Base44 alternative
A Base44 alternative for App Store apps, not web views
Base44 can put your app on the App Store, but as its own docs say, the store app runs your web app inside a web view. Borel is the alternative when you want the app itself to be native: it writes Swift and SwiftUI, with in-app purchases and the iPhone's own features, and publishes it from your browser.
Updated
Apps built by Borel, in the iOS Simulator.
Base44
Who is Base44 for?
Base44 builds apps, websites and AI agents from plain words, with the back end, storage and sign-in already in place. It suits internal tools, portals and web products that people open in a browser.
The iPhone question
Where does Base44 stop for an iPhone app?
For the App Store, Base44 wraps your published web app: its docs describe a lightweight native wrapper that opens your app's address in a web view. The files for submission come with the Builder plan or higher.
Its docs also say Base44 apps don't support Apple's in-app purchases yet. If the app you have in mind sells a subscription inside the app, or should feel like the iPhone's own apps, a wrapper is the wrong starting point.
Borel
What Borel does differently
Native code, not a web view
Borel writes the app in Swift with SwiftUI and compiles it with Xcode, so every screen is a real iOS screen.
In-app purchases
Borel apps can sell subscriptions and one-off unlocks through Apple's own in-app purchases.
Try it before you publish
Each build runs in the iOS Simulator in your browser, free, and Borel Companion puts it on your iPhone on Pro.
At a glance
How do Base44 and Borel compare?
From Base44's own site, as of October 2026. The full comparison has every row.
| Borel | Base44 | |
|---|---|---|
| The store app | Native SwiftUI | Your web app in a web view |
| Apple in-app purchases | Yes | Not yet |
| App Store from | $20 a month, or $16 a month billed yearly | $50 a month, or $40 billed yearly |
| Back end and sign-in built in | Yes | Yes |
Switching
How to switch from Base44 to Borel
- 1
Paste your Base44 app's address
Borel reads the published site and builds a native SwiftUI app from it, with your colours, logo and words.
- 2
Or describe it
Tell Borel what the app does and who it's for. It plans the screens with you, then writes them.
- 3
Add what a wrapper can't
Ask for Face ID, the camera, haptics or in-app purchases, then publish to the App Store on Pro.
Choose Borel if…
- You want an iPhone app, not a website inside one.
- You plan to sell subscriptions through Apple's in-app purchases.
- You want the App Store on a cheaper plan.
Frequently asked questions
A web view app is a website shown inside an app's frame. A native app is written for the iPhone itself: in Borel's case, Swift and SwiftUI compiled by Xcode, using the screens, gestures and features iOS provides.
Borel can read your published site and build a native SwiftUI app from it. It doesn't convert Base44's code; it writes a new iPhone app that does what yours does.
Yes. Accounts with email and password, a cloud database, file storage and Borel AI come built into every app, with no keys to paste.
Yes, on Pro, from $20 a month. Borel's Mac builds and signs the native app, then sends it to App Store Connect for you. Apple asks for its Developer Program, $99 a year.
Yes. Build the native version and try it in the iOS Simulator without paying: the free plan gives 5 free credits a day, up to 30 a month.
Make the native version
Paste your Base44 app's address and watch Borel build it in SwiftUI.