Bubble vs Softr
Both are no-code tools. Here is what separates them.
What Bubble is
Bubble is a no-code application builder, described by its makers as a no-code AI app builder for both web and mobile apps. Apps are assembled visually rather than written, and paid plans from Starter upward include custom domains and backend workflows. Plans are priced by which surfaces an app needs. Starter costs $32 per month for web only, $49 for mobile only and $69 for both. Growth is $134, $199 and $249 across the same three splits, and Team is $399, $529 and $649. Choosing web only where mobile is not needed is the single largest lever on the bill. Running the app is metered separately in workload units, shortened to WU, and twelve distinct activity types feed an app's monthly total. The rates are published per action, which makes the cost of a design decision calculable before it is built. A database search costs 0.3 WU, and each thing that search returns adds 0.015 WU. Writing or modifying a thing costs 0.5 WU and deleting one costs 0.1 WU. An aggregate query is 0.2 WU and a group by query 0.3 WU. Loading a page's HTML costs 0.15 WU, a server-side workflow action 0.6 WU, and evaluating a backend database trigger event 0.05 WU. API traffic is asymmetric: an outbound call costs 0.1 WU, while an inbound Data or Workflow API call costs only 0.01 WU. Plugins are charged on time as well as calls, at 0.2 WU per server-side action plus 0.0005 WU for every millisecond it runs, and the SQL Connector charges 0.1 WU per call plus 0.015 WU per row retrieved. The consequences of running out matter as much as the rates. Warning emails go out at 75 percent and 100 percent of the allowance. Workload used beyond the allowance costs $0.30 per 1,000 units where no workload tier has been bought, and if overages are switched off, an app that exhausts its workload goes offline. Workload tiers can only be bought on Starter, Growth or Team, and Free plan apps can neither buy a tier nor turn overages on, so a free app has a hard ceiling rather than a rising bill. Every paid app also gets 100,000 monthly workload units for its Development environment, keeping test runs off the live allowance. Extra file storage is charged at $3 per 100 GB. Read together, the workload model means an inefficient search that returns thousands of things is not just slow, it is a line item. Bubble publishes enough detail to estimate that cost during design rather than discover it in a bill.
What Softr is
Softr turns a spreadsheet or database into a working web application without writing code. Its most common use is putting a client portal or internal tool on top of an Airtable base, which is the job it was originally built for, though it now connects to more than Airtable alone. Data can come from Airtable, Google Sheets, Notion, monday.com or Google BigQuery, and Softr can also build and hold databases of its own. On top of that data you assemble the interface: listings, directories, job boards, online courses, e-commerce, upvoting sites, marketplaces and event listings are all templated starting points. The company's claim is that an app can be built and launched in under thirty minutes, which is a fair description of the simpler cases rather than every case. Permissions are the part that makes it usable for client work. Access is controlled at a granular level, so different users see different records, which is what separates a real portal from a published spreadsheet. Users who share a business email domain with somebody building in the workspace are classified as team users, and builders in the workspace can be added as app users at no cost. It connects outward through Zapier and Make for automation, through payment providers and custom APIs for transactions, and through Google Analytics or Fathom for measurement. There is a REST API for driving Softr programmatically. Apps can be converted into downloadable mobile applications, and feedback portals can be built to collect input from users in real time. Softr AI, launched in October 2023, generates applications from a description rather than starting from a blank template. The company complies with SOC 2 Type II, which is usually the question that decides whether an internal tool is allowed. Pricing is freemium, with unlimited apps, databases, workflows and forms on paid plans, and a 50 percent discount for non-profit and educational organisations.
We are not affiliated with either product. Upvote counts come from the published formula and neither position was paid for.