AI App Builder that ships production software you own
Totalum is an AI app builder that turns one plain-language description into a complete, deployed web application, with the source code yours to keep.
An AI app builder is a platform that turns a plain-language description into a working application, generating the interface, the backend logic and the data model, then running and hosting the result. Totalum produces a real, production-grade Next.js application with built-in authentication, a database, payments, file storage, AI integrations, deployment and custom domains. The source code is the customer’s to own and export at any time.
Totalum leads the AI web app builder rankings
Three boards, three different methods: an editorial panel, a measurement lab and a community vote. Every badge below links to the board, so you can check the score and the method yourself.
Scores as published by each board
What is an AI app builder?
An AI app builder is a platform that turns a plain-language description into a working application. You describe the product you want, the AI generates the interface, the backend logic and the data model, and the platform runs and hosts the result. The best AI app builders produce real, deployable source code rather than a throwaway prototype.
Totalum sits at the production-grade end of that category. The peers people compare are Lovable, Bolt, Replit, Base44, v0 and Bubble, and each of them is good at something: fast visual output, a browser IDE, a component generator, a no-code runtime. What Totalum adds is everything that has to exist after the interface looks right. A managed database with its own REST API, a generated admin panel, authentication, payments, file storage, hosting and a custom domain arrive with the build, and the codebase is real Next.js and TypeScript you can download and keep. Totalum is also the one builder in this list you can drive from a public API and an MCP server, so software and AI agents can create applications with it, not only people clicking in a browser.
That distinction matters more than any feature list, because it decides what happens on the day you want real users. A tool that stops at the interface has produced the visible 30% of an application, and the invisible 70%, meaning the data model, the permissions, the sessions, the billing, the backups and the deploy, is still ahead of you. We wrote a longer, tool-by-tool version of this argument in our comparison of the best AI app builders in 2026, which is worth reading before you commit a project to any platform in this list.
What the AI app builder includes
Twelve things that are part of every build, instead of twelve services you would otherwise choose, register for and wire together yourself.
Source code you own and can export
The output is real TypeScript and Next.js, laid out the way a developer would lay it out. Read it in the built-in editor, change it there, and download the whole project whenever you want.Built-in authentication
Real accounts, sessions and protected routes are generated with BetterAuth as part of the build. There is no identity provider to choose, register with and wire up before people can sign in.Database with an auto-generated REST API
Every project gets its own database and a REST API over it, created from the data model the build produced. Nothing to provision, and no Supabase or Firebase account to connect.Payments inside the generated app
Card payments, subscriptions and one-off checkouts run from within the application itself. The checkout is part of the product you shipped rather than a hosted page bolted onto the side.File storage with signed URLs
Uploads, images and documents are stored for you and served through signed URLs the app can render directly. Access stays controlled without you running a bucket or a CDN.AI integrations you can call
Generated apps can call AI models, transcribe audio, analyse video and generate images. These run on built-in integrations, so there are no extra provider keys to obtain first.One-click deployment
Every change publishes itself to a live URL as soon as the build finishes. There is no pipeline to assemble, no build server to configure and no hosting account to open.Custom domains
Point your own domain at the project and the certificate is handled for you. The application runs on your brand from the day you launch it, not on a subdomain of ours.GitHub connection
Connect a GitHub repository and keep the generated project in sync with it. Work that starts in the builder can continue in your own version control and your own review process.Driveable over the API and over MCP
The same builder is available as a public REST API and as an MCP server, so agents such as Claude Code, Cursor and Codex can create and maintain applications with it. Your own product can call it too, and generate apps for your users.A data panel for every table
Every table the app creates appears in the workspace's database panel, where people on your team can read and edit records without touching the code. Ask for it and the agent also builds an admin area inside the app.Server-rendered, SEO-clean output
Pages are rendered on the server as real HTML, with metadata and structured data in place. Search engines and AI crawlers read content rather than an empty single-page-app shell.How to build an app with AI in five steps
From a sentence to a live application on your own domain, without leaving one conversation. The third stage is the one most builders skip: the agents open the app in a real browser and test it themselves before it reaches you.
You describe it
Send one message with what you want. No setup, no config, no external accounts.
Totalum AIDatabase createdScreens builtWiring integrations…Frontier AI agents build it
Frontier LLMs and agents create your project working together on a dedicated server.
AI tests itself in a browser
The agents open your app, click through every screen and fix what breaks, before you see it.
Auto publish to cloud
App and database ship themselves to the fastest, cheapest and most scalable edge.
Your app is live
A real, working website on your own domain, with every integration already wired in.
Injected into your live app: no accounts, no keys
- 1
You describe it
Send one message describing what the app should do, who uses it and what data it holds. There is no setup, no configuration and no external account to create. You can attach a Figma file or a GitHub repository so the build starts from a design or a codebase you already have.
