Zeltro › A Base44 alternative that runs on your own machine

Zeltro as a Base44 alternative

Base44 builds React apps on its own backend in Wix's cloud, with credits that expire every month and your data used for AI training on every plan below Enterprise. Zeltro builds on your own computer with the AI you already pay for, in PHP, Python or JavaScript. What differs, what Base44's own docs say about exporting, and why people switch.

Base44 is a prompt-to-app builder owned by Wix since June 2025. You describe an app in plain English and it builds the pages, the database, the sign-in and the hosting, all in one place. It is aimed squarely at people who do not code, and for a quick first version it is fast.

The questions start when the app matters: where the data lives, what happens when the credits run out, and whether the app can ever leave. This page is about those questions.

Base44 and Zeltro side by side#

As of September 2026:

Can you take a Base44 app with you?#

Base44's pricing page says "Nothing is locked to the platform." Its developer documentation is more specific, and it is worth reading closely.

Export needs a paid plan. Zip export and GitHub sync are available "on a Builder plan or higher," which is $40 a month billed yearly.

The export still talks to Base44. An exported project includes the React front end, the backend functions, and a package.json that "includes @base44/sdk," the library that connects the app to Base44's servers. The backend itself is described as "deployed to Base44's infrastructure." With GitHub sync, the data models ("entities") "are managed in Base44 and are not included in your local repository."

Your data does not come with it. Base44's eject command gives you a copy that "has an empty database… schemas are copied, but not your data."

Local development is half local. base44 dev runs your backend functions with an in-memory database that is cleared when you stop it. Social sign-in, built-in email and AI, and custom integrations are forwarded to your live app: "Features that run locally use local data, and everything else uses production." Run the front end against the live backend and "writes go to your live app's production data."

Credits, and what happens when they run out#

Base44 meters two things. Message credits are spent while you build, from about 0.5 to 4 per request, and "there is no way to preview an integration credit cost before running an action." Integration credits are spent by your live app whenever it sends an email or calls an AI model.

Unused credits "expire at the end of your credit cycle and do not carry over." When your message credits run out, "you cannot send new messages in the AI chat." When integration credits run out, your app's users "receive a generic error message without any reference to integration credits."

With Zeltro there is nothing to run out of. Building uses the AI subscription or API key you already have, or a free local model, and your app runs on your own machine with no meter attached.

What Zeltro does differently#

Zeltro is a do-it-yourself dev platform for your own machine. You describe what you want and it suggests how to build it: a ready-made app if one already does the job, or a framework and a database if it needs building from scratch. Then your AI agent builds it in a real project on your disk.

• The backend is yours. Projects use real MariaDB, Postgres, MongoDB and Redis databases running on your computer, shared across all your projects. No SDK tying the app to someone else's servers.
• It is not only JavaScript. Build in Laravel, WordPress, Django, FastAPI, Next.js, Express and more, or install one of 214 ready-made apps.
• You choose the AI and who pays for it. A subscription you already have, a low-cost model through OpenRouter, a local model, or a client's API key for client work.
• Your code and data stay yours. Your code, prompts and keys never go to Zeltro, and there is no account. The app is free for personal use (businesses pay US$99.99 once) and its command line tool is open source.

Bringing a Base44 app over#

On the Builder plan or above, sync the app to GitHub (Base44 needs the branch to be called main), then clone it into Zeltro:

zeltro clone work-directly https://github.com/you/your-base44-app

The React front end runs as it is. The real job is replacing @base44/sdk: your AI agent can move the data models to a database Zeltro runs for you, rewrite the backend functions as ordinary API routes, and swap Base44's sign-in for a standard one. Export your data from the live app first, because an ejected copy starts empty.

Before you switch#

• Base44 hands you a live link straight away. Zeltro runs your app on your own computer, so nobody else sees it until you put it on a server. If you would rather not deal with that part, I will take it live for you: your domain, your server, kept running.
• Zeltro runs Docker underneath. You do not have to touch it. The desktop app starts, stops and manages every project. Windows gets a normal installer, and Mac installs with one command.
• Moving an existing Base44 app is real work, because its backend is Base44's. Starting your next app in Zeltro means you never have to do that move again.

Why people switch to Zeltro#

• They want the app and its data on their own computer or server, with no SDK tying it to a platform.
• They are tired of credits that expire and apps that break when a meter hits zero.
• They do not want their app and prompts used for AI training with no way to opt out.
• They need PHP or Python, or a relational database like MariaDB or Postgres.
• It is free for personal use, with no account. Install it and your first project is a few minutes away.

Sources#

Checked on 29 September 2026: Base44's pricing, credits, plans, project structure, local development, GitHub sync, eject, privacy and security and terms of service pages. Plans and terms change, so check them before you commit.

Questions

Checked 2026-09-29. Other products change often — if something here is out of date, tell us and it gets fixed.