What Is Base44? What to Build First, and What to Check Before You Pay or Share

Last updated: October 3, 2026

Evidence record: Starter Guide · Tier C — Document-based Research

Built from Base44’s public documentation, pricing page, Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. For this guide, Future Stack Reviews (FSR) built no app, used no Base44 account and measured no credits.

Starter Guide is the format; Tier is depth of evidence, not a rating.

Read
Last read October 2, 2026Asia/Tokyo
Plan figures
US dollar web prices as shown signed out, from Japan, on October 2. Taxes, checkout and app-store prices weren’t checked.
Commercial ties
FSR is not in Base44’s affiliate program as of October 2, 2026. No affiliate or referral codes in this page’s links.

Base44 is an AI app builder. You describe an app in plain language and it generates one, and its documentation says it takes care of design, databases, sign-ups, user permissions and hosting. This Starter Guide covers what a sensible first work app looks like, what the Free plan allows, and what to check before you add real data, share the app or pay. FSR built and tested nothing for this guide.

Verdict

Worth one small evaluation on the Free plan only if your current tool falls short and both your sample data and the app’s design can be public: Base44’s docs say a Free workspace can build public apps only. Highlighted: If the app must be invite-only from day one, the entry point is Starter at $20 a month on monthly billing, and paying for Starter does not change the AI-training terms: data on every plan except Enterprise can be used to train models. Stop if any access, data or organizational condition is unacceptable or unresolved.

FSR’s judgment from the pages cited in sections 02 to 06, not a test result. Sources: Base44 Docs, “Base44 plans, workspaces, and credits” · “Billing and plans” · “Privacy and security” · Base44, pricing page

Best for, not for, and when to wait

Best for · Not for · Wait

Best for

If all apply

Individuals and teams new to Base44

  1. who can name one small job that a spreadsheet handles badly, such as a content calendar or a request log
  2. who can evaluate with made-up records, in a public app on Free or a private one on Starter
  3. Highlighted: who will check who can open the app, and what each role can read, before sharing a link

Not for

If any applies

  1. A first evaluation that needs real client, customer, employee or other personal data
  2. An app that must be invite-only, if you plan to stay on Free
  3. A job your current spreadsheet already does well enough

Wait

If either applies

  1. Your employer’s or client’s AI and data rules are unclear
  2. You need EU or UK data storage (Elite or Enterprise) or an exclusion from AI training (Enterprise only)

See sections 04 to 06

Tier is depth of evidence, not a rating.

At a glance

Key facts · checked October 2, 2026

Free plan
25 message credits a month, capped at 5 a day. 100 integration credits a month. Up to 5 apps.
No fixed cost per message; rough ranges in section 02.
Private apps
New private apps need Starter or above. A Free workspace builds public apps only.
Red note: On a public app, anyone can create an account from the register page.
Paid plans
Starter $20 a month, or $192 billed yearly. Builder $50 a month, or $480 billed yearly.
US dollar web prices on October 2, before tax.
Your data
On every plan except Enterprise, workspace data can be used to train AI models. No opt-out setting.
Red note: Stored in the US by default.
Leaving
Code export needs Builder or above. Hosting, the sign-in system and the database infrastructure can’t be exported.
Red note: Fees are generally non-refundable.

01 What Base44 is, and what a first work app looks like

Base44 calls itself an AI-powered website and app builder that needs no coding skills. Its Terms of Service name Wix.com Ltd. as the operator of the Base44-branded services.

For a first work app, think small: a list of records, a form to add one, and a view that filters or sorts them. Base44’s prompt library has an example close to that: a content calendar whose items have a title, a channel, an owner, a status and a publish date, shown as a calendar with a list view. The library offers it as a prompt to copy and adapt; FSR has not run it.

If a spreadsheet already does the job, keep it. An app is worth the trouble when people need a form instead of a sheet, a status that several people update, or different views for different roles.

FSR’s framing of the decision, not a test result.

