QUICK ANSWER
What is the best mobile app builder in 2026?
There is no single best one. Pick by the constraint you cannot move: BuildFire or Appy Pie if you want the submission handled for you, FlutterFlow or Bubble if you want a mature visual canvas, Adalo or Glide if the app is mostly data-backed screens, and Rork or Playcode if you would rather describe the app and get real code back.
Almost every tool in this category will show you a working app on your screen within an hour. The differences that matter show up later: what it takes to get that app listed, whose developer account it is listed under, whether you can take the code with you, and where the data actually lives.
This guide compares eight builders on five criteria, in alphabetical order, and does not name a universal winner. Playcode publishes it and is one of the eight, so read the disclosure below and check the dated source links yourself.
How these eight were compared
Category listicles usually compare feature counts, which tells you nothing about whether your app can ship. These five criteria were chosen because each one is a decision you cannot reverse cheaply once you have built on a platform. For the broader no-code category, including web apps and internal tools, see best no-code app builders.
Read the vendor page, not the review sites
Every figure here comes from the vendor own pricing or documentation page, read on 2026-08-16, with the URL printed at the end of this guide. Third-party review sites and affiliate roundups were not used, because their pricing tables are frequently a year out of date and their rankings are frequently paid.
Sources: [adalo-pricing], [appypie-pricing], [bubble-pricing], [buildfire-pricing], [flutterflow-pricing], [glide-pricing], [rork-pricing], [playcode-pricing]
Price the cheapest plan that can actually publish
The headline free tier is rarely the plan that puts an app in a store. For each product the price shown is the lowest published tier that lists store publishing, not the lowest tier that exists. On several of these products those are different plans by a factor of two or more.
Sources: [adalo-pricing], [appypie-pricing], [bubble-pricing], [flutterflow-pricing], [rork-pricing]
Separate the builder fee from the store fee
No builder in this comparison removes the Apple or Google account fees, and none of them should claim to. Apple published 99 USD per membership year and Google a US$25 one-time registration fee on 2026-08-16. Those are charged to your account, on top of whatever the builder costs.
Sources: [apple-enrollment], [google-registration]
Check whose name the app is listed under
This is the criterion buyers skip and later regret. A listing carries the reviews, the ratings, the payout relationship, and the right to ship an update. Every product here that publishes to a store does so, or should do so, under your own developer account. Any arrangement where the app is listed under the vendor account is a different deal and should be treated as one.
Sources: [appypie-pricing], [buildfire-pricing], [rork-docs-publishing], [apple-enrollment]
Ask what happens on the day you want to leave
A code download and a data export are different exit paths and most products offer neither. Where a pricing page does not list source-code export, this guide says the page does not list it rather than asserting that no export exists. Confirm with the vendor before you rely on one.
Sources: [flutterflow-pricing], [glide-pricing], [playcode-pricing], [expo-submit]
Look for the backend, because most of them do not have one
A mobile app that stores anything needs a database, logins, and somewhere for server-side logic to run. Some products in this list bundle that, some meter it, and some expect you to connect a third party. That decision shapes your monthly bill more than the builder subscription does.
Sources: [bubble-pricing], [glide-pricing], [adalo-pricing], [playcode-cloud]
What this comparison covers, and what it deliberately leaves out
The question owned here is which tool to use when the output has to be an app in the App Store or Google Play. If you are not yet sure you need a store listing at all, read web app vs mobile app first, because a web app skips developer accounts and review queues entirely.
Included
- Eight products with a published pricing page, compared on five criteria, in alphabetical order.
- What each vendor own page states about store publishing, code export, bundled backend, authoring model, and price.
- The store account fees that apply on top of every option here.
- The boundary against the broader no-code category and against web-only builders.
Not included
- Scores, rankings, star ratings, or a named overall winner. No hands-on trial was run across eight products.
- Thunkable and Replit. Neither pricing page returned a readable plan table on 2026-08-16, Thunkable returning only navigation and a consent notice and Replit returning a Cloudflare block, so no figure could be verified for them.
- Bolt. Its published pricing page on 2026-08-16 describes web hosting, web requests, and databases, with no store-submission tier, so it did not meet the entry condition for this comparison.
- Agency and freelance development, which is a different purchase with a different risk profile.
- App store optimization, marketing, and paid installs.
