Bubble vs. Xano: Comparing the Top No-Code Platforms

Bubble and Xano are both no-code development apps, but they focus on different needs. The real question, though, isn’t if you should use Bubble or Xano — it’s if you should combine Bubble + Xano, or use Bubble on it’s own. 

Xano focuses on backend development, while Bubble offers an all-in-one development platform, giving you everything you need for complete app development without code, in one tool. For most users, Bubble’s all-in-one simplicity is tough to beat. However, some builders like Xano for a dedicated backend, and combine it with Bubble to create a fully-functional app. 

With Bubble, you get the benefits of: 

• A full-stack solution 
• Endless use cases and customization
• A rich ecosystem and community 
• A smaller learning curve and more diverse resources 

Of course, we are Bubble, and so naturally, we’re big fans of our own platform. That’s why we tapped the wider no-code community to find out what mattered most to them when choosing a platform. Then we used their responses to develop a rubric that more objectively compares Bubble to solutions like Xano.

In this article, we’ll show you how these two platforms stack up — and you’ll be able to decide whether you should opt for an all-in-one solution like Bubble, or if you need a dedicated backend like Xano to combine with a tool like Bubble. If you want to learn more about the process of choosing the right tech for your use case, check out our full buyer’s guide to 23 different no-code development platforms.

Xano vs. Bubble: At-a-glance comparison

In this guide, we’ll examine how Bubble and Xano compare in each factor of our grading rubric. After going through each factor individually, we’ll offer some guidance on when it may make sense to use both platforms together (you can jump to that section here). 

Let’s start with a high-level overview of how Bubble and Xano compare.

We wanted to compare these platforms based on what matters most to actual no-code developers — so we asked them. In our 2024 State of No-Code Development Survey, more than 350 no-code founders, developers, freelancers, and hobbyists rated the importance of 17 factors when choosing a no-code builder. We developed these categories using their feedback.

In the fall of 2024, we scored Bubble and Xano from 1–5 in each of these areas, with 5 being the best score. Each score had specific requirements, and we’ll explain more about those below. 

We also gave each platform an overall score using a weighted average. This was based on how important the category was to no-code developers in the survey. Here’s how Bubble and Xano compared.

Xano vs. Bubble on use-case versatility

Some no-code platforms are designed for specific purposes, while others are more general-purpose. A platform with a lot of use-case versatility allows you to build almost any kind of web or native app, while a more narrowly-designed platform gives you the tools to build specific kinds of apps or tools. 

As you consider your use cases and needs — and how they might shift or grow in the future — understanding how different platforms will or won’t be able to support those is crucial. In general, the more versatile the platform, the more likely you’ll be able to use it to grow and scale, without getting hindered by limited use cases or functionality in the future. 

Our scores for use-case versatility try to take this into account, rating each platform based on the range of use cases most people use them for.

Bottom line: Bubble offers complete versatility to build any kind of app you want, start to finish. Xano focuses on backends, so it offers versatility, but it’s mostly focused on enterprise users. Pairing Xano and Bubble together extends Bubble’s scalability and greatly increases the versatility of what you can do with a Xano backend. 

How Xano stacks up: As a backend-only solution, Xano offers less versatility. You can use it for all types of projects, but it can’t stand on its own — you always have to connect it to other tools to create a fully-functional app. 

Xano also focuses primarily on enterprise users. This makes sense, given that it’s generally large enterprises who need (and have the resources to manage) dedicated backends. Having to combine it with other tools to create a full app makes it a more expensive solution. 

As a result, it has more limited versatilty across industries and isn’t as well-suited for the needs of smaller projects, startups, and other teams who are looking to scale on a budget.

Xano’s versatility score: 3/5

How Bubble compares: By contrast, Bubble is a really versatile solution that can be used for all kinds of apps and software development. You can use it as a frontend-only solution (combining it with a dedicated backend platform, like Xano), a backend-only solution (combining it with another frontend solution, like Webflow), or a full-stack solution, allowing you to create everything you need for a fully-functional app while only using (and paying for!) a single tool. 

