A Carrd alternative — Exepad
Carrd nails the one-page site. Exepad takes over when the project becomes a real multi-page site with a database, forms-to-records, member accounts, and APIs — described in any language, published 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 Carrd is good at
Carrd is the benchmark for fast, polished one-page sites at a price almost nothing else can touch. Pro Plus at $49 a year covers 25 sites, custom domains, custom forms, password protection, and Zapier integrations, and Pro Standard at $19 a year already unlocks domains, forms, and analytics. For a launch page, link-in-bio, personal CV, or landing page that does one job well, Carrd publishes in under an hour and the annual bill stays in single digits per month.
Where Exepad fits differently
Exepad fits where Carrd intentionally stops. The plan ships a relational database, multi-page navigation, forms with conditional logic that write directly into records, transactional email, role-based authentication for member areas, edge hosting, automatic SSL, file storage, first-party visitor analytics, custom domains, and a REST + MCP API. You describe a real multi-page site — pricing tables that read from a database, gated content, signup flows, dashboards — in plain language and the platform publishes it.
Exepad vs. Carrd
Side-by-side on the 14 dimensions that actually move the needle.
Time to first published app
Exepad
4–10 minutes for a complete multi-page site with database and auth.
Carrd
30–60 minutes for a one-page site; longer once forms and embeds are tuned.
Database included
Exepad
Native relational database, AI-modeled from your description.
Carrd
None — Carrd is a static one-page builder; bring an Airtable embed for tables.
Authentication included
Exepad
Native auth with magic-link, social login, and role-based permissions.
Carrd
None — page-wide password protection on Pro Plus is the only gating mechanism.
Email sending included
Exepad
Transactional email — confirmations, automations, sender reputation managed.
Carrd
Form submissions email you; no transactional sending — bring Mailchimp or ConvertKit.
Hosting included
Exepad
Edge hosting on Cloudflare; included on every paid plan.
Carrd
Included on every paid tier; Carrd hosts the static site.
File storage included
Exepad
Native object storage served from the global edge.
Carrd
Image hosting on the page; no general-purpose file storage or downloads area.
Form backend included
Exepad
Native forms with validation, conditional logic, and direct database writes.
Carrd
Custom forms on Pro Standard and up; submissions go to email or via Zapier.
Visitor analytics included
Exepad
First-party analytics included in every paid plan.
Carrd
Google Analytics embed on paid plans; no first-party analytics dashboard.
Search built in
Exepad
Site-wide search across pages and database records, included.
Carrd
None — one-page sites do not have site-wide search.
Custom domain
Exepad
Included on every paid plan; automatic SSL.
Carrd
Included on Pro Standard ($19/year) and above.
GEO (AI citation) ready
Exepad
Schema.org JSON-LD, semantic HTML, direct-answer blocks ship by default.
Carrd
Manual meta tags only; no structured schema or direct-answer scaffolding.
SSL + bank-level security
Exepad
Edge SSL, automated backups, 99.9% uptime, tenant isolation.
Carrd
SSL on hosted domains; static-site footprint keeps the attack surface small.
Lighthouse Performance score
Exepad
95+ guaranteed across pages.
Carrd
90+ typical — Carrd's static one-page output is genuinely fast.
Designed for non-technical users
Exepad
Describe in English; the platform generates and runs the app.
Carrd
Block editor with containers and CSS classes; gentle learning curve past defaults.
Starting price
Exepad
$25/mo — unlimited apps, one USD wallet.
Carrd
Free; Pro Lite $9/yr; Pro Standard $19/yr; Pro Plus $49/yr.
Code export
Exepad
Not required — the platform runs the app; REST + MCP API exposes the data.
Carrd
Pro Plus exports unminified site source files for self-hosting.
Pricing snapshot May 2026 from carrd.co. All Carrd Pro plans are annual-only; there is no monthly billing. Pro Lite at $9/yr removes Carrd branding; Pro Standard at $19/yr adds custom domains, custom forms, embeds, widgets, and analytics; Pro Plus at $49/yr adds 25 sites, password protection, downloadable sources, Zapier and Make automation. The comparison above is not a value judgment — Carrd's annual price is unmatched in its niche. Exepad's plan addresses the projects that grow past one page into a real site with database, auth, and APIs. See /pricing for current tiers.
When each one wins
Pick the right tool — both have legitimate strengths.
Pick Carrd when…
A polished one-page site at the lowest possible price.
Solo creators, freelancers, and indie builders who need a launch page, link-in-bio, personal CV, or single landing page — and want to spend $9 to $49 a year, not $25 a month. Carrd is the most cost-effective tool on the market for this exact job and Exepad does not try to win on price here.
Annual billing fits the budget better than monthly.
Side-project owners, students, and pre-revenue founders for whom $19 once a year is easier to justify than any monthly subscription, and whose site genuinely fits on one page. The pricing model itself is the deciding factor, separate from feature comparison.
The deliverable is static and will not need a backend.
Photographers, designers, and personal-brand sites where the value is the visual statement on a single scroll — no database, no member area, no transactional email, no API. Carrd's block editor and template gallery deliver this faster than any full-stack platform should.
Pick Exepad when…
The project is already growing past one page.
Operators whose 'just a landing page' has accumulated a pricing table, a sign-up flow, a blog, a customer dashboard, and a help center. Carrd's single-page constraint becomes the bottleneck and the embeds-and-Zapier stack starts looking like a real backend held together with duct tape.
Forms need to write into a real database, not just email you.