The five criteria, and why each one is expensive to get wrong
Each of these is a decision that is cheap before you build and expensive afterwards. Feature counts and template libraries are not on the list because they rarely decide whether a project ships.
Path to the App Store and Google Play
The whole reason to use a mobile builder rather than a website builder. What the product actually does to turn your project into a signed binary a store console will accept, and which of the remaining steps stay yours.
Whose developer account the app is listed under
The listing carries the reviews, the ratings, the payouts, and the right to ship an update. If it is not your account, none of that is yours, and getting it back later ranges from painful to impossible.
Whether you can take the code and leave
The difference between a supplier and a landlord. A product with no export path means the app exists only as long as your subscription does, at whatever the price becomes.
Where the data, logins, and server logic live
Every app past a brochure needs accounts, records, and something running on a server. Whether that arrives with the builder, is metered by the builder, or has to be wired to a third party usually decides the real monthly cost.
Cheapest published plan that can publish
The free tier is often a preview tier. What matters for a budget is the lowest plan on which an app can actually reach a store, which on several of these products is a different plan entirely.
The eight builders, in alphabetical order
Listed in alphabetical order. This is not a ranking, the order carries no judgment, and this guide does not name a universal winner. Playcode publishes this comparison and appears in it under the same five criteria as everyone else, with its own limitations stated.
Adalo
Best for: A data-backed app with a lot of screens, built by someone who wants to place elements by hand rather than describe them.
A visual multi-screen canvas with a hosted database and a published App Store and Google Play path from the first paid tier. The plan ladder is counted in published apps and editors, which suits an agency or a freelancer with several client apps.
| Criterion | Finding |
|---|---|
| Path to the App Store and Google Play | The pricing page lists Automated App Store Publishing from the Starter plan, with comparison rows for Publish to Apple App Store and Publish to Google Play Store, and 0 published apps on the free tier (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [adalo-pricing] |
| Whose developer account the app is listed under | The pricing page does not state whose developer account is used. Both stores tie a listing to the account that submits it, so confirm with Adalo that the accounts are yours before you publish (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [adalo-pricing], [apple-enrollment] |
| Whether you can take the code and leave | No source-code export is listed on any plan; the ladder is counted in published apps, editors, and API access at the Team tier (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [adalo-pricing] |
| Where the data, logins, and server logic live | A hosted Postgres database is listed from the free plan with 500 records per app, and Team adds a Xano integration plus an app and collections API (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [adalo-pricing] |
| Cheapest published plan that can publish | Free at $0/month publishes nothing. Starter at $36/month billed annually is the cheapest plan listing one published app and automated App Store publishing; Professional is $52 and Team $160 (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [adalo-pricing] |
Tradeoffs
- The free plan builds and tests but publishes nothing, so the real entry price is the Starter tier.
- The pricing page lists no source-code export, so plan the exit path before you build a business on it.
- Publishing is described as automated, which removes work but does not remove your obligation to hold the store accounts.
Appy Pie
Best for: A small business that wants one simple app listed and would rather buy submission support than learn a platform.
A long-standing hosted app builder priced per app per month, with app distribution and first-time submission support on every listed plan. It is explicit that the app goes live under your own developer account, which is the right answer to the question most of this category dodges.
| Criterion | Finding |
|---|---|
| Path to the App Store and Google Play | Every listed plan carries App Distribution and First Time App Submission Support. The page lists an iOS App Supported row in the Gold column but not in Basic, so confirm iOS coverage against the tier you intend to buy (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [appypie-pricing] |
| Whose developer account the app is listed under | The pricing table states Go Live Under your Developer Account on every plan, which is the clearest published statement on this criterion in the comparison (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [appypie-pricing] |
| Whether you can take the code and leave | No source-code export is listed. Higher plans list removing Appy Pie branding as a white-label app, which is a branding right rather than an ownership right (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [appypie-pricing] |
| Where the data, logins, and server logic live | The plans describe hosting-side capacity, unlimited bandwidth and hosting, push notification allowances, monthly app download caps, and analytics through Google Analytics, rather than a database or server logic you control (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [appypie-pricing] |
| Cheapest published plan that can publish | Basic is listed at $16 per app per month against a struck-through $32; Gold, the cheapest tier marked as iOS supported, is $36 per app per month against $72; Platinum is $60 against $120 (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [appypie-pricing] |
Tradeoffs
- Pricing is per app per month, so a second app doubles the bill rather than filling a slot.