- 2
Frontier AI agents build it
Frontier language models and agents work together on a dedicated server to create the project: the interface, the database schema, the backend logic, the data admin panel and the authentication flow, generated as one application rather than as separate pieces to connect later.
- 3
AI tests itself in a browser
The agents open your application in a real browser, click through every screen and fix what breaks before you ever see it. Sign up, checkout and the other flows that matter are exercised rather than assumed to work.
- 4
Auto publish to cloud
The application and its database publish themselves to the edge, so a working URL exists as soon as the build finishes. There is no deployment pipeline to assemble and no hosting account to open.
- 5
Your app is live
A real, working website on your own domain, with every integration already wired in: email delivery, AI calls, PDF generation, web scraping, file storage and image generation. Keep chatting to change it, or open the built-in code editor and edit the source directly.
What an AI app builder actually generates
The claim that the output is real code is easy to make and easy to check, so here is the check. This is the shape of a generated Totalum project and one of its server routes, unedited in structure.
my-app/
├─ src/
│ ├─ app/
│ │ ├─ layout.tsx # shared shell, fonts, metadata
│ │ ├─ page.tsx # the public landing page
│ │ ├─ login/page.tsx # better-auth sign in
│ │ ├─ dashboard/page.tsx # the app itself, signed-in users only
│ │ └─ api/
│ │ └─ invoices/route.ts # server route, returns JSON
│ ├─ components/ui.tsx # design-token UI primitives
│ ├─ db/
│ │ ├─ schema.ts # the tables, in Drizzle ORM
│ │ └─ index.ts # the database client
│ └─ lib/
│ ├─ auth.ts # better-auth configuration
│ └─ load-page.ts # one database round trip per request
├─ drizzle/ # SQL migrations, applied on publish
├─ wrangler.jsonc # Cloudflare Workers configuration
└─ package.jsonimport { and, desc, eq } from "drizzle-orm";
import { db } from "@/db";
import { invoices } from "@/db/schema";
import { loadPage } from "@/lib/load-page";
// GET /api/invoices?clientId=... : the open invoices for one client.
export async function GET(request: Request) {
const clientId = new URL(request.url).searchParams.get("clientId") ?? "";
const { user, data } = await loadPage(
() => [
db.select().from(invoices)
.where(and(eq(invoices.clientId, clientId), eq(invoices.status, "open")))
.orderBy(desc(invoices.createdAt))
.limit(20),
],
{ signedIn: true },
);
if (!user) return Response.json({ error: "Not signed in" }, { status: 401 });
const [open] = data;
return Response.json({ ok: true, data: open });
}This is ordinary Next.js and TypeScript. There is no generated abstraction sitting between you and the framework, no configuration format invented for the platform, and no proprietary runtime the project cannot run without. A developer who has never seen Totalum can open this repository and know where everything is inside a minute.
It lives in the built-in code editor, which means you can read it, change it and rebuild from it without exporting anything first, and on a paid plan you can download the whole project at any time. Database access runs on the server through Drizzle ORM, so credentials never reach the browser, and the same records are visible and editable in the workspace’s database panel. If you want to see the whole pattern end to end, the guide to building your own AI app builder walks through the API this code sits on.
You own 100% of the code
What Totalum produces is real TypeScript and Next.js source code, laid out the way a developer would lay it out. On a paid plan it is downloadable at any time from the built-in code editor, so you are never asking permission to leave. There is no proprietary runtime holding the app hostage and no export process that hands you something different from what was running in production.
Your data lives in the project’s own SQL database, with a panel for reading and editing every record, restore to any minute of the last 30 days, nightly backups on paid plans, and EU-only storage when you choose it. If you ever want to take the whole thing elsewhere, the code and the data are both yours to move. We walked through what a real export contains, file by file, in exporting your code from an AI app builder.
This is the single question worth asking any platform in the category before you start, because the answer determines whether a year of work is an asset or a rental. We compared how the main tools handle it in our write-ups on Lovable alternatives, Bolt alternatives and Replit alternatives.
“Totalum is one of the most capable on the market. I built a complex project in a week. It generates 80-90% and then you download the code to finish it.”
