The short answer: Base44 has a free plan and four paid plans. Billed month to month they cost $20 (Starter), $50 (Builder), $100 (Pro) and $200 (Elite); billed annually the same plans are $16, $40, $80 and $160 a month. Every plan carries two separate credit pools: message credits for building, and integration credits for services your live app uses. Base44’s docs put backend functions on Builder and above, so Builder is the plan most real products need; the pricing page and docs disagree on this, see below.
Plans and prices
From Base44’s pricing page, checked 29 September 2026. The page leads with the annual monthly-equivalent price. Month-to-month prices come from Base44’s own pricing post of 26 July 2026, which matches the 20% annual discount the pricing page states.
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing (per month) | Message credits | Integration credits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 25 (up to 5 a day) | 100 |
| Starter | $20 | $16 | 100 | 2,000 |
| Builder | $50 | $40 | 250 | 10,000 |
| Pro | $100 | $80 | 500 | 20,000 |
| Elite | $200 | $160 | 1,200 | 50,000 |
Free allows up to five apps; paid plans allow unlimited apps. Taxes and regional pricing may differ.
What a message credit costs
The plans hide the price of a credit because the allowances differ. This table is our arithmetic (plan price divided by message credits). It charges the whole plan price to message credits, though the plan also buys the integration pool.
| Plan | Per credit, monthly billing | Per credit, annual billing |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | $0.20 | $0.16 |
| Builder | $0.20 | $0.16 |
| Pro | $0.20 | $0.16 |
| Elite | about $0.17 | about $0.13 |
Three things follow. Starter, Builder and Pro cost the same per credit, so upgrading buys capability and headroom, not a discount. Only Elite is cheaper per credit. And annual billing is cheaper only if you will actually stay twelve months.
Two credit types
Base44’s docs separate them. Message credits are spent when you ask the AI to plan, change or fix the app. Integration credits are spent when the app uses Base44’s built-in services such as email, image generation, LLM calls or in-app agents. Database reads and writes do not use integration credits, and external services called with your own keys do not either.
Base44 gives approximate message costs: about 0.5 credit for a simple visual or text change, about 1 for improving a small feature, about 2 for a complex module and 3 to 4 for a large change. For integrations it gives about 1 credit per email and about 1 per generated image. The docs also say there is no set cost per message; the real figure is shown under each message in the builder. Treat the examples as ballpark.
What fails at zero
Per the docs, with no message credits “you cannot send new messages in the AI chat”. With no integration credits, any action needing them “fails and shows an error”, so a live feature can break for your users. The pages we read do not say whether the published app otherwise keeps running; see what happens when builder credits run out. Free users get up to 5 credits a day within the 25 a month, and paid plans reset on the subscription anniversary.
What each tier unlocks
Custom domain: Starter and above. Base44’s custom-domain help page says “Custom domains are available on the Starter, Builder, Pro, and Elite plans”, and the pricing page ticks it from Starter. Only the July 2026 blog post says Builder; two of three Base44 sources agree on Starter, so we go with Starter. GitHub integration: Builder and above on the pricing page and the blog. Backend functions: the credits docs and the blog say Builder and above, while the pricing page lists a backend in every plan, so treat functions as Builder-plus and confirm at checkout if they decide your plan. For what you can take with you when you leave, see the lock-in and export guide.
Choosing a plan
- Free: test whether Base44 can build your hardest data relationship. Five credits a day does not sustain a build.
- Starter: a personal tool or simple MVP that stays within built-in services.
- Builder: anything needing protected API keys, webhooks or server logic, since backend functions start here.
- Pro or Elite: only once you have measured that Builder’s pool is too small.
Estimate runtime cost from events, not visitors: list each action that calls a built-in service, note its credit cost from a test, multiply by expected use, then add a margin. Base44 does not preview an integration cost before it runs. Third parties such as Stripe, email providers and domains bill separately.
Related reading
Base44 review, Base44 alternatives, Base44 vs Replit, Base44 vs Lovable and, for unit comparisons, Lovable vs Bolt vs v0. Start Base44 through our partner link only if it fits the project: try Base44. The link may earn us a commission at no added cost to you.
Method
Researched from Base44’s pricing page, credits docs and a Base44 pricing post, checked 29 September 2026. We have not run Base44 for this page. Cost per credit is our arithmetic. Re-checked every 30 days.
Common questions
How much does Base44 cost?
Free, then $20, $50, $100 or $200 a month billed monthly, or $16, $40, $80 or $160 a month billed annually.
What are message and integration credits?
Message credits pay for AI building work. Integration credits pay for built-in services your live app uses, such as email and image generation.
Which Base44 plan has backend functions?
Builder and above per Base44’s docs, though its pricing page lists a backend on every plan.
Is the free plan enough?
It suits testing: 25 message credits a month, capped at 5 a day.