Base44 vs Emergent in 2026

• Base44

  Base44 builds apps from a conversation, and has been owned by Wix since 2025. Every app runs on Base44's own backend: a database with rules for which records and which fields each person can see, sign-in, file storage, and built-in email, image and AI services that the live app pays for in integration credits. It can start from a prompt, a plan, a Figma design, a site you own or a project moved over from Lovable or Bolt.new, and branches let several changes build at once. From the Builder plan you can pick the model that builds, sync the code with GitHub both ways, take payments through Stripe or Base44 Payments, connect Slack, Gmail, Google Workspace, Snowflake or Databricks, and send the app to the App Store and Google Play as a wrapper around the web app. Base Code, a separate product, brings the same AI chat to an existing GitHub repository, with a preview but no hosting.

  Choose it if

  • You want to put an app online before paying anything: Base44's free plan puts up to 5 online
  • Some staff may open a record but not see every field in it, and you want that set as a rule
  • The app needs Slack, Gmail, Google Workspace, Snowflake or Databricks, through Base44's connectors on Builder
  • You will publish several small apps and would rather not pay a monthly fee in credits for each

• Emergent

  Emergent builds web and phone apps from a chat with AI agents that design, code and deploy them, with the database and APIs set up for you and hosting built in. Its paid plans connect to GitHub, and Emergent says you own the code it writes and may download it and host it anywhere. One credit balance pays for everything: writing the code, the tests its agents run, publishing, and the AI calls your app makes through Emergent's Universal LLM Key. Each published app also pays a fixed monthly fee in credits, from 50 to 1,100 by the size of machine it runs on, and the free plan cannot publish to production.

  Choose it if

  • You want a phone app as well as a web app, from the $20 Standard plan
  • You want the code to be yours to download and host elsewhere, with GitHub from Standard
  • A large project needs Pro's 1M-token context window, or custom AI agents
  • You want one credit balance for building, publishing and the AI inside the app

• Base44

  Free, $0

  25 message credits a month, up to 5 a day, and 100 integration credits, for up to 5 apps with the Base44 badge.

  Starter, $20 a month

  $16 a month billed yearly. 100 message and 2,000 integration credits a month, any number of apps, code edits and your own domain.

  Builder, $50 a month

  $40 a month billed yearly. 250 message and 10,000 integration credits; adds picking the AI model, GitHub sync, connectors and payments.

  Pro, $100 a month

  $80 a month billed yearly. 500 message and 20,000 integration credits, and early access to beta features.

  Elite, $200 a month

  $160 a month billed yearly. 1,200 message and 50,000 integration credits, premium support and 7-day backups; larger sizes go up to 8,200 message credits.

  Business and Enterprise

  Business, bought online in six sizes, adds single sign-on for your apps, data residency and 30-day backups. Enterprise, through sales, adds SCIM and audit logs.

• Emergent

  Free, $0

  10 credits, to build and test in the workspace; publishing to production and your own domain need a paid plan.

  Standard, $20 a month

  $17 a month billed yearly. 100 credits a month, web and phone apps, publishing with your own domain, private project hosting and GitHub.

  Pro, $200 a month

  $167 a month billed yearly. 750 credits a month, a 1M-token context window and custom AI agents.

  Business and Enterprise

  Custom prices. Business adds single sign-on, role-based access and shared team workspaces; Enterprise adds audit logs and deploying in your own cloud.

Both start at $20 a month, and their first paid plans both give 100 credits, but they are not the same credits. Base44 has two meters: message credits while you build, and integration credits when the live app sends an email, makes an image or calls an AI model. Emergent has one balance for everything, and each published app also pays a fixed monthly fee in credits by the size of its machine, from 50 on Starter to 1,100 on Elite. So one app on Emergent's 125-credit Launch tier uses more than Standard's 100 a month. The free plans differ more: Base44's publishes up to 5 apps, and Emergent's 10 credits build and test, but cannot publish to production.