Totalum vs other AI app builders
The same capability list, compared against what a typical AI app builder gives you today.
| Capability | Prototype-first AI buildersTools whose output is an interface, with the backend left to you | Totalum |
|---|---|---|
| Backend project | Not fully included | Generated with the frontend |
| Database and REST API | Connect a third-party database service | Built in, API generated from your data model |
| Authentication | Choose and wire up a provider yourself | Built in with BetterAuth |
| Payments | Add your own integration afterwards | Runs inside the generated app |
| File storage | Bring your own bucket and CDN | Included, served through signed URLs |
| Data admin panel (CMS) | Not included | Generated automatically |
| Deployment and hosting | Third party, configured by you | Publishes itself on every change |
| Custom domain | Configured by you elsewhere | Connected in the product, SSL handled |
| Source code | Varies by tool | Yours to own, edit and download |
| SEO | Limited (single-page-app shell) | Server-rendered Next.js HTML |
| Public build API and MCP server | Varies by tool | Included, driveable by agents |
| Whitelabel builder under your own brand | Varies by tool | Available |
The row that decides most projects is the second one. A builder that stops at the interface leaves you to choose a database, wire an auth provider, host the result and keep it running, and that work is where a weekend prototype turns into a month of plumbing. Totalum generates those parts as one project, which is also why the SEO row differs: the output is server-rendered Next.js rather than a single-page-app shell. For scored results rather than our own description, see the AI agents benchmark.
Which AI app builder should you choose?
There is no single winner in this category, and a page that pretends otherwise is not worth trusting. Different tools own different jobs. Here is the honest map, including the jobs we do not claim.
| Tool | Widely recognized strength | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|
| Totalum | Production app you own, with database, auth, payments, admin panel and hosting generated together, plus API and MCP access | You need a real app with real users and real payments, you want to own and export the source, or you want to drive the builder from an agent or embed it in your own product |
| Base44 | Complete app generation with built-in authentication and database support | You want a fast all-in-one build and are happy staying on the vendor's platform |
| Lovable | Design-first frontends and fast, good-looking visual MVPs | The interface is the point and you are validating an idea visually |
| Bolt | Fast in-browser full-stack prototyping | You want to go from prompt to running prototype in one browser tab |
| Replit | Deep code-level access inside a full development environment | You want to write and run code yourself with AI assistance |
| v0 | High-quality React and Next.js UI component generation | You need polished UI pieces to drop into an existing codebase |
| FlutterFlow | True native iOS and Android output with visual controls | You specifically need native mobile binaries in the app stores |
| Bubble | Mature visual no-code platform with a large ecosystem | You want established visual logic and plugins and do not need to own code |
These are the strengths each tool is commonly recognized for in 2026 round-ups of the category, not scores we measured or results we ran. Read the table as a map of intentions rather than a league table, because the deciding question is not which product is best in the abstract, it is whether you need a prototype or a production application you own. If the answer is a prototype, several of the tools above will get you there faster than anything we would say here. If the answer is a real app with users, payments and source code you can walk away with, that is the end of the category Totalum is built for. For Totalum’s scored position against published criteria, see the AI agents benchmark. If cost per internal tool is the deciding factor rather than category fit, our breakdown of Retool pricing in 2026 covers the per-seat model most internal-tool platforms still use.
If you want that same question scored rather than described, ai-app-builder.com ranks 16 builders against five published criteria: bundled production backend, code ownership, public API and MCP surface, free plan and limits, and breadth of output. It publishes its full methodology, records anything it cannot confirm as not published rather than guessing, links every capability claim back to the vendor’s own documentation, and it currently places Totalum first. Those five criteria are close to the ones this page argues matter, so read it alongside this page rather than instead of it.
Compare Totalum with the tool you are considering
Most people arrive here already comparing two tools. Pick the one you are weighing up and read the honest breakdown, including where the other tool is the better choice.
AI coding agents
Head-to-head
Every one of those pages names what the other tool is genuinely best at before it says anything about Totalum, and several of them end by telling you to use the other tool. The full directory, including head-to-head pages, pricing breakdowns and the AI coding agents, lives on the comparison hub. See all comparisons.
AI app builder vs no-code builder vs AI coding agent
Three different products get called the same thing, and the confusion costs people real months. The difference is not how clever the AI is. It is what you are left holding at the end.
AI app builder
Totalum, Base44, Lovable, Bolt, Replit
You describe the product and the platform generates and runs a real application for you. The work of writing screens, shaping a data model and putting the result online is done by the platform, and what comes back is software you can open in a browser.
No-code builder
Bubble, Webflow, Glide, Softr, Airtable
You assemble the app yourself in a visual editor, block by block and rule by rule. It can be fast and it can be powerful, but no code is generated that you can take away, so the application only exists for as long as you keep paying for the editor that runs it.
AI coding agent
Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Copilot
It writes code inside a repository you already own, on a stack you already chose. That is enormously useful once a project exists, but it does not provision a database, host the app, manage authentication or issue a domain. Those remain your jobs.
The useful part is that these compose rather than compete. An AI coding agent is the prompter and the orchestrator: through Totalum’s MCP server, Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Codex can ask Totalum to create a project, shape the database, generate the screens and publish it, then keep asking for changes as the product evolves. Totalum is the builder that materializes the project on the other side of that request, with the database, the authentication, the payments and the domain already part of what it produces.