Better yet, you can use Bubble to create basically any type of app, across any industry. From specialized enterprise apps, business apps, and internal tools, to social apps, marketplaces, AI-powered apps, one-off landing pages, and more, you’ll see people building all kinds of apps and products on Bubble. 

Bubble’s versatility score: 5/5

Xano vs. Bubble on full-stack coverage

When it comes to software development, there are three main pieces of your “tech stack” you need to cover: design (the frontend), data (the backend), and logic (the workflows that connect those two pieces and make your app work). But many no-code platforms only focus on one or two of these areas, and they can’t give you access to the entire stack.

This means you’ll have to combine — and pay for — multiple platforms to create a fully-functioning app, or you’ll have to hard-code some pieces of your tech stack. Our scoring criteria for this category focuses on how much of the development process the platform lets users access — in other words, how close the platform is to being a “full stack” solution.

Bottom line: Xano focuses on backends only, providing access to data and some logic. Bubble is a full-stack solution, giving you an effective, all-in-one solution for your design, data, and logic. Using both together can confer some additional benefits for teams who are already working with huge numbers of users and data or who need high levels of compliance. 

How Xano stacks up: As a backend development platform, Xano isn’t a full-stack solution. It only focuses on data, although it does provide some logic to make your backend functional before connecting it to a frontend. 

With Xano, you’ll always have to connect it to a frontend solution, whether that’s Bubble or something else. You can also use traditional code to create a frontend or build the workflows and functionality you need to power your relational database in Xano. The important thing to keep in mind is that Xano is just one piece of the puzzle you need to create a functional app. 

Adding Bubble to Xano gives you a full-stack solution. Enterprise teams who are already working with huge datasets — thousands of users or millions of rows of data — find that a dedicated backend helps them scale more efficiently. Xano also allows for self-hosting, which allows large enterprises working within legacy systems — or who have to keep data highly regulated — to host their own databases. 

You’ll always have to connect Xano to other solutions. But if you have experienced developers on your team to manage it, and a need for more scalability despite the increased management burden, Xano + Bubble is a great no-code, full-stack solution. 

Xano’s stack coverage score: 2/5

How Bubble compares: Bubble is one of the few full-stack no-code development platforms on the market. You never have to combine it with another solution to control your software’s design, data, and logic, and you can fully customize the look, feel, and functionality of your app in a single tool. 

Most users get a ton of benefits from using an all-in-one tool. For example: 

• You only have to pay one monthly subscription fee. 
• You can control all of your app updates and iterations in one place. 
• You reduce tech bloat and development time by managing everything in one platform (and only have to learn one platform). 
• You can be up and running with a more managable database and scale up as needed. Even if your startup grows into a unicorn, you can add complexity if and when it becomes necessary, reducing unnecessary costs and hurdles in your growth. 

If you want to use Bubble to fill in the gaps with another development solution like Xano, you can — but you never have to use another platform to build a fully-functional app with Bubble. 

Bubble’s stack coverage score: 5/5

Xano vs. Bubble on performance

Performance and reliability can be major deal-breakers for your no-code platform. 

After all, your app is only going to be as stable and fast as the platform it’s built on. If your platform experiences a lot of outages — or if you’re not sure what to expect in terms of performance — you could get locked into a platform that isn’t able to give you the reliability you and your end-users expect.

When comparing Bubble and Xano, we took into account how the platform performs as you scale up server demand. That is, can the platform grow with you, or does performance take a hit when your user base grows too large?

Bottom line: Xano provides a scalable infrastructure and strong performance anecdotally, but limited insight and transparency into exactly what their performance looks like. Bubble provides transparent updates on uptime and status alongside experiencing infrequent outages. 

How Xano stacks up: Xano deploys databases on single-tenant, regional servers, so they don’t have a global status page. Status issues are experienced locally, depending on resources, processes, and other independent issues. 

The upside of that is that Xano tends to provide a lot of stability on the whole. The downside is that there isn’t a one-stop-shop to get updates or insight into Xano’s overall performance — or what your experience with them will be. 

They’re active in the community forum when users post about downtime and other outages or performance issues. In general, many performance issues seem to come up on ‌free plans, which don’t have as much capacity, with record and rate limits that can impact performance. 

