I really like Bubble, ironically, precisely because developing with Bubble requires more cognitive effort than building solely with AI. And that is part of what I value: understanding the platform, thoughtful maintenance, and the ongoing support I can provide to my clients.
However, unfortunately, Bubble’s WU-based pricing system ends up increasing the cost significantly compared to the benefits I get from the platform.
So I wonder: why couldn’t Bubble charge its plans per account instead of per project?
If Bubble already measures WU consumption at the project level, in principle it could also calculate the total WU consumption of an account managing multiple projects. That way, an account could have multiple projects while the plan is based on the account’s total usage.
I believe this model would be much more attractive for those of us who develop and maintain applications for different clients.
At the end of the day, I have to be pragmatic and look for the best cost-benefit ratio for my business.
They did charge per account in the past (some years ago). I guess they did the math, and changing to a per project basis brought some additional revenue short term. Longer term, probably harder to say.
I get where you’re coming from, and I agree on the first part. The extra thinking Bubble forces on you is a big reason the apps end up better maintained.
On the pricing question, I think the main reason it’s per app is that the plan is more than a WU allowance. Each app has its own capacity, custom domain, version control, and so on, so Bubble treats an app as the billable unit. A pooled account plan would also cut into what they make from lots of small apps. That’s just my guess though, since I don’t think they’ve explained it publicly.
But let’s be honest… while Bubble’s pricing isn’t exactly cheap, but it is not so easy to find another “no-code” platform that offers the same level of capability and control over development layers, right?!
Things have improved a lot in the last months, and more improvements are coming soon, some are even being tested right now. I understand your concerns, I come from a country where the currency is worth five times less than the dollar, and some people here also complain about it. Yet, even here, the cost isn’t the end of the world.
I believe that if a commercial app can’t sustain itself due to WU usage or the monthly plan fee, so there’s possible something wrong with the pricing/marketing strategy or the optimization of WU consumption.
If I maintain my business operations by building different apps for different clients within a single Bubble project, I can make it work, but it would be much cleaner if each client/app had its own project.
I’m not asking Bubble.io to stop passing its operational costs on to us. What I’m questioning is the model used to do so. I believe an account-based model, like the one I mentioned —and one that other technology providers use— could be more suitable for those of us who develop and maintain applications for different clients.
Now I’m going to explore the vibe low-coding approach: logic with n8n, data with Supabase, and the interface on Vercel, and compare the cost-benefit ratio with Bubble.
At the end of the day, the free market will prevail.