- The page lists iOS support from the Gold tier, so the cheapest plan is Android-oriented.
- Listed prices are shown against struck-through higher figures, so the entry price you see may be promotional.
Bubble
Best for: A team that already knows Bubble, or one building a genuinely complex application where the web app matters as much as the mobile app.
The most mature visual platform in the list, and the one that has most recently added native mobile. Its pricing page now sells web and mobile together, with a native mobile editor and on-device testing available even on the free plan and build submissions metered on paid tiers.
| Criterion | Finding |
|---|---|
| Path to the App Store and Google Play | The free plan lists a native mobile editor, mobile debugger, and on-device testing; Starter adds 5 build submissions per month, 3 live app versions, and unlimited over-the-air updates (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [bubble-pricing] |
| Whose developer account the app is listed under | The pricing page describes build submissions and live app versions but does not state whose store account receives them; confirm before launch, since the store treats the submitting account as the owner (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [bubble-pricing], [google-registration] |
| Whether you can take the code and leave | Version control, custom branches, and sub-apps are listed, but no source-code export. A Bubble app runs on the Bubble runtime (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [bubble-pricing] |
| Where the data, logins, and server logic live | Bubble includes its own database and workflows, metered as workload units from 50K per month on Free to 175K on Starter, 250K on Growth, and 500K on Team (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [bubble-pricing] |
| Cheapest published plan that can publish | Free at $0 for a development version. Starter at $59/month billed annually is the cheapest plan listing build submissions and live app versions; Growth is $209 and Team $549 (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [bubble-pricing] |
Tradeoffs
- Cost is metered in workload units, so the bill scales with what the app does rather than with how many apps you have.
- Build submissions are capped per month, 5 on Starter and 10 on Growth, so a fast release cadence has a ceiling.
- It is a platform to learn, not a tool to pick up in an afternoon.
BuildFire
Best for: An organization that wants the app managed as a service and has a budget where the subscription is not the deciding factor.
The most managed option here and the most expensive by a wide margin. Publishing support is included on every plan, and its own FAQ is refreshingly direct that the Apple and Google registration fees remain yours to pay.
| Criterion | Finding |
|---|---|
| Path to the App Store and Google Play | The FAQ states every plan lets you build an iOS and Android app, publish it to the App Store and Google Play, and manage it from the BuildFire dashboard, with publishing support included on every plan (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [buildfire-pricing] |
| Whose developer account the app is listed under | The FAQ states you will need to pay a one-time registration fee to the Apple and Google stores when you submit your publishing application, which places the store accounts on your side of the line (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [buildfire-pricing], [google-registration] |
| Whether you can take the code and leave | No source-code export is listed. API access, custom development, and specialized integrations are described as options available on higher tiers (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [buildfire-pricing] |
| Where the data, logins, and server logic live | Plans are described around the BuildFire dashboard, core platform, standard plugins, secure hosting, and push notification volume from 100K to 300K per month, rather than a database you query directly (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [buildfire-pricing] |
| Cheapest published plan that can publish | The lowest listed plan is $165/month, then $315/month and $440/month, with priority publishing and account management at the top (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [buildfire-pricing] |
Tradeoffs
- The entry plan costs more per month than most of this list costs per year.
- API access and custom development are higher-tier options, so the cheapest plan is the least extensible one.
- The plugin-and-dashboard model is a good fit for content-driven apps and a poor one for unusual product logic.
FlutterFlow
Best for: A team that wants a visual builder but refuses to be locked in, and is comfortable with Flutter and Dart as the output.
The strongest published export story of any visual builder here: code download is listed from the first paid tier, alongside APK download and app store deployment. The tradeoff is that you get Flutter, not React Native, and no backend at all.
| Criterion | Finding |
|---|---|
| Path to the App Store and Google Play | One-Click App Store Deployment is listed from the Basic plan, together with APK Download and Test On Local Devices; the free plan lists web publishing only (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [flutterflow-pricing] |
| Whose developer account the app is listed under | The pricing page does not state whose store account a deployment targets. Because the same page offers a code and APK download, an entirely self-managed submission under your own account is available as a fallback (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [flutterflow-pricing], [expo-submit] |
| Whether you can take the code and leave | Code Download is listed from the Basic plan, which is the clearest published export path among the visual builders compared here (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [flutterflow-pricing] |
| Where the data, logins, and server logic live | The free plan lists API and Data Integration, and no plan lists a bundled database, so the backend is a separate product you connect and pay for (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [flutterflow-pricing] |
| Cheapest published plan that can publish | Free at $0 for web publishing. Basic at $39/month is the cheapest plan listing app store deployment and code download; Growth is $80 for the first seat and Business $150 for the first seat (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [flutterflow-pricing] |
Tradeoffs
- No bundled database. The backend is something you connect and pay for separately.
