In this guide12 sections
Base44 pricing has two separate dimensions. The subscription tier unlocks product capabilities, while credits limit how much AI building and live integration activity the workspace can perform. Looking only at the monthly price misses the part most likely to affect a real app.
Message credits pay for work in the builder. Integration credits pay for selected Base44 services used by the published app, including built-in email, AI, images, file processing, and automations. Database reads and writes do not consume integration credits, and external services called with your own keys through backend functions follow the third party's pricing instead.
This guide uses Base44's current published pricing and documentation as checked in August 2026. It explains what each plan actually unlocks, how to estimate both credit pools, and why Builder is the first serious production tier for many apps even when Starter has enough messages.
Base44 pricing at a glance
Base44 has five self-service tiers. Monthly billing currently runs from $20 for Starter to $200 for Elite. Annual billing is advertised at 20 percent less, producing the lower monthly-equivalent prices shown below. Enterprise is custom.
Prices and plan packaging can change, so verify the official Base44 pricing page (opens in a new tab) before purchasing. The credit quantities matter at least as much as the headline price because they determine both development capacity and selected runtime activity.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual equivalent | Message credits | Integration credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 25 per month, with a daily limit | 100 per month |
| Starter | $20 | $16 per month | 100 per month | 2,000 per month |
| Builder | $50 | $40 per month | 250 per month | 10,000 per month |
| Pro | $100 | $80 per month | 500 per month | 20,000 per month |
| Elite | $200 | $160 per month | 1,200 per month | 50,000 per month |
US list pricing checked in August 2026. Annual equivalents require advance annual billing. Taxes and regional pricing may differ.
Note
Base44 currently uses a tracked partner link on this site. Our plan analysis remains editorial. Always confirm the checkout price and current limits directly with Base44 before paying.
Message credits and integration credits are not interchangeable
Message credits are consumed when you ask Base44's AI to plan, add, change, or repair the app. Base44 says usage varies with the work required rather than the length of the prompt. Its current examples put a simple visual change around half a credit, a small feature improvement around one, a complex module around two, and a broad app-wide change around three to four. These are estimates, not guaranteed prices.
Integration credits belong to live services and automations. A published app can consume them when a user triggers built-in email, image generation, LLM calls, file operations, agents, or multi-step automations. The workspace shares both pools across its apps and collaborators, so one busy application can affect every other project in the workspace.
The distinction changes cost planning. A completed static directory may need many message credits during construction but almost no integration credits after launch. An AI assistant may need fewer builder prompts once stable but burn integration credits every day through user activity.
| Credit type | Consumed by | Does not normally cover |
|---|---|---|
| Message credits | Builder prompts, fixes and AI-applied changes | Ordinary visits to the finished app |
| Integration credits | Base44 built-in services and automations triggered at runtime | Standard database reads and writes |
| Third-party billing | Services called with your own credentials through backend functions | Base44 subscription or credit allowance |
Watch out
Running out of integration credits can break affected actions for real users. Base44 says users receive a generic error rather than a message explaining the workspace exhausted its credits. Monitor runtime usage before the balance reaches zero.
Base44 Free plan: useful evaluation, limited iteration
The Free plan includes up to five apps, authentication, database functionality, analytics, 25 monthly message credits, and 100 monthly integration credits. Base44 also applies a daily cap to free message usage. That is enough to test whether the builder understands your data model and can produce the main workflow, but it is not a comfortable allowance for an open-ended product build.
Use Free to validate platform fit. Build one representative workflow with authentication, one owned data type, a form, a list or dashboard, and one permission boundary. Avoid spending the allowance on broad visual revisions before the underlying behavior works. Manual editor changes do not consume message credits, so use them for copy, spacing, and uncomplicated visual adjustments.
A free app can be live and useful, but production requirements may force an upgrade before raw usage does. Custom domains and code access sit above Free, while backend functions and GitHub sync require Builder or higher under current documentation.
- Best for testing Base44's prompt interpretation and managed backend.
- Not enough for repeated redesign and debugging across a substantial application.
- Good evaluation question: can it build your hardest data relationship and enforce the correct access rule?
- Upgrade based on required capabilities and measured usage, not because the first generated screen looks promising.
Base44 Starter: custom domain and more room to iterate
Starter costs $20 month to month or $16 per month when billed annually. It raises the allowance to 100 message credits and 2,000 integration credits, removes the five-app limit, allows in-app code edits, connects a custom domain, and removes the Base44 badge according to current plan documentation.
Starter is appropriate for a personal tool, a light MVP, a client demonstration, or a simple public app that stays within built-in capabilities. It can also be a maintenance tier for a stable application that no longer needs many AI changes.
The key constraint is not just the lower credit pool. Starter does not currently include backend functions or GitHub integration. If the product needs protected third-party API keys, custom server logic, webhooks, local development, or two-way source control, evaluate Builder before beginning the implementation rather than trying to redesign the architecture around a cheaper tier.
Tip
Do not buy Starter annually only because 100 messages appear sufficient. First list the required features. A single need for backend functions or GitHub sync changes the minimum tier to Builder under current packaging.
Base44 Builder: the practical production threshold
Builder costs $50 monthly or $40 per month on annual billing and includes 250 message credits plus 10,000 integration credits. More importantly, it adds backend functions, model selection, and GitHub integration. Those capabilities are often what separate a contained prototype from a product that can connect securely to external systems and be maintained outside a single chat history.
Backend functions let you keep private credentials server-side, receive webhooks, run custom TypeScript logic, and expose controlled endpoints. GitHub offers two-way synchronization and local development. Base44's current GitHub workflow automatically syncs editor changes to the connected repository and syncs merged changes from the main branch back into Base44.
