| RunMyStartup | Bubble | |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | AI team builds for you | You build with visual editor |
| Learning curve | None | Weeks to months |
| Hosting included | Yes | Yes |
| Custom domain | From Founder plan | From Starter plan |
| Payments (Stripe) | Built in | Via plugin |
| Email system | Built in | Via plugin |
| SEO optimization | AI agent | Manual |
| Source code export | Studio plan+ | No |
| Approval workflow | Yes | No |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Starting price | €39/mo | $29/mo |
Two different philosophies
Bubble is a visual programming platform founded in 2012. You drag and drop elements, configure workflows, and connect data — all through a visual editor. It is powerful, but you are the one building the app.
RunMyStartup takes a fundamentally different approach. You describe your idea in plain words, and an AI team of 8 specialized agents builds the app, deploys it, sets up payments, handles emails, and optimizes SEO. You approve their work instead of doing it yourself.
The core difference: with Bubble, you learn a tool. With RunMyStartup, you direct a team.
Learning curve and time to launch
Bubble has a significant learning curve. Workflows, data types, conditionals, responsive design, API connections — it takes weeks to become productive, and months to build something complex. The Bubble editor is powerful, but it is its own skill to master.
RunMyStartup has no learning curve. You describe what you want in your own words. If you can explain your idea to another person, you can use RunMyStartup. Your AI team starts working immediately.
Code ownership and vendor lock-in
This is one of the most important differences. Bubble does not allow source code export. Your app lives entirely on Bubble's infrastructure. If you outgrow the platform, want to hire developers, or Bubble changes its pricing, you would need to rebuild your app from scratch.
With RunMyStartup on the Studio plan or above, you get full source code access via your own GitHub repository. Your code is real, standard, and portable. You can hire developers to extend it or move it to your own infrastructure at any time.
Pricing comparison
Bubble offers a free plan, then Starter at $29/month, Growth at $119/month, and Team at $349/month (annual billing). Bubble uses Workload Units to measure server processing — if your app exceeds the allocation, you pay extra.
RunMyStartup offers Discovery for free, Founder at €39/month, Studio at €99/month, and Scale at €249/month. A 3% commission applies when your app generates revenue through payments. No workload limits or hidden usage fees.
When Bubble is the better choice
- You enjoy building things visually and want pixel-level control
- You have weeks to invest in learning the platform
- You need highly specific, complex workflows with manual fine-tuning
- You do not need source code ownership
When RunMyStartup is the better choice
- You want to launch fast without learning a new tool
- You prefer describing what you want over building it yourself
- You want payments, emails, SEO, and hosting handled for you from day one
- You want to own your source code and avoid vendor lock-in
Verdict
Bubble is a solid choice if you want to become a visual developer and build apps yourself. RunMyStartup is for founders who want to stay founders — describe the vision, approve the work, and focus on growing the business while an AI team handles the technical execution.