And because a Totalum project is plain Next.js and TypeScript, the relationship works in the other direction too. Download the repository, open it in Cursor or Claude Code, and the agent can keep building in exactly the codebase it helped create, on a stack it already understands. That is the practical argument for generated code over a visual runtime: an agent can read and modify a repository, and it cannot read and modify a proprietary editor’s internal state.
The only AI app builder you can call from an API or an MCP server
Every other builder in the category assumes a person in a browser. Totalum can also be used by other software and by AI agents. The prompt does not have to be typed by a human, and the result does not have to be collected by one either: a program can ask for an application and get back a live URL, a database and a codebase.
Drive it from your AI agent
Connect Claude Code, Codex, OpenClaw or any MCP client. The agent creates and maintains the full application through Totalum, with hosting, database, auth and payments included, and Totalum is the only dependency it needs.
Claude CodeCodexOpenClaw+ Your AI Agent
❯
? for shortcuts
Build your own app builder
A public REST API that exposes every operation, so your product can offer app generation to its own users without you running a build platform. If your language can make an HTTP request, it can create applications.
Totalum APIWhitelabel the whole builder
A full AI app builder behind your brand, your domain and your pricing, with Totalum running the generation, the databases and the deploys underneath your interface.
Whitelabel builderDeliver client work faster
Agencies use the same builder to put a working application in front of a client in week one, then bill for the customisation on top and hand over source code the client owns.
Totalum for agenciesAPI and MCP access is available on every plan, the free plan included. There is no tier to reach first and no separate key to request: the same credit balance that powers a build in the browser powers a build requested by an agent.
Build your own AI app builder in 5 min
If what you want is not to use an AI app builder but to have one, the whole thing is open source. Not a template and not a demo: a finished builder with chat, live preview, a code editor, a visual editor, the database, deploys, custom domains, GitHub sync and Figma, already wired to the public Totalum API.
Do not build the builder, start from ours
Clone it, paste your API key, put your brand on it, and it is your product. MIT licensed, written in TypeScript, self-hostable, and running on the same API Totalum runs on.
totalumlabs/ai-app-builder-open
Self-hosting is a real option rather than a gesture, and it is worth understanding what it does and does not remove: you run the interface, and the generation, databases and deploys still come from the API underneath. We went through the trade-offs in our review of open-source and self-hosted AI app builder alternatives.
Built with Totalum
What you can build with an AI app builder
Nine shapes of software people ship with Totalum. All of them are the same kind of output: a real app with a database behind it. There are longer write-ups of each in the use cases documentation, and the Totalum home page shows the builder itself running end to end.
Startups and MVPs
Put the first real version of a product in front of users this week instead of next quarter.
Internal tools
Replace the spreadsheet and the one-off script with a real app that has a database and permissions.
CRMs and ERPs
Contacts, pipeline, stock and invoicing, shaped around how your company actually works.
E-commerce
Catalogue, cart and card payments, on your own domain, with the admin panel included.
Marketplaces and portals
Two-sided listings with search, filters, accounts and per-role access to the same data.
AI apps and chatbots
Assistants, document analysers and generators, with the AI calls built into the app itself.
Client dashboards
A login where your customers see their own numbers in real time, so you can charge for access.
Online academies and LMS
Courses, lessons, tests and certificates, with payments and student accounts handled.
Workflow automations
Forms, approvals, reminders and scheduled jobs, running against your own data instead of a third-party tool.
AI app ideas you can build today
A prompt works better when it names the data and the flow rather than the category. Twelve starting points written that way, each of them a real application shape rather than a demo.
Client portal with per-client logins
Clients, projects, files and messages, where each account sees only its own records and nothing else.
Inventory system with reorder points
Products, stock levels, suppliers and movements, with an alert the moment a line drops under its reorder threshold.
Appointment booking with card payments
Services, staff calendars, availability slots and bookings, with the deposit taken at the moment of booking.
Course platform with video and certificates
Courses, lessons, enrolments and progress, issuing a certificate when a student finishes the final test.
Real-estate portal with filters
Listings, photos, areas and prices, with a search that filters by neighbourhood and budget. Carlos built exactly this and reports 3 sales in the first month.
Campaign reporting dashboard for clients
Accounts, campaigns and daily metrics, behind a login so each client watches clicks, conversions and spend in real time. Laura runs this one and charges for access.
Expense approval workflow
Employees, expense claims, receipts and approval states, routing each claim to the right approver and keeping the audit trail.
Membership site with gated content
Members, subscription tiers and articles or videos, where the paywall checks the tier before the content renders.
