The Bottom Line: Thunkable is an intuitive no-code app builder that offers a high degree of design freedom and flexibility. However, its high pricing and lack of features might not meet all users' needs.
Pros:
- The app builder layout is arranged to let you build out your front-end and backend with ease.
- It has a large ecosystem with a community, tutorials, and use cases to help beginners build their apps.
- The drag-and-drop interface allows for lots of design freedom.
Cons:
- You must pay a high price for custom branding.
- Thunkable doesn’t offer as many 3rd-party integrations as other app building platforms.
- There are no templates for getting started, which could be a problem for some beginners.
Pricing: Thunkable has a free version that lets you get familiar with the look and feel of its building interface. Its lowest tier version, at $15/month (billed monthly), only allows 15 downloads from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. To get unlimited downloads, try the Pro Version, at $45/month (billed monthly).
Note: Prices subject to change.
What is Thunkable?
Thunkable is a no-code native mobile app builder that leverages a drag-and-drop interface that allows for tons of design freedom and customization.
After signing up, you’ll have the option to watch a very brief video tutorial. In under a minute, you’ll learn the basics of using Thunkable’s intuitive building interface. I recommend taking 53 seconds and giving it a quick watch. Then, you’re off to the races.
Unlike other no-code mobile app builders, Thunkable doesn’t let you select a template from a template library. In fact, Thunkable doesn’t have a template library. You’ll start building your app from a blank screen.
If starting from scratch sounds intimidating, worry not. You can learn to use Thunkable’s drag-and-drop interface by trying out its demo app. It has six different screens filled with elements like text, pictures, buttons, and more. Thunkable gives you a few tasks inside each box, familiarizing you with the system.
Reviewing Thunkable’s Building Interface: The Front-End Builder
Thunkable lays out its building interface in a logical way. It actually consists of two layers, which are tabs found at the top left of the dashboard. The first tab is called “Design,” and clicking on it pulls up the part of the canvas where you create your app’s front-end.
Using the “design” building interface is easy. Drag elements like buttons, labels, and images from the left-hand dashboard to your screen. Then, using the dashboard on your right, click on each element and customize its color, size, layout, and more.
For those with a database, Thunkable has integrations with the following databases:
- Google Sheets
- Airtable
- Xano
- Webflow
- Firebase
- Backendless
Connecting an external database to a Thunkable app is simple. Scroll down to “Data” on the left-hand dashboard. Drag over the icon that shows how you want it presented on your app. Configure your properties on the right-hand dashboard, and you’re good to go.
Reviewing Thunkable’s Building Interface: The Backend Builder
Navigating to your Thunkable app’s backend builder is almost as simple as flipping over a piece of paper. Next to the “Design” tab, you’ll find a “Blocks” tab. When you click on it, you’ll arrive at the other side of your screen. It’s here that you’ll create your backend.
What stands out about this layout is the amount of design control: After you finish building a screen’s front-end layout, you can flip over to the backend and piece together your app’s actions.
At the top of your canvas, toggle through each screen you’ve created. After choosing a screen to work on, its user interface (UI) elements will appear at the top of the left-hand dashboard. You’ll have a long list of core actions to choose from, like logic, control, functions, and more.
Drag over each action, which will appear as a block. Then, you can command what you want that element to do by typing it in the block. For instance, command a button to open another screen by just dragging over a few blocks and entering commands.
Here are a few more of Thunkable’s features that I really like:
- When you start building your app on the free version, members of the Thunkable community can view it on the Public Gallery. You can also check out other people’s apps in progress. Use this for inspiration and ideas.
- Thunkable also has an enormous user community. There are active forums where you can quickly get answers to technical questions.
- The ability to connect your Thunkable app to devices using Bluetooth. This feature can let you breathe life into app ideas that control external devices like lights, speakers, TVs, and more.
Is Thunkable Right For You?
Thunkable is an easy-to-use app builder offering lots of design freedom. Select Thunkable if:
- You want lots of design freedom and don’t mind starting from scratch.
- You have your own database.
- You want to publish your app in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
However, you should take a look at other app builders if:
- You want to build an app that has several third-party integrations.
- You’d like to brand your own app and not pay exorbitant fees to do so.
- You want to publish a web app with your free trial for a test run.
What Kinds of Apps Can I Build With Thunkable?
With Thunkable, you can bring most app ideas you have to life. Thunkable users have leveraged the platform to create everything from internal business tools that streamline quotations for sales teams to apps that can track live road conditions in a city.
Thunkable’s Bluetooth integration lets you build unique apps - apps that control lighting, sound, and even the temperature in your home.
While Thunkable doesn’t come preloaded with thousands of third-party integrations, you can connect to various APIs from all over the web. However, doing this takes some technical acumen, as you’ll need to type complex command lines in the command blocks.
Learning to do this could take some time.
Thunkable Pricing: Is it Worth it?
Thunkable’s free version allows you to get comfortable with its app-building interface. Its lowest tier offering, at $15/month (billed monthly), lets you build up to 20 public projects and one private project that’s not viewable on the Public Gallery.
For $45/month (billed monthly), you can get Thunkable’s mid-tier version. It gives you up to 50 private projects and unlimited public ones. Plus, Thunkable will let you publish 2 web apps. However, you are allowed no more than 1GB of storage space.
The Business Plan, at $200/month (billed monthly), you’ll unlock loads of features, like unlimited private and public projects and storage space. You’ll also be able to publish 5 web apps and get your own branding.
Thunkable’s top tier, the Team Plan, coming in at $500/month (billed monthly), gives you all the features from the Business Plan. In addition, you’ll get unlimited web apps, access to team collaboration (several team members can work on one app together in real-time), and a dedicated account manager.
Thunkable Alternatives: What Other Tools Should You Try?
Looking for something a bit different than Thunkable? Try out our alternatives:
- Adalo, a budget-friendly option for building web and native mobile apps with tons of third-party integrations.
- Builder.ai, for those who want to lay down the basic blueprints of how their app will look and function and then have a team of developers do the building.
- Bubble, if you want a flexible app builder with nearly endless third-party API connections and other integrations.
My Verdict
And now, it’s time for my recommendation. Should you get Thunkable now, shortlist Thunkable, or avoid Thunkable?
Get Thunkable now if you want an easy-to-use app builder for creating a native mobile app, you don’t plan on integrating with too many other platforms, and you have no gripes about starting to build from a blank sheet.
Shortlist Thunkable if you want a lot of design freedom but aren’t sure if you want to spend $200/month for more than 1 GB of storage space.
If you want an app builder that’s easy to learn and can create native mobile apps and web apps, get Adalo. Adalo gives you an incredible degree of design freedom, plenty of storage space, and over 5,500 integrations.
You can publish your app in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store or release it as a web app that users can easily access from their phones’ browsers.
