Don’t Start Building Your App Till You’ve Read This!

Why Adalo Works for Don’t Start Building Your App Till You’ve Read This!

Adalo is a no-code app builder for database-driven web apps and native iOS and Android apps—one version across all three platforms, published to the Apple App Store and Google Play.. This makes No Code App Builder ideal for building don’t start building your app till you’ve read this! that users love.

Why Adalo Is the Perfect Starting Point for Your App Idea

Before you dive into building, you need the right tools to bring your vision to life without getting buried in code. Adalo is an AI-powered app builder for database-driven web apps and native iOS and Android apps—one version across all three platforms, published to the Apple App Store and Google Play. This means you can focus on what really matters: planning your app's features, understanding your audience, and creating something people will actually love to use.

Getting your app into the hands of real users through the app stores opens up powerful engagement opportunities—from push notifications that keep users coming back to seamless updates that let you iterate based on feedback. With over 3 million apps created on the platform and a visual builder described as "easy as PowerPoint," you're starting with a foundation that's already proven at scale. But before any of that happens, you need to lay the groundwork. Let's walk through the essential questions you should answer before you start building.

1. What Are Your App's Key Features?

What problems are you looking to solve? (I'm hungry and need to order food! I'm new to the city and want to meet some interesting people! What should I do for my anniversary date!?)

Is your app helping connect people that could benefit from a community? That's something fitness apps often do! Is it making an otherwise mildly-annoying task easier? Easy recipes, life hacks, or some other life-saving piece of advice can be the foundation of a successful app.

You can start by listing out a couple of unique selling points that make your app special. Don't know what your unique selling points are? Try this: If you could brag about your app, what would you say first?

Pro-tip: We recommend keeping the key features to 1-2 at max so your app is focused and easy to use. A focused MVP lets you launch faster, gather real user feedback, and iterate based on what your audience actually needs. If you're looking for some inspiration on how to nail those basics down like a pro, check out this article by Adalo co-founder, David Adkin.

Ada, Adalo's AI builder, lets you describe what you want and generates your app. Magic Start creates complete app foundations from a description, while Magic Add adds features through natural language.

Adalo's Magic Start feature can accelerate this process significantly. Describe your app idea—say, a booking app for a dog grooming business—and it generates your database structure, screens, and user flows automatically. What used to take days of planning happens in minutes, giving you a working foundation to refine rather than a blank canvas to fill.

2. Who Is the App For?

Your target audience is the group of people that your app is built for. Your app doesn't need to appeal to the masses—in fact, there are tons of amazing apps that have been built for a specific group of people to help them achieve a specific goal. Think employees in a mid-sized company voting on where the monthly team outings should be, or a group of professors at a university exchanging ideas about how they can improve their experience. When you understand your target audience, their pain points, and needs, you're more likely to build an app that actually helps solve that. Cue long-time customers!

Generally speaking, your mobile app target audience can be split into segments across four categories:

1. Geography: Is your target audience specific to a city, region, or even more specifically, a closed community? (e.g., parents from your children's school, or people at your gym)

2. Demography: What does the age range look like for your target audience? You may also want to consider their gender and marital status if those criteria are relevant.

3. Social metrics: What type of background would your target audience come from in terms of education, income level, or profession?

4. Behavioral metrics: What are their values? What habits do they have, and why? What are their preferences?

The answers to these questions will help you come up with an appealing short description of your app's core solution. This will convey the main goal of your app to help you communicate the value to others.

Here's a fine example of a #MadeinAdalo app that was razor-sharp with its focus on their target audience and has built a community of over 20,000 women. Moonifest by Sam Shaibani guides you to set intentions and manifest them with the energy of the moon.

3. What Does Your Competition Look Like?

Are there other apps like yours in the market already? 👀 What are they doing right? What could you be doing better? (Hint, hint: this is how you differentiate yourself!) Maybe you know the answers to these questions already, but if you don't—here's how you can find out.

Use Google Trends and type in "Best [insert your app idea here] app" or "App for [your app idea here]" and see what shows up. You can customize this by geography in case you're looking for something a little more local.

