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. Thunkable
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for solo makers and small teams that want to describe a mobile app, then refine it visually or in code and publish it to both stores.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Appsmith | Thunkable |
|---|---|---|
| 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 plan; paid from $18 / month Billed yearly; billed monthly the same plans cost $19, $59 and $189. Every plan carries a monthly AI token allowance, from 2,000 on Free to 100,000 on Advanced. Enterprise and education plans are quoted on request. |
| Free trial | Free plan for up to 5 users, plus a 15-day Business trial for new cloud signups | Free plan with 3 public projects, 5 screens per project and no published apps |
| Output | Internal web apps: admin panels, dashboards and service tools | Native iOS and Android apps plus web apps, published from one project |
| Hosting | Appsmith cloud or self-hosted (Docker, Kubernetes, AWS AMI) | Not stated |
| What it generates | Internal tools: admin panels, dashboards, customer 360 views and IT or service-management apps, assembled from a widget library | Native iOS and Android apps plus web apps, generated from a written description by the AI Builder and then editable screen by screen |
| 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 | Drag-and-drop designer with blocks, plus a built-in code editor for direct edits alongside the AI |
| 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 | Local tables, Google Sheets, Airtable, Webflow, the Firebase Realtime Database and Cloudinary; user sign-in through the Firebase Authentication REST API |
| Hosting and deploy | Appsmith cloud, or self-hosted with Docker, Kubernetes or an AWS AMI; an air-gapped edition on Enterprise | Published from the platform to the Apple App Store, Google Play and the web on a custom domain, with TestFlight for iOS beta builds |
| Payments | No built-in payments; Stripe is one of the SaaS connectors an app can call | Yes, in-app purchases through RevenueCat, plus AdMob for advertising |
| 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 | Compiled builds rather than a repository: downloading an Android app sends an APK by email, and publishing sends an AAB to upload to the Play Store. No source-code export or Git sync is documented, so edits stay in the builder |
| Deployment | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | more entries Email helpdesk, Chat, Community forum | Chat, Community forum |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | more entries Freelancers, 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 | Firebase, Google Sheets, Airtable, Webflow, Cloudinary, OpenAI, Google Maps, Google Translate, RevenueCat, AdMob, OneSignal |
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 Thunkable Free plan; paid from $18 / month
- Free trial Appsmith Free plan for up to 5 users, plus a 15-day Business trial for new cloud signups Thunkable Free plan with 3 public projects, 5 screens per project and no published apps
- Deployment Appsmith Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise Thunkable Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
- Company size Appsmith Small and mid-sized, Enterprise Thunkable Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Support Appsmith Email helpdesk, Chat, Community forum Thunkable Chat, Community forum
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
Thunkable
Strengths
- AI Builder turns a written description into a working, fully editable project
- One project publishes to iOS, Android and the web
- Visual blocks and a built-in code editor sit side by side, so edits are not limited to prompting
- Documented data sources and integrations cover Firebase, Google Sheets, Airtable, OpenAI, RevenueCat and more
Limitations
- The free plan has no private projects and no published apps
- Every plan meters AI use by token allowance
- Live published apps are capped below the Advanced plan
- Private projects fall back to read-only if the subscription lapses
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.
Thunkable
- Free $0 2,000 AI tokens per month, 3 public projects, 5 screens per project. No private projects and no published apps.
- Accelerator $18 Per month, billed yearly ($19 billed monthly). 20,000 AI tokens, 5 public and 1 private project, 10 screens per project.
- Builder $37 Per month, billed yearly ($59 billed monthly). 50,000 AI tokens, unlimited public projects, 10 private projects, unlimited screens, 1 live published app, custom branding.
- Advanced $99 Per month, billed yearly ($189 billed monthly). 100,000 AI tokens, unlimited private projects and unlimited live published apps, priority support.
- Enterprise Not stated Quoted on request, for teams. A separate education plan covers students, teachers and districts.
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.
Thunkable
- 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
Thunkable https://thunkable.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-12
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.