What is Base44, and how Sticklight compares

Base44 is a Wix-owned, AI-driven platform that turns a plain-language prompt into a full-stack software application, complete with a working UI, database, authentication, and built-in hosting. If you are asking what is Base44 because the name keeps coming up alongside terms like vibe coding and AI app builders, this article lays out what it does, who built it, what it costs, and where a platform like Sticklight fits for people who build the web professionally.

We built Sticklight for professional web creators, so we get asked how it compares to tools like Base44 fairly often. Every Base44 fact below is sourced and dated. Where we could not confirm a number or a claim from Base44’s own materials, we say so instead of guessing.

• Base44 is an AI app-generation platform owned by Wix.com Ltd., which acquired it on June 18, 2025. It was founded in early 2025 by Maor Shlomo.
• Base44 builds full-stack apps, UI, database, authentication, and hosting, from a text prompt, with one-click integrations to tools like Gmail, Slack, and Salesforce.
• Base44’s published pricing runs from a free tier up to $200 a month for the Elite plan, billed monthly, with a 20 percent discount on annual billing, according to Base44’s pricing page.
• Base44 describes its own approach as agent-driven and intent-driven, a category commonly called vibe coding.
• Sticklight is the vibe-coding platform for professional web creators, built by the Elementor team and powered by Claude. It takes web creators beyond websites into apps, dashboards, CMS, and internal tools, with a Skills system and ties to Elementor and WordPress.
• Some figures attached to Base44 elsewhere, like user counts or revenue estimates, are not confirmed on Base44’s own site or in Wix’s press release, so we do not repeat them here.

What is Base44?

Base44 is an AI-powered platform in the no-code, or vibe-coding, category. Instead of writing code by hand, you describe the app you want in plain language, and Base44 generates the structure, design, database, and authentication for you, then manages the technical pieces behind the scenes. Base44 describes its own approach as agent-driven and intent-driven: you express what you want to build, and its AI agents handle the implementation, according to Base44’s own site.

Base44’s stated audience is broad, ranging from people with no coding background who want to launch an idea, to teams building out a full product.

Who owns Base44, and how it started

Base44 was founded in early 2025 by Maor Shlomo, who serves as CEO. Wix.com Ltd. acquired the company on June 18, 2025, as part of Wix’s broader push into vibe coding, according to Wix’s press release from that date. The same announcement puts the deal at roughly $80 million in initial consideration, with earn-outs running through 2029 and $25 million in retention bonuses for the team.

Ownership by Wix matters for context. It places Base44 inside a larger, established company with existing web infrastructure and distribution, rather than as a fully independent startup.

What you can build with Base44

Base44’s own site describes a feature set covering the core pieces of a working application: a UI, a database, authentication, and hosting, all generated together from a prompt, with the finished app going live on Base44’s infrastructure without a separate deployment step, according to Base44’s own site.

Base44 also lists one-click integrations with tools such as Google Calendar, Gmail, Slack, Notion, HubSpot, and Salesforce, plus the ability to connect to other services through an API. Starter plans and above add in-app code editing and backend functions, and the Builder plan and above add GitHub integration, according to Base44’s pricing page.

Base44’s blog also states that builders retain full intellectual property rights to the applications they create, according to Base44’s own site. We did not find a primary-source statement spelling out the full scope of code export or self-hosting, so we are not going to characterize that beyond what Base44 has published itself.

How much does Base44 cost

Base44 publishes real numbers on its pricing page. The model is a subscription built around two kinds of credits: message credits, spent while you are building and editing with the AI, and integration credits, spent when the finished app performs actions like sending an email or calling another service, according to Base44’s pricing page and its blog post on pricing. Annual billing carries a 20 percent discount against the monthly price.

The free plan includes core features, authentication, and database functionality, for up to five apps, per Base44’s pricing page. If you use up your monthly credits before the billing cycle resets, Base44’s own blog post on pricing says you need to upgrade a tier or wait for the reset. Enterprise pricing is not listed as a public number. Base44 directs those buyers to talk to sales, so we are not going to guess at a figure.

If you want one number to remember, Base44’s paid plans start at $16 a month billed annually, or $20 month to month, according to Base44’s pricing page.

How Sticklight compares to Base44

Base44 and Sticklight sit in the same broad category: AI platforms that turn a prompt into a working product, and both reduce the amount of hand-coding a build normally takes. From there, the two are built around different primary jobs.

Sticklight is the vibe-coding platform for professional web creators, built by the Elementor team and powered by Claude. Rather than centering on applications alone, it turns a plain-language prompt into production-ready websites, landing pages, apps, dashboards, CMS, and internal tools, all from the same prompt, build, publish flow. The aim is one platform that turns a professional web creator into a full-stack creator, covering the full range of surfaces they ship, not one layer of it.

One difference worth naming directly is the Skills system. A Skill is a packaged unit of expert know-how, covering things like accessibility, SEO, performance, design systems, copywriting, localization, micro-interactions, onboarding, and 3D web experiences, that you add to any prompt with one click during the build step. Skills compound across projects, so the tenth product you ship with Sticklight carries the same packaged expertise as the first, without you re-specifying it each time.

Sticklight also connects to and extends an existing WordPress or Elementor site, rather than asking a creator to leave that ecosystem behind. For teams already building on WordPress, that is additive: Sticklight adds a full-stack, prompt-first workflow on top of tools they already use.

After the initial build, Sticklight keeps the creator in control of every pixel, with manual editing and direct code editing available on the canvas. AI handles the first pass; the professional finishes the work to the standard their clients, or their own product, expect.

Choosing between Base44 and Sticklight

If your priority is generating a standalone application quickly, with built-in hosting and a credit-based subscription you can scale as you grow, Base44’s published pricing and feature set, summarized in the table above, give you a clear, publicly documented starting point.

If you are a professional web creator, an agency, a freelancer, or a studio, and you need one platform that spans websites, apps, dashboards, CMS, and internal tools, with packaged Skills for work like SEO and accessibility, and a direct line to an existing WordPress or Elementor site, Sticklight is built around that broader brief.

The two platforms are built for different jobs. Which one fits depends on what you are shipping, and where it needs to live once it is done.

We gathered Base44’s features, pricing, and company background for this article in July 2026 from Base44’s own website, its pricing page, and Wix’s acquisition announcement. Public pages change often, so check base44.com for the current details before deciding.

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