Base44 Free Trial and Free Plan: What You Really Get in 2026
The free credits, the daily cap, what you can genuinely build without paying, and exactly what changes when you move to Starter
By Shlomi, founder of DoitWithAI | Updated | Base44 facts rechecked October 12, 2026
Quick answer
Base44 has no time-limited free trial, because the Free plan never expires. It costs $0, needs no credit card, and includes 25 message credits a month (capped at 5 a day), 100 integration credits a month, the full builder with database and user logins, and up to 5 apps. Paid plans start at $16/month billed annually or $20/month monthly.
Pricing and plan facts last verified: 2026-10-12 on Base44's official pricing page.
Free plan, no credit card. Affiliate link: DoitWithAi earns a commission if you later upgrade. See /disclosures.
We send readers to Base44 as an affiliate, so we get the same question most weeks: is it actually free, or free until the card prompt? Short answer: free, permanently, with a credit allowance that is honest but small. The long answer below is what we tell people who email us, written from Base44's pricing page and billing help articles rather than from a coupon site.
Here is what the Free plan includes as of October 2026, how far 25 credits go in practice, what changes when you move to Starter, and the moment most people upgrade. Paying from outside the US? We converted every plan into pounds, Australian and Canadian dollars with VAT and GST, and Brazilian readers have a guide in Portuguese: Base44 preço em reais.
Is there a Base44 free trial?
Not in the usual sense. There is no 14-day trial of a paid plan that expires and starts charging you. Instead, the Free plan is your trial, and it does not expire. You can stay on it indefinitely, and nothing is billed unless you choose to upgrade.
That is worth knowing because it removes the most common trial trap: forgetting to cancel. On Base44, if you never enter payment details, you never pay.
If you want to try a paid plan, the closest thing to a trial is Starter on monthly billing at $20. Base44 says you can cancel any time from account settings, with the change taking effect at the next billing cycle, so one month of Starter is effectively a paid trial of the higher limits.
Students, teachers and staff at accredited academic institutions can get 50% off a first Starter or Builder plan by verifying a school email, per Base44's academic discount documentation. The other real discounts are in our Base44 promo code guide.
What the Base44 free plan includes
- 25 message credits per month, capped at 5 per day, used every time you ask the AI to build or change something
- 100 integration credits per month, used when your app sends emails, calls AI models or uses connected services
- Up to 5 apps in your account
- Core features: the AI builder, a built-in database, user authentication and analytics
- No credit card required to sign up
Base44's own pricing page calls the Free plan a full free AI app maker, and you can ship complete apps on it. It is not a demo mode. The constraint is volume, not capability. For how the Free plan compares with every paid tier, see Base44 pricing plans; this page stays on what you get for $0.
How far do 25 free credits go?
Each message to the AI uses credits, and Base44 says the exact cost varies with the action and the AI model. Our Base44 credits guide lists what each action costs. As a rough guide, 25 message credits is enough to:
- Build a simple first version of one app, such as a lead capture form with a dashboard, a habit tracker or a small booking page
- Make a handful of changes to it after testing
- Get a genuine feel for whether describing software in plain English works for you
It is usually not enough to take a real business tool from idea to something you rely on daily. Real building is iterative: you describe, test, find the edge case, fix it, add the next feature. That loop is where free credits run out, often in the first or second session, and the 5-a-day cap means a long Saturday build stops after five prompts whatever the monthly total says.
How to get the most from free credits
Plan the app on paper first. Write one detailed opening prompt that lists every page, field and user role. Then test thoroughly between messages and fix one problem per message. Credits spent on rework are the ones people regret.
What happens when your free credits run out
Four things to know before you start, all from Base44's own credits and pricing documentation:
- Daily cap first, monthly cap second. Free workspaces get 5 message credits a day, up to 25 a month. Hit 5 and the AI chat is locked until the daily reset at midnight in the workspace owner's time zone.
