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Luna ParkvsBudibase

Budibase alternative with code export: Luna Park vs Budibase

Hugo Attal
By , Founder, Technical Lead · 2 min read
Pricing
  • Any audience
    Customer apps with your design, users, and domain.
  • Standard code
    Vue and Node.js you can run without Luna Park.
  • Flat price
    One license, whatever your traffic or users.

Budibase is an open-source platform for internal apps, automations, and agents, with a built-in database and SQL connectors. Luna Park builds complete applications, internal or customer-facing, with their own backend and database, compiled to Vue and Node.js code.

Sunset Park in the Luna Park editor
Sunset Park, a demo site built with Luna Park: your own design, not a set of ready-made screens.

At a glance

Both build apps on a built-in database. The main differences: audience, code export, and pricing.

Luna ParkBudibase
Made forSaaS, portals, internal toolsInternal apps and automations
InterfaceYour own components, CSS, design tokensReady-made screen components
LogicVisual scripting graphs, front and backBindings, button actions, automations
DatabasePostgreSQL Joins, aggregates, transactionsBuilt-in Budibase DB, SQL connectors (source)
Code exportVue + Node.js source (Pro)Budibase export (source)
Open sourceNoGPLv3 Pro features under BSL (source)
HostingAnywhere Managed hosting in late 2026Cloud or self-hosted
PricingFree, or Pro at €25/month or €300 onceFree self-hosted, cloud billed by actions (source)

Example: a waitlist form

Visitors enter their name, email, and favorite ride, and get a ticket number.

Luna Park

  1. Place the fields and a button, in the site's design.
  2. On click, a graph sends the fields to a backend route and shows the ticket.
  3. The route inserts a row in the Waitlist table and returns its id.

Budibase

  1. Create a table with an auto ID column.
  2. Add a public screen with a form.
  3. Create an automation with a "Create Row" step.
  4. Trigger it from the form's button.
The click logic of the waitlist form
On click: read the fields, call the route, show the ticket.
The Join Waitlist backend route
The route: receive the body, insert a row, return its id.

Code export

Budibase exports apps as files to import back into Budibase. Luna Park compiles every project to plain Vue and Node.js, with no Luna Park runtime.

The waitlist component compiled to Vue
The waitlist, compiled to Vue and TypeScript.

Other differences

  • Costs. Budibase Cloud bills per creator and per action: automation steps and row saves. A Luna Park app costs what its server costs, at any usage.
  • Customer-facing apps. Luna Park builds products with your design, your authentication, and your domain.
  • Logic. Budibase combines bindings and automations. Luna Park graphs have loops, functions, typed data, and any npm package as nodes.

Which one to choose?

Luna Park

  • Your app is, or will be, customer-facing.
  • You want your own design.
  • You want standard code and flat costs.

Budibase

  • You need internal apps with approvals and automations.
  • You want a free self-hosted tool with unlimited users.
  • An open-source license is a requirement.

Before switching

Based on Budibase as of October 2026. See budibase.com for current features and prices.

Build visually, own your code

Create the interface, the logic and the backend of your app in one editor, then export a standard application you can host anywhere.

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