What’s the Point? Defining Adalo's Purpose

An organization's purpose is not to make money. A company makes money so that it can fulfill its purpose. Money for an organization is like oxygen for an organism. You need oxygen to live, but your life's purpose isn't to breathe.

At Adalo, an AI-powered app builder for web and native iOS and Android apps—one version across all three platforms, published to the Apple App Store and Google Play—we believe that purpose is the foundation of everything we do. Understanding and articulating your organization's purpose isn't just philosophical—it's a practical framework that shapes how you build, innovate, and serve your customers.

An organization's purpose is not a mission. The key difference between a mission or goal and a purpose is that a mission can be accomplished. A mission is based on a set of criteria. A purpose, however, is something you continually strive for, but can never reach. Missions tend to focus on the end result (like the ball going into the net), whereas a purpose gives direction to your journey.

Organizations exist to create value for their customers, or put another way, to make their lives better. An organization's purpose is the specific way in which they strive to make the world better.

We've written before about how some of our favorite companies use their focus on purpose to foster innovation. But to give you a better sense of what an organization's purpose might look like, here are a few examples:

Starbucks - To inspire and nurture human spirit - one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at time

Southwest - Connecting people to what they care about (purpose) | To become the world's most loved, most flown, and most profitable airline (mission)

Apple (original) - To make tools for the mind that advance humankind

Google - To organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful

SpaceX - Ensure consciousness as we know it continues to exist (purpose) | Make life multi-planetary (mission)

Why is purpose important?

So now that you have a sense of what a purpose is, you might be asking yourself why is it so important. Well, it turns out that organizations that are driven by purpose actually do better than ones that don't. Here's why:

Purpose-driven organizations are less likely to be disrupted. Because of the increasingly rapid rate of technical innovation, companies that primarily focus on short-term profit tend to ignore new ways to serve their customers that might have lower profit margins. In the end though, these companies are eventually disrupted by new competitors. This is what happened when Netflix put Blockbuster out of business with their DVD delivery service. Blockbuster totally saw what Netflix was doing, but chose to ignore what they deemed to be a "lower profit margin business model."

When technology shifted again with the advent of streaming and it was Netflix's turn to be disrupted, they took a different approach. Because Netflix is driven by their purpose of delivering entertainment, Netflix didn't ignore streaming; they went all in on it. A purpose gives an organization the freedom to focus on the long-term and evolve as technology changes.

Purpose-driven organizations attract better people. Dan Keeler and Andrea D. McCombs found that, "People prefer to do business with and work for socially conscious companies" and that "the most talented and qualified applicants are increasingly considering a company's ethics and community support when selecting their employer."

People in purpose-driven organizations do better work. Research has repeatedly shown that when your work environment matches your personal purpose, you're more productive and more creative. Being internally motivated by a purpose that matches your own means that you spend more time thinking about your "work." (At this point, it really isn't work anymore. It's just part of your life. It's what you are passionate about.)

And the more you are thinking about a problem, the more you engage in lensing, the more chances you have to discover that all-important insight to lead you to an innovative solution.

A Triple Whammy

Armed with a purpose, you've got a ton of awesome and talented people joining your team. They're thinking more creatively than ever. And you've got a clear direction for navigating an uncertain future.

Adalo's Purpose

Discerning the purpose of an organization (especially one that already exists) can be tricky, confusing, and—by definition—existential. When embarking on something like that, the best place to start is at the beginning, to uncover your origins.

Our Origins

David and I first met working at Second Street, a tech company that helps media companies engage their audience online through fun experiences like quizzes, contests, and newsletters. As we began working together to improve Second Street's product, we realized we shared a passion for design.

One fateful night at a local pub (where all great ideas come from), David shared with me his frustration with the design education he received in architecture school and his belief that this was a systemic problem. That night we shook hands and decided to solve this problem together. Our first step was to truly get our heads around understanding what design is, how to be good at it, and how to teach it to others.

We spent years researching design and innovation in general and UX and product design specifically. And, after a while, we honestly felt like we had it pretty well figured out. But there was a BIG problem. Even if you knew how to identify a pain point that needed solving and even if you knew how to design a brilliant solution, if you didn't know how to code (or couldn't afford to pay people to code for you), that brilliant idea stayed stuck in your head forever.

It was that stark reality that led us to shelve what was becoming a very promising book on design and innovation (if we do say so ourselves), and begin work on what would ultimately become Adalo.

Our Impact So Far

The next step for us was looking at the impact we've made with Adalo so far. We asked ourselves questions like "Who's been using Adalo and why? What kind of impact has it had on their lives and on the lives of the users of their apps?"

Today, over 3 million apps have been created on Adalo, with the visual builder being described "as easy as PowerPoint." Our team has been collecting lots of examples lately on how people use the platform, which you can see on our showcase page. All of these stories provided tons of inspiration for us.