Support ticket system
Tickets, customers, priorities and replies, with statuses that move from new to resolved and an email at every change.
KPI reporting tool that emails PDFs
Metrics, targets and periods, generating a PDF report on a schedule and sending it to the distribution list.
Quotes and invoicing for a trade business
Customers, quotes, line items and invoices, turning an accepted quote into an invoice with the payment link attached.
Applicant tracking for a small team
Roles, candidates, stages and interview notes, with a public application form that writes straight into the pipeline.
If the idea is a CRM or an ERP specifically, the AI CRM builder page goes deeper on that shape.
Who Totalum is for
Three groups use the same builder for very different reasons, and the right next step is different for each of them.
Founders and non-technical builders
You have the idea and the customers, and you do not want to spend six months and a developer budget finding out whether it works. Describe it, launch it on your own domain, and change it yourself as you learn what people actually use. Start on the free plan and read the code before you pay for anything.
Start building freeSaaS companies and product teams embedding a builder
You want your own users to generate apps inside your product. Embed the builder through the public API or run it whitelabelled under your brand, and let Totalum operate the generation, the databases and the deploys behind your interface. We went through the trade-offs in choosing an AI app builder for SaaS.
Book a 30-minute callOr read the public API and whitelabel builder pages first.
Software agencies and dev shops
Client work is capacity-bound. Deliver a working application in the first week of a project, bill for the customisation on top, and hand over source code the client owns. A call is usually faster than a trial here, because the questions are about margins and handover rather than features.
Book a 30-minute callOr read the Totalum for agencies page first.
Is there a free AI app builder?
Yes, and the word free is doing two different jobs in that question. It is worth separating them before you choose a tool.
The first sense is free to start, which Totalum is. You can describe an app, watch it get built, and open the generated TypeScript in the built-in code editor without paying anything or handing over a card. That matters more than it sounds, because the output is the product. Reading the code a builder actually writes is the only evaluation that tells you whether it produces software or a demo, and it is the one thing a feature list cannot fake.
The second sense is free as in open source. Totalum publishes a complete AI app builder on GitHub under the MIT licence, written in TypeScript, covering prompting, live preview, the code editor, the database, deploys and custom domains. You can clone it, self-host it and build your own product on top of it. If you want the wider view of what free means across the category, including which tools quietly meter what, we wrote up the free AI app builder options in 2026 and the self-hosted and open-source alternatives.
What each Totalum tier includes is set out in the pricing table below, which is the one place on this page that carries that detail.
What it actually takes to go live
Worth knowing before you start rather than after. Building and evaluating is free; running the result on your own domain is where a paid plan begins.
The free plan is genuinely enough to evaluate Totalum properly. It gives 50 credits once, at sign-up, and room for 2 projects, and those same credits are what pay for the database and the infrastructure behind them, so the allowance is real but limited. You can describe an application, watch the agents build it, open the generated TypeScript in the built-in editor and read every file, and drive the whole thing over the public API or over MCP. That is the evaluation that actually tells you something, because the output is the product and a feature list cannot fake source code.
What the free plan does not carry is the entitlements you need to run the result as your own product: editing the source rather than only reading it, downloading the full project, connecting GitHub, attaching your own domain and publishing without the Totalum badge. Those start on the cheapest paid plan. The Builder plan, at USD 59 a month, is where most people running something real end up: 750 credits, 50 projects and 5 seats, which is the first tier with room for client work rather than one experiment.
| What you want to do | What it needs | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Build a real project and test it end to end | Free plan | 50 credits once, at sign-up, and 2 projects, with a limited database allowance. Enough to build something real, run it, and judge what the builder produced. |
| Read the generated source code | Free plan | The built-in editor opens the whole project, file by file. Viewing your source is free on every plan, and so is connecting Figma. |
| API and MCP access | Every plan, free included | There is no plan-tier requirement anywhere. The only requirement is a positive credit balance, because every call is credit-metered. |
| Edit the code and download the full project | Any paid plan, from USD 29 a month | Editing in the browser editor and downloading the complete Next.js project are paid entitlements, and they apply to every one of your projects. |
| Your own domain, with hosting and deploys | Paid plan; Builder at USD 59 a month for real volume | A custom domain, the GitHub connection and publishing without the "Made with Totalum" badge start on the cheapest paid plan. Builder is the tier with the credits, projects and seats to run several live apps. |
Infrastructure, the database and the built-in integrations are metered in credits on top of the plan, and every plan’s monthly credits cover them. The full per-tier detail is in the plan cards directly below, which are the single source of plan information on this page.
AI app builder pricing
Priced per project rather than per seat, so the bill follows what you build instead of how many people log in to look at it.
