You have an app idea that could generate revenue, but hiring developers costs $32,000-$56,000. Free app creators promise to solve this problem, but most impose restrictions that prevent actual launches. Database record caps and forced watermarks trap builders in evaluation-only environments that cannot support real user testing.
Three platforms offer the most viable free tiers for testing: Glide, Bubble, and Thunkable. Only Glide allows actual production deployment without payment. Bubble Blocks offers free tiers, and Thunkable requires public project visibility.
This article evaluates which free app creators deliver production-ready capabilities versus which trap you in 30-60 day evaluation cycles. You will learn which platforms let you validate your business idea within free tier constraints and which limitations force expensive upgrades before real user testing.
The free tier reality: what "free" actually means
Each free tier imposes database caps, storage limits, and publishing blocks that determine whether you can complete meaningful validation or trigger an upgrade within 30-60 days. Understanding these constraints narrows the field to platforms that offer enough capacity for real testing.
Database limits create the first bottleneck. Both Bubble and Adalo impose a 200-record database cap. Glide's 25,000-row limit allows significantly longer operation before hitting capacity.
Publishing capabilities vary dramatically as well. Adalo's free tier provides immediate publishing capabilities for web apps, but "no native iOS/Android app store distribution. Bubble restricts publishing to subdomains only, blocking custom domains entirely on free plans.
Storage limits restrict media-rich applications. Bubble restricts storage to 0.5 GB, Glide allows 500 MB, and Thunkable permits 100 MB. None of these allocations supports applications with substantial image or video content. Glide further limits free accounts to 250 monthly updates for general data modifications, reducing to 0 updates per month when connecting to external data sources such as Google Sheets or Airtable.
Three platforms are worth testing despite limitations
Each of the three viable platforms offers different trade-offs in constraints that determine whether you can complete validation within the free-tier limits. Glide provides the most generous data capacity, Bubble delivers full-stack capabilities with publishing restrictions, and Thunkable enables native app publishing with privacy trade-offs.
Glide: Most generous data capacity
Glide offers the most viable free tier for mobile-first applications. Its official documentation confirms the free plan allows up to 25,000 rows via Glide Tables.
The critical limitation emerges when connecting external data sources. The platform provides 0 updates per month when connecting to external data sources like Google Sheets or Airtable, making external integrations completely non-functional on the free tier. However, using Glide Tables exclusively still counts all data modifications, including form submissions, edits, or deletes, toward your plan's monthly update limits.
Bubble: Full-stack power with publishing blocks
Bubble.io offers a free tier for web application development suitable for learning and early development. The platform provides 0.5 GB storage, full-stack capabilities with databases and workflows, and user authentication.
The free plan restricts publishing to Bubble subdomains only; custom domains are not supported. The free tier is designed for experimentation and learning, not for launching live applications. While you can build and test extensively, launching with a professional custom domain requires a minimum upgrade to the $32/month Starter plan.
Bubble works best for complex web apps where you want to validate sophisticated workflows before committing to paid production plans.
Thunkable: Native apps with privacy trade-offs
Thunkable provides true native iOS and Android app development with actual app store publishing on free tiers, but with a significant constraint. Thunkable limits the free tier to public projects visible in their gallery.
Public visibility works for open-source tools, educational apps, or public products. For commercial or confidential applications, forced public visibility disqualifies the platform entirely.
Hidden costs force upgrades within weeks
Free-tier constraints require upgrades to paid plans within weeks of active deployment. Mandatory costs for app store publishing, branding removal, and custom domains typically add $508-$664 in first-year costs beyond base platform subscriptions.
App store publishing represents the universal paywall. Most free app builders prevent distribution in the app store without an upgrade. Adalo requires its Starter Plan at $36/month (billed annually) or $45/month (billed monthly).
Mandatory external costs compound platform fees. Apple Developer Program membership costs $99/year USD for publishing apps on the Apple App Store. Google Play Developer registration requires a $25 one-time fee. The minimum realistic first-year cost for native app store publishing reaches $508-$664 USD when combining platform subscriptions with developer program fees.
