Is Noloco or Thunkable better?

Neither clearly leads. Noloco starts at On request and Thunkable at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Noloco or Thunkable?

Thunkable has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Noloco and Free for Thunkable.

Does Noloco or Thunkable run on more platforms?

Noloco runs on Web. Thunkable runs on Web, iOS, Android.

Can I use Thunkable for free?

Yes. Thunkable has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Noloco starts at On request.

What is Noloco best used for?

Noloco is most often used for giving clients a branded portal onto their own records in an airtable base, replacing shared spreadsheets with a permissioned internal tool for an operations team, a lightweight crm over a postgresql database that already exists, partner or contractor dashboards where each party must see only its own jobs and documents. Of those, giving clients a branded portal onto their own records in an airtable base and replacing shared spreadsheets with a permissioned internal tool for an operations team are not what Thunkable is typically brought in for.

What can Noloco do that Thunkable cannot?

Noloco covers Row-level permissions, Multiple data sources, Client portals, Workflows. Thunkable covers Block-based logic editor, Native compilation, AI app assistant, Component marketplace.

No-Code · head to head

Noloco vs Thunkable

Noloco

No-Code

Client portals and internal tools built over data you already have

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

Thunkable

No-Code

No-code, drag-and-drop mobile app builder priced by AI tokens and project counts

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Thunkable has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Noloco pricing follows user counts, and a client portal is by definition many low-activity users, so an agency with a few hundred client logins climbs the bands quickly for people who sign in twice a month.; Thunkable every paid tier is metered by a monthly AI token allowance, so heavy use of the AI assistant, which is the tool's main productivity feature, can be exhausted well before a billing period ends.
They diverge on capability: Noloco covers Row-level permissions, Thunkable covers Block-based logic editor.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Noloco and Thunkable actually diverge.

Attributes where Noloco and Thunkable differ
Attribute	Noloco	Thunkable
Starting price	On request	Free
Pricing model	quote	Per month, tiered by AI token allowance and project count
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Web	Web, iOS, Android

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (No-Code).

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 Noloco

Row-level permissions
Multiple data sources
Client portals
Workflows
Forms and record detail pages
White labelling

Only in Thunkable

Block-based logic editor
Native compilation
AI app assistant
Component marketplace
Live testing
Custom branding

What people use each for

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

Noloco

Giving clients a branded portal onto their own records in an Airtable basenot Thunkable
Replacing shared spreadsheets with a permissioned internal tool for an operations teamnot Thunkable
A lightweight CRM over a PostgreSQL database that already existsnot Thunkable
Partner or contractor dashboards where each party must see only its own jobs and documentsnot Thunkable

Thunkable

A non-developer or founder prototyping an app idea before hiring an engineernot Noloco
An educator teaching app-building concepts without requiring students to write codenot Noloco
A small business needing a simple internal or customer-facing app with modest logicnot Noloco
A hobbyist building a single published app who does not need more than one live app slotnot Noloco

Where each one falls short

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

Noloco

Pricing follows user counts, and a client portal is by definition many low-activity users, so an agency with a few hundred client logins climbs the bands quickly for people who sign in twice a month.
Limits are inherited from the data source. Airtable record ceilings, API rate limits and slow queries appear in the portal your customers use, and no setting inside Noloco can fix them.
Design control is deliberately narrow. You get a consistent application shell rather than a bespoke interface, which is fine for operations and a problem for anything marketing-led.
It is a small vendor competing directly with Airtable Interfaces and Softr, both far larger, so roadmap pace and long-term viability are legitimate procurement questions.
Output is responsive web only, with no native mobile application and no offline mode, so field staff on poor connections are not served by it.

Thunkable

Every paid tier is metered by a monthly AI token allowance, so heavy use of the AI assistant, which is the tool's main productivity feature, can be exhausted well before a billing period ends.
Only the Builder tier and above allow a live published app at all in useful numbers, so the entry-level paid plan cannot actually get an app onto the store in a meaningful way.
Block-based logic becomes unwieldy for apps with genuinely complex business rules, and there is no clean escape hatch to written code within the platform.
Native integrations and performance-sensitive features (heavy graphics, background processing) are limited compared to a coded framework, so the tool has a real complexity ceiling.
App ownership and export options are more restrictive than an open source framework; leaving the platform typically means rebuilding rather than exporting a portable codebase.

Pricing, plan by plan

Noloco

On request

Noloco$undefined/year
- Tiered plans differentiated by user counts, data sources and white labelling
- Trial period rather than a permanent free plan
- Higher tiers add custom domains, advanced permissions and priority support

Thunkable

Free

FreeFree
- 2,000 AI tokens
- 3 public projects
- 5 screens per project
Accelerator$19/month
- 20,000 AI tokens
- 5 public and 1 private project
- 10 screens per project
Builder$37/month
- 50,000 AI tokens
- Unlimited public, 10 private projects
- Unlimited screens, 1 live published app
Advanced$99/month
- 100,000 AI tokens
- Unlimited private projects and live published apps
- Priority support

Which should you pick?

Choose Noloco if

You need row-level permissions.
You also want multiple data sources.

Noloco review

Choose Thunkable if

You need block-based logic editor.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, iOS, Android.
You also want native compilation.

Thunkable review

Questions people ask

Is Noloco or Thunkable better?: Neither clearly leads. Noloco starts at On request and Thunkable at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Noloco or Thunkable?: Thunkable has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Noloco and Free for Thunkable.
Does Noloco or Thunkable run on more platforms?: Noloco runs on Web. Thunkable runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Thunkable for free?: Yes. Thunkable has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Noloco starts at On request.
What is Noloco best used for?: Noloco is most often used for giving clients a branded portal onto their own records in an airtable base, replacing shared spreadsheets with a permissioned internal tool for an operations team, a lightweight crm over a postgresql database that already exists, partner or contractor dashboards where each party must see only its own jobs and documents. Of those, giving clients a branded portal onto their own records in an airtable base and replacing shared spreadsheets with a permissioned internal tool for an operations team are not what Thunkable is typically brought in for.
What can Noloco do that Thunkable cannot?: Noloco covers Row-level permissions, Multiple data sources, Client portals, Workflows. Thunkable covers Block-based logic editor, Native compilation, AI app assistant, Component marketplace.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Noloco: Do I need Airtable to use it?

No. Airtable is the most common source but PostgreSQL, MySQL, Google Sheets, HubSpot and built-in Noloco tables all work.

Thunkable: Can I publish an app on the free plan?

The free plan is aimed at building and testing; live publishing capacity in a meaningful way starts on the Builder plan.

Noloco: Can external clients log in without paying for seats?

Client and internal users are counted differently, but they are still counted, so a portal with many client logins moves you up the plan bands. Check the current band definitions before committing to a per-client model.

Thunkable: What happens if I run out of AI tokens?

AI-assisted generation stops working until the next billing cycle or an upgrade; manual block-based editing still works.

Noloco: How is this different from Softr?

Both build portals over existing data. Noloco leans harder on permissions and multiple database sources; Softr leans on templates, speed to a first version and a bigger ecosystem.

Thunkable: Is this suitable for a complex business app?

No. It is built for simple to moderately complex apps; heavy custom logic and native integrations are better served by a coded framework.

Noloco vs Thunkable

Noloco

Thunkable

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Noloco

Only in Thunkable

What people use each for

Noloco

Thunkable

Where each one falls short

Noloco

Thunkable

Pricing, plan by plan

Noloco

Thunkable

Which should you pick?

Choose Noloco if

Choose Thunkable if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Noloco

More on Thunkable

Keep looking

Other head to heads