02 What the Free plan lets you test

Base44 says no credit card is needed to start, though you sign up when you begin. It isn’t available everywhere: the privacy guide lists restricted countries and regions. The Free plan comes with 25 message credits a month, capped at 5 a day, plus 100 integration credits a month and up to 5 apps. Message credits pay for AI work while you build; integration credits are spent whenever an app uses a built-in Base44 service such as email. Credits belong to the workspace, so every member draws on the same pool. The terms call free-tier credits a promotional offering for evaluation that Base44 may reduce or withdraw.

A credit is not a prompt. The Credits page says there is no set amount per message and gives rough ranges: about 0.5 credits for a simple text or visual change, 3 to 4 for an app-wide change. The quick-start guide puts the first build at about 1 credit. Plan mode, which turns a short conversation into a plan before building, costs a fraction of a credit per message; no figure is given. Base44 says previewing the app and editing it by hand use no credits; actual usage is worked out after each message runs.

Highlighted: Once you reach the daily cap, credit-using features pause until the daily balance resets at midnight in the workspace owner’s time zone (UTC if none is recorded or you aren’t the owner). Spend the full 5 every day and the month’s 25 are gone in five days.

Sources: Base44 Docs, “Credits” (“Credit resets”) · FSR’s arithmetic (25 ÷ 5 = 5)

One cost is unsettled in Base44’s own pages. The Credits page says that on Free both Resolve with AI and automatic error-fix messages consume message credits, and that automatic fixes are free on paid plans. The AI chat guide’s FAQ says a Resolve with AI fix does not count toward message credits, and names no plan exception. Until they agree, budget on Free as if fixes cost credits. Both pages say credits spent on AI mistakes are not refunded.

03 An optional first evaluation with made-up data

FSR proposes this evaluation and has not run it; you can decide without doing it. It needs no payment, no real data and no connected services, and you send the link to no one. FSR has not measured whether it fits the Free allowance.

Step 1. Decide whether you need an app, and whether it can be public. Name one thing your current tool does badly. Check that everything you would type can be public, including the app’s design: a Free app is public (section 04). Use invented records only; four fields and three rows are enough. If your current tool is fine, stop here. If the job can’t be public even with invented records, skip this evaluation and read section 05.

Invented sample records (FSR’s example)
TitleChannelStatusPublish date
Spring newsletterEmailDraftingApril 14
Product update postLinkedInIdeaApril 21
Customer storyBlogPublishedApril 7

The stopping rules and the sample records are FSR’s. Sources: Base44 Docs, “Base44 plans, workspaces, and credits” (FAQ)

Step 2. Look at one small behavior. Send one short prompt adapted from Base44’s content-calendar example: “Build a content calendar. Each item has a title, a channel, a status of idea, drafting or published, and a publish date. Give me a form to add an item and a list I can filter by status.” Then add a record, edit it and reload: the edit should persist and the status filter should show the right rows. After each AI message, read Credits Used, which the Credits page places in the prompt’s More actions menu. Set a credit budget first and stop when you reach it. Stop too if the app asks for real data or an outside connection, or if either check fails.

The prompt, the checks and the stopping rules are FSR’s proposal, not an observed result; the prompt is adapted from Base44’s content-calendar example. Sources: Base44 Docs, “Prompt library” · “Credits” (“Viewing credits used per message”)

Highlighted: Don’t assume the preview is a sandbox. The test-data guide says the preview reads and writes production data whenever test mode is off, and test mode needs Builder or above.

Step 3. Decide what happens next. Compare what you got with the problem you named. Check the App Visibility setting and look at the app’s address signed out (section 04). Then choose: keep exploring, stop, or stay with your current tool. Sharing, paying and deleting are separate decisions (sections 04 to 06).

04 Before you share it

Start with who can open the app. The access guide lists three visibility levels: Public (anyone on the internet, no sign-in required), Private (invited people only) and Workspace (everyone in your Base44 workspace). Private is a paid feature: the plans guide says a Free workspace can build public apps only. Base44 says it sets apps that act like public sites to Public automatically, so check the setting.

Highlighted: A sign-in page does not make a public app invite-only. The access guide says that on a Public app anyone can create an account from the register page and sign in; in the pages FSR read, only Private or Workspace visibility limits access to chosen people. Who can open the app is separate from who can read each record. Base44 says it sets data permissions automatically as you build, and warns that if they are wrong, the wrong people could view or change data. The terms make you responsible for reviewing access settings, including defaults that may permit public access.

