Comparison · AI app builders
Base44 vs UI Bakery
Both will build you an app from a prompt. They're aimed at different jobs, and the biggest difference is where your data ends up living.
An independent view
We're not partners of Base44 or UI Bakery, and we don't build with either. We get hired to check and fix what these tools produce, which means we see the parts that don't show up in a demo: the permissions, the data model, and what happens when you try to leave.
Everything below about prices and features was checked on each company's own website on 15 October 2026. Both change often, so check again before you buy.
Base44 vs UI Bakery, compared
| Base44 | UI Bakery | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | AI app builder: describe an app and it builds the whole thing | Internal tool builder with two modes: drag-and-drop low-code, or AI generation from a prompt |
| Best at | New apps and prototypes, including customer-facing ones | Admin panels, dashboards and staff tools over existing data |
| Where the data lives | Base44's own managed database | Your database (Postgres, MySQL, MS SQL, MongoDB and others) or APIs, or a UI Bakery hosted database |
| Logins | Built in, run by Base44 | Built in, with roles; SSO on Enterprise |
| Hosting | Base44's cloud only | UI Bakery's cloud, or self-hosted on your own servers |
| Getting the code out | GitHub sync on Builder plan and above; the app still relies on Base44's backend | App export on Builder and self-hosted plans; React code editable in AI mode |
| How it's priced | Per account, by AI message credits | Per developer (people who edit apps); viewers included up to a limit |
| Paid plans from | $16 a month (Starter, billed yearly) | $20 per developer a month (Builder, billed yearly) |
| Owned by | Wix, since mid-2025 | Independent company |
Prices in US dollars before tax, from base44.com/pricing and uibakery.io/pricing on 15 October 2026.
Base44: everything decided for you
Base44 is the most hands-off tool in this category. You describe the app, and it builds the screens, the database, the logins, file storage and hosting in one go. You never have to choose a database or set up authentication, which removes the two things that most often stop a non-technical founder entirely.
The catch is the same thing seen from the other side. Those decisions were made for you, and the security of your app lives in Base44's entity permissions rather than in code you can read. We regularly find permissions set wider than the screens suggest, so one user can reach records the interface never shows them.
Leaving is harder than it looks. On the Builder plan and above you can sync the code to GitHub, but the exported app still calls Base44's backend for its data and logins. You get the code; the running system stays on Base44.
Pricing (billed yearly): Free with 25 message credits a month and up to 5 apps; Starter $16 a month; Builder $40; Pro $80; Elite $160. Paying monthly costs about 20% more. SSO is on custom Enterprise pricing only.
More on what we look for in a Base44 app audit.
UI Bakery: a front end for data you already own
UI Bakery comes from the internal tools world, alongside Retool and Appsmith. You can build visually with tables, forms and charts, or use its AI mode to generate an app from a prompt and then edit the React code directly. Either way, it usually connects to a database or API you already run.
That changes the risk. Your schema was designed by someone on purpose, so the data-modelling problems that dog the app generators mostly don't apply. What matters instead is the query layer: UI Bakery holds a privileged connection to your database, and the permissions decide who can run which queries through it.
The other big difference is hosting. UI Bakery offers self-hosted plans, including a free one, so the tool and the data can both stay on your own servers. For businesses with data that can't leave the building, that settles the question on its own.
Pricing (per developer, billed yearly): Free with trial AI credits; Builder $20 a month; Team $35 a month, which adds audit logs; Enterprise on request for SSO and more than 50 viewers. Self-hosted Free and Team plans are also available.
More on what we look for in a UI Bakery app audit.
Which one should you use?
Choose Base44 if
You're starting from nothing, you have no database yet, you want a working app in front of people this week, and you're happy for Base44 to run the backend for the foreseeable future.
Choose UI Bakery if
You need a staff tool over data you already have, your team includes someone comfortable with databases, or the data has to stay on your own servers.
Think twice about either if
The app will hold customers' personal data, take payments, or become the system your business runs on. Both can do it, but someone needs to check the permissions properly first.
Consider neither if
You already know you'll outgrow it, or you need to own the whole system outright. Sometimes a properly built app is cheaper over three years than a platform you'll have to leave.
What people ask
Base44 builds a whole new app from a prompt and runs the database, logins and hosting for you. UI Bakery builds internal tools, by drag-and-drop or AI, usually on top of a database or API you already have, and can be self-hosted.
For one person, Base44 starts lower at $16 a month billed yearly, against $20 per developer for UI Bakery Builder. UI Bakery charges per developer, so it costs more as your build team grows, while Base44 costs more as you use more AI credits. Both have free plans. Prices checked 15 October 2026.
UI Bakery, yes: it has self-hosted Free, Team and Enterprise plans. Base44 runs on its own cloud only. You can export Base44 code to GitHub on the Builder plan and above, but the app still relies on Base44's backend for data and logins.
UI Bakery, in most cases. It was built for admin panels and staff tools over existing data, with roles, audit logs on the Team plan and a self-hosted option. Base44 can build an internal tool, but it keeps the data in its own database rather than yours.
Base44, usually. It is designed to take a non-technical founder from an idea to a hosted, multi-user app quickly. Check the entity permissions before real customers sign up, because that is where Base44 apps most often go wrong.
No. We are independent and do not build with either tool. We audit and fix apps built on them, and help people move off them when that genuinely makes sense.
Talk to us about your Base44 or UI Bakery app
Tell us what you have built, or are about to, and we'll tell you what to check.
We are independent of both tools. We check permissions, data and the exit route, fix what needs fixing, and tell you straight if the platform is doing the job fine as it is.
What we will cover:
- Whether your permissions match what you intended
- What leaving would involve, if it ever came to it
- Which tool suits what you are building
- What a fix or rebuild would cost
Rather talk now? Book a call or ring 01474 639 089.
We reply within one working day.
