Ready to see what Base44 can do for you? Get started →

You’ve got a brilliant idea for an app to create. It could be a booking system for your yoga studio, a portfolio to show off your design work or an internal tool to make your team’s life easier. In the past, turning that idea into reality meant either learning to code or hiring an expensive developer but that’s not the case anymore.

Free app builders are here and they’re making it possible for anyone to create a functional app just by describing what they want. You can type out your vision in plain English and watch as an AI app builder builds the screens, sets up the database and wires it all together. It’s like having a development team on standby, ready to bring your ideas to life in minutes instead of months.

Ready to start building? Here’s a look at some of the best free AI app builders that can help you launch your project without spending a dollar.

TL;DR: Your guide to free AI app builders

ShHere’s a quick look at the top free app builders to get you started.

Platform	Best for	Why its great
Base44	Beginners and fast MVPs	Creates a complete, functional app with a backend just from a text prompt.
Bubble	Deep customization	Offers incredible flexibility to build complex web apps with a visual editor.
Glide	Mobile-first internal tools	Transforms data from spreadsheets into polished, mobile-friendly apps in minutes.
Softr	Client portals and directories	Excels at turning data from Airtable or Google Sheets into beautiful web apps.
Emergent	Production-ready apps	Uses advanced AI agents to build complex apps and lets you export the code.

5 best free AI app builders to start using today

Explore the five best AI app builders that offer generous free plans, allowing you to build and test your ideas right away.

1. Base44

2. Bubble

3. Glide

4. Softr

5. Emergent

01. Base44

Base44, as a free AI app builder, is all about speed and simplicity. It’s designed for anyone who wants to go from an idea to a working app as quickly as possible. You describe your app in a chat-style interface and Base44's AI gets to work, generating not just the user interface but also the backend database, user authentication and hosting.

This all-in-one approach to app creation is what makes it so appealing for beginners. You don’t need to worry about connecting different services or setting up a server. For example, you could type, “Build a project management app for my freelance business with a dashboard to track tasks and deadlines,” and Base44 will create a complete application with those features ready to go.

The free plan gives you enough credits to build and test your core ideas, making it a fantastic starting point.

Why you’ll love it: It’s one of the fastest ways to get a fully functional app with both a front end and back end, perfect for creating a minimum viable product (MVP) to show investors or test with early users. You can also build with app templates.

02. Bubble

Bubble is well known amongst no-code app builders for its flexibility. While it has a slightly steeper learning curve, it gives you deep control over every aspect of your app. Its visual drag-and-drop editor lets you design your user interface easily.

Bubble also has its workflow editor. You can build out complex logic step-by-step, defining exactly what happens when a user clicks a button or submits a form. While its AI features are newer, they can help you get started by generating pages or basic layouts from a prompt. The free plan is robust, allowing you to learn the platform and build an app for free before you decide to launch it on a custom domain.

Why you’ll love it: If your app idea has unique features or complex workflows that other builders can't handle.

03. Glide

Glide is designed with a mobile-first philosophy. Is good at turning simple data sources, like a Google Sheet or Airtable base, into functional apps. The process is fast, you just point Glide to your spreadsheet and it creates an app from your data.

This makes it good for creating internal tools, like an employee directory or an inventory tracker. You can also build customer-facing apps like event guides or simple directories. The free plan allows you to build and share apps with a small number of users.

Why you’ll love it: For data-driven apps that need to work on mobile.

04. Softr

If your data lives in Airtable or Google Sheets, you can use Softr. Its designed to transform your existing data into web applications, like client portals, internal dashboards and online communities. It uses a block-based system, so you can add pre-built sections for lists, forms, charts, and user profiles.

The free plan allows you to publish one app and includes core features, making it a great option for small businesses that want to provide a data-driven experience to their customers.

Why you’ll love it: It's a way way to create secure, logged-in experiences for your clients or team members using data you already have.

05. Emergent

Emergent takes a more engineering-focused approach to free AI app building. It uses a system of specialized AI agents that work together to plan, code, test and deploy your application.

One of its advantages is that it generates a real codebase that you can export. . You can use Emergent to build the first version of your app and then hand the code over to a developer to add more custom features later. Its free plan offers a monthly credit allowance, giving you a chance to experiment with its capabilities.

Why you’ll love a it: It’s an option for startups that want to start building an app with AI for speed but need the option to own and scale their code in the long run.

Learn more: What is an app creator?

Free AI app builders FAQ

Do I need to know code to use a free AI app builder?

No because the beauty of these platforms is that they translate your plain English instructions or visual designs into code behind the scenes. You can build a complete app without writing a single line.

Can I publish my app with a free plan?

Yes, most of these platforms allow you to publish your app on a subdomain. This is great for testing your idea or for internal use. To use a custom domain (like yourapp.com), you’ll usually need to upgrade to a paid plan.

What are some of the limitations of a free AI app builder plan?

Free plans are fantastic for getting started but they usually come with some limitations. These might include a cap on the number of users, the amount of data you can store or the number of edits you can make per month. They also often include the platform’s branding on your app.