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Side-by-side comparison · Website & App Builders

Base44 vs Lovable vs Softr

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Base44

3.7

From $16/mo

Best overall

Lovable

4.2

From $25/mo

Softr

3.6

From $19/mo

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.

Best overall

Pick it if: Founders, marketers and small teams who want to launch a product or internal tool without hiring a developer.

Pick it if: Operators and agencies who run their business on spreadsheets and want a proper front door for clients or staff.

Overview

AttributeBase44LovableSoftr
In one lineAn all-in-one app builder that sets up logins, data and hosting from your first prompt.Chat your way to a full web app, with a database and user logins built in. No code needed.Turn an Airtable base or Google Sheet into a client portal or internal tool.
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemiumFreemium
Starting price$16/mo$25/mo$19/mo
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Works with Claude Code No No No

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeBase44LovableSoftr
Overall rating3.74.2Winner3.6
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
4.5
4.0
FeaturesHow completely it covers the job it's built for, and how well the pieces fit together.
3.5
4.5
3.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
3.5
4.5
3.5
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
3.5
3.5
3.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
3.5
4.0
4.0

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeBase44LovableSoftr
Access & platform
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Mobile app No– No
Desktop app No No No
Browser extension No No No
API access Yes Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted No No No
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes Yes Yes
Understands images Yes Yes–
Makes images– No No
Makes video No No No
Writes code Yes Yes No
Runs agents or automations Yes Yes Yes
Learns your brand or style No No No
Works in many languages Yes Yes Yes
Capabilities score10/ 1710/ 178/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeBase44LovableSoftr
Plans

Free

Free

Trying it with a small experiment.

Free

Free

Testing an idea over a weekend.

Free

Free

Learning Softr and tiny internal tools.

StarterOur pick

$16/mo billed yearly

One simple app for your business.

ProOur pick

$25/mo, or $250/yr billed yearly

Anyone building something they plan to launch.

Basic

$19/mo

A solo operator with a handful of clients.

Builder

$40/mo billed yearly

Building a couple of apps you keep improving.

Business

$50/mo, or $500/yr billed yearly

Teams that need logins, roles and security controls.

ProOur pick

$99/mo

Small teams running a real portal.

Pro

$80/mo billed yearly

Apps with real users and regular changes.

Enterprise

Custom

Large organisations rolling it out company-wide.

Business

$329/mo

Companies with hundreds of users and security needs.

Elite

$160/mo billed yearly

Heavy builders who want code access.

Enterprise

Custom

Large organisations.

Enterprise

Custom

Companies rolling it out to teams.

Which plan to pickFree 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.Start on Free to see whether the chat-to-build approach suits you. Move to Pro the moment you are building something real, and buy a higher credit tier rather than topping up if you run out most months. Business only makes sense once several people need to log in and manage the apps.Pro is where Softr starts to feel like a proper product: you can remove the branding, give clients Google sign-in and add more users as you grow. Basic is fine for a solo consultant with five clients. The pricing page has a monthly and yearly toggle that we could not read, so confirm whether the prices shown are the yearly rate before you budget.

Key features

AttributeBase44LovableSoftr
Standout features
  • Everything included
  • Chat to build
  • Integrations
  • Analytics
  • Custom domains
  • GitHub on Elite
  • Chat to build
  • Lovable Cloud
  • Lovable AI
  • Visual edits
  • GitHub sync
  • Publish and custom domains
  • Build on your data
  • Ready-made blocks
  • User permissions
  • AI co-builder
  • Workflows and agents
  • API and MCP

Pros and cons

AttributeBase44LovableSoftr
Pros
  • Nothing to configure, everything is included from the first prompt
  • The friendliest builder for complete beginners
  • Free plan allows up to 5 apps
  • Analytics and user management built in
  • Backed by Wix, so it is likely to stick around
  • Finished-looking apps with the least prompting of any builder here
  • Database, logins and storage are built in from the first prompt
  • Code syncs to GitHub, so you are never locked in
  • Visual edits for small tweaks save credits
  • Large community and plenty of tutorials
  • Works on top of the spreadsheets and databases you already run
  • Predictable, tested blocks rather than AI-generated code
  • Fine-grained permissions for who sees what
  • Keeps working when the AI credits run out
  • API and MCP access on every plan
Cons
  • Hard to move your app elsewhere later
  • Integration credits keep running once the app is live
  • Less capable than Lovable or Bolt for complex apps
  • Only yearly prices are shown on the pricing page
  • Designs are plainer than Lovable or v0
  • Credits run out faster than you expect, and fixing its own mistakes costs credits too
  • Hosting and AI usage inside your app draw from the same allowance as building
  • Complex logic or unusual integrations often need a developer to finish
  • The free plan is too tight to ship anything
  • Per-user pricing makes a portal with many clients expensive
  • Limited to what the blocks can do, so unusual features are hard
  • Not suited to marketing sites or public-facing content
  • Billing basis of the displayed prices is unclear on the page

Who each one is for

AttributeBase44LovableSoftr
Best for
  • Internal tools and dashboards
  • Simple apps for customers
  • Complete beginners
  • Replacing a spreadsheet workflow
  • MVPs and prototypes
  • Internal tools
  • Landing pages with forms and logins
  • Giving a developer a head start
  • Client portals
  • Internal tools from a spreadsheet
  • Member directories
  • Simple dashboards for staff
You'll find it used by
  • Small business owners
  • Operators
  • Beginners
  • Consultants
  • Solo founders
  • Marketers
  • Small teams
  • Agencies
  • Operators
  • Agencies
  • Consultants
  • Small teams

Questions people ask

Which is better, Base44, Lovable or Softr?

Lovable scores highest overall in our ratings (Base44 3.7/5, Lovable 4.2/5 and Softr 3.6/5). Base44 is best for internal tools and dashboards and simple apps for customers. Lovable is best for MVPs and prototypes and internal tools. Softr is best for client portals and internal tools from a spreadsheet.

Which is cheaper, Base44, Lovable or Softr?

Base44: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $16/mo. Lovable: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $25/mo. Softr: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $19/mo.

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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