The Best App Maker and Development Solutions of 2020

Individual Plan

• Monthly cost: $99. This plan includes monetization options, loyalty programs, reviews, and third-party integrations like Instagram, YouTube and Mailchimp.
  
  
• Optional services: Starting at $750. For an extra cost, the company's designers will build a branded app for your business.
  
  
• Additional costs: Publishing your app in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store costs extra. Apple charges $99 per year for an Apple Developer account, a one-time submission fee of $199, and $25 per app update. Google charges a one-time fee for $25 to set up a Google Developers Account.

Reseller Plans

• Standard plan: $300 per month. This plan comes with 24/7 email support, a reseller dashboard, app analytics, app onboarding and access to a quarterly virtual user conference.
  
  
• Gold plan: $360 per month. In addition to everything in the Standard plan, this plan includes phone support, white-label marketing materials, location-based push notes and a signature feature.
  
  
• Platinum plan: $400 per month. In addition to the Gold plan features, this plan includes promotional materials for your app, access to Bizness Apps' Partner Success Program, a digital marketing assessment, customer and ROI data, a reviews feature, app and website design services, free iOS submissions, free private app store submission, and free app updates.

FEATURES

Bizness Apps offers some cool features that you can integrate with your app, and a lot of flexibility in creating a native iOS app, a native Android app, or even a progressive web app if you prefer to go that route.

It's well suited for retail outlets and restaurants, with static landing pages that look impressive. For busy restaurant and retail shop owners with limited staff and time, it is possible to create an impressive, professional-looking app with the features your customers want relatively quickly.

If you own a restaurant, you can post your menu in your app and allow your customers to place their orders and pay through the app, or you can offer a convenient way for customers to reserve a table. Retailers, meanwhile, can capitalize on in-app sales and add a loyalty feature for customers.

Another aspect where Bizness Apps shines for these types of small businesses is its ability to help customers reach you once they've downloaded your app. GPS directions can help customers find their way to your physical location, and they can dial phone numbers listed in your app with the one-touch calling feature. This makes it incredibly easy for your customers to connect with you.

Here are a few more of Bizness Apps' noteworthy features:

• Templates: Bizness Apps offers more than 70 templates you can choose from, many of which are specifically suited for several different industries. Choose your template carefully, because once you start building your app, you can't change templates without starting all over again. Bizness Apps gives you three choices for the layout of your app, which is fewer than other app makers we evaluated offer.
  
  
• Viewing options: The platform offers helpful viewing options so you can see what your app will look like on smartphones and tablets. You can get a sense of your app's appearance through the software, or you can send it to your smartphone so you can see firsthand what it will look like.
  
  
• Content import: One nice feature Bizness Apps offers is the ability to add content from your website by simply entering the URL into the content management system.
  
  
• Integrations: Multiple integrations are available with Bizness Apps, including Grubhub and iMenu360 for restaurants, Shopify and Magento for e-commerce retailers, PayPal and Stripe for payment processing, and Mailchimp and Constant Contact for email marketing.
  
  
• Customer engagement tools: Bizness Apps has several features that help you connect with your customers, including a loyalty feature to give your customers a convenient in-app way to track the rewards points they've earned, a "fan wall" forum that your customers can use to chat about your business, a "call us" feature that your customers can use to call your business with a tap on the app, and a "tell friend" feature that allows your customers to share your app with their friends.

EASE OF USE

Bizness Apps works across multiple platforms, offers a wide selection of templates, and includes several tools for content creation and marketing. We were impressed by the fact that even if you don't have coding knowledge or expertise, you can create an attractive app with this software.

While the system is relatively easy to learn and use, adding content is a more complex process with Bizness Apps than it is with other app builders. When you add features and then preview the changes, you need to religiously save your page every time you make a change, or you'll lose your work.

Also, the creation and submission process, while never overly difficult, involves more steps than other app makers in our reviews require. All in all, there is a higher learning curve for the Bizness Apps interface.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

Bizness Apps provides thorough information on its site to help users learn how to create an app and understand the features available to them. You can watch video tutorials and read e-books, case studies, and blog articles to learn more about creating apps and an app company. If you need help using the software, you can contact the company by email or through its support ticket feature. However, the company doesn't offer support by phone or live chat, so it takes a while to get in direct contact with someone who can help you.

• Basic: $18 per app, per month. You can create an Android app on this plan. It includes 10,000 push notifications a month, unlimited app editing and 5,000 app downloads. Customer support for this plan is available by email.
  
  
• Gold: $36 per app, per month. You can create an Android app on this plan as well. It comes with 25,000 push notifications and 10,000 app downloads per month. Customer support is available through email and chat.
  
  
• Platinum: $60 per app, per month. You can create Android and iOS apps on this plan. It supports 75,000 push notifications and 50,000 downloads per month. You can reach customer support by email, live chat and phone.
  