- Your apps keep running. Running out of message credits stops you building; it does not take published apps offline.
- Integration credits are the quiet failure. When the 100 monthly integration credits are gone, actions like sending email or calling an AI model fail and your app's users see a generic error.
- No credit packs, no rollover. Base44 does not sell extra credits, and unused credits expire at reset. The only way to get more immediately is to upgrade, and the new plan's credits are granted the moment you do.
The full mechanics, including what each action costs, are in Base44 credits explained.
What the free plan does not include
The Free plan is capability-complete for building, but these are paid-plan features as listed on Base44's pricing page:
- Connecting your own domain (Starter and above), and the free domain for one year on annual plans
- In-app code edits (Starter and above)
- Unlimited apps (Free is capped at 5)
- Private apps (Free workspaces publish public apps only)
- AI model selection and GitHub integration (Builder and above)
- Early access to beta features (Pro and above) and premium support (Elite)
If any of those is a day-one need, the next section compares Free with Starter line by line.
Base44 Free vs Starter: what the first upgrade changes
Most people start Base44 on the Free plan, and most who keep building end up on Starter. The question is when. Here are the two plans side by side, from Base44's pricing page as of October 2026:
| Free | Starter | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $16/mo billed annually, $20 monthly |
| Message credits | 25 per month (max 5 per day) | 100 per month, no daily cap |
| Integration credits | 100 per month | 2,000 per month |
| Number of apps | Up to 5 | Unlimited |
| App visibility | Public apps only | Private apps available |
| Custom domain | No | Yes |
| Free domain for 1 year | No | Yes, on yearly billing |
| In-app code edits | No | Yes |
| Core features (AI builder, database, auth, analytics) | Yes | Yes |
| Sign up | Start free, no card | Get Starter, $16/mo annual |
4 signs it is time to upgrade to Starter
- You hit the daily cap mid-build. Five message credits a day stops a real build after one session, and this is the most common reason people upgrade.
- Your app needs to be private. Free workspaces can only build public apps.
- You want your own domain. Connecting a Base44 custom domain needs Starter or above, and yearly Starter includes a domain free for a year.
- Your app starts doing real work. 100 integration credits covers testing; a live app sending emails or calling AI needs Starter's 2,000, a 20x jump.
What the upgrade costs in practice
Starter is $20 billed monthly or $192 a year billed annually (the $16/month rate). Base44 lets you cancel any time with access until the end of the period, though services are non-refundable, so monthly is the safer first step. The useful comparison is not $16 versus $0. It is $16 versus the tools one Starter app can replace: a typical solo business pays around $100 a month for scheduling, CRM, invoicing, forms and email tools.
Starter is not the top of the range. GitHub sync and larger credit allowances sit on Builder and above; every tier is compared in Base44 pricing plans.
What you can build for free
Plenty of useful things fit inside the free plan, especially if they are small and do not lean heavily on integrations:
- A personal tool: a budget tracker, reading list, meal planner or family chore board
- A simple internal tool for a small team, such as a request form with a status board
- A prototype to show a client, investor or co-founder before you commit money
- A landing page with a working signup form to test demand for an idea
Where the free plan struggles is anything that runs busy automations once it is live. An app that sends a confirmation email for every booking, or calls an AI model for every customer message, will work through 100 integration credits quickly. Our booking system tutorial is a worked example of a build that starts on Free and only needs Starter once real clients use it.
Free Base44 vs free plans elsewhere
Most AI app builders have a free tier now, and they ration it differently. Lovable gives free users a small number of daily credits with a monthly cap. Bolt.new's free plan is measured in tokens with a daily limit and Bolt branding on published sites. Replit's free Starter tier includes a daily Agent allowance and one published app.
Base44's version is a monthly block with a daily ceiling, which suits people who build in a few focused sessions better than people who want to tinker all day. If a genuinely free or open-source route matters most to you, our list of Base44 alternatives includes options you can run yourself, and Base44 vs Lovable goes deeper on the closest rival.
