Best for
Best for operations teams whose departmental processes have outgrown spreadsheets and whose IT department wants governance around whatever replaces them.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
AI App Builders Comparison
Quickbase 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 | Quickbase | Thunkable |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $35 / user / month Team is $35 and Business $55 per user per month, priced annually. Neither figure includes the platform minimum, a base charge on top of the per-user price. All users in an account must be on the same plan. Enterprise is quoted by Quickbase. | lower value 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 | 30-day free trial with the Business plan features | Free plan with 3 public projects, 5 screens per project and no published apps |
| Output | Custom operational applications with tables, forms, reports, dashboards, roles and workflow automation | Native iOS and Android apps plus web apps, published from one project |
| API | Yes, JSON REST APIs; the platform analytics API and solutions API are Enterprise only | Not stated |
| What it generates | Custom operational applications: tables and forms for the data, more than 13 report types and personalised dashboards, roles and permissions, and pipelines for workflow automation. Pave, the AI builder, takes a description of how the work happens today and constructs the application, including data structures with linked records, user roles and permissions, automation and hosting | 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 | There is no framework or language to choose. An application is assembled in Quickbase's own builder and runs on Quickbase's platform, and it is widened rather than swapped: more than 40 pre-built Pipelines integration channels connect it to other systems, and Quickbase Extensions, a paid package, adds document generation, e-signatures, SMS, email notifications and mapping to the same app | Drag-and-drop designer with blocks, plus a built-in code editor for direct edits alongside the AI |
| Auth and database | Quickbase's own tables and linked records, with role-based permissions, encryption, audit logs and data classification. Single sign-on and SCIM provisioning arrive with the Business plan; restricting user creation to realm admins and managing token permissions is 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 | Hosted by Quickbase, with the application ready to use once built. On-premise connectivity and data warehouse integrations are Enterprise features | 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 payment collection or checkout of its own, and none is documented for the apps built on it: these are internal operational applications rather than customer-facing products. Money stays in the systems Quickbase connects to, through the financial software category among the 40+ pre-built Pipelines channels or through the JSON REST APIs | Yes, in-app purchases through RevenueCat, plus AdMob for advertising |
| Access to the code | Code pages let a builder add custom HTML, CSS or JavaScript to an app and surface it through a button, a hyperlink, a formula URL field or an iframe; JSON REST APIs cover programmatic access | 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 | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Email helpdesk, Community forum | Chat, Community forum |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Live online demos and webinars | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | Salesforce, Jira, ServiceNow, Procore | more entries 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 Quickbase From $35 / user / month Thunkable Free plan; paid from $18 / month
- Free trial Quickbase 30-day free trial with the Business plan features Thunkable Free plan with 3 public projects, 5 screens per project and no published apps
- Company size Quickbase Small and mid-sized, Enterprise Thunkable Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Support Quickbase Email helpdesk, Community forum Thunkable Chat, Community forum
- Output Quickbase Custom operational applications with tables, forms, reports, dashboards, roles and workflow automation Thunkable Native iOS and Android apps plus web apps, published from one project
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Quickbase
Strengths
- Pave builds a working app, data model and permissions included, from a description of the existing process
- Governance is part of the platform: roles and permissions, encryption, audit logs and data classification
- No-code connectors to Salesforce, Jira and ServiceNow, plus JSON REST APIs
- Code pages allow custom HTML, CSS and JavaScript where the no-code builder stops
- Quickbase states that customer data is not used to train the AI
Limitations
- The published per-user price excludes a platform minimum that is not published, so the real cost needs a quote
- AI capability beyond Pave, namely the AI agent, Data Analyzer and AI Actions, is a paid Intelligence Package add-on
- Single sign-on, SCIM provisioning, a sandbox and FDA and HIPAA compliance require the Business plan
- All users in an account must be on the same plan, so one requirement can lift the whole account a tier
- Platform analytics and solutions APIs are restricted to Enterprise
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
Quickbase
- Free trial $0 30 days with the Business plan features.
- Team $35 Per user per month, priced annually, on top of a platform minimum. Personalised dashboards, 13+ report types, workflow automation, user and data security, encryption and audit logs. The AI Intelligence Package is an optional add-on.
- Business $55 Per user per month, priced annually, on top of a platform minimum. Everything in Team plus single sign-on, SCIM provisioning, Gantt charts, a sandbox and FDA and HIPAA compliance. Quickbase Extensions and the AI Intelligence Package are optional add-ons.
- Enterprise Custom Quoted by Quickbase. Everything in Team and Business plus advanced performance tools, advanced encryption, on-premise connectivity, data warehouse integrations, the platform analytics and solutions APIs, and the extensions and AI add-ons.
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
Quickbase
- 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
Quickbase https://www.quickbase.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.