Xano’s performance score: 2/5

How Bubble compares: At the time of this article’s publication, Bubble had a 99.89% uptime over the last 90 days. Bubble rarely experiences outages, especially ones that affect a large number of users. But if they do happen, our team does two things especially well:

1. We detect and resolve the issue quickly to get you back online.
2. We clearly communicate what’s happening and what we’re doing about it, so you’re never in the dark.

We always aim for transparency and reliability, so you can always check our status page to see the latest updates on uptime and any potential issues. If you’re experiencing a problem, you can get support from our support team, or reach out via @BubbleStatus on X and the forum. 

Bubble’s performance score: 4/5

Xano vs. Bubble on ecosystem

No platform is an island. Even with an all-in-one solution, you’re going to want to understand that platform’s ecosystem. That is, the third-party tools, external services, partnerships, and integration capabilities that extend your app and connect it to other tools in your tech stack. 

Our ecosystem quality scores are based on what third-party services a vendor offers, the third-party products that have been created, how accessible they are, and what partnerships they have.

Bottom line: Bubble and Xano both offer robust ecosystems for what their platforms offer. Better yet, the two tools are a strong part of each other’s ecosystems, so if you want to use them together, you’ll find they seamlessly integrate and work together to expand each other’s capacities. 

How Xano stacks up: Xano offers a strong ecosystem — you can connect Xano to any tool that works with an API (which is just about any modern software). Xano also makes this pretty simple, even for non-developers, so using common integrations and API connections isn’t a challenge. 

This makes it easy to connect your Xano backend to a frontend development tool to create the user-facing interface for your app. 

Xano also offers a marketplace with plugins you can use to extend the capabilities of your backend, or build a backend faster with templates.  

Xano’s ecosystem score: 4/5

How Bubble compares: Bubble also offers a robust ecosystem. Even though Bubble offers full-stack capacity,‌ you’ll want it to be able to “talk to” other apps and platforms in your tech stack like Stripe, Mixpanel, Zendesk, Slack, and so on — whether for you or your end-users. 

To accomplish that, you’ll find thousands of plugins and integrations that are super simple to set up and don’t require any coding to use. Of course, if you want to and know how, you can also code your own plugins. 

Plus, Bubble’s community has a massive collection of templates to make it quicker to get started building the pages, layouts, workflows, and designs you want. And if you want to hire someone to build your app, just look to Bubble’s agency database. You’ll be able to filter and compare agencies that use Bubble by experience, services, cost, language, and region, so you can quickly find a partner that’s right for your project. 

Bubble’s ecosystem score: 4/5

Xano vs. Bubble on cost

The cost grades we gave Xano and Bubble consider the cost of using the tool, with higher scores reflecting lower costs. While there are many factors that impact cost, we primarily took into account the pricing model and the platform’s price and how much free access the vendor allows. 

Bottom line: Bubble is much more affordable than Xano, particularly for startups and small businesses. Since Xano is designed for enterprise-grade tools, it offers fewer affordable options for smaller budgets.  

How Xano stacks up: Xano does offer a free tier, which is great for getting started and trialing the platform, but it’s pretty limited. It comes with record and rate limits, and some users complain about performance instability on the free tier. 

Paid plans start at $85 per month for dedicated infrastructure, unlimited rates and records, and other premium features. That said, we gave Xano a score of “3” even though paid plans cost more than $50 a month because Xano scales really smoothly with limited overages. 

That said: in considering costs, keep in mind that Xano is only a backend, so you’ll always need to combine it with a frontend platform, which will increase your monthly costs accordingly.

Xano’s cost score: 3/5

How Bubble compares: Bubble’s Free plan gives you full access to the platform up until you launch your app — which means you can build and test as much as you need for free. Once you launch, paid monthly plans vary based on the workload demands of your editor. 

That is, Bubble servers have to scale with your app as it grows to provide consistent performance, and that means pricing does, too. The good news: Plans start at $29 a month for a full-stack solution, and your pricing only grows as your app does.

