to a small question
#5Mendix
Best for: Enterprise apps with Siemens backing4.4/5 on
G2 (417 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit mendix.com
Starting priceFree
Free planYes
Mendix, Siemens' low code arm, splits its product by builder: a simplified studio where business users assemble apps, and a pro studio where developers extend them. That two door design answers the citizen developer promise more seriously than most platforms that claim it.
Its industrial heritage shows in manufacturing, logistics and field service strengths, and in deployment options that respect factory realities. A free Basic tier opens the door; Standard and above are enterprise priced per its published structure in euros, so organisations should model with Mendix directly.
Choose Mendix when the enterprise platform decision is being made at group level, especially inside Siemens adjacent industries. It competes with OutSystems and PowerApps Premium for that seat, not with the open source tools above.
What we like- An enterprise low code platform owned by Siemens, with strong roots in manufacturing and industrial use cases, two studios (a simple one for business users, a pro one for developers) serving both audiences honestly, a free Basic tier exists for learning and small builds, deployment flexibility across clouds, with governance for regulated industries
Watch out for- Full platform pricing is enterprise scale and quoted beyond the entry tiers, the ecosystem and hiring pool are smaller than Microsoft's or OutSystems', industrial strength features are wasted on simple internal tools, licensing counts applications and users in ways that need a workshop to model
#6Appian
Best for: Process heavy enterprise automation4.5/5 on
G2 (520 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit appian.com
Starting priceSee website
Free planNo
Appian is the process specialist. Where PowerApps builds apps and Retool builds tools, Appian builds the workflow of a department: a loan case, a claims journey, a government permit, moving across people, systems and rules with an audit trail. If your problem has a case number, Appian speaks its language.
Its data fabric pitch matters to enterprises whose data cannot move: Appian works across existing systems rather than demanding a migration into its own store, which removes the objection that sinks platform projects.
Pricing is quoted and enterprise scaled. Appian is a considered purchase for process transformation budgets, and comparing its per anything price with PowerApps licences misunderstands both products.
What we like- Built for process: case management, workflow and automation across people and systems are its core, not a side feature, data fabric approach connects enterprise data where it lives instead of migrating it into the platform, a strong record in government, financial services and other regulated, process heavy sectors, AI and robotic automation plug into the same process models
Watch out for- Enterprise quoted pricing, firmly in platform territory, overkill for apps that are really forms and tables, the builder experience serves process designers more than casual app makers, implementation is a programme with specialists, not a self serve start
#7Glide
Best for: Data driven business apps fast4.7/5 on
G2 (796 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit glideapps.com
Starting price$25 per month
Free planYes
Glide is the PowerApps alternative for the app that is really a view on data: the inventory tracker, the field inspection log, the member directory, the event check in. Connect the sheet or database, choose the layout, publish a link. Business users do this themselves, which is the promise PowerApps makes inside Microsoft's walls and Glide makes anywhere.
Its economics need the same care as its Microsoft rival's: team plans price per user, so a 300 person rollout deserves a spreadsheet before it deserves a subscription. For team scale tools, the value is obvious.
Choose Glide when speed and self service matter more than depth. When the app needs real logic, Bubble below is the next rung.
What we like- Turns a spreadsheet, Airtable or database into a polished app in hours, the fastest route here from data to something a team can use, no code in the citizen developer sense: business users genuinely build these themselves, free plan to start, paid from 25 dollars a month, apps install from a link with no app store process
Watch out for- Apps are progressive web apps, not native store apps, which rules out store discovery and some device features, per user pricing on team plans makes wide audiences expensive, design and logic depth have clear ceilings compared with Bubble or Retool, not suited to complex customer facing products
#8Bubble
Best for: Full web apps without code4.4/5 on
G2 (166 reviews, checked Oct 2026)
Visit bubble.io
Starting price$29 per month
Free planYes
Bubble closes the list at the founder end. It builds the public web app PowerApps cannot: signups, payments, marketplaces and SaaS products, all without code, on its own database and workflow engine. Thousands of real businesses run on it.
Its demands are honesty about effort. Bubble repays a serious learning investment and punishes casual use at scale, where workload units meter your app's appetite. Budget the learning and the units, and it is remarkable value.
Choose Bubble for a product. Choose Glide for a tool, Retool for an internal system, and the enterprise platforms when the organisation itself is the customer.
What we like- Builds complete web applications (marketplaces, SaaS products, social apps) with a real database and workflow logic, no code and no platform team, the largest no code ecosystem of templates, plugins and freelance builders, free plan for learning, Starter at 29 dollars a month for live products, customer facing in a way the internal tool builders here are not
Watch out for- Performance and scaling require skill with its workload unit pricing model, the learning curve is weeks, not days, mobile apps need wrappers for the stores rather than native output, not an enterprise governed platform
- Regulated internal estates belong above
How we chose
We shortlisted low code platforms that replace PowerApps for its three real audiences (internal tool builders, enterprise platform buyers, and business users) for a US reader in October 2026. Power Apps itself is excluded as the target. Prices come from vendor pages and comparisons checked in October 2026; OutSystems and Appian are marked See website because their pricing is quoted per organisation, and Mendix's paid tiers are published in euros at enterprise scale. We did not build test apps for this article.
How to choose a PowerApps alternative
Ask who builds and who uses, in that order. Developer builders point to Retool or Appsmith. Semi technical operations teams point to Budibase or Glide. An enterprise platform decision points to OutSystems, Mendix or Appian, with a procurement process to match. Founders point to Bubble. The wrong audience match is the most expensive mistake in this category.
Second, do the licensing maths at your real audience size. Per user platforms are cheap for a ten person tool and serious money for a company wide rollout; PowerApps' own per app versus per user choice taught everyone that lesson. Price year two, with the audience you hope for, not the pilot group.
Third, locate the data. Apps that must keep data inside your network end the debate quickly: self hosted Appsmith, Budibase or Retool. Apps whose data lives in SharePoint and Dataverse argue for staying with PowerApps, whatever its annoyances.
Finally, prototype the hardest screen, not the easiest demo. The approval flow with three exceptions, the form that talks to two systems, the report the director actually reads: build that in the trial. Low code platforms all demo beautifully and differ exactly there.
Frequently asked questions
What is the closest alternative to PowerApps?
For Microsoft adjacent internal tools, Retool for developer teams and Glide for business users. Retool matches the internal app job with more code control; Glide matches the citizen developer promise without the Microsoft estate requirement.
Are there free PowerApps alternatives?
Yes. Appsmith and Budibase are open source and free to self host, Glide and Bubble have free plans, and Mendix offers a free Basic tier for learning and small builds. Free at enterprise scale still means your own hosting and administration.
Why do companies leave Power Apps?
The recurring reasons in comparisons: apps that must serve people outside the Microsoft tenant, licensing confusion between per app and per user plans, developer frustration with low code limits, and data gravity in non Microsoft systems. Suite bundled economics keep many others happily in place.
Which alternative is best for enterprise scale?
OutSystems, Mendix and Appian contest that tier, chosen by workload: customer facing systems (OutSystems), industrial and mixed builder teams (Mendix), process and case work (Appian). All are quoted platform purchases with implementation programmes attached.
Can I migrate my PowerApps to one of these?
Not automatically. Apps rebuild in the new platform; data migrates if it lives in standard stores (SQL, SharePoint lists can be exported), but Dataverse centred apps take real work to move. Budget a rebuild measured in days per app, and use the move to retire the apps nobody opens.
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.