fitgap

Backendless

Features
Ease of use
Ease of management
Quality of support
Affordability
Market presence
Take the quiz to check if Backendless and its alternatives fit your requirements.
Pricing from
Pay-as-you-go
Free Trial unavailable
Free version
User corporate size
Small
Medium
Large
User industry
  1. Education and training
  2. Real estate and property management
  3. Construction

What is Backendless

Backendless is a backend-as-a-service and application development platform used to build web and mobile applications with managed backend capabilities. It provides visual (no-code/low-code) tools alongside SDKs and APIs for developers who want to implement data storage, user management, business logic, and messaging without operating their own backend infrastructure. The platform supports building and exposing APIs and includes a visual UI builder for creating front-end experiences tied to Backendless services. It is typically used by teams that want rapid prototyping or production apps with a hosted backend and optional self-managed deployment.

pros

Integrated backend building blocks

Backendless bundles common backend services such as database/data tables, user authentication and roles, file storage, and messaging/real-time features into one platform. This reduces the need to assemble multiple point tools for typical app backends. For teams building CRUD-centric apps, it can shorten initial setup and standardize backend patterns across projects.

No-code plus developer extensibility

The platform supports visual development for data models and app logic while also offering SDKs and APIs for custom code. This allows mixed teams to split work between citizen developers and engineers. It also helps teams start with no-code workflows and later extend or replace parts with code as requirements mature.

Deployment model flexibility

Backendless offers hosted usage and also supports running the platform in a self-managed environment for organizations with specific compliance or data residency needs. This can be relevant when a managed cloud-only service is not acceptable. It also provides a path to standardize on the same platform across dev/test/prod with different hosting constraints.

cons

Platform lock-in considerations

Applications often become coupled to Backendless data models, SDKs, and server-side logic conventions. Migrating to a different backend stack can require reworking APIs, business logic, and client integrations. This is a common trade-off for mBaaS and no-code platforms, but it is important for long-lived products.

Not a full API management suite

While Backendless can expose and consume APIs, it is not primarily designed as an enterprise API management layer. Organizations that need advanced gateway capabilities (for example, broad policy enforcement, complex traffic management, or large-scale API lifecycle governance) may need additional tooling. This can add architectural complexity when Backendless is used in API-first programs.

Complexity for advanced use cases

As applications require sophisticated domain logic, multi-service orchestration, or highly customized CI/CD and testing workflows, teams may find the platform abstractions less flexible than a fully custom backend. Debugging and observability can also be more constrained when logic runs inside platform-managed components. Teams should validate fit for non-standard data access patterns and performance requirements early.

Plan & Pricing

Backendless Cloud (usage-based + free plan)

Pricing model: Free Plan + Scale Plan (two variations: Scale Variable = usage-based daily tiers; Scale Fixed = selectable fixed monthly tier). All Cloud pricing is per-application. Free tier/trial: Free Plan (permanent). Free trial: deprecated (no longer offered).

Scale Variable (usage-based — daily charges summed monthly):

Tier Daily price Requests per minute (24h peak)
1 $0.50 0-5
2 $0.99 6-10
3 $1.75 11-20
4 $2.15 21-50
5 $2.95 51-100
6 $4.25 101-200
7 $7.00 201-300
8 $12.00 301-500
9 $25.00 501-750
10 $45.00 751-1,000
11 $65.00 1,001-2,000
12 $95.00 2,001-3,000
13 $145.00 3,001-4,000
14 $170.00 4,001-5,000
15 $190.00 5,001-7,000
16 $230.00 7,001-10,000

Notes: monthly bill = sum of daily charges across billing cycle (Scale Variable). Backendless advertises the Scale Plan starts as low as $15/month (derived from $0.50/day × ~30 days).

Scale Fixed (predictable monthly tiers — select a monthly tier):

Tier Monthly price Peak requests per minute
1 $15.00 / month 0-5
2 $25.00 / month 6-10
3 $45.00 / month 11-20
4 $55.00 / month 21-50
5 $70.00 / month 51-100
6 $100.00 / month 101-200
7 $165.00 / month 201-300
8 $280.00 / month 301-500
9 $600.00 / month 501-750
10 $1,000.00 / month 751-1,000
11 $1,500.00 / month 1,001-2,000

Function Packs / Add-ons (examples shown on official pricing page):

  • Maximum custom security roles (up to 64 total): $20/month ($200/year)
  • Additional 10 GB file storage: $20/month ($200/year)
  • Additional 100,000 messages: $10/month ($100/year)
  • Additional 100,000 push notifications: $10/month ($100/year)
  • Additional 10,000 real-time connections: $50/month ($600/year)
  • Additional 50 data tables: $25/month ($250/year)
  • Additional 200,000 data objects: $10/month ($100/year)
  • Additional 100 objects in cache: $5/month ($50/year)
  • Enterprise Security Tools (Panic Mode, Audit Log, HIPAA Compliance, Session Manager): $399/month ($4,000/year)

Backendless Pro (on‑prem / self-hosted)

Pricing model: Free Community single-server license + paid optional support/upgrades; Clustered/HA/Managed: contact sales for pricing.

Single Server (Community Edition): Free license (runs on single machine; core features). Optional paid annual services shown on official site:

  • Annual support: $7,200 / year
  • Annual unlimited upgrades: $7,200 / year
  • Support & upgrades bundle: $10,000 / year

Clustered / Managed Backendless: Contact sales for pricing (not publicly listed).

Seller details

Backendless Corp.
Dallas, Texas, USA
2012
Private
https://backendless.com/
https://x.com/backendless
https://www.linkedin.com/company/backendless/

Tools by Backendless Corp.

Backendless

Best Backendless alternatives

Salesforce Heroku
Back4app
Appwrite
IBM Mobile Foundation
See all alternatives

Popular categories

All categories