Back4app review (2026): is the free plan enough?
Managed backend platform built on Parse, billed per app
Black Friday: is there a Back4app sale?
Back4app report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 13, 2026
Best for a managed Parse backend for small apps
Back4app is a managed Parse backend with a database, auth, cloud functions and storage. Each subscription covers one app, the prices shown are annual, and the free plan stops at 25K requests a month.
Who Back4app is for
- Fits if you want a hosted Parse backend for one prototype or small app
- Makes sense if you'd rather not run a database server
Who Back4app is not for
- Skip it if you run several apps, because each app needs its own subscription
- Tight if you outgrow 25K requests, as the next plan is $15 per app a month billed annually
- Pricey if you grow, since Pay As You Go is $80 and Dedicated is $400 per app a month
- Watch out: monthly billing is higher than the annual prices, and the page shows only the saving
- Watch out: point-in-time backups are an add-on at $100 a month on lower plans
Why Back4app gets a 2.4
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyThe MVP plan is $15 per app a month billed annually, in the middle of web hosting at $10.99 to $20.83. It covers one app, and the next step is $80.
- BFree plan and trialA free plan with 25K requests, 250 MB database, 1 GB transfer and 1 GB files, no card needed. A prototype can live on it, a real app will not.
- CFeaturesA database with generated APIs, auth, cloud functions, jobs, real-time and storage. Web deployment and the AI Agent have separate pricing pages that weren't readable for the listing.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. You build the backend and its data model yourself.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb only, but it has an API and connects to GitHub, MongoDB Atlas, DigitalOcean and Mailgun.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Back4app's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
Make Back4app? Put this grade on your site
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/back4app#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/back4app.svg" alt="Back4app: 2.4 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Back4app stands among web hosts
Back4app's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 99 of the 122 other web hosts we grade, and level with 14.
It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 99 of 122) and worst on features (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $15 a month, against a middle price of $9.69 for the category: 73 of the 107 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 5 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 123 web hosts we grade, cut by the letter each got. Back4app’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 13 of 122, level with 65
- BFree plan and trialAbove 99 of 122, level with 21
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 122, level with 85
- CEase of useAbove 40 of 122, level with 82
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 57 of 122, level with 65
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 111 web hosts. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Keep Back4app, or make your own?
Keep it
To replace Back4app you would be making an AI agent, with the models and the safeguards behind it. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.4 is higher than 99 of the 122 other web hosts we grade. It costs $180 a year.
What you could not
- An AI agent, with the models and the safeguards behind it.
- It plugs into other products, GitHub, MongoDB Atlas and DigitalOcean among them, and has an API.
- What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: roles and permissions.
What this rests on. Back4app’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Back4app?
Back4app is a managed backend platform for web and mobile apps, offering a database, authentication, cloud functions, file storage and auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs. Plans are priced per app by monthly requests and storage, and a separate web deployment product and an AI Agent are also listed.
Worth knowing
- Each subscription covers one app, so several apps mean several subscriptions.
- The listed prices are billed annually; the monthly rate is higher and the page shows only the saving.
- Point-in-time backups on Dedicated include an add-on priced at $100 a month on lower plans.
- Web deployment and the AI Agent have their own pricing pages, which were not readable for this entry.
Key features
- Database with auto-generated APIs
- A MongoDB-backed database with REST, GraphQL and SDK access, created automatically for each class, cloud function or job.
- Authentication and access control
- User sign-up and login with ACLs and role-based access control, plus email templates for verification and password reset.
- Cloud functions and jobs
- Server-side JavaScript functions that connect to the database and auth; the number of Cloud Code jobs rises by plan.
- Web deployment
- Deploy full-stack web apps from GitHub to a b4a.app URL with automatic CI/CD.
- Real-time and storage
- Live queries for instant data sync, and file storage delivered through a global CDN.
- AI Agent
- Describe an app and the AI Agent provisions the Back4app backend and deploys a web app, per the vendor's home page.
Back4app pricing
As of Nov 13, 2026, Back4app has a free plan, and paid plans start at $15 per app / month, billed annually (MVP plan).
- Starts at
- $15 per app / month, billed annually (MVP plan)
- Free plan
- Free plan with 25K requests, 250 MB database, 1 GB data transfer and 1 GB file storage, no credit card required.
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 25K requests a month, 250 MB database, 1 GB transfer and 1 GB files, for developing, learning and prototyping. |
| MVP | $15per app / month, billed annually | 500K requests, 1 GB data storage, 250 GB transfer, 50 GB files and daily backups. The page shows a 40% annual saving. |
| Pay As You Go | $80per app / month, billed annually | 5M requests, 3 GB data storage, 1 TB transfer, 250 GB files, daily backups, SOC 2 and ISO 27001. Annual saving of 20% shown. |
| Dedicated | $400per app / month, billed annually | Unlimited requests on 10 CPUs and 14 GB RAM, 8 GB data storage, 2 TB transfer, point-in-time backups, HIPAA after a BAA. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom SLAs, on-premises or your own infrastructure, multi-region, professional services and a dedicated engineer. |
Read from back4app.com on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Back4app before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Annual discountAnnual billing saves 20% to 40%
The pricing page shows 40% off on MVP and 20% off on Pay As You Go and Dedicated when billed annually.
Stated on back4app.com
Works with
- GitHub
- MongoDB Atlas
- DigitalOcean
- Mailgun
- Parse
Back4app alternatives
- Back4app vs Firebase Hosting
Free plan · from $0.026
- Back4app vs Nhost
Free plan · from $25/mo
- Back4app vs Render
Free plan · from $25/mo
- Back4app vs Railway
Free trial · from $5/mo
- Back4app vs Heroku
From $5/mo
Common questions
Does Back4app have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Back4app is listed for Web.
Does Back4app have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Back4app is listed for Web.
Is Back4app open source?
Back4app is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 13, 2026.
Does Back4app have an API?
Yes. Back4app offers a public API, according to its own site.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026.