Full-stack builder · Ranked 27 of 33 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.
3.5 / 5Last verified: · Next scheduled check: The quick answer
Assessed for 2026Still the most capable platform here, still the hardest to leave. Bubble scores 4.5 on integrations because thirteen years of plugins and a large contractor market genuinely solve problems the AI-native tools cannot, and its native mobile story is better than we published: the vendor's own FAQ says "In Bubble, native mobile apps run on React Native", with store publishing, build submissions and unlimited over-the-air updates, so calling it a wrapper was inaccurate. The Data and Workflow APIs are real and useful. What does not exist is an MCP server: the vendor's March 2026 founder AMA says it is "on our radar, but not on the roadmap yet", the editor API is not open either, and every "Bubble MCP" you will find is a community project on forum.bubble.io. The other costs are unchanged: no code export at all, one of the weakest performance profiles in the index at 3.0 on speed, and workload pricing that surprises people in month three, though storage at least is published flatly at USD 3 per 100 GB a month. 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
- USD 59 / month, billed annuallyStarter plan, billed annually. USD 69 billed monthly. Growth is USD 249 and Team USD 649 billed monthly.
- 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%
- 2.8
- Scalability7%
- 3.6
- API and MCP access5%
- 3.2
- Code ownership3%
- 2.2
Every axis is scored from 0 to 5 stars. The percentage is that axis's published weight in the overall 3.5 rating.
The verdict
Still the most capable platform here, still the hardest to leave. Bubble scores 4.5 on integrations because thirteen years of plugins and a large contractor market genuinely solve problems the AI-native tools cannot, and its native mobile story is better than we published: the vendor's own FAQ says "In Bubble, native mobile apps run on React Native", with store publishing, build submissions and unlimited over-the-air updates, so calling it a wrapper was inaccurate. The Data and Workflow APIs are real and useful. What does not exist is an MCP server: the vendor's March 2026 founder AMA says it is "on our radar, but not on the roadmap yet", the editor API is not open either, and every "Bubble MCP" you will find is a community project on forum.bubble.io. The other costs are unchanged: no code export at all, one of the weakest performance profiles in the index at 3.0 on speed, and workload pricing that surprises people in month three, though storage at least is published flatly at USD 3 per 100 GB a month. 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 plan for building and testing only: it cannot buy workload tiers or enable overages, so it hard-stops at 50K workload units. Paid plans from USD 69 a month plus workload charges.
| Plan | Price | Billing | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | monthly | Build and test only, no custom domainCannot buy workload tiers or enable overages, so it stops at 50K workload units. |
| Starter | USD 69 | monthly | Custom domain, base workload allowanceUSD 59 billed annually. |
| Growth | USD 249 | monthly | More workload, more seats, API limits raised |
| Team | USD 649 | monthly | Higher workload, sub-apps, priority support |
| Enterprise | On request | quote | Volume workload, procurement, support terms |
| Agency | On request | quote | A separate account type for people building for clients |
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, 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 | Native mobile apps run on React Native, with store publishing, build submissions and unlimited over-the-air updates |
| Team collaboration | Yes, paid plans |
| Public API or MCP server | Data and Workflow APIs, yes. No official MCP server, the editor API is not open, and every Bubble MCP in circulation is a community project |
| Self-hosting the output | No |
What works / What does not
What works
- Deepest plugin ecosystem of any tool in the index, with integrations at 4.5
- Native mobile apps run on React Native, with store publishing, build submissions and unlimited over-the-air updates
- Large market of experienced contractors you can actually hire
- Data and Workflow APIs make it scriptable and automatable, and storage is published flatly at USD 3 per 100 GB a month
What does not
- No official MCP server. The vendor's March 2026 founder AMA calls it on our radar, but not on the roadmap yet, and the editor API is not open either
- No code export, and thirteen years of accumulated lock-in to go with it
- Among the slowest published pages in the index, at 3.0 on speed
- Workload-based pricing makes cost hard to forecast, even though storage is priced flatly
User reviews
Bubble holds 42 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 ★50%
- 4 ★26%
- 3 ★10%
- 2 ★2%
- 1 ★12%
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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.
0 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.
2 replies
Tomas Hrabec@tomashrabec
31 August 2026
Same conclusion at two clients. Split the marketing site out and keep the app, it is the only reliable fix.
Peter van den Berg@petervandenberg
1 September 2026
Worth adding that the split doubles your deployment surface. Fine for us, not free.
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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.
0 replies
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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.
- Does Bubble have an MCP server?
- No official one. The vendor's own March 2026 founder AMA describes it as "on our radar, but not on the roadmap yet", and says the editor API is not open either. Anything called a Bubble MCP is a community project on forum.bubble.io. The Data and Workflow APIs are official and do work.
- Are Bubble mobile apps real native apps?
- Yes. The vendor's FAQ states that native mobile apps run on React Native, with store publishing, build submissions and unlimited over-the-air updates.
- Is Bubble still worth it in 2026?
- For complex operational products, yes. It scores 4.5 on integrations and you can hire people who know it. For a marketing site or a simple MVP it is overkill.
Sources
Where these numbers come from
- Price
- Bubble 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 42 star ratings held in our own database for this tool · 20 August 2026
Everything we read for this review
- Bubble product site · 14 August 2026
- Bubble pricing page · 14 August 2026