If you’re a non-technical founder in 2025, two names will keep popping up whenever you search for “build an app without code”: FlutterFlow and Bubble. Both promise to let you design, build, and launch serious products without needing a full engineering team. Both are mature, widely used platforms. So which should you choose?
Let’s start with what they have in common. Both offer visual builders, database backends, and integrations. Both can handle user logins, workflows, payments, and API calls. Both can absolutely power a real, revenue-generating product if used well.
The key differences come down to platform focus, performance, and long-term flexibility.
FlutterFlow sits on top of Google’s Flutter framework, which is designed for high-performance cross-platform apps. In practical terms, that means you can build one codebase and deploy it as native-feeling apps on iOS, Android, and the web. FlutterFlow generates real Flutter code, which can be exported and extended by engineers later.
Bubble, by contrast, is primarily a web application platform. It’s fantastic for SaaS-style products, dashboards, marketplaces, and internal tools. You can wrap Bubble apps in native shells to get them into app stores, but its heart is browser-based.
If your concept relies heavily on mobile-native capabilities – offline use, animations, camera access, or app store presence – FlutterFlow will usually be the better fit. If your product is more of a web-first platform – say, a B2B tool used on desktops – Bubble often shines.
Performance is another consideration. Flutter apps are known for their smooth, native-like feel, especially on mobile. Bubble’s performance has improved significantly, but complex pages with many dynamic elements can still feel heavier, particularly on slower devices or networks. For some use cases that’s fine; for others, it’s a deal-breaker.
Then there’s the “escape hatch” question. At some point, you may want engineers to extend what you’ve built. FlutterFlow’s generated code can be handed to a development team, who can refactor and build on it in a standard Flutter project. Bubble, however, is more of a closed ecosystem. You can plug in custom code via plugins and APIs, but you don’t get a neat export of the whole app.
That doesn’t make Bubble a bad choice. For many products, especially in their first couple of years, the speed and flexibility you gain inside Bubble outweigh the risk of platform lock-in. You can iterate quickly, test ideas, and manage much of the product yourself. If and when you outgrow it, you’ll be doing so with proven demand and a clear spec.
Costs are broadly comparable at smaller scales, with both platforms offering tiered pricing. The bigger cost factor is often talent: who will actually build and maintain your app? There is a growing pool of freelancers and studios who specialise in each platform. It’s worth checking which skills are easier to hire for in your network and geography.
In 2025, a sensible rule of thumb looks like this. If you’re building a mobile-first experience where smooth performance and app store presence matter, start with FlutterFlow. If you’re building a web-first product where speed of iteration and flexible business logic matter, start with Bubble.
Either way, remember that tools are only half the story. The real differentiator is your understanding of users, workflows, and value. A mediocre idea built perfectly in FlutterFlow or Bubble is still a mediocre idea. A sharp, validated concept built “well enough” in either can become something powerful.
Non-technical founders have more leverage than ever. Pick a stack that matches your product shape, then focus obsessively on learning from real users. The platform is there to serve your idea – not the other way round.
