I’m questioning that comment…
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Sorry to ask, but can you break down this cost? Like, so much spent on the standard bubble plan + so much spent on extra WU + so much spent per GB in the database, and so on.
We serve around 100k MAU so we get a bit of traffic, but we don’t have much in terms of storage, it’s mostly text and files (which we offload to S3 after a few days anyway) so we’re only using around 140gb of storage.
Our monthly breakdown is as follows (Dec)
Team Plan - $399
WU Overrages (1.7m) - $236
750k WU Addon - $99
Plugins -$40
—
Total: $774
Keep in mind the reason we’re on this plan is due to needing more collaborators (Support team + devs) as well as the number of branches. Our WU overages fluctuate month to month but that was our last invoice.
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Yes, at first I thought it was using a lot of WU, but 100k MAU is quite a lot. From what I understand, this 750k WU add-on is included in those 1,750k WU, so that’s an average of 17.5 WU per month per user, which is very little. Could you tell me what your platform is based on?
Of course, Bob isn’t going to set that up himself. Just like with any other professional project, you perform a proper handover; you handle the technical setup for him.
A major reason for the silence is: why would anyone return to a Bubble forum just to brag about how much money they’ve made since leaving? That’s just strange. Honestly, I don’t think Bubble staff would even keep a post like that up for long, as it brings zero value and only creates negative energy within the community. Furthermore, if someone actually did come back just to boast, they are likely either lying or acting out of insecurity. When you’re making good money, your first thought isn’t “I need to go tell everyone on the Bubble forum to leave.” It’s a weak argument.
Just look at the lack of posts saying, ‘I tried “vibe coding” in an IDE, but it wasn’t as good as building on Bubble, so I’m back.’ Find me even one person saying that, That would be a good measurement to your aguments
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The Bob I pictured was the business owner who built an app on Bubble and didn’t need anyone to turn anything over to him. That’s the beauty of Bubble.
I see posts from time to time on here about leaving. I had wondered if you had a successful app and were leaving to take it elsewhere.
I do think you should keep an eye on Bubble’s AI. I think it will get there and be one of the best…
you have to realize that with Bubble, everything is under one roof (as I’m sure you know). They are building their AI to include all the tech stacks that other AIs don’t need to worry about. This makes it probably 100x harder than what most AIs build for. I know they’ll get there, and I believe it will be the top in its class.
I do wish you the best in whatever platform you decide to use. It’s always a personal choice, and we all do what we think is best for us
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Bubble will have a good AI to spit out quick prototype as I think it does currently. A simple way to setup database structure with test data as it does (which was possible before bubble itself got it done).
I think now they are working on single components like pops and RGs that have dynamic data (this also could already be done with 3rd party AI builder for bubble). After they get single components with dynamic data, they will do workflows.
My expectation, based on knowing limitation of AI and has nothing to do with limitation of bubble engineering, is the bubble AI might get to point to build a reusable element with multiple elements (think RG and a chart plus buttons) with a backend workflow that can be scheduled from that reusable…after that, I think they will hit the wall that is the Context limitations and Memory limitations of LLMs combined with size of JSON file for an app. Plus, the hallucinations, unnecessary changes to names (a nightmare for an ID key heavy JSON like bubble apps) and non-requested changes that LLMs make.
There is a reason Developers are getting rehired at a lot of places, AI is not living up to the Hype from 3 years ago.
So, yes, Bubble visual editor plus AI assistant for new users will help new users get simple apps up faster than before, will continue to squeeze out junior developers normally tasked with simple features, but will not be standing up production ready apps in minutes/hours or correctly tie together feature sets like payment flows requiring anything beyond a simple checkout and pay.
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Yeah which is why they should just do this:
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It needs to be able install toolbox plugin and run some js2bubble stuff, if it can’t it can never produce production ready app.
I understand your point and it’s pretty much inline with what I view they should do. No matter what though, it still will be faster to just build it ourselves. I think AI in bubble is great for marketing, new user retention and client funnel for agencies/devs that can expand an apps feature sets and manage any necessary maintenance and iterations since they new user retention will allow people new to bubble to get further faster before than before.
I just don’t see it being much more than that, and I really hope bubble, will scale back on investing further beyond that. The native movile already has been publicly addressed as more challenging than anticipated and requiring more resources than originally allocated. Attempting to make an AI that builds an entire production ready app is going to be a similar experience, mostly borne out of limitations of LLMs.
