A low-code app builder lets you assemble working business apps, such as approval flows, inventory trackers, admin panels and customer portals, from visual components and connectors, adding code only where you need it. For most companies the right choice follows the stack they already pay for: Microsoft Power Apps if you run on Microsoft 365, Zoho Creator if you run on Zoho, and Retool or Appsmith if engineers are building internal tools on top of your own databases.
Pricing is where these platforms differ most. Retool charges $10 a month per builder and $5 per internal user on its Team plan, Power Apps Premium charges $20 for every user and rises to $22 in January 2027, and Mendix starts at €918 a month for a single app. The same 55-person team can cost $100 a month on one platform and nearly $2,000 on another.
TL;DR: Which Low-Code App Builder Platforms to Shortlist
| Your situation | Shortlist | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Company runs on Microsoft 365 | Power Apps | Uses your existing Microsoft sign-in, SharePoint and Dataverse |
| Company runs on Zoho | Zoho Creator | Full business app platform at $8 a user |
| Company runs on Google Workspace | AppSheet | Core is included in most paid Workspace plans |
| Small budget, a few developers | UI Bakery or ToolJet | From $20 per developer, with app users included |
| Engineers building internal tools on your databases | Retool or Appsmith | SQL and API first, with code where you need it |
| Data must stay on your own servers | Budibase or Appsmith | Free, open-source self-hosted editions |
| Operations teams replacing spreadsheets | Airtable, Quickbase or Glide | Built for non-developers working from shared data |
| Large IT portfolio with governance needs | OutSystems or Mendix | Enterprise low-code with full lifecycle management |
Low-Code App Builders Compared
| Platform | Free option | Paid from | Pricing model | Self-host | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Power Apps | Developer plan for learning | $20/user/month (Premium) | Every user | No | Microsoft 365 companies |
| Zoho Creator | Free edition, one app | $8/user/month (annual) | Every user | No | Zoho customers and SMBs |
| Retool | Up to 5 users | $10/builder + $5/internal user | Builders and users priced separately | Enterprise only | Developer-built internal tools |
| Appsmith | Up to 5 cloud users; open-source edition | $15/user/month | Every user, up to 99 on Business | Yes | Open-source internal tools |
| Budibase | Open-source self-hosted, unlimited users | $299/month (Cloud) | Platform fee | Yes | Self-hosted process apps |
| Quickbase | 30-day trial | $35/user/month (annual) | Every user, plus platform minimum | No | Operations-heavy businesses |
| Airtable | Up to 5 editors | $20/seat/month (annual) | Per seat | No | Teams replacing spreadsheets |
| Glide | Free plan | $19/month (Explorer, annual) | Plan plus usage | No | Simple data apps for ops teams |
| Google AppSheet | Free for up to 10 test users | $5/user/month (Starter) | Every user | No | Google Workspace companies |
| UI Bakery | Free, unlimited public app users | $20/developer/month (annual) | Developers, 50 view seats included | Yes | Budget internal tools |
| ToolJet | 2 builders, 50 end users; open-source edition | $23/builder/month (annual) | Builders, end users capped by plan | Yes | Open-source internal tools on a budget |
| Mendix | Free for one app | €918/month (one app) | Per app plus users | Yes, at extra cost | Enterprise app portfolios |
| OutSystems | Personal Edition | Quote only | Custom | Quote | Enterprise apps and AI agents |
Pricing as of November 2026, in US dollars unless stated. Low-code vendors change plans often, so check the pricing page in your region before you buy.
What a 5-Builder, 50-User Internal App Costs
Monthly cost for a typical internal tool: 5 people building apps and 50 employees using them, on annual billing.