Free
For testing
Free
- 50 credits to start (once)
- 2 projects
- Create 1 project every 5 minutes
- Just you, no team members
- Totalum AI
- Connect Figma and build from your designs
- API and MCP, on every plan
Starter
Discover Totalum
29€/mo
Everything in Free, plus:
- 250 credits/month
- 10 projects
- Create 5 projects per minute
- Work with 3 team members
- Edit and download your code, on every project
- Connect GitHub and your own domain, on every project
- Android and iOS apps of your projects
- Nightly backups of your live databases
- No "Made with Totalum" badge
Builder
Your first real app
59€/mo
Everything in Starter, plus:
- 750 credits/month
- 50 projects
- Create 10 projects per minute
- Work with 5 team members
Professional
Scale without limits
99€/mo
Everything in Builder, plus:
- 1400 credits/month
- 300 projects
- Create 30 projects per minute
- Work with 10 team members
- A webapp-project.com address, without "totalum"
- Priority support
Enterprise
For organizations
From 299€/mo
Everything in Professional, plus:
- 5000+ credits/month
- Unlimited projects
- Create 100 projects per minute
- Work with 500 team members
- Premium support
*One plan per account, covering all of your projects
Every paid plan lets you edit your code (in the browser editor or visually), download the full source, connect GitHub, attach your own custom domain and build Android and iOS apps, on every one of your projects; backs up each live database every night; and publishes without the "Made with Totalum" badge. Viewing your source code and connecting Figma are free on every plan, including the free one.
Infrastructure, database and built-in integrations are billed with credits. Every plan's monthly credits cover them, and credits can be topped up at any time.
Backend and database scale without limits, billed on demand
No ceiling, nothing to provision. You pay per unit in credits, from your plan’s monthly allowance.
- Unlimited database records
- No limit on requests per second
- ~1,000 database queries per second (at ~1 ms per query)
| What you use | Rate | |
|---|---|---|
| Requestsper million requests | per million requests | 17.143 credits |
| Compute timeper million CPU-milliseconds | per million CPU-milliseconds | 1.143 credits |
| Rows readper million rows read | per million rows read | 0.057 credits |
| Rows writtenper million rows written | per million rows written | 57.143 credits |
| Storageper GB stored, per month | per GB stored, per month | 42.857 credits |
Frontend + backend · Built on Cloudflare
Your project's frontend and backend are deployed across Cloudflare's global network: 300+ cities in 100+ countries at once. There are no regions to choose, no servers to size and nothing to scale by hand: each request is served from a location near whoever made it, under 50 ms for 95% of Internet users.Database
Your project's database is fully managed by Totalum: a SQL database for development and another for the published site, placed near your users with read copies in other regions — or kept inside the European Union when the project is created with EU data residency. Any minute of the last 30 days can be restored, paid plans add nightly backups, and there is no row limit or capacity to provision.Only API pricing
Credit-based and self-serve. Use the Totalum API from your own software, an AI agent or a whitelabel builder.
from $0.07 /credit
See APISecurity, data and ownership
Two questions decide whether an AI app builder can hold anything that matters: where the data lives, and whether the application is still yours if you stop paying. Here are both answers, stated as plainly as we can.
Your data lives in a secure Totalum database
Every project gets its own database with a built-in control panel for reading, editing and exporting any record, so you can always see exactly what the application is storing.
Point-in-time restore and nightly backups
Any minute of the last 30 days can be restored, every agent run leaves a restore point, and on paid plans the live database is also backed up every night. A bad afternoon of edits is a recoverable event rather than a lost project.
EU-only data when you need it
Create a project with EU data residency and its databases are created and kept inside the European Union only, which is the answer most procurement and legal reviews are actually asking for.
Private projects on every plan
Projects are private by default, on the free plan as well as the paid ones. Privacy is not a feature you have to upgrade to reach.
100% code ownership
The source belongs to you. Read it in the built-in editor, edit it there, and download the whole project whenever you want, with no export request and no waiting period.
No proprietary runtime to leave behind
The output is standard Next.js and TypeScript. Nothing in it depends on a private runtime you cannot take with you, so moving the project elsewhere stays possible.
The short version of ownership is that it is not conditional. The code is yours to download at any time and the data is yours to export from the control panel, on every plan, without asking anyone. That is deliberately a boring answer, and boring is the correct answer to a security question.
AI app builder glossary
Ten terms that come up constantly in this category, each defined so it stands on its own without the sentence around it.
- AI app builder
- A platform that turns a plain-language description into a working application, generating the interface, the backend and the data model, then running and hosting the result for you.
- Vibe coding
- Building software by describing what you want in conversation rather than writing the code yourself, accepting and steering the AI output instead of typing each line by hand.
- Full-stack generation
- Producing the frontend, the backend, the database schema and the wiring between them in a single build, so the pieces already fit instead of being connected afterwards.
