# Gadget review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Full-stack JavaScript platform with an AI assistant and hosting Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Gadget is a development and hosting platform where an AI assistant builds web apps on a JavaScript stack that includes a database, backend actions, a generated API and a frontend. It targets Shopify and BigCommerce apps, internal tools and SaaS products. Pricing is a plan fee plus metered usage for compute, storage and bandwidth. - **Category:** AI App Builders - **Made by:** Gadget Software, Inc. - **Website:** https://gadget.dev - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want a no-code builder, as the stack is JavaScript and TypeScript. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Gadget has a free plan, and paid plans start at $35 per month. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Hobby plan: free, 2 seats, unlimited dev environments, 1 production environment and 100 AI credits once on sign-up. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Hobby | $0 | 2 seats, 1 prod environment, 10 hours CPU time, 0.5 GB data storage and 100 one-time AI credits. | | Pro | $35 per month | 10 seats, 30 hours CPU time, 3 GB data storage, 1M platform credits and 10 AI credits a month; extra production environments $10 each. | | Premium | $350 per month | 25 seats, 150 hours CPU time, 15 GB data storage, 5M platform credits and 50 AI credits a month. | | Enterprise | Custom | Bring your own cloud (GCP or AWS), unlimited projects and hosting, with performance and support SLAs. | Read from https://gadget.dev/pricing on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Gadget before buying. ## Key features - **AI assistant:** An assistant applies changes to your app; each assistant change uses AI credits, while questions and answers do not. - **Hosted JS stack:** Server, database and frontend are hosted together, with a spreadsheet-style record editor and serverless actions. - **Auto-generated API:** CRUD API routes are generated for every database table. - **Shopify and BigCommerce connections:** Built-in webhooks, OAuth and data sync for apps on those platforms. - **Code tooling:** A CLI lets you work in your own editor and manage the project with Git. ## Good for - Developers building Shopify or BigCommerce apps - Agencies and studios delivering custom web apps - Internal tools that need a real backend ## Worth knowing - Usage beyond included amounts is billed, for example CPU time at $0.30 per hour and extra data storage at $1.50 per GB on Pro. - Extra AI assistant credits cost $25 per 100 credits on paid plans. - The Hobby plan allows 5 Shopify and BigCommerce app installs. - It is code-first: the stack is JavaScript and TypeScript rather than a no-code editor. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Gadget is a hosted JavaScript and TypeScript platform with an AI assistant, an auto-generated API and Shopify connections, free for 2 seats. But Pro is $35 a month, usage beyond the included amount is billed, and you write JavaScript rather than use a no-code editor. - **Value for money: D.** Pro is $35 a month, above the category's dearest-tenth line of $32 and against a middle of $20. Premium is $350. - **Free plan and trial: B.** The Hobby plan is free with 2 seats, 1 production environment and 10 hours of CPU time. One developer can live on it. - **Features: C.** AI assistant, hosting, generated API and store connections. It is code first, in JavaScript and TypeScript, and does not replace a no-code builder. - **Ease of use: C.** A web editor, but you write and read code. No store rating is on record. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, with Shopify and BigCommerce connections, 5 integrations and a generated API. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Gadget's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among AI app builders - Gadget's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 23 of the 89 other AI app builders we grade, and level with 27. - It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 72 of 89) and worst on value for money (D, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $35 a month, against a middle price of $20 for the category: 75 of the 82 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 28 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/ai-app-builders ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** To replace Gadget you would be making a tool that builds and hosts other apps. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 39 of the 89 other AI app builders grade higher. It costs $420 a year. - You could not: A tool that builds and hosts other apps. - You could not: Databases with views, filters and links between them. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Shopify, BigCommerce and OpenAI among them, and has an API. - You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Shopify, BigCommerce, OpenAI, Google SSO, Git **Tags:** AI features, App builder, Public API, Databases ## Alternatives - [Replit](https://toolgpa.com/tools/replit): Cloud platform where an AI agent builds, hosts and publishes apps. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/gadget-vs-replit) - [Bolt](https://toolgpa.com/tools/bolt): Browser-based AI builder for websites, web apps and mobile apps. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bolt-vs-gadget) - [Lovable](https://toolgpa.com/tools/lovable): Chat-based AI builder for full-stack web apps and websites. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/gadget-vs-lovable) - [Retool](https://toolgpa.com/tools/retool): Platform for building internal apps, workflows and AI agents. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/gadget-vs-retool) - [Superblocks](https://toolgpa.com/tools/superblocks): Governed platform for AI-built internal apps and agents. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/gadget-vs-superblocks) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://gadget.dev/pricing - https://gadget.dev Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/gadget Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).