Base44 Pricing Plans: How Much Does It Cost in 2026?

After burning through credits mid-build and having to upgrade, I reviewed all of the Base44 pricing tiers to find out what each offers. Below is a breakdown of each plan, plus alternatives and their costs.

Base44 pricing plans: At a glance

Before I get into details, here's what each Base44 plan offers:

Base44 pricing plans breakdown

Base44's pricing uses two separate credit types that serve different purposes:

1. Message credits are what you spend when prompting the AI to build or edit your app. Every time you ask Base44 to add a feature, fix a bug, or change the layout, that's a message credit. In discussion mode (brainstorming without building), each message costs around 0.3 credits. Actual build prompts cost more.
2. Integration credits are what your app's users spend when they trigger actions. If someone using your app uploads a file, sends an email, makes an LLM call, or queries a database, that burns integration credits.

Both credit pools run independently, and hitting zero on either one stops you cold. You could have 200 message credits left, but if your integration credits run out, your app's features stop working for users.

Here’s a look at each plan and what it offers:

Free: $0/month

The free plan shows you what Base44 can do, but it doesn’t give you much runway. You get 25 message credits per month and a daily prompt cap.

You can usually generate one simple app, but a few rounds of changes will burn through the rest of your credits quickly.

What's included:

• 25 message credits/month (5/day maximum)
• 100 integration credits
• Built-in database and authentication
• Analytics dashboard
• Base44-branded subdomain (yourapp.base44.app)

Best for: Testing whether Base44 can generate the kind of app you want before you pay.

Limitations:

• No custom domain (stuck with base44.app URL)
• No in-app code editing
• 5 messages/day cap kills momentum on complex builds
• Can't remove Base44 branding

Starter: $25/month (billed monthly)

Starter removes the biggest friction from the free plan by unlocking unlimited apps and in-app code editing. You can fix small issues directly in code instead of burning message credits on AI prompts, and the jump to 100 message credits gives you more room to iterate.

What's included:

• 100 message credits/month
• 2,000 integration credits
• Unlimited apps
• In-app code editing

Best for: Hobbyists, students, or founders building MVPs they won't show to customers yet.

Limitations:

• Still no custom domain
• 100 message credits run out faster than expected.

Builder: $50/month (billed monthly)

This is where Base44 becomes viable for external-facing apps. Custom domains let you use yourbrand.com instead of a Base44 subdomain. The catch is that the custom domain only changes the URL. Authentication screens still use Base44’s default login UI.

What's included:

• 250 message credits/month
• 10,000 integration credits
• Custom domain support
• Backend functions
• GitHub integration
• Option to choose your AI model
• Everything in Starter

Best for: Founders or small teams building client projects or MVPs.

Limitations:

• 250 message credits still constrain heavy iteration.
• A single-tier jump from $25 to $50 is steep if you only need the domain.

Pro: $100/month (billed monthly)

Pro doubles your credit limits and unlocks backend functions for writing custom server-side logic inside Base44.

What's included:

• 500 message credits/month
• 20,000 integration credits
• Early access to beta features
• Everything in Builder

Best for: Developers or technical founders who need to write custom server-side logic, call external APIs, or add conditional behavior that the AI can’t handle reliably.

Limitations:

• Not a lot of additional features in this plan besides the increased credit limits.

Elite: $200/month (billed monthly)

Elite is for teams running apps with heavy user activity. The 50,000 integration credits accommodate apps where users frequently trigger LLM calls, file uploads, or email sends. 

What's included:

• 1,200 message credits/month
• 50,000 integration credits
• Premium support
• Everything in Pro

Best for: Businesses running production apps with active user bases.

Limitations:

• $200/month for a platform without SOC 2 certification is a hard sell for enterprise buyers.
• Still can't purchase credits separately.

The hidden costs to watch out for

Before committing to Base44, understand these less-obvious limitations:

• Custom domains don't mean custom branding: The Builder plan ($50/month) gives you a custom URL, but your login and signup pages still use Base44's default UI.
• Two credit systems mean two ways to get blocked: When you hit your monthly message or integration limit, Base44 stops you from sending more messages and stops new integration requests until the next billing cycle. You can’t keep building, and your app can’t keep doing integration-backed actions.
• Code export for frontend only: With Builder and higher plans, you can export your frontend code to GitHub. But keep in mind, you can’t export your backend or database. Those always stay on Base44. If migration is important to you, expect to rebuild your backend elsewhere.
• Support response times are slow: Multiple user reviews report waiting days or weeks for ticket responses.

Which Base44 plan should you choose?

Choose Free if you:

• Want to test whether Base44's AI can actually build what you're describing
• Have a simple app idea you can validate in under 25 prompts
• Don't need to share it with anyone outside your team

Choose Starter if you:

• Are building personal projects or internal tools where the URL doesn't matter
• Need in-app code editing to fix small issues without burning credits
• Want unlimited apps to experiment with different ideas

Choose Builder if you:

• Need a custom domain for client work or customer-facing apps
• Want GitHub integration for version control and code visibility
• Need backend functions for connecting to external APIs

Choose Pro if you:

• Run apps complex enough to burn through 250+ prompts monthly

Choose Elite if you:

• Run production apps with high user activity
• Need priority support for business-critical applications

Is Base44 worth the cost?