  
• Additional costs: When you publish an app, the Google Play Store charges a one-time $25 fee, and the Apple App Store charges an annual $99 developer fee. Add-on features are also available.

FEATURES

Appy Pie doesn't skimp on features for building your program. Templates are arranged by category, and there are also themed templates to choose from, for a total of more than 100 options. Appy Pie provides templates for an excellent range of businesses, so only users with extremely specific branding requirements need to pay for the Premium subscription level.

Appy Pie's preview function is one of the best among app makers, showing you exactly how your app looks on both phones and tablets for the respective app stores. This feature helps you create an app that functions correctly across multiple platforms. As you add new features, such as a Twitter feed, you see the changes to your app in real time.

Apps made with Appy Pie also integrate easily with major CMS platforms, like WordPress and Joomla. You can also pull content directly from your existing company site, which is a quick and fantastic way to create a consistent design without much fuss.

Here are a few more features that Appy Pie provides:

• App promotion: You can promote your app by sharing it on social media or using Appy Pie's email marketing tool.
  
  
• Geotargeted push notifications: You can use this feature to send alerts or emails to specific users. This software offers a more advanced geotargeting tool than many others – it allows you to send notifications for a specific area or period of time.
  
  
• Analytics: Appy Pie offers its own analytical tools, but it also lets you integrate your app with Google Analytics to evaluate how well it's performing and identify areas you can improve. Between both analytical tools, you receive a more in-depth analysis of your app's performance than you would with most other app-building software.

EASE OF USE

For small businesses wanting to create an app quickly and inexpensively, Appy Pie is an excellent choice. It allows you to create a free custom app with a drag-and-drop interface that's blissfully simple to use.

Appy Pie is built with ease of use in mind. You never need to add source code, and if your business has a website, you can pull content directly from your site into the app builder by simply inputting the URL. This feature not only improves the user experience but helps you create an app version of your site quickly and easily.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Appy Pie is easy to use, but in case you have trouble with it, the company offers numerous support options. You can access video tutorials about specific tools directly from the application. The company's website also has a searchable knowledgebase with FAQs and tutorials. If you need more in-depth help, be aware that the subscription tier you select determines the type of support you get.

• Standard: $25 per month, billed annually. In this plan, you receive one PWA with 200GB of storage, push notifications, and unlimited bandwidth and number of pages.
  
  
• Full: $48 per month, billed annually. In addition to the features in the Standard tier, this plan includes one Android native app. You also have access to advanced add-ons, unlimited downloads and the ability to make the app available on Google Play.
  
  
• Premium: $96 per month, bill annually. In addition to the features in the Full tier, this plan includes one native app for iPhone and one native app for iPad. It gives you the option to make your apps available in the App Store.
  
  
• Additional costs: Some features cost extra, such as add-ons for loyalty cards ($8 per month), club cards ($4 per month) and couponing ($6 per month). Also, if you want to white-label your app, it costs an extra $40 per month.

GoodBarber offers a 30-day free trial without requiring a credit card number, so you won't be automatically charged if you choose not to continue working on the platform.

FEATURES

Before you create an app, you choose the industry your app fits best. GoodBarber's categories include restaurants and nonprofits. You receive the same wide selection of themes and backdrops no matter which industry you select.

Using GoodBarber's theme builder, you can edit any backdrop to create your own unique interface look, which you can then apply across your whole app in just a few clicks. The interface is aimed at introductory users, so coding is not necessary.

There are eight sections of content management in this app builder, giving you a platform to input and edit articles, videos, photos, audio, maps, forms and calendars for your business's app. GoodBarber also integrates with most web content management systems, so you can link your app to your website to get updated content.

GoodBarber distributes your native app in the Google Play Store regardless of the pricing plan you choose. On the iOS Premium plan, it distributes it in the App Store for you. It also lets you remove the GoodBarber logo and add your own. Your app will be capable of indexing by search engines, and GoodBarber also offers monetization options to advertise your app online.

EASE OF USE

Despite the many features and options, GoodBarber is intuitive to use. The instant preview function is located on the side of the screen, while options such as header, menu and content tools are available in a designated sidebar.

You can customize their app a la carte with add-ons from GoodBarber's catalog. Installation in your app is immediate and requires no technical knowledge. Once installed, the add-on integrates perfectly with any features you've already installed. Popular add-ons include the loyalty program, live audio and video, and SMS and monetization options.

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

It's important for application builders to offer a reliable way for users to seek help and ask questions. You can reach GoodBarber for support through an email form, once you've specified the type of problem you're experiencing.

In our testing, it took the company a few days to email us back, and not all of our questions were answered. Also, the company doesn't offer phone assistance, which can be an issue for users who have a complicated issue to explain or simply prefer speaking to a live person about their concerns.