Best for
Best for enterprise IT teams that want AI-generated applications inside a governed low-code platform with its own architecture guard rails.
- Enterprise
AI App Builders Comparison
OutSystems 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 | OutSystems | Thunkable |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free Personal Edition; OutSystems Developer Cloud quoted by the vendor ODC is metered on three things: application complexity in Application Objects, which is the sum of screens, database tables and API methods, with a typical medium app around 150 AOs; the number of internal and external end users; and advanced add-ons. A base subscription starts with one medium production application and 100 internal users. | 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 Personal Edition, no credit card required, for up to 100 internal users | Free plan with 3 public projects, 5 screens per project and no published apps |
| Output | Full-stack enterprise web and mobile applications with data model, server-side logic and UI screens | Native iOS and Android apps plus web apps, published from one project |
| API | Yes, API-first with CI/CD APIs and APIs for uploading external libraries | Not stated |
| Hosting | OutSystems Cloud on AWS; self-hosting is available as an advanced add-on | Not stated |
| What it generates | Full-stack enterprise applications: Mentor generates the data model, server-side logic and UI screens from a natural language prompt or an uploaded requirements document, shows a visual blueprint before building, and then evolves the app through conversation inside the IDE with human sign-off on each implementation plan | 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 | .NET Core on Linux containers, each application isolated in its own container, orchestrated with Kubernetes on AWS; developers extend apps with custom .NET code uploaded as high-code external libraries, whose methods are exposed to the visual editor as server actions | Drag-and-drop designer with blocks, plus a built-in code editor for direct edits alongside the AI |
| Auth and database | Amazon Aurora Serverless with PostgreSQL compatibility as the managed database; ISO 27001 compliance is included and SOC 2 Type II and PCI DSS are advanced add-ons | Local tables, Google Sheets, Airtable, Webflow, the Firebase Realtime Database and Cloudinary; user sign-in through the Firebase Authentication REST API |
| Hosting and deploy | OutSystems Cloud with development, testing and production runtimes and a 99.5 percent uptime guarantee, upgradeable to 99.95 percent; extra runtimes and a self-hosted option are advanced add-ons. Built-in CI/CD pipelines with monitoring, tracing and logging | 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 checkout of its own; payment providers are integrated through components from the OutSystems Forge, including Stripe connectors for both ODC and OutSystems 11 that handle charges, customers and refunds, and a payments plugin covering Apple Pay, Google Pay and Stripe | Yes, in-app purchases through RevenueCat, plus AdMob for advertising |
| Access to the code | Applications are built visually rather than in a repository of hand-written source; custom C# and .NET logic enters as external libraries uploaded through the SDK and APIs, decorated so their methods surface as server actions | 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 | Email helpdesk, Community forum | Chat, Community forum |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Enterprise | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | Not stated | 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 OutSystems Free Personal Edition; OutSystems Developer Cloud quoted by the vendor Thunkable Free plan; paid from $18 / month
- Free trial OutSystems Free Personal Edition, no credit card required, for up to 100 internal users Thunkable Free plan with 3 public projects, 5 screens per project and no published apps
- Deployment OutSystems Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise Thunkable Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
- Company size OutSystems Enterprise Thunkable Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Support OutSystems Email helpdesk, 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
OutSystems
Strengths
- Mentor generates a complete application, data model and server logic included, from a requirements document rather than only from a chat prompt
- Shows a visual blueprint and asks for sign-off before applying changes, instead of building unseen
- Runs on containerised .NET Core with Kubernetes, managed Aurora PostgreSQL and built-in CI/CD, monitoring and tracing
- Free Personal Edition for up to 100 internal users needs no credit card
- Self-hosting is available, unlike most tools in this category
Limitations
- No published prices at all, so every evaluation starts with a sales conversation
- Pricing is metered on Application Objects and user counts, which makes cost hard to predict as an app grows
- The Personal Edition is a development runtime only and cannot run production apps
- Self-hosting, 24x7 support, higher uptime and SOC 2 or PCI DSS compliance are all paid add-ons rather than part of the base subscription
- Base support is 8x5 business hours
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
OutSystems
- OutSystems Personal Edition $0 Free, no credit card required. Development runtime only, up to 100 internal users, hosted on OutSystems Cloud. For test applications, not production, and with no uptime guarantee or compliance options.
- OutSystems Developer Cloud Custom Quoted by the vendor, priced on application complexity in Application Objects, end user counts and add-ons. Includes development, testing and production runtimes, professional support 8x5, OutSystems Cloud hosting, a 99.5 percent uptime guarantee and ISO 27001. Starts with 100 internal users and one medium-sized application.
- Advanced add-ons Custom 24x7 professional support, additional non-production and production runtimes, a self-hosted option, a 99.95 percent uptime upgrade, SOC 2 Type II and PCI DSS compliance, and additional users or larger applications.
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
OutSystems
- 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
OutSystems https://www.outsystems.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.