Base44 is an AI app builder that lets you describe an app in plain English and run it inside Base44's hosted environment. Archiet is an AI app builder that generates a plain source-code ZIP — Next.js + Flask, FastAPI, NestJS, Django, Laravel, Rails, Go, Java, or .NET — that you own, host, and modify like any normal codebase.
If you want speed-to-prototype on Base44's runtime, Base44 is great. If you want portable production code, Archiet is the alternative.
Side-by-side
| | Base44 | Archiet | |---|---|---| | What you get | A running app on Base44's runtime | A ZIP of plain source code | | Source-code ownership | ❌ Live on Base44's platform | ✅ Download, fork, host anywhere | | Runtime dependency | Locked to Base44 | None — runs anywhere Docker runs | | Stacks | Single runtime | Flask, FastAPI, NestJS, Django, Laravel, Rails, Go, Java, .NET, Tauri+Rust | | Database | Managed | PostgreSQL with Alembic migrations you control | | Auth | Base44-managed | Generated source: httpOnly cookies, password reset, email verify, SSO | | Stripe / Paddle billing | Plugin | Generated webhook handlers + subscription model | | Multi-tenancy | Available | Tenant-scoped queries baked into every model | | Custom code edits | In the Base44 editor | In your IDE — VSCode, Cursor, IntelliJ, anything | | Deploy targets | Base44 | Docker, Kubernetes, Heroku, Fly, Railway, Vercel, your VM | | Vendor lock-in risk | High | Zero | | Pricing | Subscription, runtime-tied | One-time-or-subscription, output is yours forever |
When Base44 is the better choice
- You want to keep everything inside one hosted tool
- You don't have engineering capacity to host code yourself
- The app is internal-only and won't outgrow Base44's runtime
- You want zero DevOps
When Archiet is the better choice
- You want to own the source code — sell the company, hand to a contractor, take it to AWS, no friction
- You need a specific stack (Flask, Django, NestJS, Laravel, etc.) your team already knows
- You expect to outgrow the no-code runtime and want clean source from day one
- You need real auth flows, real billing, real multi-tenancy — not platform plugins
- You want to AB-test the same product across two different stacks
The output difference, concretely
A typical Archiet generation produces 200–800 files:
my-saas/
backend/
app/
models/ # SQLAlchemy / Prisma / Eloquent
routes/ # Flask blueprints / NestJS controllers
services/ # business logic
auth/ # signup, login, password reset, email verify
billing/ # Stripe webhooks, subscription model
migrations/ # Alembic
tests/ # pytest with fixtures
frontend/
app/ # Next.js App Router
components/ # shadcn/ui
mobile/ # Expo React Native (optional)
docker-compose.yml
Dockerfile
.github/workflows/ # CI/CD
README.md
openapi.yaml
Open any file. Edit. Commit. Deploy. No proprietary runtime.
Pricing
Base44 charges for the runtime that powers your app. Archiet charges for the generation — once the ZIP is yours, there's no ongoing dependency. See Pricing.
Try Archiet free
One free generation per month. No credit card. Start here.