A Adalo alternative — Exepad
Same describe-the-app simplicity, but a real web app on a custom domain — not a mobile-first PWA. Exepad ships the database, forms, email, auth, file storage, hosting, and SSL in one subscription.
One subscription. Eight production components.
Everything you need in the plan. No add-ons, no separate vendor invoices.
Database
Forms
File storage
Hosting
SSL
Visitor analytics
Custom domain
Honest take, no bashing
What each tool does best, side by side.
What Adalo is good at
Adalo is the most direct path from a no-code project to the Apple App Store and Google Play. Native compilation, push notifications, geolocation, and Stripe payments are first-class. The 2025 'Magic Start' AI flow lets you describe an app and get a working draft, and the new pricing scrapped per-action metering so the bill stays predictable as users grow. For teams whose end goal is a phone app in the store, Adalo earns its place.
Where Exepad fits differently
Exepad publishes a real web app rather than a mobile-first PWA wrapped for the stores. The plan bundles a native relational database, forms with conditional logic, transactional email, file storage, edge hosting, automatic SSL, role-based authentication, a custom domain, first-party visitor analytics, and a REST + MCP API — designed for sites that need to rank in Google and get cited by AI assistants, not a binary submitted for App Store review.
Exepad vs. Adalo
Side-by-side on the 14 dimensions that actually move the needle.
Time to first published app
Exepad
4–10 minutes
Adalo
15–60 minutes to a draft; App Store review adds days.
Database included
Exepad
Native relational database, AI-modeled from your description.
Adalo
Built-in collection database; unlimited records on paid plans.
Authentication included
Exepad
Native auth, magic-link, social, role-based permissions.
Adalo
Email + password and social login; team collaboration on Professional.
Email sending included
Exepad
Transactional email — confirmations, automations, sender reputation managed.
Adalo
Email actions via integrations; bring your own SendGrid for higher-volume sends.
Hosting included
Exepad
Edge hosting on Cloudflare, no app or action caps.
Adalo
Hosted; 1 published app on Starter, additional apps $25/mo each.
File storage included
Exepad
Native object storage served from the global edge.
Adalo
Image/file upload fields; storage tied to the published app plan.
Form backend included
Exepad
Native forms with validation, conditional logic, direct database writes.
Adalo
Form components write to the collection database; multi-step forms supported.
Visitor analytics included
Exepad
First-party analytics in every paid plan.
Adalo
Bring your own analytics; native dashboards focus on app actions.
Search built in
Exepad
Site-wide search across pages and records, included.
Adalo
List-level search; site-wide search requires manual setup.
Custom domain
Exepad
Included on every paid plan; automatic SSL.
Adalo
Custom domain included on Starter ($36/mo) and above.
GEO (AI citation) ready
Exepad
Schema.org JSON-LD, semantic HTML, direct-answer blocks ship by default.
Adalo
PWA shell + native binary; head-tag schema and crawlable HTML require manual setup.
SSL + bank-level security
Exepad
Edge SSL, automated backups, 99.9% uptime, tenant isolation.
Adalo
SSL on custom domain; managed hosting; no native HIPAA on paid tiers.
Lighthouse Performance score
Exepad
95+ guaranteed across pages.
Adalo
Native shell loads fast on device; web PWA scores can drop with large datasets.
Designed for non-technical users
Exepad
Describe in English; the platform generates schema, UI, and back-end together.
Adalo
Drag-and-drop screen builder + Magic Start AI; mobile-first mental model.
Starting price
Exepad
$25/mo — unlimited apps, one USD wallet.
Adalo
Free up to 500 records; Starter $36/mo; Professional $65/mo; Team $160/mo (annual).
Code export
Exepad
Not required — the platform runs the app; REST + MCP API exposes the data.
Adalo
No source-code export; data exportable, app logic stays in Adalo.
Pricing snapshot May 2026 from adalo.com/pricing. Adalo's Starter plan ($36/mo) publishes one app with custom domain, unlimited records, and store submission. App Store and Google Play submission unlocks fully on Professional ($65/mo). Each additional published app costs $25/mo. Stripe payments require Team ($160/mo). Exepad's plan replaces every meter with one subscription — see /pricing for current tiers.
When each one wins
Pick the right tool — both have legitimate strengths.
Pick Adalo when…
An iOS and Android app in the stores is the actual deliverable.
Founders shipping a consumer mobile app that lives or dies by App Store placement, push notifications, geolocation, and native gestures. Adalo's compile-to-native path is the most direct route from no-code to a binary in review.
Mobile-first patterns with a small dataset.
Teams building a tip-tracker, a community membership app, or a small marketplace where users mostly interact on a phone, the data tops out around a few thousand records, and the back-end logic is simple.
You need Stripe payments inside a native app today.
Operators monetizing a paid consumer app where in-app Stripe (or Apple/Google billing) is the conversion path, and the Team plan's payments tier is part of the budget.
Pick Exepad when…
The real product is a web app on your own domain.