Bubble’s cost score: 3/5

Xano vs. Bubble on customizability

Customization is a core element of choosing a no-code platform. If you can’t build your app exactly as you imagine it, or you’re locked into using custom code to add customizations, then what’s the point of using a no-code solution? 

The best platforms allow for easy customization through visual programming — no custom code needed. Even better if the platforms allow you to use AI to customize your app, adding simpler and faster ways to achieve exactly what you’re looking for. 

In this comparison, our customizability scores are based on how flexible a platform is — both in terms of what you can build with it, and how easy it is to add new features throughout your software’s lifecycle. We also considered whether the platform makes customization easier with AI.

Bottom line: Bubble provides complete, full-stack customization options, while Xano offers customization options for building and maintaining your database, with API capabilities as well.  

How Xano stacks up: Xano offers customization options, but of course, they’re limited to backend architecture and development. To that end, though, you can set up your database any way you like, and have complete control over how you manage and manipulate your data. 

You can also create your own APIs for whichever frontend you want. Xano also offers some logic and workflow capabilities, which offers some level of customization as well. For example, you can customize Functions and Addons to get exactly the right data you want — and exclude what you don’t want. 

Xano’s customizability score: 3/5

How Bubble compares: Customization is an area where Bubble really shines. You can build just about anything, and you can add whatever capabilities you want, either within the Bubble editor itself or through our API Connector. 

Since Bubble manages design, data, and logic, you’ll find complete control for customizing all three of those areas on Bubble. For example, you can: 

• Control the frontend of your app and design it exactly how you imagine it. 
• Create an app frontend that matches your branding, style guide, and/or website — down to the pixel. 
• Customize the UX of your app so that user navigation, gestures, animations, and so on work exactly how you want them to.
• Create exactly the functionality and features your app needs. 
• Use APIs and integrations to connect your app to other tools. 
• Custom-build components, functionality, or workflows to power your app. 
• Create complex workflows, conditional logic, and queries. 
• Design and organize your database however you like. 

In short: On Bubble, everything is up to you. You can start with a template and customize from there, or you can start with a blank page and build from scratch with the power of no-code. 

Plus, while you should never have to use custom code to add capabilities on Bubble, it’s always an option for those who want to.

Bubble’s customizability score: 5/5

Xano vs. Bubble on compliance

Whether you’re building an internal tool or scaling your app up to millions of users, you need to keep your app’s (and potentially, your users’) data secure. But similar to performance, you can only keep data as secure as the platform you’re storing it on. Checking a platform’s adherence to compliance standards helps establish a baseline for security capabilities, and you can often harden a platform with additional security features as needed.

Our compliance scores are based on which standards a platform complies with (by default) and whether it offers a path to compliance with additional standards. Higher scores correspond to more sophisticated standards.

Bottom line: Bubble and Xano both offer secure platforms that comply with foundational security frameworks. Xano offers built-in enterprise-grade security on paid plans, while Bubble provides specific building options to harden your security to the level you need. 

How Xano stacks up: As an enterprise-grade backend platform, Xano goes all-in on compliance, which can be a benefit to using the platform. 

With Xano, you get built-in compliance with SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27701, CCPA, GDPR, and HIPAA, plus other enterprise-grade security features. If you need the utmost security for your backend data, Xano is a great option. 

Xano’s compliance score: 5/5

How Bubble compares: Bubble has built-in compliance with SOC 2 Type II, which means it can easily pass long-term security audits. 

We’ve also implemented numerous other security measures to help protect your data, and created pathways for builders to further harden your security. For example, if you want your app to be GDPR or HIPAA compliant, just follow these compliance articles as you build. 

Plus, every Bubble pricing plan comes with access to some or all of Flusk’s best-in-class security-check features.

Bubble’s compliance score: 4/5

Xano vs. Bubble on code ownership

If you’re only using no-code for a short-term project like whipping up a proof-of-concept or an MVP, then code ownership might not matter much. However, for longer-term projects, you should know going in what you can take out if you need to switch platforms later. 

This is especially important when considering your data and your databases. If your data isn’t exportable, you’ll essentially have to start your app and growth again from scratch if you ever have to switch platforms. 

Our scoring criteria for the ownership category are based on how much freedom a platform gives you to export your work — specifically your code and your data. 

