FlutterFlow alternative
A FlutterFlow alternative with no Mac and no Flutter
FlutterFlow is a visual builder for Flutter apps, and its docs say testing an iOS app on a device or simulator needs a Mac with Xcode. Borel is the alternative for people without one: you describe the app instead of dragging it together, Borel writes native SwiftUI, and the iOS Simulator runs in your browser.
Updated
Apps built by Borel, in the iOS Simulator.
FlutterFlow
Who is FlutterFlow for?
FlutterFlow is a visual builder: you lay out screens from a library of components, wire up logic and data, and it generates a Flutter app you can export. It's popular with designers and developers who want fine control over every element, on iPhone, Android and the web.
It has AI tools too, including one that turns a description into an editable design to keep building on visually.
The iPhone question
Where does FlutterFlow stop for an iPhone app?
While you build, FlutterFlow's Test Mode runs a web version of the app. To test the iPhone version on a device or a simulator, its own docs say you need a Mac with Xcode.
Publishing to the App Store and downloading your code start on its Basic plan, at $39 a month. And building visually is still building: someone has to place every screen and connect every action.
Borel
What Borel does differently
Describe it, don't drag it
Tell Borel what the app does in plain words. It plans the screens with you and writes them.
iPhone testing without a Mac
Every build runs in the iOS Simulator on Borel's Mac, streamed to your browser, from Windows too.
Native SwiftUI
Swift and SwiftUI compiled by Xcode, with Face ID, the camera, Apple Maps and in-app purchases built in.
Code and publishing for less
Download the Swift project on any plan, and publish to the App Store on Pro, from $20 a month.
At a glance
How do FlutterFlow and Borel compare?
From FlutterFlow's own site, as of October 2026. The full comparison has every row.
| Borel | FlutterFlow | |
|---|---|---|
| Code | Swift and SwiftUI | Flutter |
| Test the iPhone app without a Mac | Yes | No |
| Preview while you build | The iOS Simulator | A web version |
| App Store and your code from | $20 a month | $39 a month |
| Publish to the App Store | Yes | Yes |
Switching
How to switch from FlutterFlow to Borel
- 1
Describe each screen
Walk Borel through your FlutterFlow screens in plain words, or paste a short spec. Screenshots help too.
- 2
Test it on Windows or a Mac
Tap through the build in the iOS Simulator in your browser and ask for changes in the chat.
- 3
Bring your data
Borel apps come with accounts, a cloud database and storage, so there's no Firebase project to connect.
Choose Borel if…
- You don't have a Mac and want to test the iPhone app properly.
- You'd rather describe the app than build it screen by screen.
- The app is for iPhone, and native SwiftUI matters to you.
Frequently asked questions
No. FlutterFlow generates Flutter code and Borel writes Swift, so Borel builds the app fresh from your description of it.
You change it by asking in the chat: move this, make that bigger, use these colours. If you know Swift, you can download the project on any plan and edit it in Xcode.
No. Borel runs the accounts, database, file storage and AI for every app itself, so there's nothing to connect.
No. Borel makes native iPhone apps, and the same app runs on iPad. For one project on iPhone, Android and the web, FlutterFlow covers more.
Yes, and it covers the part that needs a Mac elsewhere: every build runs in the iOS Simulator at no cost, with 5 free credits a day, up to 30 a month.
Test your iPhone app without a Mac
Describe it and watch it run in the iOS Simulator in your browser.