WeWeb vs Softr

Trying to choose between WeWeb and Softr for your next app? 

You’re in the right place.

Both WeWeb and Softr are powerful no-code platforms, but they serve different needs depending on your technical skills and project complexity.

This article compares their use cases, design flexibility, AI usage, pricing, backend capabilities and code export options, so that you can choose the tool that is the right fit for your project.

Softr: building custom business software without code

Softr has evolved from a basic Airtable interface builder to a beginner-friendly no-code platform designed for quickly creating functional, ready-to-use web apps.

Best for:

• Non-technical users
• Small businesses who need to quickly launch internal tools or customer portals

Key strengths:

• Easy to set up and use: learning curve is minimal
• Built-in templates and blocks for common use cases
• Tight integration with Airtable and Google Sheets

WeWeb: a powerful AI-driven no-code platform that scales

WeWeb is a powerful AI app builder designed for speed, scalability, and full control. 

With both no-code and code editors, it’s ideal for visual developers and coders who want to build production-grade apps fast, without vendor lock-in.

Best for:

• Non-technical & technical founders
• Makers aiming to scale beyond MVPs
• Vibe coding, no-code/low-code enthusiasts

Key strengths:

• Granular control over UI
• Support for complex applications with millions of users
• Robust integrations with other popular low-code tools like Airtable, Xano, and Supabase
• Connectivity to any REST API or proprietary backend
• No vendor lock-in: you own your code and can export and self-host it anywhere you want

What can you build with WeWeb and Softr?

Softr is designed for the rapid development of simple web apps:

• ‍Client portals: branded portals for clients to view or manage data.‍
• Internal tools: dashboards, project management tools, and team wikis for business operations.‍
• Member directories & communities: searchable member lists, directories, and community hubs.‍
• Landing pages: landing pages or informational sites with built-in forms.

With WeWeb, you can build all of the above but also add scale and complexity to your apps including:

• ‍SaaS platforms: scalable, multi-tenant SaaS applications with simple or complex workflows, advanced user roles, and pixel-perfect UIs.‍
• Internal tools & dashboards: internal applications for small teams and large enterprises at no extra cost. ‍
• HIPAA-compliant products: healthcare-related tools requiring high data security and compliance. ‍
• Rapid and scalable MVPs: both technical and non-technical founders can quickly turn prototypes into fully functional MVPs for testing and market validation, without writing code.

Design and UI customization

When it comes to design and UI customization, WeWeb and Softr take fundamentally different approaches.

Your choice will depend heavily on how much control you want over your app’s look and feel.

Softr: speed and simplicity with a block-based system

Softr takes a different approach and gives speed and simplicity through a large library of pre-built templates and 60+ modular blocks:

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These include:

• ‍Dynamic blocks: lists, tables, charts, calendars, maps‍
• Static blocks: hero sections, feature highlights, CTAs‍
• Container blocks: columns, tabs, layouts for organizing content

This block-based system allows you to assemble apps quickly, but it comes with significant customization limits:

• Block layouts can be rearranged or styled, but not fundamentally altered.
• Limited control over CSS properties (e.g. padding, hover states, breakpoints).
• No support for custom UI components or custom rendering logic.‍
• Customizing a block's design affects only that block. To apply styles across the app, you need to use global theme settings (fonts, spacing, colors). If a block is customized, its styles will override the global theme.
• While you can add or remove blocks, you can’t nest elements or create custom grids.

Best for:

• Non-technical users seeking fast prototyping‍
• Standard business apps that fit into template-based designs‍
• Teams that value speed over customization

WeWeb: full control with a component-based architecture

WeWeb is built for users who want pixel-perfect control and the ability to scale efficiently.

Key capabilities:

• Generate UI elements or layouts instantly with WeWeb AI:

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• Stay in full control of all CSS properties and layouts with the no-code editor:

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• Import components from external libraries and the WeWeb Marketplace:

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• Import your designs from Figma:

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• Import Vue.js components

• Build a design system that scales with reusable components: update once, and changes are reflected across your entire app and can even be shared across projects in your workspace.

