Rocket Blogs
AI App Development
The work is only as good as the thinking before it.
You already know what you're trying to figure out. Type it. Rocket handles everything after that.
Rocket Blogs
AI App Development
You already know what you're trying to figure out. Type it. Rocket handles everything after that.
Base44 and Rocket.new are both AI app builders, but they serve different goals. Base44 works best when you need structured internal tools, guided workflows, and built-in security without configuring external services. Rocket.new is the faster pick when you want to go from a natural language prompt to a live app in minutes.
You have an app idea. You want to build it fast, skip the backend setup, and not write a single line of code. Both Base44 and Rocket.new promise exactly that.
The question is not which one is better overall. The question is which one fits your specific situation right now. According to a 2024 survey on no-code and vibe coding tools, over 60% of non-technical founders choose the wrong AI app builder for their use case simply because they compare features instead of workflows.
This post breaks down the real differences so you can make the right call.
Base44 and Rocket.new are AI-first app builders that let you generate working apps using natural language prompts. No coding knowledge required.
What Base44 includes:
What Rocket.new includes:
Both platforms offer a free plan with limited AI generation tokens, and both have paid plans starting at different price points. The key outcome across both tools is getting to a working app without writing code yourself.
Rocket.new and Base44 take two very different paths to the same destination.
Rocket.new is built for speed. You describe what you want using natural language, and the platform generates a full-stack web and mobile app almost immediately. The vibe coding experience here is fast, with structured output that is often clean enough to hand off to a developer without a full rewrite.
Community feedback highlights Rocket.new's speed and prompt-to-app generation capability, with users appreciating how quickly they can move from idea to a working preview.
Base44 takes a more deliberate approach. Instead of generating apps at maximum speed, it walks you through a structured AI-guided workflow.
You think in terms of product logic, data flows, and architecture before anything gets built. Base44 receives attention for its structured AI-guided workflow, with builders who value system thinking and product framing responding positively.
In short, Rocket.new prioritizes speed and execution. Base44 prioritizes deeper architectural reasoning and structured workflows.
Use this table to match your goal to the right tool.
| Goal | Best Platform | Why It Works |
|---|---|---|
| Launch an MVP fast | Rocket.new | Prompt-to-live app in minutes |
| Build an internal dashboard | Base44 | Optimized for internal tools |
| Create web and mobile apps | Rocket.new | Supports native mobile applications |
| Need user authentication built in | Base44 | Handles auth and encryption by default |
| Want full code ownership and GitHub sync | Rocket.new | Exportable code with version control |
| Building a structured customer portal | Base44 | Guided logic and flow-based building |
| Early stage validation | Rocket.new | Fast iteration with managed deployment |
| Long-term growth with app evolution | Base44 | Structured for evolving product logic |
Pricing models for both platforms use credits as their cost unit, and understanding how each system works helps you avoid surprises on your billing cycle.
Rocket.new uses a credit-based model across three plan tiers, all billed per month, with unlimited team members on every plan. The free plan gives you 20 one-time credits to explore the platform. The Build plan starts at $25 per month and includes 100 free monthly credits, with the option to buy additional credits as needed.
Credits never expire, which means you are not losing value at the end of each month. The Solve + Build plan is $250 per month with 1,000 monthly credits, and the full Solve + Build + Intelligence plan is $350 per month with 1,500 monthly credits. All paid plans include custom domains, GitHub sync, version control, and 25+ integrations.
Base44 uses a dual credit system that splits building activity from user interactions. Message credits are used when you prompt the AI to build or update your app. Integration credits are consumed each time a user of your live app triggers an integration, such as an LLM call, file upload, image generation, or email send. Each integration request costs 1 credit regardless of type.
The free plan gives you 25 message credits per month and 100 integration credits. Paid plans start at $16 per month (Starter, billed annually) with 100 message credits and 2,000 integration credits. The Builder plan is $40 per month with 250 message credits and 10,000 integration credits.
The Pro plan is $80 per month with 500 message credits and 20,000 integration credits. The Elite plan is $160 per month with 1,200 message credits and 50,000 integration credits. Enterprise custom pricing is available for larger organizations.
