Compare with Bubble
A Bubble alternative with models and agents inside the app
Bubble builds web and native mobile apps from AI prompts and a visual editor, and they run on Bubble's platform. See what a data export carries, what has to be rebuilt, and when to choose an Exepad app instead.
Bubble
Where Bubble fits.
Bubble calls itself a no-code AI app builder for web and mobile. You can prompt its AI Agent or open the visual editor, and both work on the same parts: the design, the database, the workflows, and the privacy rules that decide who can access what. Its manual adds one fact worth keeping in view: Bubble apps can run only on the Bubble platform.[1][2]
Workflows made of events and actions
A workflow starts from an event, such as a button click, a login or a change in the database, and runs actions like saving records, sending email or calling an API. Backend workflows run on Bubble's server at a set time, on a recurring schedule or when data changes, with no page open.[3][4]
Privacy rules on each data type
Privacy rules are conditions on each data type that Bubble's server checks before it sends anything to the browser. A rule such as "the thing's Creator is the current user" decides which records someone can find and which fields they can view.[5]
Exepad
Where Exepad fits.
Exepad is Your App Cloud. Where a Bubble app takes shape in its editor, by prompt or by hand, an Exepad app is described in Studio: say what it should do, check what the building assistant made, and publish it as a web app people open in a browser, phones included. The app can also have a database, file storage, email and authentication.
Access written as sentences
Instead of a privacy rule per data type, you describe the access for each collection in plain words, such as "members see only the loan requests they made". Then log in as a different test member and try to open someone else's request. It should fail.[5]
Models and agents as building blocks
Bubble's manual connects an app to outside AI providers through calls you set up in the API Connector. In an Exepad app, Language, Vision, Media and Voice models are building blocks of the app itself. An agent there could tag loan requests by tool type, when asked or on a schedule you set, with the context and actions you allow. Someone checks the tags before they drive a decision, and model usage is metered separately.[8]
Email and scheduled work, described
What a Bubble backend workflow does on a timer, such as a reminder two days after sign-up, becomes a task you describe in Studio for an app to run on a schedule you set. Describe a confirmation email the same way, and send yourself a test of each first.[4]
Compare the work you need to do.
| Consider | Bubble | Exepad |
|---|---|---|
| How the app gets made | Bubble's AI Agent drafts the app from a prompt, and its visual editor opens every element, workflow and data type for direct changes.[7] | Describe the pages, records and rules in Studio in plain words. The building assistant makes the app; review it, ask for changes the same way, then publish. |
| Logic and automation | Workflows pair an event with actions. Backend workflows run on the server at a set time, at recurring intervals or when the database changes.[3][4] | Write each workflow as behavior: when a request is approved, email the borrower. Try each one on a sample record. |
| Who sees which records | Privacy rules on each data type, applied on the server, control which records turn up in searches and which fields can be viewed.[5] | The access you describe for each collection. Turn each privacy rule into a sentence, then test it signed in as someone else. |
| AI inside the app | The manual connects an app to AI providers through calls set up in the API Connector, for chat, summaries, tagging or search. The editor's AI Agent reads records only from the development database.[8][9] | Models are part of an app, not an API you wire up. Studio's building assistant plays the editor Agent's part, and a separate agent can run inside the published app on the records people use, when asked or on a schedule you set. |
| Web and mobile | Web apps and native iOS and Android apps from the same editor, sharing one database, sign-in and workflows, with submission to both app stores from the editor.[10][7] | Web apps that people open in a browser, on a phone as well as a laptop. List the screens used in Bubble's mobile app and describe how each should look on a small screen. |
| Plugins | Plugins add elements, actions, data sources and sign-in methods that are not part of Bubble's core, including actions that charge a card or send email through another provider.[11] | Describe the job each plugin does and rebuild the ones you still need, then test each one in the preview before going live. |
| Getting data out | From Data – App data, export one data type at a time as CSV, JSON or NDJSON. Bubble emails a download link when the file is ready.[12] | You can export your app's data and code. Try it on a test app and set what you get beside your Bubble export before you depend on it. |
| The app itself | Bubble keeps ownership of the underlying code, and its manual says an app cannot be exported as code. Moving off means rebuilding the logic.[2] | The Exepad version starts from your description and the records you exported, not from Bubble's code. Leave the Bubble app running until the rebuilt one handles the same records correctly. |
| How plans are charged | Per project, with monthly workload units that measure the server resources an app uses. Starter, Growth and Team plans can add a workload tier or pay overages as they go, and overages can be switched off.[13][14] | One plan covers your account rather than each project. Free puts one one-page site live; an app with saved data, sign-in or email needs a paid plan to go live. See Pricing for the current plans. Model and service usage is metered separately. |
Choose Bubble when
You want to open and change every step by hand.