Teams capturing leads, applications, bookings, or registrations who need the submissions queryable, exportable, and joinable with other tables. Carrd forms send to email or Zapier; Exepad forms write directly to a relational database the site itself reads from.
Member accounts, gated content, or role-based access are required.
Communities, course creators, and small SaaS launches that need real user accounts — not page-wide passwords. Exepad ships native auth with magic-link, social login, and role-based permissions; Carrd's password protection is a single shared key across the page.
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 Carrd-to-Exepad moves take a few hours, not days. Carrd sites are intentionally small, so the migration is almost entirely re-describing the project to Exepad in plain language and pointing the custom domain. The reason to move is rarely 'Carrd is bad' — it is 'the project outgrew one page.' If your site still genuinely fits on one page and works with Zapier and embeds, stay on Carrd and save the subscription. Once the second page, the member area, or the database arrives, the move pays for itself in the first month.
Your migration checklist
The concrete steps most teams follow when moving from Carrd to Exepad — usually a day, not a week.
Audit the existing Carrd site
List every section, every form, every embed (Airtable, Calendly, Stripe Buy Button), and any Zapier zaps wired to form submissions.
Plan the multi-page structure
Carrd packs everything onto one scroll. Map sections to dedicated pages — Home, Pricing, About, Blog, Sign-up — before you describe the site.
Describe the site to Exepad in plain language
Paste the page list, brand description, target audience, and form fields. Exepad drafts pages, schema, forms, and auth in one pass.
Move form destinations from email to records
Carrd forms email you. Exepad forms write to a database table you can query, export, and join with other tables — describe what each form should capture.
Re-point the custom domain
Update DNS from Carrd to Exepad's edge. SSL provisions automatically. Keep the Carrd page live in parallel until cutover is verified.
Set 301 redirects from the old one-page URLs
Map old anchor links (#pricing, #about) to the new dedicated pages so existing inbound links and AI citations survive.
Common mistakes
What people get wrong when evaluating Carrd alternatives — and what to do instead.
Mistake
Leaving Carrd before the project actually outgrew one page
Fix
If the site still fits on one scroll and works with Zapier, stay on Carrd. The migration only pays back once a real multi-page structure, member area, or database is on the roadmap.
Mistake
Rebuilding the Carrd page as one Exepad long-scroll page
Fix
Use the move as the moment to split content into Home, Pricing, About, and feature pages. Multi-page sites rank better and AI assistants cite specific URLs.
Mistake
Keeping the Airtable + Zapier chain after the move
Fix
Exepad's native database and form backend replace the chain. Cancel the Zapier zap and the Airtable seat once the cutover is verified.
Mistake
Forgetting that Carrd's annual price is genuinely low
Fix
Compare the realistic stack — Pro Plus, Airtable, Mailchimp, an auth add-on — against Exepad. Carrd alone is unbeatable; Carrd plus four add-ons is a different number.
Mistake
Skipping schema and direct-answer blocks during the rebuild
Fix
Carrd's static pages have minimal SEO surface. Exepad ships JSON-LD and direct-answer scaffolding — re-prompt meta and FAQ blocks for every page you want cited by AI Overview, ChatGPT, or Perplexity.
Frequently asked
Is Exepad cheaper than Carrd?+
On the headline price, no — Carrd's $19 a year is genuinely lower than any monthly subscription. On the full stack, Exepad usually wins once you add Airtable, an email service, and an auth add-on to support a real multi-page site. See /pricing for current tiers.
Can Exepad build a one-page site as fast as Carrd?+
Yes. Describe the page in any language and Exepad publishes it in 4–10 minutes with custom domain, SSL, and analytics. The trade-off is the monthly subscription — for a site that truly only needs one page and zero backend, Carrd's annual pricing is hard to beat.
When should I switch from Carrd to Exepad?+
When the project grows past one page, when forms need to write to a database instead of email, when member accounts or gated content are required, or when the realistic stack (Carrd plus Airtable plus a mail service plus an auth add-on) costs more than a single Exepad subscription.
Does Exepad support custom forms like Carrd Pro Plus?+
Yes — Exepad ships native forms with validation, conditional logic, and direct database writes on every paid plan. There is no separate form backend to wire up and no Zapier zap to maintain between the form and the records.
Can I export my site code from Exepad like Carrd Pro Plus?+
Exepad's runtime is the platform — the source is not a downloadable static-HTML bundle the way Carrd Pro Plus exports its unminified sources. Your data is portable via REST, CSV, and the MCP endpoint, but the application logic runs on the platform.
Will my Exepad site get cited by AI assistants and rank in search?+
Yes. Exepad ships Schema.org JSON-LD, semantic HTML, direct-answer blocks, and clean meta by default. Carrd's static one-page output is fast but has minimal SEO surface — no blog, no per-page schema, no structured snippets.
How long does migration from Carrd to Exepad take?+
A few hours for most projects. Carrd sites are intentionally small, so the bulk of the work is re-describing the project to Exepad and pointing the custom domain. Bigger sites with Zapier chains take a half-day to unwind cleanly.
Can Exepad fully replace Carrd for my use case?+
For projects that have grown into a real multi-page site with database, forms-to-records, member accounts, or APIs — yes. For a single landing page, link-in-bio, or personal CV where $19 a year is the deciding factor, Carrd remains the better fit and Exepad does not try to compete on that price point.
Move from Carrd to Exepad
Describe your app and publish in minutes — hosting, database, email, and analytics included.
Start your trial