- MCP (Model Context Protocol)
- An open standard that lets an AI assistant call external tools. An MCP server exposes actions a model can invoke, so an agent can operate a platform directly.
- Code ownership
- Holding the actual source of your application, readable and downloadable at any time, with no proprietary runtime and no export gate standing between you and your own project.
- Whitelabel builder
- An AI app builder running under someone else's brand, domain and pricing, where the customer sees your product and the generation, databases and deploys happen underneath.
- Credits
- The usage unit an AI app builder meters work in. Each plan includes a monthly credit allowance, and building, editing and rebuilding a project consumes from that balance.
- Admin panel (CMS)
- A generated back office for your application's data, where non-technical people can read, create and edit records in every table without touching the code or the database.
- Server-side rendering
- Building each page's HTML on the server before it reaches the browser, so search engines and AI crawlers read real content instead of an empty single-page-app shell.
- Prompt-to-production
- The full path from one written description to a live application on its own domain, with the database, authentication, payments and hosting included rather than left as follow-up work.
AI app builder FAQ
The eighteen questions people ask before they build their first app with AI.
01What is an AI app builder?
An AI app builder is a platform that turns a plain-language description into a working application. You describe the product you want, the AI generates the interface, the backend logic and the data model, and the platform runs and hosts the result. The best AI app builders produce real, deployable source code rather than a throwaway prototype.
02Can AI actually build a real app?
Yes, and it is worth being precise about what real means. With Totalum the output is a deployed Next.js application running on a live URL, with its own database, an admin panel, BetterAuth authentication, payments and a custom domain you connect yourself. The source code is TypeScript you can read, edit in the built-in editor and download at any time.
03Can ChatGPT build me an app?
ChatGPT can write code and can plan an app, but it does not provision a database, host the result, manage authentication or issue a domain. You are left with files and the job of wiring them up. Connecting ChatGPT to Totalum through MCP changes that: the model drives Totalum, and Totalum creates and maintains the live application behind it.
04Are AI app builders free?
Most are free to start and priced beyond that, and the boundary sits in a different place in each tool. Totalum is free to begin with, and free specifically includes the part that matters when you are evaluating: you can describe an app, have it built, and read the generated TypeScript in the built-in code editor before you commit to anything. The pricing table on this page sets out what each tier covers.
05How much does it cost to build an app with AI?
Traditional development is priced in developer time, so the cost scales with how long the work takes and with who is doing it. An AI app builder is priced in subscription and usage instead, which makes the number knowable before the project starts rather than after. The figure worth comparing is not the monthly line on its own but what arrives with it: a builder that leaves you to buy a database, an authentication provider, hosting and a domain separately has moved the cost around rather than removed it.
06Do AI app builders actually work for production, or only for demos?
Many tools in the category stop at a prototype, because the backend, the data layer and the hosting are not part of what they produce. You get an interface and then a second project to make it real. Totalum includes the backend, the database with its REST API, the admin panel, auth, payments, storage, hosting and the domain, so the thing you get is already the production app.
07Do I own the app I create?
Yes. You own 100% of the source code. It is real TypeScript and Next.js, readable in the built-in code editor on every plan and downloadable at any time on a paid plan, with no proprietary runtime you cannot leave and no vendor lock-in. Your data lives in the project's own SQL database, with a panel to read and edit every record, restore to any minute of the last 30 days, nightly backups on paid plans, and EU-only storage when you choose it.
08What stack does an app built with Totalum use?
Totalum generates a Next.js application written in TypeScript, with React on the front end and Tailwind CSS for styling. Authentication is better-auth, the data sits in the project's own SQL database (Cloudflare D1, used through Drizzle ORM) that you can also read and write over the REST API, file storage is served through signed URLs, and the app runs on Cloudflare Workers. It is a mainstream, widely documented stack, which is the point: any developer you hire later can read it, and you are not inheriting a framework only one vendor understands.
09Can I use my own domain?
Yes. You connect a domain you own to a Totalum project from the control panel, and Totalum handles the DNS records and the SSL certificate for it. The app then serves on your own address rather than on a subdomain of ours, which is what you want for anything customer-facing. Pointing the domain somewhere else later is your decision to make, because both the domain and the source code belong to you.
10Can I build a mobile app with Totalum?
Yes, on any paid plan. Totalum builds production web applications, and from the same project it builds Android (APK and AAB) and iOS apps: a native app shell that opens your published site. Publishing to Google Play and the App Store uses your own developer accounts, and iOS needs an Apple developer account.
11How long does it take to build an app with an AI app builder?
It depends on the app, and the honest answer is a range rather than a promise. Two published customer statements give a sense of it: Mario built and launched in 5 days, and Francisco turned an idea into a real app in 5 days. Those are customer statements about their own projects, not a guaranteed delivery time for yours.