Bubble keeps the logic visible: each workflow is an event and a list of actions you can inspect, and the Agent shows what it built step by step. If your team likes to trace behavior action by action, that editor is the reason to stay.
Your users expect to install the app from a phone's app store.
Bubble builds native iOS and Android apps next to the web app, on the same database, and lets you submit them to both stores from the editor. Its pricing page notes that publishing a live version needs a paid plan.
A plugin carries a core feature.
When a marketplace plugin supplies the payment step, a sign-in method or an element your users depend on, count what rebuilding it would take before you plan anything else.
Choose Exepad when
Nobody on your side plans to work in a visual editor.
Bubble's Agent builds into a visual editor where each element and workflow can be opened and changed. If nobody will work there, Studio keeps the app in descriptions: say what it should do differently, check what changed, and publish.
Models and an agent belong inside the app.
Bubble's manual lists tagging support requests and drafting replies among the jobs you connect an AI provider for. In an Exepad app, models and agents are building blocks for that work: an agent can sort tickets by topic and draft replies, when asked or on a schedule you set. A person approves each reply, and model usage is metered separately.
You want to be able to take the app with you.
Bubble's manual says its apps run only on Bubble. You can export an Exepad app's data and code, so if that matters to you, run an export early and check what it contains.
What changes when you move from Bubble.
Bubble's manual is plain about leaving. The data comes out and Bubble offers help with the design, but there is no way to export the app as code, so the logic has to be rebuilt. Plan the move around that.
What an export brings
- Records, one data type at a time. Pick a data type in Data – App data, set the view to the records you want, and export CSV, JSON or NDJSON. Exports run on the same scheduler as API workflows, so a long queue of scheduled tasks can delay them.[12]
- Date intervals, as text. A known issue: a date interval field exports as descriptive text such as "2 days", though Bubble stores it in milliseconds. Check those columns before you upload them.[12]
- File and image fields. In Bubble's database, a file or image field holds only a URL pointing to the file on a storage server. Check what those columns hold in your export, and download the files you still need on their own.[15]
- Scripted access through the API. The manual also points to the Bubble API for scripted access to your data. The Data API is off by default, and you pick which data types it exposes.[2][16]
What stays behind
- Workflows and privacy rules. Leaving Bubble means rebuilding the application logic. Write down each workflow's event and actions, and each data type's privacy rules, while you can still open them.[2][5]
- Passwords. The password field is invisible even to the app's developer, and Bubble stores passwords as a one-way hash. Decide how each user will set a password in the new app.[17]
- Option sets. Option sets are kept outside the database, as part of the app's source code. List each set and its options, such as statuses or categories, by hand.[19][2]
- Plugins. Plugins sit outside Bubble's core. Note what each one does in your app, whether an element, an action or a sign-in method, so you can decide on a replacement.[11]
Rebuild it in Exepad
Start from the data type the app revolves around
Upload its export in Studio. Say what each record is, which fields point to other data types, and which values came from option sets.
Turn workflows into described behavior
For each workflow you listed, write one line: when this happens, do that. Describe those lines in Studio, including emails and anything that ran on a timer.
Rewrite privacy rules as access
Make each rule a plain sentence about who may see or change what, and describe it as the access for that collection. Test it with a second account.
Settle each plugin
Rebuild the behavior you still need and leave out the rest. For payments, link to the checkout page you already use.
Move people and the domain last
Publish once reviewed, and leave the Bubble app up while you compare the two. Tell users how to set a new password, then move your custom domain to the Exepad app, which needs Pro.
