Softr

What it is

Softr connects to a database you likely already have, Airtable, Google Sheets, Notion, Coda, or a SQL database like Supabase, MySQL or PostgreSQL, and turns it into a working web app: a client portal, an internal dashboard, a directory, a CRM front end. The record lives in your original data source; Softr builds the interface, forms, permissions and workflow logic on top of it.

The company started narrower than that. Founders Mariam Hakobyan and Artur Mkrtchyan launched Softr in 2019 as a way to turn an Airtable base into a website, and only later widened the list of supported data sources. In 2026 the product took its biggest step yet, adding an AI Co-Builder that generates the app, database schema included, from a plain-language description rather than a drag-and-drop layout.

Who should use it

Someone who already has operational data somewhere else and wants a portal or internal tool in front of it without hiring a developer: an agency building a client portal, a small team replacing a spreadsheet-based process, a founder shipping a directory or a booking system. It fits builders who are comfortable with the app’s logic living mostly in the connected database rather than in custom code.

It fits less well the moment the app needs to look highly designed or handle complex conditional logic. Bolt.new and Base44 generate a full-stack app with real code underneath; Softr’s AI Co-Builder generates a configuration on top of its own platform, which is faster to stand up but harder to push past what the platform already supports.

What stands out

The data-source list is the real difference from other AI app builders in this category, most of which generate their own database from scratch. Softr’s original pitch was Airtable specifically, and the platform has since added Google Sheets, Notion, Coda, Supabase, MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQL Server, plus integrations with tools like HubSpot and Salesforce. An app built on Softr can point at data a team is already maintaining elsewhere instead of requiring a fresh import.

The AI Co-Builder, launched March 31, 2026, is the newest layer on top of that. A plain-language description now generates the database schema, interface, user permissions and workflow automation together, a meaningfully different pitch from the visual builder Softr shipped for most of its history.

Pricing scales mainly through database record limits rather than feature gates. Free, Basic ($59/mo, $49/mo billed annually), Professional ($167/mo, $139/mo annually) and Business ($323/mo, $269/mo annually) all include unlimited apps, databases and workflows; what changes between tiers is how many records the connected database can hold, climbing from a few thousand on Free to roughly a million on Business.

Reviewer sentiment on Trustpilot sits at 4.3 out of 5 across 73 reviews. The praise centers on build speed and support response time. The complaints worth reading before committing describe service outages affecting client-facing apps in production, and a sense among some reviewers that the subscription cost outpaces platform stability.

The verdict

For a team with real data already living in Airtable, a spreadsheet or a SQL database, Softr turns that data into a usable app fast, and the 2026 AI Co-Builder cuts the setup time further by generating the structure from a description instead of a layout. That is a genuinely different starting point than a builder that generates its own database from nothing.

The trade-off shows up in ambition. Reviewers describe limited form customization, a mobile experience behind dedicated app builders, and real performance strain once an app’s data or logic gets complicated, and the outage complaints on Trustpilot are worth weighing if the app will run in front of paying clients. Skip Softr if the plan is a polished, highly custom product, or if the app is likely to outgrow Business tier’s roughly one-million-record ceiling; reach for it when the job is a fast, data-backed internal tool or portal, not a flagship product.