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
AI App Builders Comparison
Mendix vs. Softr
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for teams building client portals and internal tools on top of existing data without writing code.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Mendix | Softr |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | 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; paid plans from $19 / month Rates on annual billing: Basic $19, Pro $99 and Business $329 per month, Enterprise on request. Nonprofit and educational organizations get 50 percent off. |
| Free trial | Free tier with no commitment and no credit card required | Free plan |
| Output | Enterprise web and mobile applications and AI agents, built as visual models executed by the Mendix Runtime | Business web apps and portals (PWA for mobile) |
| API | Yes, apps publish REST services with OpenAPI documentation and OData or GraphQL services | Not stated |
| Hosting | Mendix Cloud on AWS, Mendix on Kubernetes, Mendix on Azure, SAP Business Technology Platform, private cloud or on-premise | Not stated |
| What it generates | 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 | Business apps: client portals, internal tools, CRMs, dashboards, intranets and inventory systems |
| Stack and frameworks | 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 | No-code, block-based builder with no generated code to manage |
| Auth and database | 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 | Native database or 15+ external sources (Airtable, Google Sheets, Notion, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Supabase, HubSpot); email/password, magic link, Google and SSO login with user groups and permissions |
| Hosting and deploy | 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 | Published to a Softr URL or a custom domain, with SOC 2 Type II and GDPR compliance |
| Payments | 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 | Stripe, to sell digital products and sync purchase data |
| Access to the code | 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 | No code access, visual editing and vibe coding only |
| Deployment | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | more entries Email helpdesk, Phone, Community forum | Community forum |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Live online demos and webinars, On-site training | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Enterprise | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | AWS, SAP, Siemens Teamcenter, Stripe | more entries Airtable, Google Sheets, Notion, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Supabase, HubSpot, monday.com, ClickUp, Xero, Stripe, Make, Zapier |
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 Mendix Free tier; Standard from $1,090 / month Softr Free; paid plans from $19 / month
- Free trial Mendix Free tier with no commitment and no credit card required Softr Free plan
- Deployment Mendix Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise Softr Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
- Company size Mendix Enterprise Softr Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Support Mendix Email helpdesk, Phone, Community forum Softr Community forum
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
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
Softr
Strengths
- Turns a prompt into a full app: database, pages, user groups and navigation
- Connects to 15+ data sources with two-way sync (Airtable, Google Sheets, Supabase and more)
- Built-in auth, user groups and permissions, with SSO and SOC 2 Type II
Limitations
- No access to the underlying code
- Mobile is delivered as a PWA, not a native app
- Focused on business apps and portals rather than consumer apps
Plans
Pricing
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.
Softr
- Free $0
- Basic $19 Per month on annual billing.
- Pro $99 Per month on annual billing.
- Business $329 Per month on annual billing.
- Enterprise Custom Quoted by the vendor.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
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.
Softr
- 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
Mendix https://www.mendix.com · checked against the official source on 2026-09-06
Softr https://www.softr.io · 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.