Base44 is worth the cost if you need to quickly build and launch prototypes with minimal setup. However, for long-term projects with frequent iterations, its credit system may make costs unpredictable.

You burn credits both when developing and when users interact with your app. Costs can spike fast if your app makes a lot of API calls to send emails, upload files, or process data. For example, an internal dashboard with frequent file uploads might hit its cap within days.

Base44 alternatives & pricing comparison

Base44 pricing makes sense when you want a fast first draft, and you don’t mind working inside its credit limits. If you want simpler pricing or a cleaner path to long-term use, these are the options I’d look at first:

• Zite: Zite is the better pick if you like Base44’s all-in-one setup, but you need production-grade apps. It has access control and security features for handling read users and data. You get unlimited apps and users, even on the free plan, and don’t burn credits for fixing AI errors, as you do with Base44. 
• Lovable: Lovable is ideal if you want a builder similar to Base44 but prefer your database and authentication to live on infrastructure you control, like Supabase. This gives you more flexibility and ownership of your app’s backend.
• Bolt: Bolt is a good alternative if you want to vibe code mobile apps, not just web apps. It supports React Native builds through Expo. The tradeoff is pricing predictability. Bolt meters usage with tokens, and costs can be harder to estimate.

Zite vs Base44: Which should you choose?

Zite is the better choice for production-ready, secure applications, especially when non-technical teams need the freedom to make app changes themselves. They can update and fix both the UI and logic visually. No need to write code or re-prompt, and hope for the best. 

Base44 works for quick prototyping and short-term use, though. 

Where Zite beats Base44:

• No charges for AI mistakes: Base44 credits are non-refundable for tool behavior and AI mistakes. Zite doesn’t consume credits for fixing AI errors.
• Visual app edits: Zite lets you edit layouts, components, and styling directly using a visual editor, similar to Figma or Webflow. Base44’s editor only supports basic changes, so anything more complex requires re-prompting the AI or editing code.
• Visual workflows for backend logic: Zite exposes backend logic as flowchart-style workflows. You can see what happens when data changes, where a run fails, and how steps connect. With Base44, you have to edit the AI-generated code once prompts stop producing expected results.
• No dual credit system to manage: Base44 can block you in two ways (build credits or integration credits). Zite keeps limits focused on building, so normal app usage doesn’t randomly hit a ceiling.
• Production-ready by default: Zite apps ship with built-in authentication, user permissions, secure hosting, SOC 2 Type II compliance, SSO, and audit logs.
• White-label login pages included: Unlike Base44's branded pages, Zite includes full branding customization on authentication pages. Your users see your brand, not the platform's.
• Database flexibility: You can use Zite’s built-in database for speed, or connect existing sources like Airtable or Google Sheets when that’s already where your data lives. That keeps migrations optional instead of mandatory.
• Less lock-in pressure during growth: Base44’s GitHub export doesn’t give you a clean exit because you can’t export the backend. Zite still hosts apps, but it doesn’t force you into rebuild decisions since the app can scale on the platform.

My bottom line on Base44 pricing

If you’re just experimenting, the Free and Starter plans are enough to see what Base44 can generate. However, the Builder plan is the first plan that makes Base44 usable for real projects. 

Custom domains make apps presentable outside your team, you can write server-side code, and the higher credit limits give you more room to iterate. 

If you want predictable costs and apps that don’t break as users interact with them, Zite is the stronger option. It offers unlimited apps and users on all plans, built-in security and access controls, fully branded authentication, and no separate runtime credit system to manage.

Try Zite for free →

Frequently asked questions

How much does Base44 cost per month?

Base44 costs $25 per month when billed monthly for 100 message credits and 2000 integration credits. The paid plans go up to the $200 Elite tier. There’s also a free plan, which includes 25 message credits and 100 integration credits, enough to explore the platform.

Does Base44 have a free plan?

Yes, Base44 has a free plan. It includes 25 message credits per month, 100 integration credits, a built-in database and authentication, and a Base44-branded subdomain.

Do Base44 credits roll over?

No. Both message credits and integration credits reset at the end of each billing cycle. Unused credits are lost. You cannot purchase additional credits without upgrading to a higher plan tier.

What's the difference between message credits and integration credits?

Message credits are used up every time you ask the AI to build, edit, or troubleshoot your app. Integration credits are spent whenever someone uses your app for actions like uploading a file, sending an email, or accessing the database. You need both to keep building and running your app.

What's the best Base44 alternative?

Zite is the best Base44 alternative for teams building production applications. It includes secure hosting, access controls, SSO, user authentication, and a built-in database. It’s also SOC 2 Type II compliant and supports unlimited apps/users on all plans, including free.