Bottom line: Neither Xano nor Bubble supports code exports, but you can always export your data. 

How Xano stacks up: Since you’re building your database in Xano’s no-code builder, you can’t export the backend code for your database, workflows, and so on off Xano. However, you can export your data at any time as a .YAML file format. 

Note: Xano doesn’t support database migrations to other platforms like Airtable or Bubble, but you can export your data manually and then re-import it into another platform. 

Xano’s code ownership score: 3/5

How Bubble compares: Bubble lets you export your data freely, but as with most no-code builders, you can’t export your code. 

When you’re building on Bubble, your software is powered by our platform’s proprietary source code, so we can’t export your code without either releasing our source code or separating yours from ours, which would break your software. 

However, we do hold a promise to our customers that if your organization outlasts Bubble, we’ll release our source code under an open-source license.

Bubble’s code ownership score: 3/5

Xano vs. Bubble on learning curve

Even no-code development requires some learning and effort to really understand — and this is true even if you’re an experienced developer. 

Besides, every platform uses visual programming in different ways. Some are easier to learn if you already have coding skills or technical expertise, while others make the learning process easier for experienced developers and beginners alike. There will always be ‌some time and effort involved in learning how to use the product features, but it’s important to consider how steep of a curve you’re willing to take on.

Our scoring criteria is based on how difficult a platform is to learn and how fast you can‌ start building.

Bottom line: Bubble offers a super-easy way to get started building complete apps, while Xano also offers an easy way to start building databases. The main difference is with Xano, you’ll have to learn at least two platforms separately, while Bubble offers the ease of one solution to manage all aspects of app development. 

How Xano stacks up: Xano is easy to get started with, but it does require some understanding of database architecture and functionality. Those two things can, of course, be complicated. The good news is that Xano offers good resources and is a true no-code solution — you can get the best out of the solution without having to use custom code. 

Xano does also require familiarity with APIs and is just a bit more complicated because it’s not an all-in-one solution. No matter what, you’re going to have to learn how to set up APIs, connect Xano to another frontend solution, and manage the logic and connections between your frontend and backend more manually vs. using an out-of-the-box solution. 

When you think about the difficulty of using just Bubble (as an all-in-one solution) vs. Bubble + Xano as a backend, many developers say that Xano requires more work and know-how to set up initially, but made things easier once they started scaling fast.  

Xano’s learning curve score: 3/5

How Bubble compares: Bubble is incredibly easy to get started with, no matter your skill level. A technical background can help you get more from the platform, sooner, but it’s definitely not required — Bubble has lots of on-ramps for every skill level. 

For example, if you’re a developer, you can jump right in with a blank page and Bubble’s powerful visual programming tools, and add your own custom code whenever you like. 

If you know a bit but need more scaffolding to get started, our templates, tutorials, and other resources will help you find your way around the platform and figure out how to add any design components or functionality you need. 

Or, you can get started with Bubble Assist (coming soon!) — an AI building agent that will interpret the prompt you give it and suggest the features, data types, and layout you may want to use, with guides to what adding each capability entails. So even with no experience and just a basic idea, you can start building your very own app.

That said, as with any platform, developing true expertise takes time and effort to really get the hang of. But in any case, it’s much quicker and easier than learning how to manage AI-generated custom code or hiring a development team to build for you. 

Bubble’s learning curve score: 3/5

Xano vs. Bubble on education and documentation resources

Even a steeper learning curve can be mitigated with the right educational resources and documentation. Ideally, your no-code platform offers a wealth of resources you can turn to for self-guided education and technical support when you want to learn something new or run into a challenge. 

Our scores for a platform’s resources are based on how much first-party educational materials it has — like guides, tutorials, and technical documentation.

Bottom line: Both Bubble and Xano offer solid technical documentation, with Bubble offering more resources for all skill levels and a wider variety of options for learning the platform.

How Xano stacks up: Xano offers easy-to-understand and accessible documentation and technical resources, which should help you figure out the ins and outs of the platform and building your backend. 