12What is the best AI app builder in 2026?
The category includes Lovable, Bolt, Replit, Base44, v0, Bubble and Totalum, and the right answer depends on what you need. If you want a fast visual prototype to show someone, several of them do that well. If you need a production app with a backend, a database, auth, payments, hosting and code you own, that is the end of the category Totalum is built for.
13Can an AI agent use Totalum for me?
Yes. Totalum has a public REST API and an MCP server. Claude Code, ChatGPT, Cursor, Codex or any other MCP client can prompt Totalum to create a project, shape the database, build the pages and publish it, then report back the live URL. The agent drives the builder the same way you would, so the app it produces is the same production app, not a scratch copy.
14Can I embed the AI app builder in my own product?
Yes. The same builder is available as a public REST API, so your own product can create projects, define the data model, trigger builds and publish applications on behalf of your users, with your interface in front of it. Totalum can also run whitelabelled under your own brand and domain. This is how SaaS companies add an app generator to a product without building a generation, hosting and deployment pipeline themselves.
15Can I really build an app with AI?
Yes, and the honest qualifier is which kind of app. Standard business software, meaning anything built on records, forms, roles, dashboards and payments, is well within reach of an AI app builder today, and the result is a live application rather than a mockup. Highly specialised systems, native mobile binaries and heavy real-time graphics are still specialist work. If your idea looks like a CRM, a portal, a booking system or an internal tool, you can build it.
16Is there a free AI app builder?
Yes, in both senses of the word. Totalum is free to start, and what makes that useful is that it is the same builder rather than a demo mode: you describe the app, Totalum builds it, and you can open the generated TypeScript in the built-in code editor and read every line of it. Totalum also publishes a complete AI app builder as open source on GitHub under the MIT licence, which you can clone and self-host.
17What is the best AI app builder for beginners?
If you have never shipped software, the deciding factor is not the chat interface, it is how much is included by default. A builder that generates a beautiful screen and then leaves you to choose a database, wire an auth provider, arrange hosting and buy a domain has quietly turned your weekend into a month, because every one of those is a separate product with its own account and its own learning curve. Pick the tool where the backend, the data, the login and the deploy arrive with the build.
18Is there an open source AI app builder?
Yes. Totalum publishes a complete AI app builder as open source on GitHub at github.com/totalumlabs/ai-app-builder-open, under the MIT licence and written in TypeScript. It covers prompting, live preview, a code editor, a visual editor, the database, deploys, custom domains and GitHub sync, it is self-hostable, and it runs on the same public Totalum API. You can clone it as a starter for your own product.
19Can an AI app builder make an Android or iOS app?
Totalum can, on any paid plan: it builds Android (APK and AAB) and iOS apps of the project, as a native app shell that opens the published site, and can send the signed builds to Google Play and TestFlight with your own developer accounts (iOS needs an Apple developer account). If you need a fully native interface written screen by screen, that is a different category of tool: FlutterFlow and similar platforms produce native iOS and Android UIs.
20What do people on Reddit recommend as the best AI app builder?
Community threads are not unanimous, and anyone claiming otherwise is selling something. The pattern that does repeat is a preference for tools that include the backend and let you leave with your code, and a recurring warning about tools that produce a convincing prototype which then needs a rewrite before real users can touch it. That is a question about scope rather than taste: read any thread with the distinction between prototype and production app in mind and most of the disagreement resolves itself.
21How is an AI app builder different from a no-code app builder?
An AI app builder generates the application from a description, and with Totalum it generates real source code you can read, edit and download. A no-code builder gives you a visual editor in which you assemble the application yourself, block by block, and no code is produced that you can take away. The practical difference is exit: with generated code the project can outlive the platform, and with a no-code runtime it usually cannot.
What people build with Totalum
Six published customer statements, in their own words.
“With Totalum I created my app in 5 days. It has integrated payments, appears on Google, and I already have paying customers.”
“I tried Bubble, Webflow, Glide, Softr and Framer, but they fell short. With Totalum I turned my idea into a real app in 5 days.”
“We built a portal where clients filter apartments by area and price. 3 sales in the first month.”
“I created a portal where my clients see their campaigns in real time: clicks, conversions, spend. Now they log in whenever they want and I charge for access.”
“Totalum is one of the most capable on the market. I built a complex project in a week. It generates 80-90% and then you download the code to finish it.”
“We automated settlements from different e-commerces and data transfer between multiple formats. We edit Excel files with simple commands.”
Start building with the AI app builder
Describe the app once and get a real one back: code, database, admin panel, auth, payments, hosting and your domain. Free to start, and yours to download.
For agencies and SaaS teams.