Builder is therefore the default tier to model for a revenue-generating MVP with custom APIs, payments, or developer handoff. It does not prove the app is production-ready by itself. Security rules, failure states, monitoring, backups, data export, and operational ownership still need deliberate work.
- Appropriate for custom domains plus professional source-control workflow.
- Needed for backend functions and protected third-party integrations.
- Enough message capacity for focused ongoing development, but correction loops can still exhaust it.
- Runtime capacity depends on which built-in integrations the app triggers and how often.
Base44 Pro and Elite: capacity before capability
Pro costs $100 monthly or $80 per month annually and provides 500 message credits and 20,000 integration credits. Elite costs $200 monthly or $160 per month annually and provides 1,200 message credits and 50,000 integration credits. Pro adds early access to beta features, while Elite adds premium support under current public packaging.
Most buyers should move to these tiers because measured development or runtime usage requires them, not because the application is important. Business criticality may instead point to governance, security, support, region, or enterprise requirements that should be discussed separately with the vendor.
Before upgrading for integration credits, calculate whether the workload should remain on Base44's built-in service. Calling your own provider through backend functions can avoid Base44 integration credits for that call, but it introduces a direct provider bill and your responsibility for keys, limits, failure handling, and monitoring. The lower nominal credit use is not automatically the lower total cost.
Estimate message credits with a feature ledger
There is no exact pre-build calculator because Base44 prices the work performed by the AI after the action runs. Estimate with a feature ledger instead. Break the product into independently testable modules, assign a rough build allowance, and reserve correction capacity. Record the actual cost shown under each message so estimates improve during the project.
The biggest avoidable waste comes from broad prompts that combine schema changes, behavior, copy, and visual redesign. Split those concerns. Ask Base44 to plan a risky feature before applying changes, preserve a working checkpoint, and use direct visual edits for changes the editor can handle without AI.
| Work item | Planning assumption | Control |
|---|---|---|
| Small copy or style edit | About 0.5 message credit | Prefer manual edit where practical |
| Focused logic correction | About 1 credit plus a correction reserve | Provide exact reproduction steps and acceptance test |
| Complex module | About 2 credits plus testing and fixes | Build schema, behavior and UI in reviewed stages |
| App-wide change | About 3 to 4 credits before corrections | Clone or checkpoint first and reduce scope |
Planning ranges reflect Base44's current documentation. Actual use varies by model, context and complexity.
Feature ledger
Module: Team invitations
Required behavior: invite, expiry, acceptance, duplicate handling, role assignment
Estimated build: 2 message credits
Correction reserve: 2 message credits
Acceptance tests: 8
Actual build cost: ___
Actual correction cost: ___
Decision or issue to carry forward: ___Estimate integration credits from user events
Start with events, not monthly active users. List each action that invokes a Base44 built-in service, find its observed credit cost in a controlled test, multiply by expected frequency, then add a margin for retries, automations, admin use, and growth. Base44 says there is no way to preview an exact integration cost before an action runs, so logs from a realistic test are the best evidence.
Database operations do not currently consume integration credits. Calling an external service with your own key through a backend function also avoids Base44 integration credits for that external call, although any additional built-in action in the same workflow can still consume them. For example, a direct Stripe call does not use Base44 integration credits, but a built-in confirmation email triggered afterward can.
- Measure a normal success, a provider failure, and a retry path.
- Separate user-triggered events from scheduled automations.
- Set a usage owner and alerts before the app approaches the limit.
- Design a graceful product response if a credit-dependent feature is unavailable.
Monthly integration estimate
(event executions per user) x (monthly active users) x (observed credits per execution)
+ scheduled automation runs
+ retries and operational tests
+ 25% to 50% safety margin
= estimated monthly integration creditsWhich Base44 plan should you choose?
Choose Free for a structured platform test. Choose Starter for a contained personal app or simple MVP that needs a custom domain but not backend functions or GitHub. Choose Builder when the product needs protected integrations, custom server logic, local development, or a durable source-control workflow. Choose Pro or Elite when actual usage demonstrates that Builder's monthly capacity is insufficient.
If you are still deciding whether Base44 is the right platform, read our updated Base44 review, Base44 alternatives guide, and Base44 vs Replit comparison. Base44 is excellent when a managed data and auth layer is an advantage. It is less attractive when the project needs a different runtime, server-rendered frontend, relational database assumptions, or infrastructure your team must operate directly.
| Project situation | Likely starting tier | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Testing one workflow | Free | Enough to judge the core builder and backend model |
| Personal tool or simple MVP | Starter | More messages, custom domain and code edits |
| Revenue product with APIs or developer handoff | Builder | Backend functions and GitHub integration |
| Several active apps or heavy iteration | Pro | Higher building and runtime pools |
| High-volume workspace needing premium support | Elite | Largest self-service credit allowances |
Tip
Start Base44 through our partner link only if it fits the project: try Base44 (opens in a new tab). The link may earn us a commission at no added cost to you.
Key takeaways
- Base44 separates builder message credits from runtime integration credits.
- Starter begins at $20 monthly or $16 per month with annual billing; Builder begins at $50 monthly or $40 annually.
- Builder is the first tier with backend functions and two-way GitHub integration under current packaging.
- Standard database reads and writes do not consume integration credits.
- Measure live workflows because exact integration usage cannot be known before an action runs.
- Budget third-party services and human operating work in addition to the Base44 subscription.
Frequently asked questions
Base44 has a free plan. Current monthly prices are $20 for Starter, $50 for Builder, $100 for Pro, and $200 for Elite. Annual billing reduces the monthly equivalent to $16, $40, $80, and $160 respectively. Verify current checkout pricing before purchasing.
