Mobile-first builder · Ranked 32 of 33 in the index
Adalo Review (2026)
A drag-and-drop builder for mobile and web apps with its own database and app store publishing, still one of the gentlest introductions to building anything at all.
3.2 / 5Last verified: · Next scheduled check: The quick answer
Assessed for 2026The kindest on-ramp in the index and no longer the right answer for most people. Adalo remains easy to learn and will genuinely get an app into the stores, and two facts in its favour deserve more prominence than we gave them: the database is a hosted PostgreSQL database, available on every tier including Free, and the vendor promises no usage or token-based charges on any tier, which is a real differentiator in a market that meters credits. Against that, performance is poor at 3.0, scalability at 2.8 is among the lowest here, there is no code export, and the App and Collections API is a Team-plan feature with no MCP server anywhere, so a bare yes on programmable access would mislead anyone pricing the cheaper plans. FlutterFlow now does more for less commitment.
- Best for
- First-time builders who want a phone app in the stores without learning a framework
- Not for
- Anything performance-sensitive, and anything you expect to grow
- Price from
- USD 36 / month, billed annuallyStarter plan, billed annually. USD 45 billed monthly. Professional is USD 65 a month and Team is USD 200 a month.
- 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 Adalo performed on our test briefs.
- Reliability16%
- 3.6
- Integrations16%
- 3.3
- SEO and GEO13%
- n/a, not applicable
- Design quality12%
- 3.5
- Agent performance10%
- 2.9
- Speed9%
- 3.0
- Value9%
- 3.4
- Scalability7%
- 2.8
- API and MCP access5%
- 2.6
- Code ownership3%
- 2.0
n/a means the axis does not apply to this tool. It builds internal software behind a login, a native store app or an API, so there are no public crawlable pages to test. The axis is left out of the overall rating and the remaining weights are renormalised, rather than the tool being scored down for something we did not test.
Every axis is scored from 0 to 5 stars. The percentage is that axis's published weight in the overall 3.2 rating.
The verdict
The kindest on-ramp in the index and no longer the right answer for most people. Adalo remains easy to learn and will genuinely get an app into the stores, and two facts in its favour deserve more prominence than we gave them: the database is a hosted PostgreSQL database, available on every tier including Free, and the vendor promises no usage or token-based charges on any tier, which is a real differentiator in a market that meters credits. Against that, performance is poor at 3.0, scalability at 2.8 is among the lowest here, there is no code export, and the App and Collections API is a Team-plan feature with no MCP server anywhere, so a bare yes on programmable access would mislead anyone pricing the cheaper plans. FlutterFlow now does more for less commitment.
A drag-and-drop builder for mobile and web apps with its own database and app store publishing, still one of the gentlest introductions to building anything at all.
The dissenting view
One panellist argued Adalo deserves more credit for accessibility of the tool itself, since a large share of its users would never have shipped anything otherwise.
One member of the panel disagreed with the consensus. We publish the disagreement rather than average it away.
What it looks like
Pricing
Free plan to build and preview. Publishing from USD 45 a month on Starter, USD 36 billed annually, with Professional at USD 65 and Team at USD 200.
| Plan | Price | Billing | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | monthly | Build and preview, Adalo branding |
| Starter | USD 45 | monthly | Publishing, custom domain, one appUSD 36 billed annually. |
| Professional | USD 65 | monthly | App store publishing, more apps, integrations |
| Team | USD 200 | monthly | Collaborators, shared apps, higher limits |
We list the plans we could verify on the vendor's own pricing page. Where a plan exists but its price was not published in a form we could capture, the row says so rather than carrying a number we cannot source.
Feature by feature
The same eleven checks, run on every builder in the index.
| Capability | Status |
|---|---|
| Full-stack backend | Yes |
| Database included | Yes, a hosted PostgreSQL database, on every tier including Free |
| Auth included | Yes |
| Code export | No |
| GitHub sync | No |
| One-click deploy | Yes, plus app store publishing |
| Custom domain | Yes, paid plans |
| Mobile or native output | Native iOS and Android builds |
| Team collaboration | Yes, paid plans |
| Public API or MCP server | App and Collections API on the Team plan only, and no MCP server |
| Self-hosting the output | No |
What works / What does not
What works
- Easiest tool in the index for a complete beginner to learn
- Hosted PostgreSQL database on every tier including Free, with auth included
- No usage or token-based charges on any tier, so the bill is the plan price
- Real app store publishing without touching Xcode
What does not
- Performance at 3.0 and scalability at 2.8 are both near the bottom
- The App and Collections API is Team plan only, and there is no MCP server
- No code export whatsoever
- FlutterFlow does more for a similar or lower price
User reviews
Adalo holds 15 star ratings and 3 written reviews. They are counted separately: every written review carries a rating, but most ratings arrive without one. Editor panel reviews are shown first and badged.
Community rating
- 5 ★40%
- 4 ★27%
- 3 ★7%
- 2 ★7%
- 1 ★20%
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- Editor panel
My students get an app into the store, which is the whole point
Rowan Fitzgerald@rowanfitzgerald
Secondary school teacher running a STEM club. My students ship apps every term.
For a fifteen year old, the gap between an idea and a working phone app is the thing that keeps them coming back, and this closes it faster than anything else we have tried. It is slow and it will not scale and neither of those things matters to a school club.
- Pros
- Easiest tool here for a complete beginner. Real store publishing.
- Cons
- Slow, and clearly not built for anything that grows.
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- Editor panel
A client asked me to rescue one and I could not
Kenji Morisaki@kenjimorisaki
Contract mobile developer. Ships React Native and Flutter for clients who cannot decide.
Their app had grown to about forty screens and performance was unacceptable on mid-range Android devices. There is no export, so there was nothing to optimise and nothing to migrate. We rebuilt in FlutterFlow over six weeks. Fine for a prototype, and a trap if the prototype succeeds.
- Pros
- Gets a first version into people's hands quickly.
- Cons
- No export, and performance collapses as the app grows.
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- Editor panel
Version one of my fitness app, and I do not regret it
DeShawn Price@deshawnprice
Solo founder of a fitness app with 900 paying users. Built it twice, second time properly.
It got me to 200 users and proved people would pay, which is all version one had to do. Version two is in FlutterFlow because I hit the ceiling exactly where everyone said I would. Knowing the ceiling in advance made it a good decision rather than a mistake.
- Pros
- Fast to a first paying user with no technical background.
- Cons
- You will outgrow it, so plan the rebuild while it is still working.
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Frequently asked
- Is Adalo still worth using in 2026?
- Only for small, simple apps where ease of learning matters more than performance. FlutterFlow or Rork are better starting points for most projects now.
- What database does Adalo use?
- A hosted PostgreSQL database, included on every tier including Free, rather than a proprietary collection store.
- Does Adalo have an API?
- The App and Collections API is available on the Team plan only, and there is no MCP server, so treat programmable access as a higher-tier feature.
- Can you export an Adalo app?
- No. Code ownership scores 2.0, among the lowest in the index.
Sources
Where these numbers come from
- Price
- Adalo pricing page · 14 August 2026
- Axis scores
- Our own testing panel: six briefs, three runs each, eighteen runs per tool, scored against the published rubric · 20 August 2026
- Community rating
- Computed from the 15 star ratings held in our own database for this tool · 20 August 2026
Everything we read for this review
- Adalo product site · 14 August 2026
- Adalo pricing page · 14 August 2026