Bubble
A visual builder for real web and mobile apps — databases, logic and all — with AI generating a working first version from a plain-English description.
What you'd use it for
Building a real web or mobile app with a database and user accounts, without writing or paying for custom code.
- Describe an app in plain English and get a working foundation with database, workflows and sample data already wired up
- Build multi-step workflows and conditional logic visually, without code
- Get real user accounts, with sign-up, login and password reset generated automatically
- Publish a live app to the web, and submit builds to the Apple App Store and Google Play
- Keep working alongside the AI Agent afterwards to add pages, wire up workflows and connect external APIs
The verdict
Bubble is the deepest no-code layer in this reference — a real database, real user accounts and multi-step logic that has shipped production apps for over a decade, now with an AI layer that drafts the first version from a plain description. What it costs you is portability, since there is no export and what you build stays a Bubble app for good. It suits someone building a real product with users and data behind it, not a marketing site or a prototype meant to be handed to a dev team elsewhere. Budget the real cost in workload units once actual traffic arrives, not the headline plan price.
What it costs
| Tier | Price | For | Includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/month | Projects still under construction, not yet in front of users. | 1 app editor, 50K workload units/month, 6 hours of server logs. |
| Starter | $59/month, billed annually | An app that is ready to launch. | Recurring workflows, basic version control, 175K workload units/month, a custom domain, 5 build submissions/month. |
| Growth | $209/month, billed annually | A team collaborating on the same app. | Premium version control, two-factor authentication, 2 app editors, 10 custom branches, 250K workload units/month. |
| Team | $549/month, billed annually | Scaling the team and the business behind the app. | Sub-apps, 5 app editors, 25 custom branches, 500K workload units/month. |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | Maximum security and scale. | Custom workload units, choice of hosting location, a customisable server, dedicated support. |
Read from Bubble's own pricing page on 25 Sep 2026. Vendors change prices without notice.
What you need to start
- A Bubble account (free, no credit card)
- A paid plan before you can deploy a live version or submit builds to the App Store or Google Play
Minutes to an AI-generated working foundation; realistically a few hours to a few weeks before it is a polished, launch-ready app.
Your first run Sign up free and describe the app; the AI Agent drafts a working foundation in minutes, complete with database, workflows and the login flow it builds in on its own. Getting that foundation presentable enough to launch typically takes a few hours to a few weeks, depending on scope.
Where it breaks
Entirely browser-based; nothing installs. Pricing is usage-metered by "workload units" rather than a flat seat count, so the real monthly cost depends on how much traffic and data your app actually handles, not just which tier you pick.
First entry in this reference. There is no previous check to compare it against.
When not to use it
Not for a static marketing site or landing page, where Webflow does the job without the database overhead. Not for anyone who wants to walk away with code they can host or edit elsewhere, since what you build in Bubble stays inside Bubble's own editor and runtime.
Bubble predates the current wave of AI app builders by more than a decade, and it shows in what it actually delivers: a real database, real user authentication, real backend logic, not a static mockup. The AI layer is newer — describe an app and it drafts a working version — but the thing underneath is the same visual logic engine agencies have shipped production apps on for years.
That maturity is also the friction. Where v0 or Lovable hand you code you can read and move elsewhere, Bubble’s logic lives inside Bubble’s own editor and runtime. What you build stays a Bubble app; there is no export to a codebase you own outright. The trade is a genuinely deep no-code layer — multi-step workflows, conditional logic, a real data structure — against being tied to one platform’s way of thinking about apps.
Pricing is the other thing to read carefully. It is not seats, it is “workload units” — a metered measure of the compute and data your live app actually consumes — so the number on the pricing page is a floor, not a bill. A Free-plan prototype and a Starter-plan app with real traffic can be the same features at very different real costs.
Choose Bubble over Webflow when the thing you’re building needs a database and user accounts, not just a marketing site with a nice look.
Alternatives
Websites & appsAppsWebflow
A visual site builder with full control over the underlying design, now able to generate a first draft of a page or its copy from a written prompt.
Websites & appsHarnessLovable
Describe the web app or site you want in plain English and it writes, hosts and deploys a working version you can keep editing by conversation.
Websites & appsHarnessBravo Studio
Turns a Figma design into a real, publishable mobile app — the route a designer takes to get something into the App Store without writing code.
Websites & appsHarnessAdalo
Builds and publishes native mobile apps by dragging components onto a screen, with an AI assistant generating the first working build from a description.
Get Bubble
Buying the tool is not the hard part.
The ebook is about what to hand over, in what order, and how you find out when it goes wrong. One payment, no subscription.