Try it with one task.
Rebuild one data type, its workflow and its rule
An illustrative pilot for Northwind Tool Library, a sample lending app in Oakland, California, where members list tools and ask to borrow them. Get one data type right before touching the others.
In Bubble, export the Tool and Loan Request data types as CSV from the database your members use. If loan length is a date interval field, expect it to arrive as text such as "7 days".
Write the privacy rule on Loan Request as a sentence: a member sees only the requests they created. Note the workflow that emails the borrower when a request is approved.
In Studio, upload both files and describe Tools, Loan requests with a status of Requested, Approved or Returned, and that access for each collection.
Ask for the approval email, then sign in as two test members and check that neither can see the other's requests.
Keep the Bubble app live until twenty requests match in both apps, then decide how members will set a new password.
Together in your app cloud
The pieces behind the possibility.
Choose the models and services that support the experience you want to create.
Database
Keep data and context for apps and agents
Authentication
Give the right people access
Email
Keep conversations moving
Language models
Reason, write, and understand
File storage
A home for your documents and media
A little more context
Good questions.
Can I export my Bubble app's code?
No. Bubble's manual says its apps can only run on the Bubble platform and there is no way of exporting an app as code. You can export the data, and Bubble says it can help export the design, but the workflows and the rest of the application logic have to be rebuilt wherever the app goes next.
How do I export my data from Bubble?
In the editor, open Data – App data, select a data type, set the view to the records you want and click Export. Choose CSV, JSON or NDJSON, and Bubble emails you a download link when the file is ready. Repeat for each data type. For a scripted copy, the manual points to the Bubble API.
How does Bubble's workload pricing compare with Exepad?
Bubble sells plans per project, each with monthly workload units that measure the server resources the app uses. Starter, Growth and Team plans can add a workload tier or pay overages, which can be switched off. An Exepad plan covers your account: Free puts one one-page site live, an app with saved data, sign-in or email needs a paid plan to go live, and model and service usage is metered separately. Run one real task on each, then check Bubble's workload tools and your Exepad balance.
Is Exepad an AI alternative to Bubble?
Both use AI to build. Bubble's AI Agent generates an app that you then edit visually or by prompting. Exepad's building assistant in Studio also works from your description. The larger difference is inside the app: models and agents are building blocks of it, where Bubble's manual connects apps to AI providers through the API Connector.
Can people use an Exepad app on their phones?
Yes, in a browser. Exepad apps are web apps that open in a browser, including on phones, from a link. Bubble also builds native iOS and Android apps in the same editor as the web app and lets you submit them to the App Store and Google Play. If your users expect a store listing, weigh that in the choice.
What happens to my Bubble users and their passwords?
Every user ends up in the User data type, so try exporting it as you would any other type and check which fields arrive. Bubble's manual says the password field is invisible even to you as the developer and is stored as a one-way hash. Import the user records, then plan how each person will set a password in the Exepad app.
If I move to Exepad, can I leave again later?
Yes. You can export your app's data and code. Since Bubble's manual rules out a code export there, check the Exepad side before you commit: export a small test app in your first week, look through what it holds, and keep that copy beside the records you took out of Bubble.
Explore Pricing for plans, included capabilities, and usage details.
Related guides.
Compare other tools.
Sources.
Bubble details checked September 25, 2026. Confirm them on Bubble's site before you decide.
- Bubble: product overview ↗
- Bubble: application and data ownership ↗
- Bubble: workflows ↗
- Bubble: the frontend and backend ↗
- Bubble: protecting data with privacy rules ↗
- Bubble: the AI Agent ↗
- Bubble: AI app builder ↗
- Bubble: connecting to AI models ↗
- Bubble: editing apps with AI ↗
- Bubble: what is Bubble ↗
- Bubble: what plugins can do ↗
- Bubble: exporting data ↗
- Bubble: pricing and billing questions ↗
- Bubble: workload ↗
- Bubble: files ↗
- Bubble: the Data API ↗
- Bubble: user accounts ↗
- Bubble: users on web and mobile ↗
- Bubble: option sets ↗
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