The honest verdict
Base44 is genuinely free to start, and the free plan is honest: full features, no watermark trick, no expiring trial, no card. It is the right way to find out whether Base44 suits you. It is not designed to run a busy business tool for free forever, and it does not pretend to be. Stay on Free while you are deciding; move to Starter the day you hit one of the four signs above, ideally on monthly billing first.
If you want the wider picture before committing, including the complaints some paying users have, read our full Base44 review and whether Base44 is legit.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Base44 free trial need a credit card?
No. The Base44 free plan is the trial, it never expires, and you can sign up and build without entering any payment details. You only add a card if you choose to upgrade.
How long is the Base44 free trial?
There is no fixed length. Base44 does not run a time-limited trial; the Free plan stays free indefinitely with 25 message credits and 100 integration credits each month, so you can keep testing for as long as you like without a credit card.
What happens when my Base44 free credits run out?
On the Free plan you are capped at 5 message credits a day and 25 a month. When you hit either cap the AI chat stops until the reset, but your published apps keep running. You cannot buy extra credits; to keep building straight away, upgrade to Starter at $16 per month billed annually or $20 per month billed monthly.
Is Base44 completely free?
Base44 has a permanent free plan that costs $0 and needs no credit card. It includes 25 message credits and 100 integration credits per month and up to 5 apps. Heavier use requires a paid plan, starting at $16 per month billed annually or $20 per month billed monthly.
How many free credits does Base44 give?
The Free plan includes 25 message credits (at most 5 per day) and 100 integration credits every month. Message credits are used while building; integration credits are used when your app runs actions such as sending emails.
Do Base44 free credits reset every month?
Yes. The free plan's allowance is monthly, with the daily cap resetting at midnight in the workspace owner's time zone. Unused credits do not roll over, so if you run out you can wait for the next reset or upgrade to a paid plan to keep building.
Can I publish an app on the Base44 free plan?
Yes. Base44 states that complete apps can ship on the free plan, but they are public apps on a Base44 address. Private apps and connecting your own custom domain require the Starter plan or higher.
What is the difference between Base44 Free and Starter?
Starter gives 100 message credits a month instead of 25 (with no daily cap), 2,000 integration credits instead of 100, unlimited apps instead of 5, private apps, in-app code edits and custom domains, for $16 per month billed annually or $20 monthly.
How much is Base44 Starter?
Starter costs $16 per month billed annually ($192 a year) or $20 per month billed monthly. Students and academic staff can get 50% off a first Starter plan with a verified school email.
Can I make a private app on the Base44 free plan?
No. Free workspaces can only build public apps. Private apps need a paid plan such as Starter.
Can I downgrade from Starter back to Free?
Yes. Base44 lets you downgrade or cancel at any time, with the change taking effect at the end of your current billing period. Your apps stay live and your data stays in your workspace.
How this guide was checked
- Prices, credit allowances and plan features were read from base44.com/pricing on 2026-10-12, with both the yearly and the monthly billing toggle, and match the table above.
- The 5-a-day cap, the reset rules and what happens at zero credits come from Base44's Credits and Billing help articles, re-read on 2026-10-09.
- The 50% academic discount comes from Base44's billing documentation; we have not claimed it ourselves.
- What we have not done: run a timed credit-burn test on every plan. Where we say how far 25 credits go, that is an estimate from Base44's per-action cost guidance and public user reports, not a benchmark.
- DoitWithAI is a Base44 affiliate. Nobody at Base44 reviewed or paid for this page.
Sources
- Base44 pricing page (plans, prices, credits, plan features): https://base44.com/pricing (checked 2026-10-12)
- Base44 Help Center, Credits and Billing articles (daily cap, reset, no rollover, no credit packs): https://docs.base44.com (checked 2026-10-09)
- Base44 Help Center, academic discount article: https://docs.base44.com (checked 2026-10-06)
Related Base44 guides
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