- The output is Flutter and Dart, which is a real skill market but a narrower one than React Native.
- Team pricing is per seat and rises quickly, at $80 for the first Growth seat and $150 for the first Business seat.
Glide
Best for: Internal tools and data-backed operations apps, especially where the records already exist in a spreadsheet or a business system.
A data-first builder that turns records into an interface, priced in projects and credits. It is included here because buyers routinely shortlist it for mobile, and the honest finding is that its published pricing page does not sell App Store or Google Play publishing.
| Criterion | Finding |
|---|---|
| Path to the App Store and Google Play | The published pricing page lists projects, apps, credits, and members, and on 2026-08-16 it did not list Apple App Store or Google Play publishing as a plan feature. Treat Glide as web-delivered unless its documentation says otherwise for your case. Sources: [glide-pricing] |
| Whose developer account the app is listed under | Not applicable from the published pricing page, because no store publishing feature appears on it to attach an account to (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [glide-pricing] |
| Whether you can take the code and leave | No source-code export is listed on any tier. Enterprise lists 90-day data and app backups, which protects against loss rather than providing a way out (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [glide-pricing] |
| Where the data, logins, and server logic live | Database included is listed from the Solo plan, with custom connectors added at Enterprise (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [glide-pricing] |
| Cheapest published plan that can publish | A free tier with 1 project and limited credits. Solo at $25/month with 100 credits and 5 projects; Team at $125/month for 5 members with 50 credits per member; Enterprise is priced individually (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [glide-pricing] |
Tradeoffs
- The published pricing page does not list store publishing, so verify it fits a native-app requirement before shortlisting it for one.
- Cost is metered in credits per member, so a growing team changes the bill more than a growing app does.
- No source-code export is listed, and the 90-day backup at Enterprise is a retention feature rather than an exit path.
Playcode
Best for: A mobile app that needs a real backend on day one, built by describing it rather than assembling it, by someone who wants the code to remain theirs.
Playcode publishes this guide, so treat this entry as a first-party product description and check the linked pages. The distinguishing claim is not the app: it is that the app arrives in the same project as its backend, database, logins, files, background jobs, hosting, and custom domain, so there is no second product to buy and wire up.
| Criterion | Finding |
|---|---|
| Path to the App Store and Google Play | Releasing means uploading a signed .aab for Android or .ipa for iOS to Play Console or App Store Connect, after which Apple and Google run review. Playcode helps produce and submit that build; the final submit is yours, and preview happens on your own phone rather than in a simulator (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [expo-submit], [playcode-cloud] |
| Whose developer account the app is listed under | Yours, and necessarily so. Apple requires the content owner own membership and Google ties the listing to the registering account, so both accounts are in your name and you press submit (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [apple-enrollment], [google-registration] |
| Whether you can take the code and leave | Download your code is listed on the Pro plan, so the project is real code you can take elsewhere rather than a configuration inside a proprietary runtime (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [playcode-pricing] |
| Where the data, logins, and server logic live | This is the differentiator. Playcode Cloud gives a project a database, logins, files, and background jobs, with production hosting, a custom domain, and automatic SSL, so the app and its backend are one project rather than two subscriptions (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [playcode-cloud], [playcode-pricing] |
| Cheapest published plan that can publish | A free tier to try the builder. Pro at $25/month billed monthly with 100 credits, an annual option shown as Save $50, and Max from $100/month. Production hosting and custom domains are included rather than sold separately, and Pro is capped at 3 full-stack Cloud apps (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [playcode-pricing] |
Tradeoffs
- There is no drag-and-drop canvas. You describe the app and the AI writes code, which suits some people and frustrates others.
