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Backendless

Build apps. Automate workflows. Save time.

3.5
Rating
$15/mo
From
Visit Tool
About Backendless

Backendless is a visual app development platform that provides a unified suite of serverless backend, UI building, and API management tools. It enables developers to build and scale applications with a real-time database, user authentication, and visual logic without managing infrastructure.

Pricing Plans

Scale Plan

$15/mo
Visit official pricing page
Features
  • Visual UI Builder
  • Drag-and-Drop Canvas
  • Codeless Logic Editor
  • Real-Time Database
  • Cloud Code Timers
  • API Event Handlers
  • User Authentication Systems
  • Social Login Integration
  • Role-Based Security
  • Pub/Sub Messaging
  • Push Notification Console
  • Scalable File Storage

Backendless at a glance

Overall Score

3.5/5
Usability3.0
Value for Money3.0
Flexibility5.0
Design Freedom3.0

Backendless is a visual application development platform and mobile Backend-as-a-Service that sits between no-code builders like Bubble and raw cloud infrastructure like AWS or Azure. It's aimed at startups, small-to-mid agencies, and developers who want to skip the overhead of setting up databases, authentication, and API servers from scratch.

What sets it apart: genuine relational database support, a real differentiator against Firebase and similar platforms that force you into NoSQL document patterns whether you want them or not.

Pros

  • Comprehensive out-of-the-box backend features, relational data storage, user authentication with role-based access control, file storage, push notifications, real-time sync, and geolocation
  • True relational database support with a visual modeling interface, unlike competitors that force document or NoSQL patterns
  • Lets you build web and mobile frontends visually while designing complex server-side business logic through logic blocks
  • Custom Cloud Code flexibility lets developers inject JavaScript, Node.js, or Java when visual logic isn't enough, avoiding vendor lock-in
  • Offers deployment versatility from public cloud hosting to private instances or fully self-hosted, on-premise setups
  • Gamified onboarding "Missions" guide new users through the platform's capabilities step by step

Cons

  • Despite the low-code/no-code label, understanding databases, logic flows, API endpoints, and data schemas still requires a real technical mindset
  • The frontend UI Builder is functional but its visual components and responsive design tools feel less fluid than dedicated frontend-only builders
  • The management console can feel cluttered and overwhelming initially given how many features it packs in, APIs, database, user rules, push notifications, Cloud Code
  • Pricing scales up rapidly at higher tiers for high API throughput, dedicated hardware, or enterprise-level scaling

Backendless genuinely delivers on real backend infrastructure without asking teams to build it from scratch on raw cloud services. The relational database support is the standout feature here, developers who need true relational structure rather than NoSQL document patterns will find this a real relief compared to Firebase-style alternatives, and the auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs save weeks of manual setup time.

Where it falls short: the "no-code" label oversells how approachable this actually is for complete non-technical beginners, understanding schemas and API logic really does require some technical grounding. The admin console can also feel dense and overwhelming at first given how much functionality is packed in. And while entry pricing is reasonable, scaling to enterprise throughput gets expensive fast. Skip it if you need a purely visual, zero-technical-knowledge tool. But for developers and technical teams wanting a genuine backend-as-a-service with relational database support and real deployment flexibility, Backendless delivers strong, well-rounded capability.

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