Branding removal creates another common upgrade trigger. FlutterFlow's free tier explicitly prevents watermark removal. Softr's free plan includes platform branding in the form of a badge watermark on free projects. For solopreneurs presenting apps to paying customers, these watermarks undermine credibility and force upgrades for professional presentation.
The strategic approach involves using free tiers for development and validation, then upgrading to paid plans only when ready to launch. Budget for $36-45/month starting when these constraints become limiting, typically in months 2-3 during initial user testing.
Code export determines your exit strategy
Code ownership determines whether you can migrate your application off the platform while keeping your underlying source code intact. Without code export, permanent vendor lock-in forces you to pay platform fees indefinitely or rebuild from scratch if pricing becomes unsustainable or the platform shuts down.
Only FlutterFlow and WeWeb offer genuine code ownership with full code export on paid plans. A senior Flutter developer found that FlutterFlow's exported code was clean and maintainable, better than some hand-written projects. The free tier does not include code download capabilities.
WeWeb offers code export capabilities by exporting projects as standard Vue.js applications. Any Vue.js developer can maintain exported code without platform-specific expertise.
Bubble represents the opposite extreme. Platform comparisons show Bubble has "no code export: apps are permanently hosted on Bubble's infrastructure. This permanent vendor lock-in reflects Bubble's positioning as a full-stack web application platform optimized for complex logic and databases rather than export flexibility.
Glide and Adalo lack explicit documentation regarding code export capabilities in publicly available sources. Glide focuses on progressive web app (PWA) deployment rather than traditional code export, and Adalo emphasizes publishing to web and mobile platforms. Neither platform provides clear technical documentation about exporting underlying application code for use outside its platform.
What to check before you start building
A systematic evaluation framework prevents the common mistake of discovering critical limitations only after investing weeks of development time. Builder experience documentation reveals platforms impose hidden constraints, including forced public projects, branding watermarks, and daily usage limits that can kill businesses before launch.
Verify production business outcomes, not just MVPs. Look for builders who have launched businesses that generate revenue and sustain real customer relationships, not just successful app validations or initial releases. Platforms that demonstrate only MVP success stories or validation outcomes may be fundamentally limited to testing and initial launch, rather than supporting ongoing product operations.
Map the upgrade path explicitly. Identify which specific features move from free to paid tiers and at what price points:
- Glide: $25/month minimum
- Adalo: $36/month (billed annually)
- FlutterFlow: approximately $30/month (billed yearly)
Match platform constraints to your 30-60 day validation timeline
Free app creators serve a specific purpose: validating ideas quickly within 30-60 days using severely constrained environments. They work when you match platform capabilities to limited validation needs, such as testing core functionality with small user groups of 10-100 people, depending onthe platform.
Platform recommendations based on use case:
- Glide works best for simple mobile PWAs with generous data capacity
- Bubble suits complex web apps, but requires upgrading for production
- Thunkable enables native app publishing with public project requirements
The universal pattern holds across all platforms: free tiers serve as 30-60-day evaluation environments. Plan to upgrade to $25-45/month paid tiers as constraints become limiting.
For builders prioritizing code ownership, FlutterFlow and WeWeb remain the only platforms that offer validated exit strategies and genuine code export capabilities on paid plans. Many platforms create varying degrees of vendor dependency, but several offer export and migration options, such as data exports, APIs, and, in some cases, full code exports, which enable partial or full migration away from the platform.
Production deployment requires upgrading to paid plans at a minimum of $25-45/month, plus mandatory external costs of $99 for the Apple Developer Program and $25 for Google Play.
Start building without platform constraints
Free app creators help you validate ideas within 30-60 days, but production deployment requires paid plans and forces upgrade decisions at critical moments. If you need production-ready capabilities from day one, Anything converts natural language descriptions into functional apps with built-in infrastructure, automatic App Store submission, and no artificial database caps.
Start with Anything free to build production apps that work at 3 a.m., accept payments through Stripe, and deploy to the App Store, without hitting evaluation limits when you're ready to launch.