- There is no simulator or emulator anywhere in the flow, by design. You preview the app on your own phone.
- Mobile is the newest surface here, against products that have been publishing to stores for years. Judge it on the criteria, not on the novelty.
- The store accounts and the final submit stay yours, which is correct but is more work than a fully managed service.
Rork
Best for: Someone who wants to describe a mobile app in a chat window and is targeting Android or Expo rather than native Swift.
The clearest AI-first product in the category and the one whose SERP presence has grown fastest. Its plan structure is the thing to read carefully: the tier that lists native iOS with SwiftUI is ten times the price of the tier that lists Expo, Android, and web.
| Criterion | Finding |
|---|---|
| Path to the App Store and Google Play | The site states you can ship to the App Store, and the documentation carries an App Store publishing section with separate guides for Rork on Expo and Rork Max on Swift, plus an App Store checklist and a review guide (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [rork-pricing], [rork-docs-publishing] |
| Whose developer account the app is listed under | Yours. The publishing documentation opens with a page titled Create your Apple Developer Account to publish to App Store, which places the Apple membership on your side (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [rork-docs-publishing], [apple-enrollment] |
| Whether you can take the code and leave | No source-code export is listed on any tier. The Pro plan lists Expo projects, which is a standard React Native project shape, so confirm the export terms directly before relying on them (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [rork-pricing] |
| Where the data, logins, and server logic live | The published plans are organized by target platform and monthly credit allowance and list no database, authentication, or backend service (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [rork-pricing] |
| Cheapest published plan that can publish | Free at $0 with 5 design credits per month in design mode only. Rork Pro at $20/month lists Expo projects, Android with Kotlin and Compose, web apps, and 100 credits. Rork Max at $200/month is the tier listing iOS with SwiftUI, iPad, Apple Watch, and 1,000 credits (read 2026-08-16). Sources: [rork-pricing] |
Tradeoffs
- The free tier is design mode only. Turning designs into working apps starts on the paid plan.
- Native iOS with SwiftUI, iPad, and Apple Watch sit on the $200/month tier, not the $20/month one.
- No database or backend service appears on the published plans, so data and payments are things you connect.
Pick by the constraint you cannot move
Every one of these tools can produce something that looks like an app. Choose on the thing that would be expensive to discover in month four.
The app is mostly screens over records that already exist somewhere, and it is for your own staff.
Choose: Look at Glide or Adalo first, and check whether it really needs to be in a store at all.
Tradeoff: You get to a working tool fastest and you accept no code export. If the tool becomes load-bearing, that becomes a real risk.
You want a visual canvas and you refuse to be locked into a runtime you cannot leave.
Choose: FlutterFlow is the only visual builder here that lists a code download on its published plans.
Tradeoff: You accept Flutter and Dart as the output and you supply your own backend, which is a second product and a second bill.
You would rather describe the app than assemble it, and the app needs accounts and stored data from day one.
Choose: Compare Playcode and Rork directly, and weigh the bundled backend against the AI experience you prefer.
Tradeoff: You give up a drag-and-drop canvas. Read the Rork plan tiers carefully if native iOS is the requirement.
You want somebody else to handle submission and you have budget for it.
Choose: BuildFire or Appy Pie. Both include submission support and both are explicit that the store accounts are yours.
Tradeoff: You pay considerably more each month, and you accept a plugin-and-dashboard model rather than open-ended product logic.
You are not certain anybody wants the app yet.
Choose: Build a web app first. No developer account, no review queue, no closed test, and you learn the same thing about demand.
Tradeoff: No store listing, no store search, and none of the device behavior that needs an installed app.
A vendor offers to publish your app under its own developer account.
Choose: Treat that as a different purchase and read exactly what you own. Ask who holds the listing, the reviews, and the ability to ship an update.
Tradeoff: You skip the account setup and the store fees, and you give up the asset. The fees are small enough that this is rarely a good trade.
THE PART MOST OF THEM SKIP
An app is easy. The backend behind it is the work.
Logins, a database, files, background jobs, hosting, and a domain are what turn a demo into a product. On Playcode they arrive in the same project as the app, so there is no second platform to choose and pay for.
See how Playcode Cloud worksApple and Google charge their own account fees, to your own accounts. No builder can waive them.
See current Playcode plansPrices on this page were read on the vendor sites on 2026-08-16 and change without notice.