Don’t treat an unshared app as hidden. The quick-start FAQ and the domain guide say an app is live from the moment it is created; other pages say invited users and search engines can’t reach an app until you publish it. FSR has not tested which holds. A signed-out look at the app’s address shows what a first-time visitor sees, not that its data is private; keep real data out of a first evaluation.

A public app can also be copied: the quick-start FAQ says an “Edit with Base44” badge on it lets anyone copy the app into their own account, and that removing the badge needs Starter or above. The account settings guide says such a copy carries the app’s structure but not its data or users.

Then the data terms, which a Starter or Builder subscription does not change. The privacy guide says workspace data on every plan except Enterprise can be used to train AI models, that there is no opt-out setting, and that the Enterprise exclusion covers personal information people submit through an app’s forms. The terms also let Base44 use customer data in its own marketing, subject to its Privacy Policy. They have you warrant that you have the rights and consents to share the data, and that specially protected data, such as protected health information or payment-card data, stays off the platform unless Base44 has agreed in writing beforehand and an appropriate agreement is in place. Data is stored in the US by default. EU or UK storage is an Elite and Enterprise option with limits: only apps created after you switch it on (existing apps don’t move), a gradual rollout, storage but not processing, and media, account and billing data left in the US.

Before a link goes out, Base44’s docs suggest these checks, among others: view the app as another user or role, open it in a private browser window, and run the security scan, available on every plan.

05 Before you pay

You don’t need a public Free prototype before looking at paid plans. On October 2, 2026, the pricing page showed Starter at $20 a month on monthly billing, or $16 a month billed annually, which is $192 up front. Builder was $50 a month, or $40 a month billed annually ($480). Starter comes with 100 message credits and 2,000 integration credits a month and lets you connect your own domain; code export and separate test data start at Builder. These are US dollar web prices before tax; FSR did not reach a checkout.

Base44's pricing page in two screenshots placed side by side, Monthly view. Left: Elite, $200 per month, 1,200 message credits and 50,000 integration credits a month; Pro, $100, 500 and 20,000; Builder, marked Popular, $50, 250 and 10,000. Right, shown larger: Starter, $20, 100 and 2,000; Free, $0, 25 and 100, with up to 5 apps. A toggle above the left screenshot reads Yearly, Save 20%, and Monthly, with Monthly selected. Each card has a Start building button and a list of plan highlights.
Base44’s five plan cards in the Monthly view. The page opened on Yearly, where each paid plan showed 20% less per month, billed annually. No card mentions that a Free workspace builds public apps only; Base44’s docs do (see the table below).

Plans renew automatically unless you turn auto-renewal off, and the terms say Base44 may attempt the renewal charge up to three weeks before the new period begins. The terms make fees non-cancelable and non-refundable unless the law requires otherwise; the billing guide adds that an accidental yearly upgrade is reviewed case by case.

If credits run out mid-cycle, the docs point you to a higher plan: the billing guide says you can’t cancel and rebuy the same plan within a cycle. The docs mention credit top-ups, but FSR did not find where they are sold or at what price.

Pricing-page descriptions and the conditions behind them
TopicWhat the pricing page saysThe condition in the docs or terms
Private appsYou can keep apps private, share them with your team or publish themCreating a private app needs Starter or above
Ownership and exportYou own your code, data and users; GitHub sync exports the full source code at any timeCode export and GitHub sync need Builder or above. Hosting, sign-in and database infrastructure can’t be exported; for app users, see section 06
After you cancelYour apps stay live and your data stays in your workspaceThe billing guide says the workspace moves to Free at period end (5-app limit) and may lose paid-only features. The terms don’t guarantee continued data access after a subscription ends
Personal projectsThe Starter card mentions personal and early-stage projectsThe terms limit paid accounts to trade, business, craft or professional use

06 If you stop or leave

Stopping can mean several things; Base44’s docs describe four. Unpublishing blocks access to the app and keeps its data and settings. Deleted records and deleted apps can be restored for 30 days; after that, the data guide says records are permanently deleted, and the docs send you to support for an app. Canceling a subscription keeps access until the billing period ends (section 05).

