Exploring top Budibase alternatives: Quick comparison 2025

Budibase is a user-friendly low-code platform that focuses on simplicity and ease of use for building custom web applications. However, if you’re looking for alternative solutions that offer unique features and capabilities, this blog post will guide you through the top Budibase alternatives. We will explore each platform, highlighting their key aspects, pros, cons, and pricing models. By the end of this review, you’ll have a better understanding of the available options and be able to choose the best alternative based on your specific requirements.

Pros of Budibase

• Open-source with a community-driven approach
• Quick setup and pre-built templates for internal tools
• Supports custom branding in higher-tier plans
• Allows self-hosting for greater control

Cons of Budibase

• Pricing is entirely user-based, making it expensive for large teams and external users
• No managed database or file storage, requiring additional setup
• Limited automation workflows, making complex processes difficult
• No migration support, forcing teams to rely on documentation
• Slower feature development, as it follows a community-driven model

Why look for Budibase alternatives

While Budibase is a solid choice for basic internal tools, its limitations make it unsuitable for scalable applications, mobile support, and enterprise-grade security. Businesses needing flexible pricing, advanced automation, and managed infrastructure should explore alternative platforms that offer more robust capabilities.

List of platforms compared:

1. DronaHQ
2. Zoho Creator
3. Appsmith
4. Retool
5. Tooljet
6. Forest Admin
7. JetAdmin

DronaHQ

DronaHQ

DronaHQ is a low-code platform for building both web and mobile applications, making it a stronger alternative to Budibase for organizations looking for scalability and enterprise-grade security. It offers flexible pricing models, robust automation, and migration support, making it an ideal choice for teams looking for a feature-rich alternative.

Pros:

• Supports both web and mobile application development  
• Extensive customization options using JavaScript 
• Provides a wide range of ready connectors 
• Offers enterprise-level security features, including SSO integration and data encryption
• Enables the creation of rich UI applications with interactive components  
• Three licensing models (user-based, usage-based, developer-based)
• 24/7 dev-on-demand support, ensuring quick resolutions

Cons:

• Too many features can take time to onboard to and fully utilize
• HIPAA compliance only in self-hosted plan
• Limited support for offline-enabled applications

Zoho Creator

Zoho Creator is a no-code platform designed for business users who need to build internal tools without coding. It integrates well with other Zoho products and provides a simple interface for drag-and-drop application building.

Pros:

• Wide range of ready-to-use app templates for quick application development
• Supports customization using Deluge, a simplified scripting language
• Easy to use for non-technical users
• Integrates with the Zoho ecosystem
• Good security and access control features
• Supports mobile applications

Cons:

• Limited customization for complex workflows
• Advanced automation requires scripting knowledge
• Pricing scales with the number of users

Appsmith

Appsmith is a powerful open source Budibase alternative focused on building custom web applications. Being an open source low code platform, it has a strong developer community. It provides a visual interface and pre-built components to simplify the development process. With Appsmith, users can easily connect to data sources, customize functionality using JavaScript, and seamlessly deploy their applications.

Pros:

• Offers an extensive library of pre-built components and templates for rapid app development
• Supports extensive customization using JavaScript for tailored solutions
• Provides a rich UI experience for creating visually appealing web applications
• Collaborative features and version control for team-based development
• Flexible pricing plans and a free tier for different business sizes

Cons:

• Limited mobile app development capabilities compared to other platforms
• Relies on community-driven updates, slowing feature development
• Advanced features may require additional technical expertise
• Not a transparent pricing model and it is hard to predict the final product price

Retool

Retool is a flexible low-code platform that specializes in building internal tools and applications. It caters specifically to developers and technical teams, offering them a faster development process compared to building from scratch.

Pros:

• Intuitive and user-friendly interface for building apps
• Offers ready connectors to popular databases and APIs
• Enables developers to embed custom components and write JavaScript for complex transformations
• Provides easy app deployment with role-based and user-based permissions
• Suitable for building customer or partner-facing tools with controlled sharing

Cons:

• Not ideal for building analytics tools with complex charting requirements
• Pricing is entirely user-based, making it costly for larger teams
• App branding and custom domains are available in higher-priced plans
• Limited support for frontend business logic and offline-enabled applications

Tooljet

Tooljet is an open-source low-code platform for building internal tools and simple applications. It provides a drag-and-drop UI and JavaScript support but is still growing in features.

Pros

• Open-source and self-hosted options
• Customization via JavaScript
• Offers enterprise security features like SSO integration

Cons

• Limited automation capabilities
• No managed infrastructure, requiring additional setup
• Slower feature development compared to proprietary platforms

Builder.ai

Builder.ai is an AI-powered low-code platform that simplifies app development and provides professional app development solutions, catering to various business needs. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools and resources to assist in creating customized applications efficiently.

Pros:

• Comprehensive suite of pre-built features and modules for rapid app development.
• Supports both web and mobile application development.
• AI-driven features for automating repetitive tasks and accelerating development speed.
• Flexible pricing options based on specific project requirements.
• Additional services like app maintenance and support available.

Cons:

• Relatively higher pricing compared to some other low-code platforms.
• Limited customization options for highly specialized functionalities.
• Dependency on third-party services for certain integrations.

Tooljet

Tooljet is a low-code platform focused on productivity and building custom web applications. It is an open-source platform that shares similarities with Retool’s low-code offering. However, users have reported some quality issues with ToolJet.

Pros:

• Intuitive visual interface with drag-and-drop functionality for rapid app development.
• Extensive customization options using JavaScript for tailored solutions.
• Provides a wide range of ready connectors for seamless integration with various data sources.
• Offers enterprise-grade security features and SSO integration.
• Rich UI capabilities for creating visually appealing and interactive applications.

Cons:

• Limited mobile app development capabilities compared to web applications.
• The learning curve may be steep for beginners.
• Pricing plans may be higher compared to some other low-code platforms

Forest Admin

Forest Admin is designed for internal admin panel development, helping businesses manage data, permissions, and processes.

Pros

• Simple interface for internal tool development
• Role-based access and security controls
• Some automation capabilities

Cons

• No support for mobile apps
• No managed infrastructure
• User-based pricing can be expensive at scale

JetAdmin

JetAdmin is a closed-source platform focused on internal app development. It offers different pricing models for internal and external users, which can complicate licensing costs.

Pros

• Pre-built components for quick development
• Enterprise security and access controls
• Documentation and paid support plans

Cons

• No managed database or file storage
• No migration support
• Pricing complexity makes budgeting difficult

Budibase may work well for small teams building simple web applications, but its limited scalability, lack of mobile support, and user-based pricing model make it a poor fit for larger organizations or external-facing applications.

Among the alternatives, DronaHQ stands out as the most versatile—offering web and mobile app development, managed infrastructure, extensive automation, and flexible pricing options. If you’re looking for an enterprise-ready solution with migration support and faster feature releases, DronaHQ is the best option.

For teams focused solely on internal tools, Retool and Appsmith offer strong API integrations and customization, though neither support mobile apps or managed databases.

If your priority is a business-user-friendly no-code experience, Zoho Creator is worth considering, while Tooljet, Forest Admin, and JetAdmin serve more niche use cases.

Choosing the right alternative depends on your specific needs, but for a future-proof, scalable, and well-supported low-code solution, DronaHQ offers the best balance of performance and flexibility.