Base44 users appreciate the all-in-one simplicity of the platform, allowing them to deploy applications without configuring separate services, although they express concerns about the unpredictability of costs at scale as integration credits are consumed by end-user activity.
Summary of pricing comparison:
| Platform | Free Plan | Entry Paid Plan | Pricing Model | Credits Expire? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocket.new | 20 one-time credits | $25/month (Build) | Credit-based, scales with build activity | Never |
| Base44 | 25 msg + 100 integration credits/month | $16/month (Starter, annual) | Dual credit: message + integration credits | Monthly reset |
For solo builders and early-stage teams doing rapid iteration, Rocket.new's Build plan at $25 per month with non-expiring credits is a strong entry point. For teams building internal tools where all-in-one backend, authentication, and analytics are bundled into every plan, Base44's tiered structure reflects what you are getting at each level.
The key watch-out with Base44 is that integration credits scale with your app's user activity, so costs can grow as your live app gets more usage.
Here is how a typical build flows on Rocket.new, using the example of building a project tracking tool.
The full flow from prompt to working project structure takes minutes, not days. That is the core promise of vibe coding on Rocket.new.
| User Type | What They Want to Build | How Base44 Helps |
|---|---|---|
| Non-technical founder | Internal CRM or business dashboard | Guided product logic, built-in auth, structured deployment |
| Ops manager | Customer portal for a service business | All-in-one with security and data encryption by default |
| Small team product lead | Scalable AI systems with evolving flows | Supports product growth with structured architectural framing |
| Solo consultant | Client reporting tool with private projects | Code access and structured workflows without vendor lock risk |
| B2B startup | Internal tools with user authentication requirements | Base44 handles auth protocols out of the box |
The common thread is that Base44 users are building something they plan to grow and iterate on, where structure matters as much as speed.
Both tools have active communities sharing honest feedback, and the sentiment on each platform tells a clear story.
On Trustpilot, Rocket.new users consistently highlight the speed and quality of the first build. One user noted:
"AI allows you to create app previews of what you want in a matter of minutes, with the AI working really well." - Source
Another reviewer described a more complex project experience: Rocket is working on an extremely complicated website with several APIs, databases, and payment interfaces, with support proving amazing in helping overcome major obstacles that seemed insurmountable.
A separate Trustpilot reviewer described Rocket as an awesome builder, modern, fast, and insanely easy to use, noting it generates a lot from a single prompt, and after testing many other builders, it was the one they stuck with.
Base44's community feedback is more mixed. On the positive side, reviewers on Product Hunt mostly see Base44 as a fast, approachable way to turn prompts into working prototypes, landing pages, and more involved apps, with several users praising its smooth AI feedback loop, built-in database, authentication, API use, and reliable speed.
Early-stage teams in particular value it: one small team noted that, as early-stage founders wanting to build and validate ideas faster, Base44 was definitely worth trying, allowing them to turn ideas into testable features quickly.
On the flip side, the most common friction point reported across Trustpilot and Reddit is credit consumption during debugging. The most common complaints across Reddit and Trustpilot include three recurring themes: Base44 is great for prototyping and simple projects but much less effective for building scalable apps, getting stuck in dead-end loops where Base44 eats up credits trying to debug the same error, and poor customer support.
Rocket.new is the world's first Vibe Solutioning platform. It is not just a vibe coding tool. It covers the full arc from thinking through building to deploying and operating.
Top Rocket.new features:
How Rocket.new applies to teams making the Rocket.new vs Base44 decision:
The answer to when you should choose Base44 instead of Rocket.new comes down to one question: do you need structure first, or speed first?
Base44 is the right pick when you are building internal tools, need user authentication and security handled automatically, and want a guided approach to product logic. Rocket.new is the right pick when you want to go from a natural language idea to a live app fast, support web and mobile apps, and keep full code ownership. Start your next build at Rocket.new.
Choose the right AI app builder for your workflow, start building faster with Rocket.new today.
Table of contents
Is Rocket.new free to use?
Does Base44 have a free plan?
Do I need coding skills to use Rocket.new or Base44?
Can Rocket.new build mobile apps as well as web apps?
What happens if I want to move my app off the platform?
How does pricing scale as my app gets more users?
Can I connect external services to my app?
Which platform is better for production-ready internal tools?