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Spreadsheets · head to head

Budibase vs Formance

Budibase logo

Budibase

Spreadsheets

Build business apps in minutes

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Formance logo

Formance

APIs

Open source double-entry ledger and payment orchestration for money-moving software

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Budibase cloud plans are metered on automation actions, from 5,000 a month on Pro to 250,000 on Business; Formance formance holds no money and provides no regulatory cover, so it must be paired with a payments provider or bank, and buyers occasionally mistake a ledger for a treasury system and discover the gap late.
  • They diverge on capability: Budibase covers Drag-and-drop builder, Formance covers Double-entry ledger.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Budibase and Formance actually diverge.

Attributes where Budibase and Formance differ
AttributeBudibaseFormance
Pricing modelopen-sourceOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, Self-hostedLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, API
CategorySpreadsheetsAPIs
Founded2019Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Budibase

  • Drag-and-drop builder
  • Database design
  • REST API
  • User management
  • Custom code
  • Workflows
  • Responsive design
  • 100+ integrations

Only in Formance

  • Double-entry ledger
  • Numscript transaction DSL
  • Multi-currency
  • Payments connectivity
  • Reconciliation
  • Cloud offering
  • API and SDKs

Both cover

  • Self-hosted deployment

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Budibase

  • Building internal tools over existing databasesnot Formance
  • Self-hosting an open source low-code platformnot Formance
  • Admin panels and CRUD apps for operations teamsnot Formance
  • Automations triggered by data changesnot Formance

Formance

  • A marketplace splitting a single customer payment between seller, platform fee and tax that needs the split to be atomic and auditablenot Budibase
  • A fintech whose homegrown balances table produced numbers finance could not reconcile and now needs proper double-entry before an auditnot Budibase
  • A payments team that wants one normalised model across several PSPs so reconciliation is not written separately for eachnot Budibase
  • A company that wants its ledger under a licence it can keep running even if the vendor disappearsnot Budibase

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Budibase

  • Cloud plans are metered on automation actions, from 5,000 a month on Pro to 250,000 on Business
  • Creator seats are limited and cost $50 each beyond the included count
  • End users are $5 per user per month on top of the plan
  • Custom branding needs Premium, SSO enforcement and environment variables need Business, and audit logs are Enterprise only
  • Log retention is tiered from 1 day on Pro to 365 days on Enterprise
  • Monthly billing costs 20 percent more than annual

Formance

  • Formance holds no money and provides no regulatory cover, so it must be paired with a payments provider or bank, and buyers occasionally mistake a ledger for a treasury system and discover the gap late.
  • Numscript is a domain-specific language your team must learn, and while it makes complex splits expressible it also means transaction logic sits outside the languages your engineers already debug well.
  • Self-hosting a ledger that must never lose or duplicate a transaction is a serious operational commitment covering backups, upgrades and Postgres tuning, which is real cost the zero licence fee hides.
  • Enterprise pricing is not published, so the difference between the free path and the supported path cannot be evaluated without a sales conversation.
  • The company is much smaller than the incumbent alternatives, and while the MIT licence protects the code it does not protect the roadmap, so features on the hosted side may arrive slowly or change direction.

Pricing, plan by plan

Budibase

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Self-hosted
    • Community support
  • FreeFree
    • Cloud hosted
    • Limited features
  • Premium$50/month
    • Advanced features
    • Email support

Formance

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • MIT licensed core ledger
    • Numscript transaction DSL
    • Multi-currency tracking
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Managed or private deployment
    • Payments connectivity and reconciliation
    • Support with response commitments

Which should you pick?

Choose Budibase if

  • You need drag-and-drop builder.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted.
  • You also want database design.
Budibase review

Choose Formance if

  • You need double-entry ledger.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, API.
  • You also want numscript transaction dsl.
Formance review

Questions people ask

Is Budibase or Formance better?
Neither clearly leads. Budibase starts at Free and Formance at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Budibase or Formance?
Budibase starts at Free and Formance at Free.
Does Budibase or Formance run on more platforms?
Budibase runs on Web, Self-hosted. Formance runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, API.
Can I use Budibase for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Budibase best used for?
Budibase is most often used for building internal tools over existing databases, self-hosting an open source low-code platform, admin panels and crud apps for operations teams, automations triggered by data changes. Of those, building internal tools over existing databases and self-hosting an open source low-code platform are not what Formance is typically brought in for.
What can Budibase do that Formance cannot?
Budibase covers Drag-and-drop builder, Database design, REST API, User management. Formance covers Double-entry ledger, Numscript transaction DSL, Multi-currency, Payments connectivity. Both handle Self-hosted deployment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Budibase: What happens if I exceed the monthly action limit on my plan?

Actions are hard monthly limits. Once you reach the limit on your plan (5K for Pro, 20K for Premium, 250K for Business), you must upgrade to a higher tier to continue using the service.

Source
Formance: Is Formance really open source?

Yes. The core ledger is MIT licensed with full source access and no deployment restrictions.

Budibase: Is there a charge for additional users beyond what is included in my plan?

Yes. Each plan includes a limited number of creators (1 for Pro, expandable for Premium, 3 for Business), but end users are charged at $5 per user per month as an add-on.

Source
Formance: Does Formance move money?

No. It records and orchestrates movements; the actual payments happen at a PSP or bank you connect.

Budibase: How much extra do I pay if I choose monthly billing instead of yearly?

Monthly billing costs 20% more than the yearly equivalent. For example, paying monthly for Pro at $19/month equals $228 per year, versus $190 per year on a yearly subscription.

Source
Formance: What does the enterprise version cost?

Not published. It is an annual subscription quoted per customer.

Budibase: Can I try Budibase before committing to a paid plan?

Yes. All paid cloud plans include a 14-day free trial. The open source version is also available free with unlimited actions and unlimited users, though with community support only.

Source
Formance: Do I have to use Numscript?

Yes for anything beyond the simplest transfers. It is how multi-party transactions are expressed atomically.

Budibase: Does the free open source plan include the same features as paid plans?

The open source plan includes unlimited actions, unlimited apps, automations, agents, and users, but support is community-only rather than through Budibase directly. Paid plans add features like AI credits, custom branding, backups, and email or priority support.

Source
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