You could also check out the app store and see what shows up in your category. Read their app reviews and see what your potential audience is saying. This will paint a picture of what other apps are offering users, their shortcomings, and where they have been successful.

Understanding your competition also helps you identify gaps in the market. Maybe existing apps are too complicated, too expensive, or missing a key feature your audience desperately needs. These gaps become your opportunities to differentiate.

4. Do You Have a User Journey in Mind?

Wait, but what is a user journey?! Glad you asked! A user journey is the term used to describe how your users interact with your app. Very simply, it's the path your users take to receive value from your app. When you follow your users around (metaphorically and virtually, of course) you'll know what they're looking for and how you can help them find it quick!

Think through which features are key to solving your user's problems, and see if those features are seamless and easy to find and use. Your goal is to create a smooth and intuitive flow of action for your users.

Remember that what you, as the maker, find easy or obvious may not be the same for your user. *Enter your user journey.* If you want to know more about this, here's a blog post on building authentic products—it's one of our favorites!

Adalo's Magic Add feature helps you refine this journey as you build. Describe a feature you want to add—"I need users to be able to filter restaurants by cuisine type"—and it implements the functionality for you. This lets you iterate on your user journey quickly without getting stuck on technical implementation.

5. Do You Want to Launch on Google Play Store, the Apple App Store, or Have a Web App?

Both app stores have wide audiences, ensuring good visibility for an app—so how do you choose?

The general consensus is that getting an app approved by the Apple App Store can be harder than on the Google Play Store (we're looking at you, Apple! 😒). Apps have a lower chance of being rejected on the Android app market.

While Google is home to a bigger market than Apple globally, the Apple App Store brings more monetization opportunities for app developers. Apple App Store users are usually more comfortable paying for an app compared to those on Google Play Store.

Alternatively, you might consider the option to build your own web app or PWA—they're basically the best of both worlds: apps that can live on your mobile homescreen but don't need to be downloaded from the app store.

Here's the good news: With Adalo, you don't have to choose just one. Build once and publish to all three platforms—web, iOS App Store, and Google Play Store—from a single codebase. This is a significant advantage over platforms like Glide or Softr, which don't support native app store publishing at all, or Bubble, whose mobile solution is a web wrapper that doesn't automatically sync updates across platforms.

Adalo's paid plans start at $36/month with unlimited usage and app store publishing, including unlimited updates to your published apps. Compare that to Bubble's $59/month starting point with usage-based charges and record limits, or Glide's $60/month plan that still doesn't include app store publishing.

6. Do You Have Any Plans for App Monetization?

Mobile app monetization is exactly what it sounds like: a way to make that money, honey! Many app developers and makers choose to monetize later on in the journey, so you may not need to figure this out right from the start. But if you're curious, here are a few popular ways to monetize an app:

1. Paid apps: Asking your users to pay a price upfront is the oldest monetization strategy—stand at the door, collect your money, and that's it! But this can be a turn off for users that aren't accustomed to paying for apps or aren't convinced about the value of your app yet.

2. In-app purchases: If you choose not to charge your users upfront, there are opportunities to do so in the future. In-app purchases are particularly successful on gaming apps, dating platforms, and similar categories. These apps that follow a "freemium" model allow users to purchase a more enhanced experience once they're already in the door.

3. In-app advertising: Out of all the ways to monetize an app, in-app advertising is definitely the most popular. You can maintain a pretty good level of control, opting for ad formations that aren't too disruptive, choosing the format, type of ad, and publisher of your choice.

Whatever monetization strategy you choose, you'll need an app that can scale with your success. Adalo's paid plans include no database record limits—your data can grow as your user base grows without hitting artificial ceilings or unexpected charges. The platform's modular infrastructure scales to serve apps with over 1 million monthly active users, with no upper ceiling.

7. Is Your Platform Built for Scale?

This question often gets overlooked in the excitement of building, but it matters enormously. Many app builders hit performance walls as your user base grows, forcing expensive migrations or complete rebuilds at the worst possible time—right when your app is gaining traction.

Adalo 3.0, launched in late 2025, completely overhauled the platform's backend infrastructure. Apps are now 3-4x faster, and the infrastructure scales dynamically with your app's needs. This purpose-built architecture outperforms app wrappers at scale, maintaining performance even under heavy load.

