How Kilvin compares when your team needs connected internal software, not just a quick prototype.

Kilvin vs Base44

Base44 is one of the easiest ways to turn a description into a working app, and for a single prototype it does that well. Kilvin is built for what comes after: a team that needs several tools running on shared data, with access controls, in one place. Here is where the two overlap and where they don’t.

One app versus a set of connected tools

Base44 builds an app with its own database, hosting, and login. That’s a complete package for one app. When you build a second one, it gets its own database too, and connecting the two is on you.

Kilvin puts the database in the workspace rather than in the app. Tables are shared, so a client list created for an intake form is the same client list your dashboard reads. Uploaded files are indexed for the team and the agent. Over time you end up with a set of tools that behave like one system, because they’re built on the same data.

Who the workspace is for

Base44 is oriented around a builder and their project. Collaborators can be invited, but the unit of work is the app.

Kilvin is oriented around a team. Everyone logs into the same desktop-style workspace and sees the apps, files, and data they’ve been granted. Most people in a workspace never build anything — they use what’s there. Access is managed per app and per dataset, with user groups, and it’s designed to be run by whoever administers the office, not IT.

Pricing and security for business use

Base44 prices by credits — one pool for building, another for what your app does at runtime. That’s simple to start with and harder to predict once real users are on the app. It’s also a consumer-grade product; enterprise controls like SSO or a HIPAA agreement aren’t part of it.

Kilvin prices per user, or flat for unlimited users on Scale. AI usage comes from an included pool, and you can bring your own API keys. A HIPAA BAA is available on Enterprise.

Kilvin as a Base44 alternative

Base44 is often the first tool someone in a business reaches for when they realize they can describe an app and get one. That first app usually works. The trouble starts with the second and third; each one is siloed, with its own database and login scheme, and the person who built them becomes the only one who knows how they fit together. What began as a quick win turns into a small collection of disconnected apps that only one person can maintain.

Kilvin starts from the team rather than the app. The workspace holds the databases, the files, and the permissions, and every app the agent builds reads from the same tables. A client list created for an intake form is the client list the dashboard reports on. New team members are invited once and see what they’ve been granted. The result is the same speed on the first app, and much less friction on everything after it.

How Kilvin and Base44 compare

	Kilvin	Base44
Starting price	Free - 5 users Build - $50/user/mo Scale - $800/mo flat for unlimited users Enterprise - custom	Free - limited credits, 5 apps Paid - $16–$160/mo annual, $20–$200/mo monthly, credit allowance
Best for	Teams running several internal tools on shared data	Individuals prototyping and launching a single app
Collaboration	One shared workspace; everyone sees the apps, files, and data they’re permitted to	Collaborators invited per project
Deployment	One-click publish to your private workspace; hosting, storage, and databases handled	One-click publish with hosting and custom domains
AI-powered development	Agent builds from a description with the whole workspace as context	Agent builds a full app from a description; context is the current app
Prototyping	Live preview while the agent builds; iterate in plain English	Live preview; iterate in plain English
Security & access controls	Per-app and per-dataset permissions and user groups; HIPAA BAA on Enterprise	App-level user auth; no workspace-level roles or HIPAA
Form factor	Desktop-style workspace, private to your team	Standalone web app per project
Databases	Built in; shared across every app in the workspace	Built in; one per app

Don’t want to build it yourself?

Kilvin’s engineers design and build your tools inside your workspace, then host, secure, and maintain them. Most go from first call to live in under a week, with regular progress updates along the way.

When Base44 is the better choice

Base44 is the right pick if you need one app, quickly, and you’re the only person who’ll build or change it. It’s inexpensive to start, the credit model is easy to understand at small scale, and publishing to a custom domain with a public login is included. If you’re prototyping an idea for a consumer product, or building a single tool you’ll use yourself, it does that well.

Kilvin is the better fit when the software is for a team, when several tools need to share data, when you need to control who sees what, or when someone other than the original builder will need to change it later.

Switching from Base44

Moving to Kilvin is a rebuild rather than a migration. Export your data from Base44 as CSV, upload it to your workspace, and describe to the agent what the app did and who used it. The agent builds the new version and seeds its tables from your export. Because authentication, hosting, and permissions are already handled by the workspace, the rebuild is usually shorter than the original build.

If you have several Base44 apps that should have been sharing data, this is the point to bring them together on one set of tables. If you’d rather hand it off, Managed Build puts a Kilvin developer on the rebuild with regular updates.