For more step-by-step guidance, you can check out their YouTube channel, which offers some additional coverage, or reach out for help on their forum. Their onboarding tutorial also offers some basic, step-by-step guidance on getting started with databases, functions, and APIs on the platform. 

Xano’s education and documentation score: 3/5

How Bubble compares: Bubble’s huge library of resources makes it easy to dive into the platform, no matter your skill level. 

We offer both high-level educational content and technical documentation for help as you build. Rather learn some other way? Find hundreds of videos on our YouTube channel, dozens of step-by-step guides and interactive lessons, courses, bootcamps, and plenty of other ways to learn Bubble too.  

When you’re ready to solidify your expertise, our Bubble Developer Certification program is an excellent way to learn all the ropes of the platform.

Bubble’s education and documentation score: 4/5

Xano vs. Bubble on community

Community is an important aspect of no-coding. A great no-code platform has a strong community of builders and makers who can help you when you get stuck, provide feedback, or be a sounding board for ideas and building decisions. 

It’s also worth asking if the vendor is part of that community. The more actively involved vendors are in the communities that form around their platforms, the more aware they are of users’ needs and sentiments — and the more access you have to the people who make decisions about the platform. 

Our scores reflect how active a platform’s developer community is and the degree to which the platform vendor participates in the community.

Bottom line: Bubble’s robust and active community is one of its greatest strengths, with a highly active forum, community-led groups, and events. Xano also offers a community forum and live office hours for specialized support. 

How Xano stacks up: Xano offers a small, but fairly active community, with a company-hosted forum and live office hours weekly where you can provide feedback and get support for thornier building questions. 

Their community can be quiet at times, but they do have regular company participation, and you can also filter search results by answered posts to find answers faster. 

Xano’s community score: 4/5

How Bubble compares: Bubble’s developer community is one of its greatest strengths. When you build on Bubble, you’ll be surrounded by a global community of developers, founders, and builders who care about the future of no-code. We host a highly active forum where posts regularly see thousands of views and hundreds of comments. Besides that, Bubble users are also active on multiple subreddits, Discord groups, WhatsApp, Slack, Facebook, and more. 

We also host in-person and virtual events, such as meetups, deep-dive classes, and of course, our annual BubbleCon. 

Bubble’s community score: 5/5

Bubble vs. Xano: Which one is for you?

Bubble and Xano both offer secure, no-code development tools with rich ecosystems and communities. However, since Xano isn’t a full-stack builder, comparing these two tools isn’t an either/or question. Instead, the question is: Is it better for you to use an all-in-one platform like Bubble, or should you consider hosting your backend on a dedicated platform like Xano? 

Xano focuses on backends, and it does that very well. If you need a dedicated backend with ample scalability, strong performance, and high compliance, Xano is a great choice. Plus, Xano is completely frontend agnostic, which means you can connect it to any frontend you like — Bubble, another no-code builder, or your own hard-coded frontend. The choice is yours, and you can change your mind at any time! 

However, Xano comes with its own learning curve, which means that if you want to use it, you’ll need to gain proficiency in at least two platforms, not just one — not to mention that you’ll also have to pay for two platforms as well. 

By contrast, Bubble offers a full-stack solution all in one package, which gives you the benefit of speed, simplicity, and affordability, without losing any layers of control or customization. Bubble’s intuitive interface lets you create sophisticated applications or native apps, all in one place. 

For most people, that all-in-one simplicity is tough to beat. You can significantly reduce your learning curve, your costs, and your development time by keeping everything in one user friendly platform. And if you do decide to switch to a dedicated backend solution in the future, all your data is exportable on Bubble, so it’s pretty simple to expand later if you need to. 

If you do use Xano, Bubble is a great frontend solution that gives you all the options you need at your fingers. Want to whip up a quick frontend that looks great and aligns with your brand, without having to code? No problem. Want to add tons of custom code that gives you exactly the functionality and design you want? Go for it! Bubble’s endless customizability gives you complete control. 

Plus, Bubble’s robust ecosystem makes it easy to connect your frontend and backend, plus add integrations and APIs to connect to any other platforms or tools you need. 

