# Kintone review (2026): is it worth $24 a month per user?

> No-code database apps with workflows and team discussion

Checked Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA.

Kintone is a no-code workplace platform for building database apps with drag-and-drop forms. Records sit next to comments, approval workflows and dashboards, and existing spreadsheets can be converted into apps. It has web, iOS and Android access and a built-in AI assistant.

- **Category:** Spreadsheets & Databases
- **Made by:** Cybozu, Inc.
- **Website:** https://www.kintone.com
- **Runs on:** Web, iOS, Android
- **Who should skip it:** Pricey if you are alone or a pair, as you pay for at least 5 users, $120 a month.
- **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026

## Pricing

As of Nov 12, 2026, Kintone is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $24 per user / month, 5-user minimum ($16 for first-time buyers).

- **Pricing model:** Free trial
- **Free plan:** None.
- **Free trial:** 30-day free trial with access to all features.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Professional | $24 per user / month, from 5 users | All basic features. First-time subscribers see a $16 price on the page. Monthly or annual contract. |
| Custom | $28 per user / month, from 5 users | Professional plus advanced customization options. First-time subscribers see a $20 price on the page. |

Read from https://www.kintone.com/en-sea/pricing/ on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Kintone before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **First-time buyer sale** (Other savings): The pricing page shows $16 (Professional) and $20 (Custom) per user per month for first-time subscribers; how long it lasts is not stated. Source: https://www.kintone.com/en-sea/pricing/

## Key features

- **Drag-and-drop app builder:** Build database apps from forms without code, or start from the app template library.
- **Spreadsheet conversion:** Upload Excel files and turn them into database apps.
- **Process management:** Custom approval processes with branch criteria, all-or-any approvals and status history.
- **Discussion beside records:** Comments, user profiles, private messages and tagging sit with the data they refer to.
- **Permissions and audit logs:** Access can be set by department, space, app, record and field, with audit logs of app changes and record actions.
- **API and customization:** REST API, webhooks and JavaScript and CSS customization, plus native iOS and Android apps.

## Good for

- Teams replacing shared Excel files with simple business apps
- Departments that want approvals and discussion kept with their records
- Small teams starting at 5 users

## Worth knowing

- Plans are sold from 5 users; the page does not say how a monthly or annual contract changes the per-user price.
- The regional site shows a first-time-buyer sale; the $24 and $28 figures are the prices without it.
- Advanced customization options are limited to the Custom plan.
- Payment is by credit card only on the page; other methods go through a local sales partner.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. Kintone is a no-code builder for database apps with forms, workflows, comments next to records and dashboards, on web, iPhone and Android. It starts at $24 a user a month with a 5-user minimum, and anything beyond basic customisation needs the $28 plan.

- **Value for money: C.** Professional is $24 per user a month from 5 users, which is $120 a month at the floor. Spreadsheet tools sit around $12 in the middle, and the $16 first-time price on the page is a sale.
- **Free plan and trial: D.** A 30-day trial with every feature, but the page doesn't say whether it needs a card. There is no free plan.
- **Features: B.** Drag-and-drop apps, spreadsheet import, process management, discussion beside records, permissions, audit logs and an API. The listing shows no gap in the core job.
- **Ease of use: C.** No store rating on record. It is a web app where the work is building the apps, so there is a learning curve.
- **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web, iPhone and Android, plus an API. No desktop app is listed.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Kintone's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

## Where it stands among spreadsheet and database tools

- Kintone's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 9 of the 42 other spreadsheet and database tools we grade, and level with 5.
- It stands best on features (B, above 19 of 42) and worst on free plan and trial (D, above 1).
- Its paid plans start at $24 a month for each person, against a middle price of $11.38 for the category: 25 of the 35 others that charge start lower.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.7 out of 4. 7 tools score higher and cost less.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/spreadsheets

## Keep it, or make your own?

**Keep it.** To replace Kintone you would be making a builder that other people can use without writing code. 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: 28 of the 42 other spreadsheet and database tools grade higher. It costs $288 a year.

- You could not: A builder that other people can use without writing code.
- You could not: Connections to other products, each kept working as those products change.
- 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: A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- You could not: It is priced for each person, which means accounts and billing for a team.
- You could not: AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
- You could not: What a company asks for before it lets staff use something: audit logs and roles and permissions.
- You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

**Tags:** Databases, No-code, Workflow automation, App builder, AI features, Public API

## Alternatives

- [Quickbase](https://toolgpa.com/tools/quickbase): Low-code platform for custom work apps and workflows. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/kintone-vs-quickbase)
- [Knack](https://toolgpa.com/tools/knack): No-code online database and web app builder. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/kintone-vs-knack)
- [Ragic](https://toolgpa.com/tools/ragic): No-code database builder with a spreadsheet-style interface. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/kintone-vs-ragic)
- [Caspio](https://toolgpa.com/tools/caspio): Low-code platform for database-driven web apps. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/caspio-vs-kintone)
- [Ninox](https://toolgpa.com/tools/ninox): AI-assisted low-code platform for custom business software. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/kintone-vs-ninox)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026:

- https://www.kintone.com/en-sea/pricing/
- https://www.kintone.com/en-sea/
- https://www.kintone.com/en-sea/terms-of-use/

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/kintone
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).