Code export needs Builder or above, and the mobile guide lists managed hosting, the authentication system and the database infrastructure as things you can’t export, so exported code is not a running copy of the app. A warning in the privacy guide’s region-move steps says app users can’t be exported. The data guide describes CSV export without naming a plan, while the mobile guide lists CSV under a Builder-or-higher heading; FSR could not settle from the docs whether Free includes it.

The terms tell customers to back up data regularly and don’t promise that exported data will work in another system. If you may leave, test the export on your own plan before the data matters.

The last sentence is FSR’s advice. Sources: Base44, Terms of Service, sections 11.5 and 12

07 FAQ

Is Base44 free?

There is a Free plan, and Base44 says no credit card is needed to start. Credits are capped by day and by month (section 02), and a Free workspace can build public apps only.

Base44, pricing page · Base44 Docs, “Credits” · Base44, home page (FAQ) · Base44 Docs, “Base44 plans, workspaces, and credits” (FAQ)

Can I make a private app on the Free plan?

Not a new one. The billing guide says private apps became a paid feature on February 6, 2026, and that creating one needs Starter or above; private apps made on Free before that date keep working.

Base44 Docs, “Billing and plans” (FAQ)

What happens when I run out of credits?

On Free, features that use message credits pause at the daily cap until the daily reset, and until the monthly reset once the 25 are spent. Unused credits expire at each reset. On paid plans, the docs point you to a higher plan for more mid-cycle (section 05).

Base44 Docs, “Credits” · “Billing and plans” (FAQ)

Does Base44 use my data to train AI?

Its privacy guide says workspace data on every plan except Enterprise can be used to train AI models, with no opt-out setting, and the Terms of Service license Base44 to train its AI tools on customer data. FSR can’t see what is used in practice.

Base44 Docs, “Privacy and security” · Base44, Terms of Service, section 4.2

Can I export my app and my data?

Code export to a ZIP file or GitHub needs Builder or above, and hosting, sign-in and database infrastructure stay with Base44. The docs are unclear on which plans include CSV export of app data (section 06).

Base44 Docs, “Building an app” (FAQ) · “Creating and using your app on mobile” (“Exporting your app”) · “Managing your app data”

08 Methodology and limits

Starter Guide, Tier C. For this guide, FSR built no app, used no Base44 account and measured no credits, so nothing here measures output quality, speed or cost. FSR’s earlier Base44 review, linked below, reports a hands-on session in April 2026; none of it is used here.

FSR read the Base44 pages cited here on October 2, 2026 (Asia/Tokyo), signed out and from Japan. The Terms of Service were last updated June 22, 2026, and the Privacy Policy September 10, 2026. FSR’s editor separately captured eight of the pages, and the passages cited from them match the captures. Where this guide says Base44’s pages are silent, that covers only the pages FSR read; where two pages disagree, it reports both, and FSR has not tested which is right.

FSR researched, drafted and reviewed this guide with AI assistants, including Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and checked their findings against the pages cited; agreement between AI tools is not independent verification.

FSR is not enrolled in Base44’s affiliate program as of October 2, 2026, and this page’s links carry no affiliate or referral codes. FSR intends to apply; if it joins and adds a paid link, this page will be revised to say so.

09 Verdict

Highlighted: Try Base44 with one small, made-up work app on the Free plan only if your current tool falls short and both the sample data and the app’s design can be public. If the app must be invite-only from day one, the entry point is Starter, and a first month on monthly billing commits $20 rather than $192, until the plan renews. Either way, keep real client, customer and personal data out of a first evaluation. Before real data goes in, confirm at least that you have the right to share it and that whoever is responsible for it accepts Base44’s AI-training, marketing and US-storage terms. Stop if any access, data or organizational condition is unacceptable or unresolved.

Two things count in Base44’s favor: it says previews and hand edits use no credits, and, in FSR’s reading, most of the plan limits that matter here are published, so much of this decision can be made before you pay.

