Best for
Best for operations teams automating forms, approvals and internal requests, self-hosted or in the cloud.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
AI App Builders Comparison
Budibase vs. Mendix
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for enterprise IT organisations that want AI-generated applications as governed visual models and the freedom to run them on their own cloud or servers.
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Budibase | Mendix |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | 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. | lower value Free tier; Standard from $1,090 / month The Standard tier is $1,090 / month for a One App plan and $2,725 / month for Unlimited Apps. Cloud resources are charged on top of the subscription in both cases. Premium is quoted by the vendor. |
| Free trial | Free self-hosted open-source edition | Free tier with no commitment and no credit card required |
| Output | Internal apps, forms, automations and AI agents | Enterprise web and mobile applications and AI agents, built as visual models executed by the Mendix Runtime |
| API | Not stated | Yes, apps publish REST services with OpenAPI documentation and OData or GraphQL services |
| Hosting | Budibase cloud or self-hosted (Docker, Kubernetes, DigitalOcean, Portainer) | Mendix Cloud on AWS, Mendix on Kubernetes, Mendix on Azure, SAP Business Technology Platform, private cloud or on-premise |
| What it generates | Internal operations: forms, approvals, task routing and admin tools, plus automations and AI agents that act across connected systems | Enterprise web and mobile applications, AI agents and orchestrated processes. Maia is the agentic AI built into the platform, and Maia Make executes multi-step development autonomously from requirements to working software, generating into visual models rather than raw code |
| Stack and frameworks | 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 | An application model built in Studio Pro and executed by the Mendix Runtime, not a generated source tree. Custom logic is added through Java Actions and JavaScript Actions |
| Auth and database | 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 | Apps deployed to Mendix Cloud run on PostgreSQL and cannot be configured to use another database; self-managed deployments support MySQL and MariaDB, Oracle, SAP HANA and SQL Server |
| Hosting and deploy | Budibase cloud, or self-hosted with Docker, Docker Compose, Kubernetes, DigitalOcean or Portainer | Mendix Cloud on AWS in multiple regions, with at least an acceptance and a production environment per licensed node and daily backups kept up to a year depending on the plan. Also Mendix on Kubernetes, Mendix on Azure, SAP BTP, private cloud and on-premise. Free apps sleep after roughly an hour of inactivity, run a single instance and get 0.5 GiB of database storage |
| Payments | No built-in payments; a payment provider is reached through a REST datasource like any other API | No payment handling in the platform itself. A provider is added from the Marketplace, where Mendix publishes a Stripe Checkout Connector and partners publish further Stripe and Adyen integrations |
| Access to the code | 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 | The artefact is a visual application model rather than a repository of hand-written source; custom Java and JavaScript enter as Java Actions and JavaScript Actions |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise |
| Support | Email helpdesk, Community forum | more entries Email helpdesk, Phone, Community forum |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Live online demos and webinars, On-site training |
| Company size | more entries Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Enterprise |
| Integrations | more entries PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, REST API, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, OpenRouter, Groq | AWS, SAP, Siemens Teamcenter, Stripe |
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 Budibase Free self-hosted; cloud from $19 / month Mendix Free tier; Standard from $1,090 / month
- Free trial Budibase Free self-hosted open-source edition Mendix Free tier with no commitment and no credit card required
- Company size Budibase Small and mid-sized, Enterprise Mendix Enterprise
- Hosting Budibase Budibase cloud or self-hosted (Docker, Kubernetes, DigitalOcean, Portainer) Mendix Mendix Cloud on AWS, Mendix on Kubernetes, Mendix on Azure, SAP Business Technology Platform, private cloud or on-premise
- Support Budibase Email helpdesk, Community forum Mendix Email helpdesk, Phone, Community forum
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
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
Mendix
Strengths
- Free tier with unlimited users and one environment per app, no credit card and no commitment
- Runs on public cloud, private cloud, Kubernetes or on-premise, unlike most tools in this category
- Bring your own LLM, whether frontier, open-source or private, and connect existing data without migrating it
- Apps publish REST with OpenAPI documentation as well as OData and GraphQL services
- Backed by Siemens and named a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader for enterprise low-code nine years running
Limitations
- The step from the free tier to Standard is $1,090 / month, with no small paid plan in between
- Cloud resources are billed on top of the subscription, so the listed price is not the total
- Standard support runs 9 AM to 5 PM with a 99.5 percent uptime guarantee; 24/7 support, high availability and multi-region failover need the quoted Premium tier
- Free apps sleep after about an hour of inactivity and are capped at 0.5 GiB of database storage
- Apps deployed to Mendix Cloud are locked to PostgreSQL
Plans
Pricing
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.
Mendix
- Free $0 No hidden fees, no commitment, no credit card. Full platform access for exploration, prototypes and small applications, unlimited users, one deployment environment per app.
- Standard, One App $1,090 Per month, starting price, cloud resources extra. Agile project management, collaborative multi-user development, up to 3 environments per app, operations dashboard, identity provider integration, vertical scalability, support 9 AM to 5 PM and a 99.5 percent uptime guarantee.
- Standard, Unlimited Apps $2,725 Per month, starting price, cloud resources extra. The same platform capabilities as the One App plan; the difference is scope, not features.
- Premium Custom Quoted by the vendor, cloud resources extra. Adds a private marketplace, flexible environments, horizontal scalability, high availability and fallback, multi-region failover, 24/7 premium support and a 99.95 percent uptime guarantee.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
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.
Mendix
- 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
Budibase https://budibase.com · no check date recorded yet
Mendix https://www.mendix.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-06
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.