Top Passion.io Alternatives

Passion.io is a no-code app-builder that allows creators to develop and launch their customized apps to the App Store and Google Play store within minutes — okay, maybe hours. The platform has been growing quickly and currently boasts over 7,500 creators and 400,000 users.

With its simplicity and robust functionality comes a hefty price tag. Pricing starts at $97/month for Pro and $297/month for Ultimate. If you sign up for the year, then you get discounted pricing at $79/month and $239/month for the Pro and Ultimate plans, respectively.

The app is also focused on creators that sell online courses. If your goal is to run an e-commerce store or to sell subscriptions, then Passion.io may not be the right tool for you. Fortunately, there is a large pool of Passion.io alternatives that might be better suited for you. In this article, we will introduce you to four other highly-rated no-code app builders.

First, what is Passion.io?

Passion.io makes it easy to create and publish your mobile app. Your audience can download your app through the app store and begin engaging with your content. Having your own app allows you to have a direct relationship with your audience. This means the ability to send push notifications to alert users of new content, to host live streams, and to generate personalized content such as quizzes and worksheets to users.

The platform is fairly easy to use. Once you create an account, you are presented with a mobile app template. You can add your touch to these templates through their drag-and-drop editor. The functionality is somewhat limited because this is a no-code solution. However, you can still add a ton of customization by using your images, colors, and more.

Things that we like:

• Robust preview mode. As soon as you sign up and select a name for your app, the app becomes live in the App Store or the Google Play Store. You can download the app and watch it update in real-time as you make updates within your template. It feels truly interactive.
• Drip Content feature. This feature offers the ability to release content to the user over time, instead of everything at once. Creators that sell online courses know that users quickly lose interest in the material and churn. Worse yet, users can quickly view the content and request a refund. The Drip Content feature combats this by giving creators the ability to release content on a cadence.

Things that we dislike:

• Highly-priced. The cheapest price starts at $79/month for the pro plan if you’re willing to commit for the year. There is also no free trial or freemium model that allows you to try the product. Lastly, the pro plan forces you to use the Passion.io payment processor, which is powered by Stripe. They charge 3.9% of the transaction, which is a premium over what Stripe charges. Overall, this is a high price-point platform.
• Limited pro plan. This is related to the high price point above. The pro plan is priced at $79/month with a 3.9% charge on transactions. However, this plan does not include the Drip Content or Custom branding features. It also limits onboarding support to just pre-produced video tutorials. Passion.io is pushing you to the Ultimate plan, which is at $239/month if you sign up for the annual plan.
• Only for online course creators. While the mobile app template makes the app-building process easy, it is also restrictive to the Passion.io niche, which is currently for course creators. If you are an e-commerce store, a coach, or another type of entrepreneur, you will find it difficult to work with the template sections of Community, Tracking, and Learn.
  

As such, let’s take a look at some Passion.io alternatives.

4. AppGeyser

AppGeyser is an app builder that is extremely price friendly. This quality has been a major driver to its adoption. There have been over 6 million apps created on the platform.

Unlike Passion.io, AppGeyser can support many types of businesses. It offers 35 different templates for users to choose from, but the more common use case is for users to take its existing website and use AppGeyser to convert it to a mobile app. This makes the platform much more customizable. You can make changes to your website which will then make its way to the app.

The platform also offers you the ability to monetize through in-app advertising. If your business is a WordPress blog that provides free content to lots of visitors, then you can use ads as a way to generate revenue.

Things that we like:

• Easy to use. AppGeyser is very easy to use. If you have an existing website or a Youtube channel or even a Twitter feed, you can directly port it to the mobile app. The platform will allow you to name the app, choose your colors, and upload your icon. The creation process takes little time.
• Highly customizable. The platform doesn’t force you into their existing template. It can work with your existing web content. This provides you with more flexibility to customize your web app.
• Very pricing friendly. AppGeyser starts for free! Launching your app doesn’t cost you anything. They even provide hosting for your app. However, the free version does come with ads. If you’re looking to minimize your initial investment, you can’t beat the price of free. Beyond the free plan, the most expensive plan does not exceed $10/month.
• Offers user analytics. The platform will provide you with useful user data such as downloads, user sessions, and revenue.

Things that we dislike:

• Android apps only. The platform currently only supports the different Android app stores. If your audience or user base is primarily on iOS, then this platform will not be a good fit.
• Template designs are basic. If you do not have an existing website or web content, then you will have to rely on the platform’s design templates. These templates are serviceable, but they will seem unpolished when compared to mobile apps built by professionals or even those built on Passion.io.
• Free plan includes ads. While AppGeyser is pricing-friendly, the free version does come with ads. This is how the platform makes money. They split ad revenue 50/50 with you.

In conclusion, AppGeyser is an ideal tool for you if you’re cost-conscious and your audience is primarily on Android devices.

3. Appy Pie

Appy Pie is an Passion.io alternative that allows for a lot more customizations. The platform offers a ton of design templates to choose from. It also allows you to manipulate images in a multitude of ways, including uploading custom images, resizing images, and editing image backgrounds.

Appy Pie also supports all types of business models. It has become a very popular app builder for e-commerce stores, restaurants, event planners, and other small businesses.