B2B founders, marketing teams, and agencies whose published app must rank in Google, get cited by AI Overview and ChatGPT, and load at sub-second speed on yourdomain.com — a real website, not a phone-first PWA.
Your data and back-end logic are growing past Adalo's strengths.
Teams hitting Adalo's performance ceilings around large datasets, complex relations, and external API orchestration. Exepad's native relational database and REST + MCP surface keep up as the schema and integrations get more demanding.
You need transactional email and search baked in, not bolted on.
Operators who'd otherwise wire SendGrid, an analytics SaaS, and an Algolia search index alongside Adalo. Exepad ships transactional email, first-party analytics, and site-wide search natively.
What the typical stack costs
Line-item breakdown of what most teams actually pay each month — and what the same setup costs on Exepad.
What the move actually looks like
Most Adalo-to-Exepad moves take a day for web-first use cases. Export each Adalo collection as CSV, paste the schema and a description of the app into Exepad, and let the platform generate the database, screens, forms, and auth. The path is straightforward if your end product is a website; if your real product is a native iOS/Android app in the App Store, Adalo remains the better fit — Exepad's output is the open web. If your value is a web app on your own domain with a crawlable, GEO-ready surface, expect a one-day rebuild.
Your migration checklist
The concrete steps most teams follow when moving from Adalo to Exepad — usually a day, not a week.
Audit the existing Adalo project
List every screen, every collection, every external integration, and the published targets (web vs iOS vs Android).
Export collections as CSV
One CSV per collection; preserve relation IDs. Each imports as a relational table in Exepad.
Describe the app to Exepad in plain English
Focus on the web-app version. Paste the screen list, user roles, and key flows; Exepad drafts pages, schema, and forms in one pass.
Move auth and accounts
Map Adalo's email/password and social logins to Exepad's magic-link + social auth. Recreate user groups as roles.
Re-point the custom domain
Update DNS to Exepad's edge. SSL provisions automatically. Keep the Adalo app live until cutover is verified.
Set 301 redirects from old PWA URLs
Mirror Adalo's page slugs so bookmarks, indexed pages, and AI citations survive the move.
Common mistakes
What people get wrong when evaluating Adalo alternatives — and what to do instead.
Mistake
Choosing Adalo when the real product is a website
Fix
Adalo's superpower is the App Store path. For a web app on a custom domain, a web-first platform like Exepad ships faster and ranks better.
Mistake
Skipping the schema design step during migration
Fix
Adalo collections often denormalize. Use the import as a chance to model relations cleanly in Exepad's relational tables.
Mistake
Forgetting native-only features that don't translate to web
Fix
Push notifications, biometrics, and offline-first patterns are mobile-shell features. Plan web equivalents (email, magic-link, service-worker caching) deliberately.
Mistake
Not budgeting for SEO/GEO after the move
Fix
PWAs deprioritize crawlable HTML. Exepad's pages ship JSON-LD and semantic HTML by default; re-prompt meta and direct-answer blocks for any page you want cited.
Mistake
Keeping the additional-app subscriptions live after migration
Fix
Exepad runs multiple apps under one plan. Cancel the per-app surcharges once the cutover is verified.
Frequently asked
How much cheaper is Exepad than a typical Adalo setup in 2026?+
An Adalo Professional plan ($65/mo) plus an email service ($20/mo), an analytics SaaS ($10/mo), and one additional published app ($25/mo) lands around $120/mo. Exepad bundles all of that into one subscription. See /pricing for current tiers.
Can Exepad publish to the Apple App Store and Google Play like Adalo?+
Exepad publishes a web URL that installs as a PWA. App Store and Google Play submission is not Exepad's primary path; for a true native binary in the store, Adalo's compile-to-native flow remains the more direct fit.
Does Exepad have a built-in database like Adalo?+
Yes — a native relational database in every plan, with relations, queries, and an admin view. No record caps on paid tiers, and a public REST + MCP API for integrations and AI agents.
How does Exepad handle user accounts and roles?+
Native authentication with email + magic-link, social logins, and role-based permissions in every paid plan. No per-action metering and no per-additional-app surcharge to add more roles.
Will my Exepad app rank in Google and get cited by AI assistants?+
Yes. Exepad ships GEO-ready output by default — JSON-LD schema, semantic HTML, direct-answer blocks, fast Lighthouse 95+ pages. Adalo's web output is PWA-first and requires manual schema and head-tag work to compete on the same axis.
How long does migration from Adalo take?+
Most teams cut over in a day if the destination is a web app. Audit the project, export collections as CSV, describe the app to Exepad, move auth, re-point the custom domain, set 301 redirects.
Can Exepad fully replace Adalo for my use case?+
For web-first apps that need a database, forms, email, auth, and a domain that ranks — yes. For consumer mobile apps where the App Store listing is the deliverable, Adalo stays the better fit.
Move from Adalo to Exepad
Describe your app and publish in minutes — hosting, database, email, and analytics included.
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