| Platform and plan | Monthly cost | How it adds up |
|---|---|---|
| UI Bakery Builder | $100 | 5 × $20 developers, view seats included up to 50 |
| ToolJet Basic | $115 | 5 × $23 builders, up to 50 end users |
| Google AppSheet Starter | $275, or $0 extra on Workspace | 55 users × $5; Core is in most paid Workspace plans |
| Retool Team | $300 | 5 × $10 builders + 50 × $5 users |
| Zoho Creator Standard | $440 | 55 users × $8 |
| Appsmith Business | $825 | 55 users × $15 |
| Retool Business | $1,000 | 5 × $50 builders + 50 × $15 users |
| Power Apps Premium | $1,100, rising to $1,210 | 55 users × $20, then $22 from January 2027 |
| Quickbase Team | $1,925 or more | 55 users × $35, plus the platform minimum |
The gap comes from how each vendor counts people. UI Bakery, ToolJet and Retool price the 50 people who only use apps far below the 5 who build them, so they get cheaper per head as the user base grows, though UI Bakery and ToolJet cap users on their entry plans. Power Apps, Zoho Creator, Appsmith and Quickbase charge the same for every person. Budibase Cloud starts at $299 for 2 creators and 20 users, so this team would need extra seats at a quoted price, while its self-hosted edition costs nothing beyond your servers.
Best Low-Code Platforms for Microsoft and Zoho Companies
1. Microsoft Power Apps: Best Low-Code Platform for Microsoft 365 Teams
Power Apps builds apps on the data you already have in SharePoint, Excel, Dataverse and Microsoft’s connectors, and signs users in with their existing Microsoft accounts. Copilot can draft an app or a table from a written description, and Power Automate handles the workflows behind it.
Power Apps Premium costs $20 per user a month on annual billing and goes up to $22 on 1 January 2027, with the 2,000-seat tier rising from $12 to $14. Every person who uses a premium app needs a licence, which is why costs climb with a large user base. Before you build, check which of your connectors count as premium, since that decides who needs a paid licence.
2. Zoho Creator: Best Value Low-Code Platform for SMBs
Zoho Creator is the cheapest full low-code platform here at $8 per user a month on annual billing ($12 monthly). Professional costs $20 per user ($30 monthly), and Enterprise costs $25 ($37 monthly). A free edition covers one app, and a 15-day trial covers the paid features.
It connects natively to Zoho CRM, Books and People, and customer or vendor portals are an add-on from 250 portal users. Zoho says more than 40,000 businesses use Creator. If you’re not already on Zoho, its scripting language, Deluge, is something your team will have to learn.
Best Low-Code Internal Tool Builders for Developers
3. Retool: Best for Internal Tools on Your Own Databases
Retool connects directly to Postgres, MySQL, Snowflake, REST and GraphQL APIs, and lets developers drop into JavaScript or SQL wherever the visual builder stops. Typical builds are admin panels, support consoles and operations dashboards.
Its pricing separates builders from users. Free covers up to 5 users. Team costs $10 per builder and $5 per internal user a month on annual billing, with staging and production environments. Business costs $50 per builder and $15 per user, and adds external users, embedded apps, audit logs and richer permissions. Git source control, SSO and self-hosting are Enterprise-only, which is the main catch for security-conscious teams. Each plan includes pooled AI credits for building apps and running AI actions.
4. Appsmith: Best Open-Source Alternative to Retool
Appsmith covers similar ground to Retool, with a free open-source Community edition you can self-host. Its cloud Free plan includes up to 5 users, Git version control with 3 repos and Google SSO.
Business costs $15 per user a month for up to 99 users, with unlimited Git repos and environments, workflows, reusable packages, custom roles and audit logs. Enterprise is listed at $2,500 a month for 100 users and adds SAML or OIDC SSO, SCIM provisioning and an air-gapped edition. Unlike Retool, Appsmith includes Git on every plan.
5. Budibase: Best Self-Hosted Low-Code Platform
Budibase’s Community edition is free to self-host with unlimited users, apps and automations, plus standard SSO. That makes it the cheapest route for organisations where data has to stay on their own infrastructure, such as public sector bodies or regulated firms.
Budibase Cloud starts at $299 a month for 2 creators, 20 end users and 250,000 monthly actions, and it uses hard limits rather than overage charges. Budibase is ISO 27001 certified and built in Europe.
Best Low-Code App Builder Platforms for Business-Led Teams
6. Quickbase: Best for Operations-Heavy Businesses
Quickbase is aimed at operations teams that manage projects, assets and compliance across connected apps. Team starts at $35 per user a month on annual billing, with dashboards, workflow automation and audit logs. Business, at $55, adds SSO and SCIM, Gantt charts, sandboxes and FDA and HIPAA compliance. Neither price includes Quickbase’s platform minimum, so ask for the full figure.