What this comparison does not establish
Read these before you use this page as a shortlist. It is a dated reading of eight vendor pages, not a benchmark.
- No hands-on trial was run across the eight products, so there are no scores, no rankings, and no claims about output quality or speed.
- Playcode publishes this guide and is one of the compared products. Its entry is a first-party product description; treat it with the scepticism you would apply to any vendor describing itself.
- Where a vendor pricing page does not list a feature, this guide says the page does not list it. That is not the same as the vendor not offering it, and several of these products may offer more than they publish.
- Pricing pages change without notice and several of these vendors run promotional pricing. Every figure carries the date it was read; open the link before you buy.
- Thunkable, Replit, and Bolt are absent for the stated reasons, not because they were judged unsuitable.
- Store fees, review requirements, and commission rates are set by Apple and Google and apply on top of every option here, regardless of which builder you choose.
- This guide gives no legal, tax, or compliance advice, and no product here can promise that your app will be approved.
Sources, with the date each page was read
Every product fact above traces to one of these pages, read on 2026-08-16. Links are direct to the vendor and carry no tracking or affiliate parameters.
[adalo-pricing] Adalo:Adalo plans and pricing
Checked August 16, 2026. Supports: Free $0 with 500 records per app and 0 published apps; Starter $36/month billed annually with 1 published app, custom domain, and Automated App Store Publishing; Professional $52; Team $160 with a Xano integration and an app and collections API. A hosted Postgres database is listed from the free plan.
[appypie-pricing] Appy Pie:Appy Pie App Builder pricing
Checked August 16, 2026. Supports: Basic listed at $16 per app per month against a struck-through $32, Gold at $36 against $72, Platinum at $60 against $120. Every plan lists App Distribution, Go Live Under your Developer Account, First Time App Submission Support, unlimited bandwidth and hosting, and monthly download caps of 500 on Basic and 1000 on Gold. An iOS App Supported row appears in the Gold column and not in Basic.
[bubble-pricing] Bubble:Bubble pricing
Checked August 16, 2026. Supports: Free $0 with a development version, native mobile editor, mobile debugger, on-device testing, and 50K workload units per month; Starter $59/month billed annually with 5 build submissions per month, 3 live app versions, unlimited over-the-air updates, and 175K workload units; Growth $209 with 10 build submissions and 250K units; Team $549 with 500K units.
[buildfire-pricing] BuildFire:BuildFire pricing
Checked August 16, 2026. Supports: Plans listed at $165, $315, and $440 per month with 100K, 150K, and 300K push notifications per month. The FAQ states every plan lets you build an iOS and Android app and publish it to the App Store and Google Play with publishing support included, and that you will need to pay the one-time registration fee to the Apple and Google stores yourself.
[flutterflow-pricing] FlutterFlow:FlutterFlow pricing
Checked August 16, 2026. Supports: Free $0 with a visual development environment, API and data integration, web publishing, up to 2 projects, and 10 Lite credits; Basic $39/month with unlimited projects, Code Download, APK Download, custom domain web publishing, Test On Local Devices, One-Click App Store Deployment, and 100 Lite credits per month; Growth $80 for the first seat; Business $150 for the first seat.
[glide-pricing] Glide:GlideOS pricing
Checked August 16, 2026. Supports: A free tier with 1 project and limited credits; Solo $25/month with 5 projects, 100 credits, and a database included; Team $125/month for 5 members with 50 credits per member; Enterprise priced individually with single sign-on, custom connectors, and 90-day data and app backups. No Apple App Store or Google Play publishing feature appears on the page.
[rork-pricing] Rork:Rork pricing plans
Checked August 16, 2026. Supports: Free $0 with design mode and 5 design credits per month; Rork Pro $20/month with build mode, 100 credits, Expo projects, Android apps with Kotlin and Compose, web apps, and private projects; Rork Max $200/month with 1,000 credits, iOS apps with SwiftUI, iPad, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. The site states you can create mobile apps by chatting with AI and ship to the App Store.
[rork-docs-publishing] Rork:Rork publishing documentation
Checked August 16, 2026. Supports: The publishing section lists Create your Apple Developer Account to publish to App Store, separate App Store guides for Rork on Expo and Rork Max on Swift, an App Store checklist, screenshots guidance, an App Review guide, and main App Store rejection reasons.
