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. Xano
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for teams building a scalable backend and API without managing servers, with the frontend built elsewhere.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Mendix | Xano |
|---|---|---|
| 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 tier; paid from $85 / month Prices are billed annually: Essential $85 and Pro $224 per month. Custom plans are quoted by the vendor. |
| Free trial | Free tier with no commitment and no credit card required | Free tier with rate limits, up to 100K database records and 1 workspace |
| Output | Enterprise web and mobile applications and AI agents, built as visual models executed by the Mendix Runtime | Backends: PostgreSQL databases, REST APIs, background tasks and agent tooling |
| API | Yes, apps publish REST services with OpenAPI documentation and OData or GraphQL services | Yes, the platform's purpose is generating APIs, with autogenerated OpenAPI docs and an MCP server |
| Hosting | Mendix Cloud on AWS, Mendix on Kubernetes, Mendix on Azure, SAP Business Technology Platform, private cloud or on-premise | Xano-managed regions or self-hosted on Azure, AWS, GCP or on-premise |
| 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 | The backend rather than the whole app: database, REST APIs, custom functions, middleware, background tasks and triggers, with the frontend left to another tool |
| 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 | PostgreSQL with Redis caching and Docker microservices; logic is built visually or written as XanoScript, which the CLI syncs to files on disk; works with React, Next.js, Flutter, Webflow, Framer and AI-generated frontends from Lovable and Bolt |
| 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 | PostgreSQL with unlimited records from the Essential tier; authentication endpoints (/signup, /login, /me) ship by default on JWE tokens, with role-based access control and enterprise SSO through GitHub, Google and Microsoft |
| 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 | Xano-managed hosting across multiple regions, or self-hosted on Azure, AWS, GCP or on-premise; releases are immutable versioned objects promoted through staging |
| 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 | Not stated |
| 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 | XanoScript is readable and editable, and the CLI syncs the workspace to files on disk; APIs carry autogenerated OpenAPI documentation |
| MCP-ready | No | stated Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise |
| Support | more entries Email helpdesk, Phone, Community forum | Chat, Community forum |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Live online demos and webinars, On-site training | Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials |
| Company size | Enterprise | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | AWS, SAP, Siemens Teamcenter, Stripe | more entries Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Lovable, Bolt.new, Webflow, Framer, Flutter, Datadog |
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 Xano Free tier; paid from $85 / month
- Free trial Mendix Free tier with no commitment and no credit card required Xano Free tier with rate limits, up to 100K database records and 1 workspace
- Company size Mendix Enterprise Xano Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Hosting Mendix Mendix Cloud on AWS, Mendix on Kubernetes, Mendix on Azure, SAP Business Technology Platform, private cloud or on-premise Xano Xano-managed regions or self-hosted on Azure, AWS, GCP or on-premise
- Support Mendix Email helpdesk, Phone, Community forum Xano 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
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
Xano
Strengths
- Self-hosting on Azure, AWS, GCP or on-premise, not only the vendor's cloud
- Frontend-agnostic: pairs with React, Flutter, Webflow, Framer, Lovable or Bolt rather than dictating one
- An official MCP server, so external AI agents build against the same workspace rules
Limitations
- The first paid tier is $85 a month, a steep step up from the free one
- It builds only the backend, so a second tool is needed for the interface
- The free tier is rate-limited to 10 requests per 20 seconds and watermarks stored images
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.
Xano
- Free $0 Core building tools, rate-limited to 10 requests per 20 seconds. Up to 100K database records, 1GB watermarked image storage, 1 workspace.
- Essential $85 Per month billed annually. Dedicated infrastructure without API rate limits, unlimited database records, 3 workspaces, 5 team seats, 100GB storage.
- Pro $224 Per month billed annually. 5 workspaces, 10 team seats, 250GB storage, managed load balancer, role management, 99.99% SLA.
- Custom Custom Quoted by the vendor. Self-hosting, advanced security, multiple tenant configurations and dedicated support.
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.
Xano
- 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
Xano https://www.xano.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.