7. Airtable: Best for Teams Moving Off Spreadsheets
Airtable started as a spreadsheet-database and now builds full apps through Interface Designer. Free covers up to 5 editors and 1,000 records per base. Team costs $20 per seat a month on annual billing, with 50,000 records per base and 25,000 automation runs, and Business, at $45, adds two-way sync, an admin panel and SAML SSO. External portals are an add-on from $120 a month for 15 guests.
8. Glide: Best for Simple Data Apps Without Developers
Glide turns spreadsheets and databases into mobile-friendly apps for directories, checklists and field workflows. Explorer costs $19 a month on annual billing with 250 updates, and extra updates cost $0.02 each, so costs depend on how often the data changes, not only on the number of apps.
Underrated and Affordable Low-Code App Builders
These get less attention than Power Apps or Retool, but cost far less for a small team.
9. Google AppSheet: Low-Code Already Included in Google Workspace
AppSheet is Google’s low-code platform, and Core is included in most paid Google Workspace plans, so many companies already have it without knowing. It builds mobile and web apps from Google Sheets, Excel, cloud storage and its own database, with automations for approvals and notifications. You can build and test free with up to 10 users. Outside Workspace, Starter costs $5 per user a month, Core $10 with security controls and email support, and Enterprise Plus $20, adding cloud databases, APIs, governance and machine learning models.
10. UI Bakery: Cheapest Way to Give 50 Colleagues an Internal Tool
UI Bakery is a Retool-style builder priced for small teams. The Free plan includes unlimited apps, data connections and public app users. Builder costs $20 per developer a month on annual billing and includes up to 50 view seats, so 5 developers serving 50 colleagues pay about $100 a month. Team, at $35 per developer, adds role-based access control and audit logs, and custom SSO is Enterprise-only. It can also be self-hosted.
11. ToolJet: Open-Source Internal Tools With a Generous Free Tier
ToolJet is an open-source internal tool builder with more than 41,000 GitHub stars and a self-hosted edition. Its cloud Free plan covers 2 builders, 50 end users and 10 apps, which is enough for a small team’s first tools. Basic costs $23 per builder a month on annual billing, Pro $79 with version control and custom styling, and Team $199 with SSO, Git sync, audit logs and up to 100 end users. It also connects to coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex and Cursor, so developers can build apps from their own tools.
Best Enterprise Low-Code Platforms
12. Mendix: Best for Enterprise App Portfolios
Mendix, owned by Siemens, is built for IT departments running many apps with agile delivery, multiple environments and deployment to Mendix Cloud, Azure, Kubernetes, SAP BTP or your own servers. It has been a Leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for enterprise low-code platforms for ten years.
It’s also the only platform here with a published enterprise price. Free covers one app, Standard costs €918 a month for one app or €2,295 for unlimited apps, and users cost €11.50 or €29 each per app a month on top. Premium, with horizontal scaling and high availability, is quoted.
13. OutSystems: Best for Enterprise Apps and AI Agents
OutSystems now positions itself as an agentic platform for building enterprise apps and AI agents from prompts, with built-in DevSecOps, code review and deployment. Personal Edition is free for learning, and production use is quoted. It fits IT teams that want AI-assisted app and agent delivery under one governed platform, with the budget for an enterprise contract.
Low-Code vs No-Code: Which Do You Need?
No-code tools such as Glide and Airtable let business users build apps without writing anything, but they reach a ceiling with complex logic or unusual integrations. Low-code platforms like Retool, Power Apps and Mendix let developers add code where the visual builder stops, which suits apps that touch core systems. For customer-facing web and mobile apps built visually, see our guide to drag-and-drop app builders, and for apps generated from a prompt, see AI app builders.
How to Choose a Low-Code App Builder
- Start with the platform tied to your existing stack.
- Count builders and users separately before comparing prices.
- Check which plan includes SSO, Git and audit logs.
- Confirm where data is hosted, and whether self-hosting is offered.
- Build one real app on the free plan or trial before signing.
- Ask what it costs to give access to customers or vendors.