‍Best for:

• Users who need full control over UIs‍
• Projects requiring custom functionality‍
• Scalable, maintainable apps built with reusable components

Wrap-up

Choose Softr when you need:

• Rapid deployment with minimal design work
• Standard business applications that fit existing templates
• Quick prototyping or MVP development

Choose WeWeb when you need:

• Granular control over your UI
• Custom, complex functionality beyond standard templates
• Reusable components for long-term scalability

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Backend integration & data sources

Your backend setup is the backbone of your app.

WeWeb and Softr approach backend integration differently, and your choice depends on how much control and complexity you need under the hood.

Softr: simplicity with built-in and native integrations

Softr focuses on speed and simplicity, offering native integration with 14+ data sources and a growing set of backend capabilities:

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Supported integrations:

• ‍Airtable
• Google Sheets
• HubSpot
• Notion
• SQL databases
• REST API (Beta)
  

Softr Database:

• A native relational database built directly into the platform
• Enables you to manage data without relying on third-party systems
• AI-powered database setup for faster deployment and prototyping

Limitations:

• ‍Less flexibility: you can’t create backend logic from the interface‍
• Hard to scale beyond basic CRUD workflows

Best for:

• Fast setup with minimal configuration
• Projects that don’t require complex backend architecture

WeWeb: maximum backend flexibility

WeWeb offers unlimited backend connectivity, including native support for powerful backends like Xano and Supabase:

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Supported backends:

• REST APIs
• GraphQL APIs
• Platforms like: Xano, Supabase, Airtable, SmartSuite, Google Sheets

Key capabilities:

• ‍Dynamic Collections for real-time data fetching‍
• Workflow Actions for creating, reading, updating, and deleting records (CRUD)‍
• Component-based data binding for seamless integration between frontend components and backend data

Best for:

• Users who want flexibility when implementing backend
• Apps with complex backend needs
• Integration with existing backends
• Full control over data architecture and business logic

Check out the workflow examples below to see the kind of business logic you can build with WeWeb:

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Wrap-up

Choose Softr if you need:

• Minimal backend setup with built-in database features
• Robust integrations with popular tools like Airtable and Google Sheets

Choose WeWeb if you need:

• Full control over backend logic and structure
• Integration with custom APIs and enterprise databases
• Advanced data processing or unique backend use cases
• Scalability through modular and reusable architecture
• Robust integrations with popular tools like Airtable, Xano and Supabase

AI features

AI is becoming a key differentiator for many no-code platforms, and both WeWeb and Softr have embraced it to speed up development and improve user experience.

But with some key differences.

Softr uses AI mainly for the first draft. You can generate an initial app prototype, but you can't iteratively update it through re-prompting once it's generated.

WeWeb lets you use AI throughout the entire build process, from generating your initial UI, logic, and components, to re-prompting and refining them at any time.

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Softr AI

Softr’s AI is optimized for rapid app generation from minimal input.:

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Key features:

• ‍AI App Generator can generate themes and UI design, user roles, and basic CRUD actions‍
• Generate text and images for your app directly within the builder using its OpenAI integration‍
• AI-powered database schema generation from simple use-case descriptions

Limitations:

• Limited context awareness, especially with complex app requirements
• Primarily focused on content and structural generation, not custom logic

Best for:

• You’re building a basic app 
• You don’t want to use AI to generate logic

WeWeb AI

With WeWeb AI, you can generate UI components, logic, and backend structures throughout the building process:

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Key capabilities:

• Generate responsive UIs from text prompts or screenshots

• Build:

• Custom components (e.g. a Google Calendar clone)
• Complex Logic (e.g. a user signup flow)
• No-code Formulas (e.g. the math formula behind a calculator)
• Backend schemas, security policies, and edge functions (available for Supabase as a backend, coming soon for Xano)

WeWeb AI accepts contextual input from your entire project, including:

• Variables
• Images
• UI elements
• Workflows

This deep context awareness allows for more accurate and relevant outputs.

