AI app builders that build native apps.
Native vs web, sorted.
Plenty of tools say they make mobile apps. Fewer make the kind you can submit to the App Store. This is the honest sort of ai app builders that build native apps against the ones that output a web app or PWA (Progressive Web App), with a table you can read in one pass and columns for code ownership and a bundled backend.
The short answer
The split, in two sentences.
FlutterFlow, Adalo, Thunkable, Draftbit, Replit, Bubble, and Newly produce native output that ships to the App Store and Google Play. Lovable, Bolt.new, v0, Base44, and Glide output a web app or PWA, which is fine for the browser but is not a store-ready native app on its own. Among the native tools, only some hand you the code, and that is the second axis worth checking before you pick one.
What native means here
The one axis that sorts the field.
For this comparison, native means an app the stores accept as a real app: compiled native code, or platform-native components rendered through React Native, rather than a web page running in a frame. Web-only means the tool outputs a PWA or browser app. Both are legitimate ways to build software. They land in different places when you try to publish.
If you want the concept-level definitions of native, hybrid, web, and PWA, read those first and come back. This page does not re-explain the categories. It sorts named ai app builders that build native apps into the two camps and shows what each one gives you.
Native vs web vs PWA, explainedThe table
AI app builders that build native apps, compared.
The primary column is the one that decides whether you can ship to the stores: native, or web-only. After that, two columns most people forget to check, who lets you own and export the code, and whether a backend comes bundled. Sources for every claim follow the table.
| Builder | Output type | App Store? | Own the code? | Backend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NewlyUs | React Native + Expo | Yes | Yes, export | Bundled |
| FlutterFlow | Flutter / Dart | Yes | Yes, export | Bring your own |
| Replit | React Native + Expo | Yes | Yes, you own it | Bundled |
| Draftbit | React Native | Yes | Yes, full export | Bring your own |
| Adalo | Real native builds | Yes | No source export | Bundled |
| Thunkable | Native | Yes | No source export | Bundled |
| Bubble | Wrapper or Bubble Native | Yes | No source export | Bundled |
| Lovable | Web app / PWA | No (web-only) | Yes, export | Bring your own |
| Bolt.new | Web app / PWA | No (web-only) | Yes, export | Bring your own |
| v0 (Vercel) | Web app / PWA | No (web-only) | Yes, export | Bring your own |
| Base44 | Web app / PWA | No (web-only) | Varies | Bundled |
| Glide | PWA | No (web-only) | No source export | Bundled |
Native column: Newly, FlutterFlow, Replit, Draftbit, Adalo, Thunkable, Bubble. Web-only column: Lovable, Bolt.new, v0 (Vercel), Base44, Glide. Glide outputs a PWA, which surprises people who assume it builds native apps.
Sources. Output types follow each vendor’s own docs or site. Adalo describes its output as “real native builds compiled via Codemagic, not web wrappers, PWAs, or React Native bridges.” FlutterFlow and Draftbit document full code export, and each builder states its output type on its own site.
FlutterFlow exports Flutter and Dart code; Draftbit is React Native with full code export; Thunkable is native with no source-code export. Bubble reaches the stores through a wrapper or its newer first-party Bubble Native. Newly outputs native React Native and Expo code you own and export, with a bundled backend, from $25 a month.
Why the split matters
Why web-only builders can’t ship as is.
The reason is one line in Apple’s rules. App Store Review Guideline 4.2 says “your app should include features, content, and UI that elevate it beyond a repackaged website” (Apple’s guidelines). A web-only builder produces exactly that, a website, so wrapping it in a shell and submitting it usually reads as a repackaged page and gets rejected.
Native builders sidestep the problem because the thing they produce is a real app: compiled native code, or platform-native components running through React Native. That is the whole reason the native versus web column sits first in the table. Everything else, look and feel, backend, code ownership, is downstream of whether you can publish at all. For the step-by-step on submission, see the guide below.
Keep vs give up
What you keep vs. what you give up.
The native column is not one thing. It splits again on code ownership, and that decides how easily you can leave, hire a developer, or take the project somewhere else later.
You keep the code
- FlutterFlow, Flutter and Dart you can export
- Draftbit, React Native with full code export
- Replit, standard React code you own, no lock-in
- Newly, React Native and Expo you own and export
You build on the platform, not the source
- Thunkable, native output, no source-code export
- Adalo, real native builds, not a code-export tool
- Bubble, ships via a wrapper or Bubble Native
- Glide, a PWA rather than a native build at all
Owning the code is common among ai app builders that build native apps, but it is not universal. It is worth confirming before you commit to one.
What publishing costs
The store fees are the platforms’, not the tool’s.
Whichever native app builder you pick, publishing means a developer account. The Apple Developer Program is $99 a year, and Google Play charges a one-time $25 fee. These are not charged by the builder. Web-only tools skip them only because they are not putting a native app on the stores in the first place.
Where Newly sits in the native column.
Newly is one of several ai app builders that build native apps. It generates native React Native and Expo code you own and export, and it ships a bundled backend, so the database and storage exist from your first project rather than being a second tool you wire up. It runs from $25 a month.
The honest line: code ownership is not unique to Newly. Replit, FlutterFlow, and Draftbit let you keep the code too. Newly’s pitch is the pairing, real native code you own next to a backend that comes with it. If that combination is what you want, the table above is a good place to compare it against the rest.
FAQ
AI app builders that build native apps, answered.
FlutterFlow, Adalo, Thunkable, Draftbit, Replit, and Newly all produce native output that can be submitted to the App Store and Google Play. Adalo describes its output as real native builds compiled via Codemagic, not web wrappers, PWAs, or React Native bridges. Replit's mobile apps use React Native plus Expo and render platform-native UI components, not a webview. Bubble reaches the stores through a wrapper or its newer first-party Bubble Native. Newly generates React Native and Expo code with a bundled backend. The builders that stay web-only, meaning they output a PWA or browser app rather than a store-ready native app, include Lovable, Bolt.new, v0, Base44, and Glide.
Build a native app you own.
From $25 a month, Newly generates native React Native and Expo code you own and export, with a bundled backend. One of several ai app builders that build native apps, with the code and the backend in the same place.