Mendix
Stackby
| Feature | Mendix | Stackby |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $60/mo | Free / from $5/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.2 / 5 | 4.1 / 5 |
| Best For | enterprises, manufacturing, financial-services, government | small-businesses, solopreneurs, budget-conscious-teams, non-technical-users |
| Founded | 2005 | 2019 |
| Visual Modeling | ✓ | ✗ |
| Collaboration | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cloud Deployment | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ai Assisted Development | ✓ | ✗ |
| Marketplace | ✓ | ✗ |
| Version Control | ✓ | ✗ |
| Multi Cloud | ✓ | ✗ |
| Api Columns | ✗ | ✓ |
| Column Types | ✗ | ✓ |
| Views | ✗ | ✓ |
| Forms | ✗ | ✓ |
| Automations | ✗ | ✓ |
| Pre Built Templates | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Mendix Pros
- Strong collaboration between business and IT
- Visual modeling with extensible platform
- Backed by Siemens for enterprise trust
- Excellent for complex business applications
✗ Mendix Cons
- Standard plan pricing is very high
- Vendor lock-in with proprietary framework
- Performance overhead compared to custom code
✓ Stackby Pros
- Very affordable pricing
- API column type for live data
- Pre-built templates for common use cases
- Good Airtable alternative
✗ Stackby Cons
- Smaller user community
- UI less polished than competitors
- Limited automation capabilities
The Verdict
Mendix is built for enterprises and manufacturing, with a focus on visual-modeling and collaboration. Stackby targets small businesses and solopreneurs and leads with api-columns and column-types.
On pricing, Stackby is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $5/mo compared to $60/mo for Mendix. That $55/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Feature-wise, Mendix offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Stackby takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.