Want to see how Bubble compares to other no-code platforms? Check out some of our other comparisons: 

• Bubble vs. Softr 
• Bubble vs. Caspio 
• Bubble vs. Webflow 
• Bubble vs. FlutterFlow

Should you use Bubble and Xano together?

Bubble and Xano are both no-code tools, but they serve different user needs. In general, large enterprises who are managing massive databases for complex applications and need higher security would benefit from a dedicated database provider like Xano. 

For most other builders, including non-technical founders, small startups, and smaller internal tools, you’ll find that Bubble provides everything you need to build and manage your web app or mobile app in one place. Plus, it reduces your learning curve, cost, and development time by keeping everything in one platform. 

Here’s a few other things to consider based on our community’s insights. 

When to use Bubble and Xano

If you’re eyeing Xano’s robust backend capabilities, you can combine them with Bubble’s intuitive frontend design and logic for the best of both worlds. Of course, Bubble offers backend database management built-in, but here’s when you might consider opting for Xano’s backend instead: 

• Some users find that they want quicker performance or more scalability with their databases. If you’re running an app with a huge number of users or data, a dedicated backend solution can help you manage your data usage and make your app run even faster. 
• Xano offers some advanced features for databases that — for experienced developers — might feel easier to achieve via Xano’s platforms. Both platforms can achieve similar ends, but the way they use visual programming is different, so Xano might feel easier if you’re used to working with code.  
• Xano offers compliance with almost every major compliance standard, including GDPR and HIPAA. For teams who need additional compliance, working on a highly-compliant backend database can make that easier. 
• Xano allows users to opt for self-hosting plans, which means you can host your database on your own cloud server or on-site servers. This can be a major benefit for large enterprises working with legacy systems or those who need to keep data highly regulated. 

One user on the Bubble forums said, 

“What’s amazing is how well Bubble and Xano work together. Bubble acts as the frontend, and whenever I need to do any backend related work, I call a Xano API and it takes over from there. This setup also keeps things organized. I design functionalities (like Sign Up, Sign In, Create Product, Call a 3rd Party API) in Xano, and then on Bubble, I design the user interface and create workflows (like when the Sign In button is clicked, it calls myapi.xano.io/singIn API).” - @jacobglanz9 

When to use Bubble by itself

Most other users — internal teams, startups, non-technical founders, individuals, and other scaling companies focused on speed and growth — find it easier to use Bubble on its own as an all-in-one solution. Why? 

• For one, less tech to pay for. When you build everything on Bubble, you only have to pay for one subscription. At the basic level, Bubble starts at $29 per month, while using Bubble + Xano together will be at least $114 per month. 
• On Bubble, you can start with a smaller, manageable database and scale up as needed. Start simple and add complexity only when it becomes necessary, and you’ll be able to move, launch, and grow faster. 
• Since your data is exportable on Bubble, you can always migrate your database to a dedicated solution in the future if you find you need more speed or complexity. You always have the option to scale up. 
• An all-in-one solution makes it easier to build and get started. You don’t have to build as many APIs, it’s easier to build and manage your app’s logic, and you can edit and connect your frontend and backend easily, since it’s all in the same editor. 

A Xano and Bubble user advised: 

“I would say, generally speaking, that Xano is helpful when you reach Bubble backend’s limits in terms of complexity and performance. I wouldn’t advise working with a separate external backend if there are no highly complex workflow schemes or speed requirements.” - @vnihoul77 (Since this was posted in 2022, Victor joined the Bubble team with the acquisition of Flusk!)

Still not sure? Start with Bubble and you can always build out from there. It’s always easier to start simple and add complexity as you need it, rather than building something super complex from the beginning without the resources to maintain it. 

Choose the no-code development platform that’s right for you

The no-code platform and tech stack you choose completely shapes what your products and tools can‌ do, the speed with which you can bring them to market, the ongoing impact development has on your budget, and the experience you’ll have for years to come.

Want to learn more about what goes into choosing a no-code development platform, along with a more detailed breakdown of the choices available to you? Check out our buyer’s guide to no-code development platforms.

The best way to decide which no-code platform is right for you? Try them yourself. You’ll see the difference, especially if you start with these comparisons in mind.