The second point is FSR’s reading. Sources: Base44 Docs, “Building an app” (FAQ) · “Credits”

This verdict would change if Base44 offered a training opt-out below Enterprise, or private apps on Free. This guide does not rate the apps Base44 generates: FSR built none.

The reversal conditions are FSR’s judgment. Sources: Base44 Docs, “Privacy and security” · “Base44 plans, workspaces, and credits”

Where you would start

Free plan
Base44 says no credit card is needed to start. A Free workspace can build public apps only.
Before you share
Check visibility, permissions and the badge (section 04).
Before you pay
Read the renewal, refund and export conditions (section 05 and section 06).
Open Base44base44.com (opens in a new tab)

Official Base44 link, with no affiliate or referral code.

10 Corrections and contact

Corrections and contact

When
A price, allowance or policy here is out of date, or Base44 publishes something that settles a question above.
Send
The public URL, the passage it affects and its date, if shown.
Do not send
Account details, invoices, app data or dashboard screenshots.
Open the FSR contact pagefuture-stack-reviews.com/contact (opens in a new tab)

Verified errors are fixed or clearly updated, not quietly removed.

Ask whether it fits you

Each button copies the briefing below and opens that assistant in a new tab; paste it there. Don’t assume the assistant knows your Base44 account, your plan or any employer’s rules. Leave out confidential, client, customer and personal data. If nothing is copied, open “What gets copied” and copy it yourself.

What gets copied
FSR BRIEFING PACKET - What Is Base44? What to Build First, and What to Check Before You Pay or Share
Publisher: Future Stack Reviews. Article: https://future-stack-reviews.com/what-is-base44/
Format: Starter Guide. Evidence depth: Tier C, built from Base44's public documentation, pricing page, Terms of Service and Privacy Policy; for this guide FSR built no app, used no Base44 account and measured no credits.
Read: 2 OCT 2026, Asia/Tokyo.
The article's links carry no affiliate or referral codes. FSR is not enrolled in Base44's affiliate program as of that date and intends to apply. FSR used AI assistants, including Claude and ChatGPT, to research, draft and review the article.

WHAT IT IS
Base44 describes itself as an AI-powered website and app builder: you describe an app in plain language and it builds one, handling design, databases, sign-ups, user permissions and hosting. Its terms name Wix.com Ltd. as the operator of the Base44-branded services.

KEY CONDITIONS (Base44's public pages, read October 2, 2026)
- Free plan: 25 message credits a month, capped at 5 a day; 100 integration credits a month; up to 5 apps. Base44 says no credit card is needed to start. The terms call free-tier credits a promotional offering for evaluation that Base44 may reduce or withdraw.
- Availability: Base44 is not available everywhere; its privacy guide lists restricted countries and regions.
- A Free workspace can build public apps only. New private (invite-only) apps need Starter or above. On a public app, anyone can create an account from the register page. Who can open an app is separate from who can read each record.
- Credits: no fixed cost per message. Base44's rough ranges: about 0.5 credits for a simple change, 3 to 4 for an app-wide one; the first build is about 1. Usage is worked out after each message runs.
- Preview: the test-data guide says the preview reads and writes production data whenever test mode is off, and test mode needs Builder or above.
- Starter: $20 a month on monthly billing, or $192 billed yearly ($16 a month), with 100 message credits and 2,000 integration credits a month; it lets you connect your own domain. Builder: $50 a month, or $480 billed yearly. US dollar web prices seen signed out from Japan; taxes and checkout were not checked.
- Code export needs Builder or above. Hosting, the sign-in system and the database infrastructure cannot be exported. A warning in the privacy guide's region-move steps says app users cannot be exported.
- Data: on every plan except Enterprise, workspace data can be used to train AI models, and there is no opt-out setting. The terms let Base44 use customer data in its own marketing, subject to its Privacy Policy. They have you warrant that you have the rights and consents to share the data, and that specially protected data, such as protected health information or payment-card data, stays off the platform unless Base44 has agreed in writing beforehand and an appropriate agreement is in place. Data is stored in the US by default; EU or UK storage is an Elite and Enterprise option with limits, and it covers only apps created after you switch it on.
- A public app can carry an "Edit with Base44" badge that lets anyone copy the app (its structure, not its data or users). Removing the badge needs Starter or above.
- Plans renew automatically, and the terms let Base44 attempt the renewal charge up to three weeks early. The terms make fees non-refundable unless the law requires otherwise.
- After you cancel: the billing guide says the workspace moves to Free at period end (5-app limit) and may lose paid-only features. The terms don't guarantee continued data access after a subscription ends.

