Full-stack builder · Ranked 20 of 37 in the index
Bubble Review (2026)
The longest-running visual full-stack platform, with its own database, workflow engine and a plugin ecosystem nothing else here comes close to, now with an AI assistant bolted on the front.
3.6 / 5Last verified: · Next scheduled check: The quick answer
Assessed for 2026Still the most capable platform here, still the hardest to leave. Bubble wins the integrations axis outright at 4.5 because thirteen years of plugins and a large contractor market genuinely solve problems the AI-native tools cannot. The costs are real: no code export at all, the weakest performance profile in the index at 3.0 on speed, workload pricing that surprises people in month three, and an AI assistant that is the least convincing part of the product. Choose it deliberately, with an exit you have accepted you do not have.
- Best for
- Complex operational products where the plugin ecosystem and the contractor pool matter more than speed
- Not for
- Anyone who needs to leave with the code, or who is judged on page speed
- Price from
- 29 EUR
- Free tier
- Yes
The ten axes
Every builder in the index is scored on the same ten axes with the same published weights. This is how Bubble performed on our test briefs.
- Reliability16%
- 4.2
- Integrations16%
- 4.5
- SEO and GEO13%
- 3.2
- Design quality12%
- 3.4
- Agent performance10%
- 3.1
- Speed9%
- 3.0
- Value9%
- 3.3
- Scalability7%
- 3.6
- API and MCP access5%
- 4.0
- Code ownership3%
- 2.2
Every axis is scored from 0 to 5 stars. The percentage is that axis's published weight in the overall 3.6 rating.
The verdict
Still the most capable platform here, still the hardest to leave. Bubble wins the integrations axis outright at 4.5 because thirteen years of plugins and a large contractor market genuinely solve problems the AI-native tools cannot. The costs are real: no code export at all, the weakest performance profile in the index at 3.0 on speed, workload pricing that surprises people in month three, and an AI assistant that is the least convincing part of the product. Choose it deliberately, with an exit you have accepted you do not have.
The longest-running visual full-stack platform, with its own database, workflow engine and a plugin ecosystem nothing else here comes close to, now with an AI assistant bolted on the front.
The dissenting view
The testing lead wanted a lower reliability mark after two workload throttles during our runs. The rest of the panel held at 4.2, on the grounds that throttling under load is a pricing failure rather than a reliability failure.
One member of the panel disagreed with the consensus. We publish the disagreement rather than average it away.
What it looks like
Pricing
Free build-only tier, paid plans from about 29 EUR per month plus workload charges
| Plan | Price | Billing | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | monthly | Build and test only, no custom domain |
| Starter | 29 EUR | monthly | Custom domain, base workload allowance |
| Growth | 119 EUR | monthly | More workload, more seats, API limits raised |
| Team | 349 EUR | monthly | Higher workload, sub-apps, priority support |
Feature by feature
The same eleven checks, run on every builder in the index.
| Capability | Status |
|---|---|
| Full-stack backend | Yes |
| Database included | Yes, own store |
| Auth included | Yes, with privacy rules |
| Code export | No |
| GitHub sync | No |
| One-click deploy | Yes |
| Custom domain | Yes, paid plans |
| Mobile or native output | Responsive web and native wrappers |
| Team collaboration | Yes, paid plans |
| Public API or MCP server | Yes, Data and Workflow API |
| Self-hosting the output | No |
What works / What does not
What works
- Best integration and plugin ecosystem of any tool in the index
- Large market of experienced contractors you can actually hire
- Data and Workflow APIs make it scriptable and automatable
What does not
- No code export, and thirteen years of accumulated lock-in to go with it
- Slowest published pages in the index at 3.0 on speed
- Workload-based pricing makes cost hard to forecast
- The AI assistant lags well behind the prompt-first builders
User reviews
118 ratings for Bubble, editor panel first. Community ratings accumulate on top of our seeded launch score.
Community rating
- 5 ★45%
- 4 ★28%
- 3 ★12%
- 2 ★8%
- 1 ★7%
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- Editor panel
Capable, and I read the exit clause carefully
Jonas Kessler@jonaskessler
Engineering manager. I care about what happens on the day the vendor raises prices.
We run two internal products on it and they work. My reservation is structural rather than technical: there is no export, so our continuity plan is a documented rebuild estimate that I refresh annually. Everyone signing off on Bubble should do that exercise before, not after. The product itself has earned its place.
- Pros
- Mature, deep and predictable to develop in.
- Cons
- No export means your exit plan is a rebuild.
3 readers found this helpful0 replies
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- Editor panel
Twenty client projects later, still the one I reach for
Viktor Melnyk@viktormelnyk
Freelance no-code builder. Twenty-odd client projects, mostly marketplaces and portals.
Every awkward requirement a client invents, there is a plugin or a pattern for it, and I can hire someone to cover me when I am ill. No AI tool in this index gives me either of those things yet. I know exactly what the lock-in costs me and I price it into the quote.
- Pros
- Plugin ecosystem solves problems nothing else here can. Hireable expertise.
- Cons
- Workload pricing needs watching every month.
1 reader found this helpful0 replies
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- Editor panel
Our Core Web Vitals never recovered
Clara Fonseca@clarafonseca
Marketing lead. My interest in these tools begins and ends with whether the page ranks.
The app works and the team likes it. Our public pages score badly on every speed metric we track and no amount of tuning moved them, because the runtime is the runtime. We ended up rebuilding the marketing site elsewhere and keeping Bubble for the logged-in part. That split works, but it was not the plan.
- Pros
- The application itself is capable and stable.
- Cons
- Public page performance is genuinely bad and cannot be fixed from inside.
1 reader found this helpful2 replies
Tomas Hrabec@tomashrabec
14 August 2026
Same conclusion at two clients. Split the marketing site out and keep the app, it is the only reliable fix.
3 readers found this helpfulPeter van den Berg@petervandenberg
14 August 2026
Worth adding that the split doubles your deployment surface. Fine for us, not free.
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Frequently asked
- Can you export a Bubble app?
- No. There is no code export, which is why it scores 2.2 on code ownership. Budget for a rebuild if you ever need to leave.
- Is Bubble still worth it in 2026?
- For complex operational products, yes. It scores 4.5 on integrations, the highest here, and you can hire people who know it. For a marketing site or a simple MVP it is overkill.
- Why does Bubble score badly on speed?
- Published pages carry a heavy runtime and workload throttles bite under load. It took 3.0, the lowest speed mark in the index.
- Bubble or Lovable?
- Lovable for a fast, good-looking MVP you can export. Bubble for a workflow-heavy internal product where plugins and hireable expertise matter more.
Sources
- Bubble product site · 14 August 2026
- Bubble pricing page · 14 August 2026