That’s your thinking, and no reputable business that had its eye on growing would ever settle for that conclusion.
I think it’s important that we ground ourselves sometimes…
every time the latest AI drops, we have people jumping ship. Bubble is not a religion. You don’t need to inform the congregation you’re leaving.
I’m a very pragmatic person. My question is always, are we making money?
That’s the main goal. It’s not following every new AI that comes out. Are we making money with what we’re doing, and if not, why?
I had asked the OP if they had made money and thought they could make more somewhere else.
This is what I alluded to earlier about money makers and hobbyists…
hobbyists are always looking for the next new thing to tinker with. They’re not making any money, but new things to tinker with are exciting.
I think Bubble’s AI will only get better. But, even without AI, I can’t see how someone can get an app up and running quicker that has a dashboard to make tweaks (a million-dollar component), and also the ease of not having to use code or waste credits trying to get somewhere.
Bubble gives you everything you need…and makes it easy to go from an idea to earning money.
There are millions of apps out there, and only about 1% even make a profit. We should be more interested in the best way to monetize apps and market them.
I mean, earlier in the thread, someone said they had 100k monthly users and thought 800 a month was too much. I’m puzzled and have a hard time understanding their thinking.
If you have an app that generates revenue, you don’t really worry about all the distractions. You focus on what you’re doing and maintain that focus.
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To get to this state we always had a trick in corporate large it projects. Whenever management wanted to “simplify” things by reducing system, we simply drew a line around two or more connected systems, merge the boxed systems names to something fancy and updated the repository and excel sheets 
if we do get to the details it is a fact that Bubble outsourced lots of tech. Yes they do have their own non standard of wiring things together. But if that’s a plus in AI world…
I think this post and reactions give a nice overview why so many different solutions exist. Often not even driven by rationality or technical knowledge but rather a perceived sense of knowledge that degrades all other valid solutions as fast as blinking your eyes.
btw, Bubble has complexity serving millions around the globe. This complexity is not needed for 95% of customers. A $5 Hetzner server will be more than enough. And yes, someone needs to be able to signup and run that server. True. But Bob knowing nothing about IT and Bob having no interest in learning that needs to find himself also an agency to get something decent out of Bubble. IT is complex and will always be.
My comment about faster to build it ourselves is that for me, I’ll, using Bubble, will build faster than it takes to prompt the bubble AI agent, wait for its output, review, test and verify, and likely need to revise the Bubble AI agent output.The only areas I can see the bubble AI agent speeding up my development in Bubble is UI.
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Out of curiosity, do you write code (outside of CSS, HTML & JS)?
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My biggest gripe with bubble is how slow it is for bug fixes and features to be completed. There’s a long list of medium priority bugs that haven’t been addressed for longer than I’ve been using the platform.
Also, the frequency of new bugs appearing is much faster than the rate of them being fixed.
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The $800 invoice isn’t the problem, the total cost of operating within the platform’s framework is.
We’ve spent tens of thousands in labor building workarounds for limitations in bubble that otherwise would be standard in traditional development.
Revenue is not a proxy for your technical aptitude. If we accept that, we are effectively saying that anyone who hasn’t publicly disclosed their P&L has no right to an opinion on the software powering their business which is nonsense.
As a business owner, I appreciate knowing why people leave. It tells me what people want, bubble of all platforms should hear the feedback. Without those discussions, this forum provides a skewed view of reality.
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This is absolutely spot on, same experience for me moving from code based. Giving up control for sleep / time on other areas is one of the biggest sells for Bubble I feel.
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Spot on again. One of the themes I see over and over in the forum is people complaining about Bubbles pricing, which indicates they have overlooked the most important function in building sustainability in any venture, the model (and in turn model-market fit).
The four fits framework can, and should be applied to any new venture and product before looking at product. Doesn’t need to be a fit for $100m, just enough for your ambitions:
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Good Call we jumped ship to code. Although I had python background never been happier.
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This. I’ve done multiple cost comparisons for builds and Bubble always come as the best bang for buck
Can you share what kind of limitations you hit that required that much expenditure to overcome?
Asking because I’ve been able to stack different tech easily with little capex and overhead. This includes things like AI pipelines, encryption pipelines, private buckets and transactional operations. I’ve also read about many others doing so without the big spends.
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