FlutterFlow vs. Bubble vs. Adalo: Which Is Best?

FlutterFlow, Bubble, and Adalo are three popular app-building platforms with large user bases. 

If you’re shopping for a no-code app-building platform, you might think they all offer a similar experience, but these three platforms are very different. 

If you’re wondering which of these app-building platforms best suits your needs, read on. In this article, we compare FlutterFlow, Bubble, and Adalo and match each with the best audience.

FlutterFlow vs. Bubble vs. Adalo: Head to Head (to Head) 

TL;DR: A Quick Summary of Differences 

Spoiler alert: FlutterFlow, Bubble, and Adalo have their strengths and weaknesses, so here’s a quick table with an overview. 

However, there are some similarities between these platforms that you’ll want to know about before learning about the features and pricing.

Similarities 

FlutterFlow, Bubble, and Adalo all share these 5 key features in common: 

1. Free version: You won’t need to invest money or provide credit card info to use these app-building platforms. Signing up is as easy as creating an email account, and you’ll get an excellent feel for the app-building interfaces.   

2. Competitively priced lower tiers: Many app-building platforms’ lowest-priced options are quite expensive – from $50 to $60 monthly. Adalo, Bubble, and FlutterFlow all offer powerful entry-level tiers at under $40/month, making them some of the most affordable app-building platforms. 

3. A no-code building interface: You won’t need to furiously type thousands of lines of code when building your application. Instead, these platforms all use a drag-and-drop building interface, an on-screen dashboard that lets you move pieces of your app around with your cursor.

4. Ecosystem: Want to learn how to add features like a Stripe integration, gather data from outside sources with an API, or ask questions about a feature? On any of these 3 platforms, you can have a thriving ecosystem featuring tutorials, classes, documents, and a community message board. 

5. Flexibility: Adalo, Bubble, and FlutterFlow are all flexible and powerful enough to create apps, tools, or software for nearly any function. Whether you need a simple ordering app for your food truck, an elaborate CRM system with customer profiles and restricted areas, or any type of app you can imagine, you can make it with each of these app builders.

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FlutterFlow

FlutterFlow is a low-code app-building platform, blending a no-code building interface with more advanced technical functionalities.  

Who It’s Good For

FlutterFlow is definitely designed for the tech crowd. If you know how computers work, understand the structural logic behind coding, and have some knowledge of a programming language, you’ll feel right at home with FlutterFlow. 

Features 

• FlutterFlow integrates with Github so that you can share your app there. You’ll be able to get feedback from fellow developers, which can help you supercharge your app further. 

• If you have a unique feature you created using your coding skills, patch it into your app with FlutterFlow. 

• You’ll be able to keep your app’s source code, so you can continue working on it using another app-building platform, sell it to a development company, or finish the app with coding.

• Publish your app to the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or the web. 

Pricing 

For $30/month (billed monthly), you can download your app’s source code and publish your app to the Google Play Store via an APK (Android Packet Kit). For more developer features, like the GitHub integration, advanced testing tools, and one click-publishing to both app stores, the $70/month (billed monthly) version is a splendid option. 

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Bubble

Bubble is a powerful no-code web app builder that’s been around since 2012. 

Who It’s Good For

Bubble has one of the most powerful app-building interfaces out of all no-code tools. However, it comes with one of the most challenging learning curves. While you won’t need to know any technical concepts or programming languages, you’ll need to undertake a serious study plan over a few months to learn and leverage Bubble thoroughly. 

Features 

• Because Bubble has been around for over 12 years (an entire Chinese zodiac cycle), it’s developed an enormous ecosystem. You’ll find tutorials to learn nearly everything on and off the platform, detailed help documents, courses, and more. 
  
  If you really want to sharpen your Bubble skills, you can connect with a certified Bubble Coach, who can guide you through your app-building journey.  

• Choose from over 400 free templates and 300 paid ones to start creating your app. No matter what you want to build, like an online store, a finance app, a SaaS, or anything else, Bubble has a template to get you started. 

• Bubble’s developer community members have created over 5,000 plugins (free and paid), such as a rich text editor, a booking feature for a workout app, a website scraper API, and much more. Add these to give your app more muscle and make it unique.  

Pricing 

Publish your app to the web and get 175,000 workload units, a metric Bubble uses to measure how much work your app executes, for $32/month (billed monthly). Get up to 250,000 workload units and allow additional app-editors for $134/month (billed monthly).  

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Adalo

Adalo is a truly no-code app-building platform that merges simplicity and power, allowing anyone to infuse life into their app idea. 

Who It’s Good For

Out of all the app-building platforms on the market, we’ve recommended Adalo the most. That’s because Adalo offers the perfect balance of ease and flexibility: Adalo’s learning curve is easy to navigate, yet the platform packs enough punch to create a stunning, professional, high-performing app. 

Features 

• Adalo’s free version is one of the most generous. You can publish your app on the web so users can access it on their browsers, and you can use some of Adalo’s integrations, such as the one with Stripe, to take payments. 

• When you upgrade to the paid version, you can publish your app to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store so users can download it directly to their phones. And, yes, you can keep the web app so people can still access it online. 

• Start building with one of Adalo’s fully loaded templates. You’ll have all the necessary pieces to create your app’s screens, database, and more. All you need to do is customize each piece to your needs and tastes.  

• You’ll also be able to send push notifications through your native mobile app to notify customers of upcoming deals or remind a salon client about tomorrow’s appointment. 

Pricing 

For $36/month, you can release your app to the app stores and publish it to the web under your domain. Adalo’s $52/month version lets you send push notifications and publish up to two different apps. 

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Which Platform Should You Choose?

Ultimately, the app-building platform you choose comes down to the following:

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• Your technical skills 
• How much time do you have to learn the platform 
• The total amount you’re willing to invest in each platform 

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If you’re a techie and want a platform that blends the ease of no-code with programming languages, you might want to try FlutterFlow. However, you can still make a super powerful app using Bubble. No matter how much tech you know, you’ll still have to put in some time to learn its complex building interface. 

Adalo is an excellent option for anyone because it balances simplicity with power. If you’re among the tech-savvy, you’ll be delighted with the sleek and professional appearance that Adalo allows for. And if you’re a greenhorn, you’ll find Adalo’s ease of use refreshing. 

And then there’s pricing. While FlutterFlow, Bubble, and Adalo all have similarly priced lower tiers ($30, $32, and $36 per month, respectively), FlutterFlow and Bubble take a mammoth leap to their second tiers, at $70 and $134 per month, respectively. 

Adalo’s second tier is only $52/month, which isn’t much more than its lowest tier. It gives you greater storage space, a geolocation feature, and more. These functionality are enough to make an app with some serious punch.    

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Build Your App’s Blueprints

Before you choose an app-building platform, create a blueprint by wireframing or drawing a rough version of each screen. You can draw each screen by hand, but we recommend wireframing it using a tool like Miro. 

Once you finish your mock-ups, you can send them to friends or share them on social media for feedback. By incorporating the feedback into your designs, you can hit the ground running when building your app.  

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Next Steps: Create Your App with Adalo

Get your app idea off the ground quickly with Adalo. You won’t need any technical or coding skills to get started: Start putting your app together immediately after signing up. 

Adalo has the easiest learning curve when compared to Bubble and FlutterFlow. But Adalo doesn’t sacrifice power for simplicity – you’ll have access to thousands of third-party integrations and over a hundred plugins. 

When you finish creating your app, you can maximize your users: Release your app on the web and publish the same version to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Building with Adalo lets you bring life to any app idea. 

‍Get Adalo today for free.