The Adalo 3.0 infrastructure overhaul in late 2025 marked a significant milestone in our journey. Apps now run 3-4x faster, with modular infrastructure that scales to serve apps with over 1 million monthly active users. Paid plans have no database record limits—a direct reflection of our commitment to removing barriers for makers. We also eliminated usage-based charges entirely, so creators never face unexpected bills as their apps grow.

Finding the Words

Now that we'd reflected on why we started this journey and the impact we've made along the way, it was time to put pen to paper (or keyboard to Google doc?) and start crafting our purpose. We started with a couple of statements that we've had on Adalo.com for a couple of years, and as with any good design process we went through many more iterations. (At the end of this post you can find some of the iterations we tried along with the reasons they didn't quite fit the bill.) Here's where we landed:

Adalo's purpose is to: Empower makers to bring their ideas to life.

We couldn't be more excited about adopting this purpose for Adalo! The term maker wasn't really in our vocabulary when we started this journey. But it's a term we've seen our community use more and more to describe themselves as people who want to build things to solve the problems they see in their personal lives, at their work, and in the lives of others. Frankly, that's how we see ourselves, too!

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.

This purpose drives every product decision we make. Magic Start generates complete app foundations from simple descriptions—tell it you need a booking app for a dog grooming business, and it creates your database structure, screens, and user flows automatically. Magic Add lets you describe features in plain language and adds them to your app. X-Ray identifies performance issues before they affect your users. These AI-assisted tools exist because they help makers move faster from idea to reality.

So if you're a maker with an idea that you want to turn into a reality, come check out Adalo; that's why we're here!

-Ben

P.S. If you're interested in seeing some phrases that didn't make the cut, here's some of the language we went through as we were coming up with our purpose statement:

Iterations from our Purpose Statement Brainstorm

Unlock the world's creative potential so that anyone can bring their ideas to life

Create Tools for the mind

Accelerating the rate of innovation in the world

Anyone can make software / apps / digital solutions

Spark Innovation

Turn dreamers into makers

Other terms for maker that we considered

Innovator

Developer

Inventor

Problem solver

FAQ

Why choose Adalo over other app building solutions?

Adalo is an AI-powered app builder that creates true native iOS and Android apps from a single codebase. Unlike web wrappers, it compiles to native code and publishes directly to both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. With unlimited database records on paid plans and no usage-based charges, you can scale without worrying about unexpected costs or hitting data caps.

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

Adalo's drag-and-drop interface—described as "easy as PowerPoint"—combined with AI-assisted building lets you go from idea to published app in days rather than months. Magic Start generates complete app foundations from descriptions, and Adalo handles the complex App Store submission process so you can focus on your app's features instead of wrestling with certificates and provisioning profiles.

Can I easily build a purpose-driven app that creates value for my customers?

Yes. Adalo empowers makers to bring their ideas to life without coding knowledge, so you can focus on your organization's purpose and how your app will make your users' lives better. The AI-assisted tools help you move quickly from concept to working product.

What is the difference between an organization's purpose and its mission?

A mission is based on specific criteria and can be accomplished, like a goal with a measurable end point. A purpose, however, is something you continually strive for but can never fully reach—it gives direction to your journey rather than focusing on a final destination. For example, Southwest's purpose is "Connecting people to what they care about," while their mission is "To become the world's most loved, most flown, and most profitable airline."

Why are purpose-driven organizations more successful?

Purpose-driven organizations are less likely to be disrupted because they focus on long-term value rather than short-term profits, allowing them to evolve with technological changes. They also attract better talent since people prefer to work for socially conscious companies, and their employees do better work because internal motivation leads to greater productivity and creativity.

What is Adalo's purpose?

Adalo's purpose is to empower makers to bring their ideas to life. The term "maker" describes people who want to build things to solve problems in their personal lives, at work, and in the lives of others. Adalo exists to help anyone with an idea turn it into a reality, regardless of their technical coding skills.

How can having a clear purpose help my app succeed?

A clear purpose provides direction for navigating an uncertain future and helps you stay focused on creating genuine value for your users rather than chasing short-term metrics. It also helps attract team members and users who share your values, creating a more engaged community around your app and increasing your chances of long-term success.

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

Adalo's web and true-native mobile builder starts at $36/month with unlimited usage and app store publishing. Unlike competitors that charge based on usage or limit database records, Adalo's paid plans include unlimited database records and no usage-based charges—so your costs stay predictable as your app grows.

What AI features does Adalo offer?

Magic Start generates complete app foundations from simple descriptions, creating your database structure, screens, and user flows automatically. Magic Add lets you describe features in plain language and adds them to your app. X-Ray identifies performance issues before they affect your users, helping you build scalable apps from the start.

Can Adalo apps scale to handle millions of users?

Yes. Adalo's modular infrastructure, overhauled with the 3.0 release in late 2025, scales to serve apps with over 1 million monthly active users with no upper ceiling. Apps now run 3-4x faster than before, and the purpose-built architecture maintains performance at scale—unlike app wrappers that hit speed constraints under load.