Lastly, the platform allows you to integrate other popular tools to make your mobile app more robust. For example, it has an integration with Instagram, Google Ads, Google Sheets, and more.

Things that we like:

• Strong network of integrations. This is perhaps the main draw for Appy Pie. It offers a huge list of integrations that can make your mobile app more valuable to your users. For example, you can include a “Reviews” section in your app that pulls information straight from your Yelp page or have a “Community” section that links to your social media pages.
• Pricing friendly. While there is a free trial, the basic plan starts at $16/month ($12/month if billed annually). However, the basic version is only for Android apps. If you want to support both Apple and Android, you would have to upgrade to the platinum plan, which is $60/month ($40/month if billed annually).
• Support for E-commerce and other online businesses. Appy Pie can support most types of small businesses, ranging from online stores to restaurants and event planners. It offers quite a bit of flexibility for different kinds of entrepreneurs.

Things that we dislike:

• Performance issues. Appy Pie has an app approval process which adds to the time it takes to get app updates to your users. This is particularly cumbersome for the iOS app store, which has an approval process of its own. There have also been several reports of longer load times and slight lag within the app experience.
• Template designs are basic. Similar to AppGeyser, the templates are not as pretty as Passion.io. The designs are serviceable but will likely not satisfy the designers on your team.
• Too many upsells within the product. There are too many ways that the platform tries to squeeze the entrepreneur. Besides the general basic, gold, and platinum plans, there are also other fees around push notifications, custom domains, app publishing, and more.

Appy Pie can be a good fit if you’re trying to build a mobile app that supports multiple monetization methods.

2. Kajabi

Kajabi supports a narrower range of businesses, specifically online course creators, coaches, membership sites, and digital product creators. That said, it is a well-established app development platform with thousands of customers.

Kajabi is much friendlier to the beginner entrepreneur. The main use case for Kajabi is to manage your business and not necessarily to publish a mobile app. As such, you’ll get much more than a mobile app builder. You’ll gain access to a suite of tools and automation, such as CRM tools, analytics, and more.

Things that we like:

• CRM and growth tools. Kajabi is built to support a business. It has a robust set of CRM tools, from customer relationship management (CRM) tools to funnels and web pages. It offers a ton of functionality for you to grow your business, and not just push notifications like the other companies in this list.
• Strong customer support. Kajabi has a large library of webinars and modules to help you better use the platform. It offers step-by-step guides and dedicated phone calls with its support team.
• Website and app builder. Getting people to download mobile apps can be hard. Having a website can be helpful to get new users to check out your content. Kajabi allows you to manage both a web presence as well as a mobile app.

Things that we dislike:

• It’s expensive. The basic plan starts at $119/month (billed annually) and gets to $319/month (billed annually) at the pro plan. That said, the platform does not charge a transaction fee.
• Onboarding can be long. Getting from checkout to seeing your app on your iPhone can be quite a long time. Because the platform was meant to support a business, there is a lot to build before everything is ready to be published. While it is still low-code app builder, Kajabi is not meant to get your content into an app quickly.
• App capabilities leave a lot to be desired. The out-of-the-box capabilities of the mobile app are limited. The main use case that the app supports is the ability for users to access your content.

If you are just starting your business and you are expecting it to be more than just an app, then Kajabi can be a good fit for you. However, be wary of the price as it can run up on you quickly.

1. Fliplet

Fliplet is a drag-and-drop no-code app builder that has a ton of customization options. If you lean on the technical side, you can add custom code to your mobile app, extending its functionality. If you want to build a drip feature similar to that on Passion.io, you can. If you want to build a community feature, you can. It is truly powerful.

However, the platform is built for businesses with smaller audiences. The price scales as you have more users or downloads on your app. It gets quite expensive once you cross 500 active users.

Things that we like:

• Beyond no-code. This platform is perfect if you have some coding skills. The product is completely customizable. You can connect the app to a bunch of different databases via api integrations.
• Strong performance. Fliplet leverages a lot more native app technologies. It is not a pure web app. Consequently, you will gain more capabilities than the other tools on this list. As soon as you start on a paid plan, the platform guarantees 99.9% or more uptime. This is enterprise-level support.

Things that we dislike:

• Not pricing-friendly for large audiences. There is a free plan, but due to the storage limit and user limit, you will quickly grow out of that. The pricing plans are very much based on the number of users. At 5,000 users, the cost would be $490/month. For larger audiences, this tool becomes price prohibitive.
• Design templates are mediocre. If you plan to rely on existing design templates, then you might be a bit let down by their quality. The silver lining is that you will have the ability to upgrade the design by hiring developers.

Fliplet is a good fit for business owners that service a smaller but engaged audience. It is very customizable and offers a ton of functionality. However, because of the robust functionality, it may not be a great fit for beginners.

Final Words

We hope this article has helped you explore Passion.io alternatives.

Passion.io is excellent for online course builders. If that is not your business and you still want to have a mobile app presence, then these alternatives should be considered. Each solution has its merits. You should weigh what is important to you in selecting the right one.

If a custom mobile app isn’t exactly what you’re looking for and you are in the market for a contact management platform, then consider checking out Practice.do. Practice is a robust platform that allows you and your audience to schedule appointments, issue invoices, receive payments, store documents, and more. Plus, Practice offers a mobile app for your audience to stay in touch with you. You can get started on a free trial today.