Thunkable alternative
A Thunkable alternative: describe the app, get SwiftUI
Thunkable builds mobile apps from drag-and-drop components and logic blocks, and publishing starts on its Builder plan. Borel is the alternative for people who'd rather describe the app than assemble it: it writes native Swift and SwiftUI, signs the app for you, and publishes to the App Store on Pro, from $20 a month.
Updated
Apps built by Borel, in the iOS Simulator.
Thunkable
Who is Thunkable for?
Thunkable is a no-code platform for mobile and web apps, long used in classrooms and by first-time makers. You place components on screens and snap logic blocks together, and its AI can generate a starting project for you.
Its Thunkable Live app shows your project on your phone while you build.
The iPhone question
Where does Thunkable stop for an iPhone app?
Publishing to the App Store means some Apple paperwork of your own: Thunkable's guide has you create a distribution certificate and a provisioning profile in Apple's developer portal and upload them.
Publishing starts on its Builder plan, $59 a month or $37 a month billed yearly, with one live published app. And every screen and rule is still yours to put together by hand.
Borel
What Borel does differently
Describe it in words
No blocks to snap together: tell Borel what the app does, and ask for each change the same way.
Signing done for you
Borel's Mac builds, signs and uploads the app to App Store Connect. No certificates to make by hand.
Native SwiftUI you can download
Swift and SwiftUI compiled by Xcode, and the project is yours to download on any plan.
At a glance
How do Thunkable and Borel compare?
From Thunkable's own site, as of October 2026.
| Borel | Thunkable | |
|---|---|---|
| How you build | Describe it in a chat | Drag and drop, with AI to start |
| App signing | Done for you | Certificates you upload |
| App Store from | $20 a month, or $16 a month billed yearly | $59 a month, or $37 billed yearly |
| No Mac needed | Yes | Yes |
Switching
How to switch from Thunkable to Borel
- 1
Say what each screen does
Describe your Thunkable screens and their buttons in plain words. Borel plans the app with you.
- 2
Watch it in the simulator
Every build runs in the iOS Simulator in your browser, free, so you see the real app straight away.
- 3
Publish without paperwork
Connect App Store Connect once on Pro, and Borel handles the build, signing and upload.
Choose Borel if…
- You'd rather describe the app than build it block by block.
- You don't want to make certificates and profiles by hand.
- You want native SwiftUI code you can keep.
Frequently asked questions
No. Borel builds the app fresh in Swift from your description of it.
Yes. You need no code and no Apple paperwork to start: describe the app and watch it run in the iOS Simulator for free.
Describe it as rules in plain words: when someone taps this, save that; show this list only to signed-in people. Borel turns each rule into Swift, and you can test it in the iOS Simulator straight away.
Yes. The free plan needs no Apple account to start, and every build runs in the iOS Simulator in the browser, so a class can describe apps and watch them run on school computers, Windows included.
No. Borel makes native iPhone apps, and the same app runs on iPad.
Yes, and it's a good way to learn: 5 free credits a day, up to 30 a month, with every build running in the iOS Simulator at no cost.