Side-by-side comparison · Website & App Builders
Base44 vs Durable vs Shopify
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Small business owners and operators who want an internal tool or customer app and don't want to touch any settings.
Pick it if: Sole traders and small local service businesses that want a website and simple customer tools live the same day.
Pick it if: Anyone selling physical or digital products online, from first-time sellers to established brands.
Overview
| Attribute | Base44 | Durable | Shopify |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | An all-in-one app builder that sets up logins, data and hosting from your first prompt. | Builds a small-business website in a minute, with a CRM, bookings and payments built in. | Online store platform with an AI assistant, Sidekick, that helps you build and run it. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Paid |
| Starting price | $16/mo | $25/mo | $29/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Works with Claude Code | No | No | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Base44 | Durable | Shopify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 3.7 | 4.0 | 4.4Winner |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 3.5 | 3.5 | 5.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 3.5 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Base44 | Durable | Shopify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mobile app | No | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | No | – | – |
| Browser extension | No | – | – |
| API access | Yes | – | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | – | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | – | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | – | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | – | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | – | Yes |
| Makes images | – | Yes | Yes |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | Yes | No | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | – | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | No | Yes | Yes |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 10/ 17 | 5/ 17 | 12/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Base44 | Durable | Shopify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Trying it with a small experiment. | Free Free Seeing what your site would look like. | BasicOur pick $29/mo billed yearly, or $39 monthly New and solo sellers. |
StarterOur pick $16/mo billed yearly One simple app for your business. | LaunchOur pick $25/mo, or about $22/mo billed yearly Most small businesses going live. | Grow $79/mo billed yearly, or $105 monthly Small teams with steady sales. | |
Builder $40/mo billed yearly Building a couple of apps you keep improving. | Grow $49/mo, or about $41/mo billed yearly Busier businesses using the AI tools a lot. | Advanced $299/mo billed yearly, or $399 monthly Bigger stores selling internationally. | |
Pro $80/mo billed yearly Apps with real users and regular changes. | Plus From $2,300/mo High-volume and complex businesses. | ||
Elite $160/mo billed yearly Heavy builders who want code access. | |||
Enterprise Custom Companies rolling it out to teams. | |||
| Which plan to pick | Free is enough to find out whether you like it. Starter suits one simple internal tool, but watch the integration credits once staff start using it daily. The pricing page only shows yearly rates, which it says are 20 per cent cheaper than monthly, so ask what monthly billing costs before you commit. | Build on Free to see if you like the result, then move to Launch to go live on your own domain. Grow is only worth it if you have lots of customers or use the AI marketing tools heavily. | Start on Basic; Sidekick and the core store are the same on every plan. Move to Grow when you add staff or your monthly sales are high enough that its lower card rates cover the price difference. |
Key features
Pros and cons
| Attribute | Base44 | Durable | Shopify |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Base44 | Durable | Shopify |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Base44, Durable or Shopify?
Shopify scores highest overall in our ratings (Base44 3.7/5, Durable 4.0/5 and Shopify 4.4/5). Base44 is best for internal tools and dashboards and simple apps for customers. Durable is best for A website for a local service business in minutes and online bookings from your site. Shopify is best for launching an online store and running products, orders and stock in one place.
Which is cheaper, Base44, Durable or Shopify?
Base44: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $16/mo. Durable: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $25/mo. Shopify: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $29/mo.
Which is easier to use, Base44, Durable or Shopify?
Durable rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Sole traders and small local service businesses that want a website and simple customer tools live the same day.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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