[playcode-pricing] Playcode:Playcode pricing
Checked August 16, 2026. Supports: A free tier to try the builder; Pro at $25 per month billed monthly with 100 credits, production hosting, custom domains with automatic SSL, unlimited websites, private projects, Download your code, and Playcode Cloud with 3 full-stack apps carrying a database, logins, files, and background jobs; an annual billing option shown as Save $50; Max from $100 per month.
[playcode-cloud] Playcode:Playcode Cloud
Checked August 16, 2026. Supports: Each project gets a dedicated production machine with the app, a persistent database, durable file storage, and background jobs, plus domains, HTTPS, backups, and deploys, running on infrastructure Playcode operates in two EU regions.
[apple-enrollment] Apple Developer:Enrollment support
Checked August 16, 2026. Supports: Apple states the Apple Developer Program annual fee is 99 USD and the Apple Developer Enterprise Program annual fee is 299 USD, in local currency where available, and that prices may vary by region.
[google-registration] Google Play Console Help:Register for a Google Play developer account
Checked August 16, 2026. Supports: Google states there is a US$25 one-time registration fee payable by credit or debit card, and that a valid government ID and a card under your legal name may be requested to process the account.
[expo-submit] Expo Documentation:Submit to app stores
Checked August 16, 2026. Supports: Expo states that releasing an app means uploading a signed binary, an .aab for Android or an .ipa for iOS, to Google Play Console or App Store Connect, and that Google and Apple then manage review, testing tracks, and production rollout.
Questions people ask before choosing a mobile app builder
Which mobile app builder is cheapest?
On published entry prices read on 2026-08-16, Rork Pro at $20/month is the lowest paid tier in this comparison, followed by Playcode Pro and Glide Solo at $25/month. Adalo Starter is $36, FlutterFlow Basic $39, Bubble Starter $59, and BuildFire starts at $165. Appy Pie is priced per app, from $16 per app per month at a promotional rate.
Do any of these publish the app for me?
Several will do most of the mechanical work, and BuildFire and Appy Pie include submission support. None of them removes your Apple and Google developer accounts, and none of them should. Both stores tie the listing, the reviews, the payouts, and the right to ship an update to the account that submitted the app, so that account needs to be yours.
What do the app stores charge on top of the builder subscription?
Apple published 99 USD per membership year and Google a US$25 one-time registration fee, both read on 2026-08-16. Those are separate from every price on this page and no builder can waive them. Commission only applies once you sell something.
Which of these lets me export the code?
On published pricing pages read on 2026-08-16, two do: FlutterFlow lists Code Download from its Basic plan, and Playcode lists Download your code on Pro. The other pricing pages in this comparison do not list a source-code export, which is not the same as saying none exists. Ask the vendor directly before you rely on one.
Which builder gives me a backend as well as an app?
Bubble, Glide, and Adalo each include their own data layer, metered in workload units, credits, and records respectively. Playcode Cloud gives each project a database, logins, files, and background jobs alongside hosting. FlutterFlow and Rork publish no bundled backend, so you connect and pay for one separately.
Is an AI builder better than a visual builder for a mobile app?
They fail in different places. A visual canvas is predictable and slow, and it stops where the platform stops. Describing an app is fast and less predictable, and it can produce something you then have to read and correct. Pick the one that matches how you want to spend your attention, not the one with the newer marketing.
Can I use a website builder instead?
For a lot of products, yes, and it removes this entire category of decision. A web app needs no developer account, faces no review queue, and updates the moment you publish. You give up store search, store credibility, and the device behavior that only an installed app can offer. Decide that before you shortlist anything here.
Why are Thunkable, Replit, and Bolt not in this comparison?
On 2026-08-16 the Thunkable pricing page returned only navigation and a consent notice, and the Replit pricing page returned a Cloudflare block, so no figure could be verified for either. The Bolt pricing page loaded but describes web hosting, web requests, and databases with no store-submission tier, so it did not meet the entry condition. None of these is a judgment about the product.
TRY IT BEFORE YOU SHORTLIST IT
Describe the app and see what comes back
The fastest way to judge any builder in this comparison is to give it your actual idea and look at the result. Describe what your app should do and get a working version with a real backend behind it.
Start BuildingYou keep your own Apple and Google developer accounts, and you press the final submit yourself.