The platform's X-Ray feature identifies performance issues before they affect users, letting you optimize proactively rather than reactively. This is particularly valuable as you grow—you can spot and fix bottlenecks before your users ever notice them.

If you've seen older reviews or comparisons that rate Adalo unfavorably on performance, note that most third-party platform ratings predate this major infrastructure overhaul. The platform that exists today is fundamentally different from what those reviews evaluated.

Stay Excited!

"In the long run, curiosity-driven research just works better. Real breakthroughs come from people focusing on what they're excited about." Geoffrey Hinton, a psychologist and artificial intelligence pioneer, held on to this belief, and so do we.

While you can't underscore the importance of doing your homework, don't lose fire for your amazing app along the way. If you've found an idea that you're excited about, and you have the opportunity to create apps for free, then chase it!

We've got your back 🙌

With no-code freelancing on the rise, creating high-quality software has never been more accessible or affordable. This paradigm shift has leveled the playing field and enabled more people and agencies to meet the growing demand for software applications. Ready to join the revolution? Head to Adalo App Academy to learn how to build apps without coding and get ahead of the curve. And if you're already experienced with no-code tools, why not monetize your skills and become an Adalo Expert? Don't miss out on the chance to shape the future of software development!

FAQ

Why choose Adalo over other app building solutions?

Adalo is an AI-powered app builder that creates true native iOS and Android apps. Unlike web wrappers, it compiles to native code and publishes directly to both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store from a single codebase—the hardest part of launching an app handled automatically. With paid plans starting at $36/month including unlimited usage and no database record limits, it offers compelling value compared to alternatives.

What's the fastest way to build and publish an app to the App Store?

Adalo's drag-and-drop interface combined with AI-assisted building through Magic Start and Magic Add lets you go from idea to published app in days rather than months. The platform handles the App Store submission process, removing the technical complexity that typically slows down launches.

Can I easily build and launch my app idea without coding experience?

Yes, with Adalo's visual builder—described as "easy as PowerPoint"—you can build and launch your app idea without any coding experience. The platform lets you focus on your app's features and user experience rather than technical implementation, making it possible to go from concept to published app quickly.

How many key features should I include when building my first app?

We recommend keeping your key features to 1-2 at maximum so your app stays focused and easy to use. Starting with a focused MVP allows you to launch faster, gather real user feedback, and iterate based on what your audience actually needs.

How do I identify my app's target audience?

Your target audience can be segmented across four categories: geography (location-specific users), demography (age, gender, marital status), social metrics (education, income, profession), and behavioral metrics (values, habits, preferences). Understanding these factors helps you build an app that truly solves your users' problems.

Should I launch on the Apple App Store, Google Play, or as a web app?

Each platform has advantages—Google Play has a larger global market and easier approval process, while Apple App Store users are typically more willing to pay for apps. With Adalo, you can build one version that works across all three platforms (iOS, Android, and web), so you don't have to choose just one.

What are the best ways to monetize my app?

Popular monetization strategies include paid apps (upfront purchase), in-app purchases (freemium model where users pay for enhanced features), and in-app advertising. Many developers choose to monetize later in their journey after building a user base, so you don't need to figure this out immediately.

How much does it cost to build an app with Adalo?

Adalo's paid plans start at $36/month with unlimited usage, no database record limits, and app store publishing with unlimited updates. This compares favorably to Bubble ($59/month with usage charges and record limits), Glide ($60/month without app store publishing), and Flutterflow ($70/month per user without an included database).

Can Adalo apps scale to handle lots of users?

Yes. Adalo 3.0's modular infrastructure scales to serve apps with over 1 million monthly active users, with no upper ceiling. The platform is 3-4x faster than before, and its purpose-built architecture maintains performance under heavy load—unlike app wrappers that hit speed constraints as usage grows.

Do I need coding experience to use Adalo?

No coding experience is required. Adalo's visual builder uses drag-and-drop components, and AI features like Magic Start and Magic Add let you describe what you want in plain language. This makes it accessible to complete beginners while still powerful enough for complex applications.