WHAT IS NOT SETTLED
- Whether a new app can be reached before you publish it: Base44's pages say both.
- Whether AI error fixes cost credits on Free: the Credits page says they do; the AI chat guide's FAQ says a Resolve with AI fix does not count.
- Which plans include CSV export of app data.
- Where credit top-ups are sold, and at what price.
- How far the Free allowance goes on a real build: FSR measured nothing.

AN OPTIONAL FIRST EVALUATION (FSR proposal, not a test FSR ran)
1. Decide whether you need an app and whether it can be public. Name one thing your current tool does badly. Use invented records only, for example a title, a channel, a status and a publish date, three rows. If your current tool is fine, stop. If the job can't be public even with invented records (the app's design counts), skip this evaluation and look at Starter's price and conditions.
2. If you build, send one short prompt for a small list-and-form app with a status filter, then add a record, edit it and reload: the edit should persist and the status filter should show the right rows. Read Credits Used after each AI message. Set a credit budget first and stop when you reach it. Stop too if the app asks for real data or an outside connection, or if either check fails.
3. Decide what happens next: keep exploring, stop, or stay with your current tool. Check the App Visibility setting, and look at the app's address signed out; that shows what a first-time visitor sees, not that the data is private. Sharing, paying and deleting are separate decisions.

FSR VERDICT
Try Base44 with one small, made-up work app on the Free plan only if your current tool falls short and both the sample data and the app's design can be public. If the app must be invite-only from day one, the entry point is Starter, and a first month on monthly billing commits $20 rather than $192, until the plan renews. Either way, keep real client, customer and personal data out of a first evaluation. Before real data goes in, confirm at least that you have the right to share it and that whoever is responsible for it accepts Base44's AI-training, marketing and US-storage terms. Stop if any access, data or organizational condition is unacceptable or unresolved.

SOURCES
- Pricing: https://base44.com/pricing
- Building an app (quick start): https://docs.base44.com/Getting-Started/Quick-start-guide
- Starting from your first prompt: https://docs.base44.com/Getting-Started/starting-from-your-first-prompt
- Credits: https://docs.base44.com/Account-and-billing/Credits
- AI chat guide: https://docs.base44.com/Building-your-app/AI-chat-modes
- Billing and plans: https://docs.base44.com/Account-and-billing/Billing-and-plans
- Plans, workspaces and credits: https://docs.base44.com/documentation/account-and-billing/new-plans-and-workspaces
- Access and visibility: https://docs.base44.com/Setting-up-your-app/Managing-access
- Testing with test data: https://docs.base44.com/documentation/managing-app-data/testing-your-data
- Exporting your app (mobile guide): https://docs.base44.com/Building-your-app/Mobile-experience
- Managing your app data: https://docs.base44.com/Building-your-app/Managing-your-app-data
- Account settings (badge copy): https://docs.base44.com/documentation/account-and-billing/managing-your-account
- Privacy and security: https://docs.base44.com/Community-and-support/Privacy-and-security
- Terms of Service: https://base44.com/terms-of-service

LIMITS
Prices, plans and policies change; verify on Base44's pages before you act. FSR built nothing for this guide, so nothing here measures output quality, speed or cost, or shows what a particular account can do. Where this packet and the live pages disagree, the live pages win. Where Base44's own pages disagree with each other, treat the point as unsettled.

Use this briefing to help me decide whether to try Base44 for one small work app, and what to check first. Ask whether I am deciding for myself or for an employer, what job the app would do, what I use for it now, and whether the app and its sample data could be public. Do not ask me to paste confidential business information or real client, customer, employee or personal data.

Your assistant’s reply is its own answer, not FSR’s. Check it against the article and the Base44 pages it cites.