Best for
Best for engineering teams that want self-hosted internal tools with the source under an open licence.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
AI App Builders Comparison
Appsmith vs. Budibase
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for operations teams automating forms, approvals and internal requests, self-hosted or in the cloud.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Appsmith | Budibase |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | lower value Free; Business $15 / user / month Business is billed monthly by credit card for up to 99 users. Enterprise starts at $2,500 per month from 100 users and is usually billed annually. The self-hosted community edition is free. | Free self-hosted; cloud from $19 / month Cloud on annual billing: Pro $19, Premium $49 and Business $299 per month. On monthly billing that becomes $22.80, $58.80 and $358.80. Extra creators $50 and end users $5 per month. Enterprise on request. |
| Free trial | Free plan for up to 5 users, plus a 15-day Business trial for new cloud signups | Free self-hosted open-source edition |
| Output | Internal web apps: admin panels, dashboards and service tools | Internal apps, forms, automations and AI agents |
| Hosting | Appsmith cloud or self-hosted (Docker, Kubernetes, AWS AMI) | Budibase cloud or self-hosted (Docker, Kubernetes, DigitalOcean, Portainer) |
| What it generates | Internal tools: admin panels, dashboards, customer 360 views and IT or service-management apps, assembled from a widget library | Internal operations: forms, approvals, task routing and admin tools, plus automations and AI agents that act across connected systems |
| Stack and frameworks | Drag-and-drop widgets with JavaScript available in every binding; an in-product AI copilot helps write queries, JavaScript and interface changes rather than generating a whole app from a prompt | Visual builder with automations; AI generates JavaScript bindings, cron expressions and table schemas from a written description rather than building a whole app from a prompt |
| Auth and database | 25+ databases (PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, Snowflake, Redshift, DynamoDB, Databricks), REST and GraphQL, and 30+ SaaS connectors; Google SSO on the free plan, SAML and OIDC SSO with SCIM provisioning on Enterprise | Internal BudibaseDB built on CouchDB, plus external SQL databases such as PostgreSQL and Microsoft SQL Server, REST APIs and custom datasource plugins; app users sign in with OpenID Connect or Google |
| Hosting and deploy | Appsmith cloud, or self-hosted with Docker, Kubernetes or an AWS AMI; an air-gapped edition on Enterprise | Budibase cloud, or self-hosted with Docker, Docker Compose, Kubernetes, DigitalOcean or Portainer |
| Payments | No built-in payments; Stripe is one of the SaaS connectors an app can call | No built-in payments; a payment provider is reached through a REST datasource like any other API |
| Access to the code | Apache 2.0 and self-hostable, with Git version control against GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket or Azure: 3 repositories on the free plan, unlimited on Business | Open source: GPL v3 core, MPL client and component libraries so apps built with it can carry their own licence, and a Business Source Licence on the paid features |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise |
| Support | more entries Email helpdesk, Chat, Community forum | Email helpdesk, Community forum |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | more entries PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, Snowflake, Redshift, DynamoDB, Elasticsearch, Redis, Firestore, Databricks, Amazon S3, Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, Jira, Asana, Notion, Google Sheets, Airtable, Stripe, monday.com, Linear, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI | PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, REST API, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, OpenRouter, Groq |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price Appsmith Free; Business $15 / user / month Budibase Free self-hosted; cloud from $19 / month
- Free trial Appsmith Free plan for up to 5 users, plus a 15-day Business trial for new cloud signups Budibase Free self-hosted open-source edition
- Hosting Appsmith Appsmith cloud or self-hosted (Docker, Kubernetes, AWS AMI) Budibase Budibase cloud or self-hosted (Docker, Kubernetes, DigitalOcean, Portainer)
- Support Appsmith Email helpdesk, Chat, Community forum Budibase Email helpdesk, Community forum
- Output Appsmith Internal web apps: admin panels, dashboards and service tools Budibase Internal apps, forms, automations and AI agents
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Appsmith
Strengths
- Apache 2.0 licence with a free self-hosted community edition
- Connects to 25+ databases plus REST, GraphQL and 30+ SaaS services
- Git version control, including on the free plan
Limitations
- AI assists the person building rather than generating a whole app from a prompt
- Enterprise starts at $2,500 a month and 100 users
- SAML and OIDC SSO and SCIM provisioning are Enterprise-only
Budibase
Strengths
- Free self-hosted edition with unlimited actions, apps, agents and users, SSO included
- AI agents deploy into Slack, Microsoft Teams and Discord
- Choice of AI provider: Budibase AI, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, OpenRouter or Groq
Limitations
- Cloud plans below Business include only one creator, with extra creators at $50 a month
- Cloud usage is metered in actions and AI credits, so cost tracks volume
- AI assists with parts of an app rather than generating one from a prompt
Plans
Pricing
Appsmith
- Free $0 Cloud, up to 5 users: 5 workspaces, 3 Git repositories, Google SSO, community support.
- Business $15 Per user per month, billed monthly, up to 99 users. Adds unlimited workspaces and Git repositories, workflows, premium integrations, custom roles and audit logs.
- Enterprise $2,500 Per month from 100 users, typically billed annually. Adds SAML and OIDC SSO, SCIM, CI/CD, private app embedding, an air-gapped edition and support with SLAs.
- Community (self-hosted) $0 Open source under Apache 2.0, self-hosted.
Budibase
- Pro $19 Per month on annual billing ($22.80 monthly). 5,000 actions and 2,000 AI credits a month, 1 creator, 1 workspace.
- Premium $49 Per month on annual billing ($58.80 monthly). 20,000 actions, 10,000 AI credits, 10 workspaces, custom branding, backups and SSO.
- Business $299 Per month on annual billing ($358.80 monthly). 250,000 actions, 50,000 AI credits, 3 creators, unlimited workspaces, 30-day log retention, email support.
- Enterprise Custom Quoted by the vendor. Unlimited actions, Active Directory and SCIM, audit logs, 365-day log retention and priority support with SLAs.
- Open source (self-hosted) $0 Unlimited actions, apps, automations, agents and users on one workspace, SSO included, community support.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Appsmith
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Budibase
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Appsmith https://www.appsmith.com · no check date recorded yet
Budibase https://budibase.com · no check date recorded yet
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.