Best for:

• Those who want to use AI as an intelligent partner throughout the entire app development cycle‍
• Users who need fine-tuned control over AI-generated outputs

Wrap-up

Choose Softr AI if you:

• Want to build apps quickly from simple prompts using existing data
• Need help generating designs, themes, and content automatically
• Find it helpful to have a native OpenAI integration to generate text and images directly in your app without any extra setup

‍Choose WeWeb AI if you:

• Want to generate UI from text prompts or screenshots‍
• Need AI to assist with complex workflows, backend schemas, or edge functions (to integrate with third-party tools like Resend or Paddle for example)
• Want to have control over AI-generated outputs

Code export & self-hosting

For many builders, ownership, flexibility, and long-term control over the app’s codebase are critical.

Here's how WeWeb and Softr compare when it comes to exporting your app and hosting it independently.

Softr: fully hosted platform with no code export

Softr operates as a hosted platform without any support for frontend or backend code export:

• No option to download the source code
• All apps are hosted on Softr’s infrastructure‍
• No ability to self-host your app on an external infrastructure: this creates vendor lock-in and makes it harder to future-proof your app if your needs evolve beyond Softr’s feature set

Best for:

• Projects where vendor-hosted simplicity outweighs long-term code ownership
• Builders who don’t anticipate needing to export or migrate their app, even as their project scales

WeWeb: code export with self-hosting 

You can export static frontend files (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript):

1. Download the static files from your WeWeb project
2. Deploy them to any server, CDN, or cloud provider (e.g., Netlify, Vercel, AWS S3)
3. Your backend remains separate and unaffected by the frontend export
   

Best for:

• Those who need to self-host the frontend‍
• Those wanting control over deployment environments‍
• Projects requiring long-term flexibility beyond the WeWeb platform

Wrap-up

Choose Softr if you:

• Are comfortable with your app being fully hosted on Softr’s infrastructure‍
• Don’t anticipate the need to export code or move your app to another platform

Choose WeWeb if you:

• Want the option to export your frontend code (now or in the future)
• Need full control over your application beyond the platform
• Want long-term flexibility

Pricing overview

WeWeb and Softr approach pricing differently. 

While Softr offers bundled price plans with limits on features, and the number of published apps or app users you can have, WeWeb allows you to publish an unlimited number of apps used by an unlimited number of app users on all free and paid plans.

Softr: bundled pricing with user and published apps limits

Softr has bundled pricing that includes all main deployment features (hosting, users, team, visitors) in a single monthly fee per plan:

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Limitations:

• Softr has strict limits on the number of end-user accounts. For example, the Basic plan allows up to 20 app users. If more people use your app, you will need to upgrade.
• Projects/Apps: the Basic plan allows up to 3 published apps.

WeWeb: seat-based pricing model for maximum flexibility

WeWeb offers a seat-based pricing model designed for greater flexibility and transparency:

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You can export and self-host all your WeWeb apps. If you'd rather let WeWeb handle hosting for you, an optional hosting plan is available to connect a custom domain, or when you need higher traffic limits and white-labeling:

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To have in mind:

• AI Tokens: every seat comes with a flexible number of AI tokens for WeWeb AI features. You can upgrade your plan to get more tokens as needed.
  
• Regional Pricing: available in selected countries, offering cost advantages depending on your location.
  
• No Fixed End-User Limits: paid plans do not enforce a strict cap on how many end users can access your app.
  
• Unlimited Project Creation: there is no hard limit on how many projects you can create and publish.

Limitations (free plan only):

• You can build and publish an app on the free plan, but it will include WeWeb branding and use a WeWeb subdomain.

Wrap-up

Choose Softr if:

• You prefer bundled pricing.
• You’re okay with limits on the number of published apps and app users.

Choose WeWeb if:

• You need maximum scalability and flexibility.
• You want to take advantage of regional pricing (if supported in your country).

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Recap: when to choose WeWeb vs Softr

Here's a recap to help you decide which platform best fits your needs.

Choose Softr if you:

• Prefer template-based development with rapid deployment
• Are creating simple internal tools, client portals and basic-functionality web apps
• Are fine with vendor lock-in and hosted-only solutions

Choose WeWeb if you:

• Need maximum design flexibility and granular UI control‍
• Want to own and host your app, with the ability to export code‍
• Require flexible backend integrations (Airtable, Supabase, Xano, REST, GraphQL,, etc.)
• Are building custom applications that need to scale beyond a few hundred users, which with Softr can get quite pricey

Side-by-side summary:

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