The Adalo app builder is the easiest no-code way to put a native app in the App Store and Google Play: you drag screens together, connect them to Adalo's built-in database, and publish from the Builder plan at $65 a month. It is a good choice for simple, data-driven mobile apps and a poor one for complex logic or anyone who wants the source code. Before any of that, though, settle whether your idea needs a store app, because that choice matters more than which builder you use.
Pricing and plan details here come from adalo.com/pricing, checked Oct 2026. There is no timed build in this review and no invented results.
First decide whether a store app is worth it
A store app costs more than the builder. Apple's Developer Program is $99 a year, Google Play charges a one-time $25 registration fee, and every update waits for store review. In return you get an icon on the home screen, push notifications that behave the way phone users expect, deeper device access and a listing people can search.
- People will use the app several times a week, not once.
- Push notifications are central, such as reminders or order updates.
- You need the camera, location or other phone features beyond what a browser offers.
- Your audience expects to find you in the App Store.
If your app is a booking page, a directory, a waitlist or a tool people open from a link, a web app that works well on phones is cheaper, ships today and updates instantly. That is the job tools like VibeDream are built for. If you checked most of the boxes above, keep reading.
The editor feels like arranging slides
Adalo's editor shows your screens side by side on a canvas. You drop in components such as lists, forms, buttons and images, then link screens together with actions: go to this screen, create this record, send a notification. It is the gentlest learning curve among native builders, noticeably easier than FlutterFlow or Bubble, and it is why Adalo stays popular with first-time founders.
Ada, Adalo's AI assistant, is on every plan. Free includes 5 Ada prompts a month. Builder has no prompt limit and includes a monthly amount of AI building, and Business includes more. You can buy extra AI credits on paid plans, and nothing is charged unless you do. Ada speeds up the first draft, but the visual editor is still where you will spend your time.
Data lives in collections
Adalo stores data in collections, its name for database tables, and components read from and write to them. That covers most simple apps, such as members, bookings, products and messages, without a separate backend account. The Free plan caps you at 500 records per app. The pricing page lists no record cap for paid plans. Business adds external databases and the Collections API, which matter if your data needs to live outside Adalo or sync with other systems.
Publishing and the 2026 plans
- Free, $0: unlimited test apps, one app build, 1 app editor, 500 records per app, 5 Ada prompts a month. No store publishing.
- Builder, $65 a month, $175.50 a quarter or $624 a year: 2 published apps, 5 app editors, publishing to the stores and the web, custom domains, Stripe, maps, push notifications and custom actions, 1 instant update a month, and a sample of Ada's code. New Builders on monthly billing pay $30 for the first month.
- Business, $200 a month, $540 a quarter or $1,920 a year: 5 published apps, 10 editors, unlimited instant updates, localisation, crash monitoring, analytics, the Collections API, external databases, and access to all of the code Ada writes.
- Adalo Blue: the enterprise option, with dedicated infrastructure and on-premise deployment.
Adalo's pricing page promises no usage-based charges and no per-action metering, which is rare and genuinely useful for budgeting. Quarterly billing saves 10% and yearly 20%. So a first year with one app on Builder billed yearly is $624 plus Apple's $99 and Google's $25, or about $748 in total.
Where Adalo runs out of road
Components cover common app patterns well, but complex logic, unusual layouts and heavy data work push against them. A multi-step calculation across collections or a custom layout that no component offers is where people start looking elsewhere. Adalo is also a hosted platform: Business lets you view the code Ada writes, but the pricing page offers no export of the whole app, so if you outgrow it, plan on a rebuild.
Two smaller limits are worth knowing. Builder allows 2 published apps, so a third pushes you to Business at $200. And localisation, crash monitoring and analytics are paid add-ons on Builder.
If you went web instead
VibeDream does not build native apps or publish to app stores. It builds web apps, a React front end with a FastAPI backend in Python, that work in any phone browser, and it also builds Phaser games. You describe the app by typing, a voice note or a picture, watch a live preview at phone size, and put it online with one tap for 5 credits at a your-app.vibedreams.ai address or your own domain. Updates go live as soon as you press Update it, with no review queue. The code is yours as a ZIP or on GitHub.
Plans start at $49 a month for 60 credits (All Access Mini), and there is no free plan. Its built-in login and database work with one tap, and its one-tap payments are coming soon. Adalo's built-in collections are still easier to manage by hand for a data-heavy app.
Picks
- Pick Adalo for a simple native app, such as a club, a small marketplace or a booking app, built by someone who does not code.
- Pick FlutterFlow for a more capable native app with Flutter code you can export. See the FlutterFlow review.
- Pick Rork to build a native app by chatting instead of dragging. See the Rork review.
- Pick a web app builder such as VibeDream when a link is enough and you want instant updates.
- Pick Glide for internal team apps on spreadsheet data. See the Glide alternatives.