Superblocks vs Appsmith, and the open-source platform that does both.
Superblocks is the AI-first, flat-priced platform that meters usage in Governed Agent Units and self-hosts only the data plane. Appsmith is the open-source builder that self-hosts free but stops at code assistance. ToolJet is open source, self-hosts the whole platform, and generates apps with its own agent or yours.
Tencent, Swisscom, Duolingo, Gojek, Orange, Unity and hundreds more run internal tools on ToolJet.
Implementing ToolJet has been a massive accelerator for our internal operations. It allows us to rapidly build, deploy, and standardize mission-critical internal data apps and CRUD applications at a fraction of traditional development time.
AI-first versus open source: you don't have to choose
Superblocks leads with Clark and meters it in GAUs, about eight per dashboard, on a plan with no free tier. Appsmith is open source and free to self-host but its AI is an in-editor assistant with no MCP server. ToolJet is open source and generates whole apps with a built-in agent on GPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok, or with your own coding agent for no credits.
Claude Code
Codex
GitHub Copilot
Cursor
Grok Build
What self-hosted actually means
Appsmith and ToolJet run the whole platform in your infrastructure from the free tier. Superblocks Hybrid runs only the data plane in your VPC; the control plane, your app definitions and Clark's inference stay in their cloud, and it is Enterprise-only. ToolJet also runs air-gapped.
Docker
Kubernetes
AWS
Google Cloud Run
Azure Container Apps
Flat pack, per head, or per builder
Superblocks is $125 a month for up to 15 builders with unlimited end users, one hosted app and 100 GAUs. Appsmith is $15 per user for builders and end users alike, up to 99. ToolJet bills builders only, includes end users up to the plan limit, and publishes the price of its governed tier.
What a team of ten actually pays
Ten builders and ninety end users, on the tier that includes SSO and audit logs.
$125 a month, until you need the governed tier.
- Teams is $125 monthly or $100 annual for up to 15 builders and unlimited end users: the cheapest entry of the three.
- It includes one hosted app ($10 a month each after that), 100 GAUs that reset monthly, RBAC, staging and production.
- SSO, audit logs, source control, secrets management and VPC deployment are all Enterprise, with no published price.
$15 a head, and the hundredth user is a cliff.
- Business is $15 per user per month for builders and end users alike, up to 99 users: $1,485 for ten builders and 89 end users.
- The hundredth user moves you to Enterprise at $2,500 a month for 100 users.
- Business includes SSO, audit logs and RBAC, on cloud or self-hosted.
$1,990 a month with governance included.
- Team is $199 per builder with SSO, audit logs, Git sync, custom user groups and white labelling: $1,990 for ten builders.
- Up to 100 end users are included on Team, unlimited on Enterprise, not billed per head.
- Starter at $29 a month with 2,000 AI credits, and a free tier below that.
What actually runs in your network
Two of the three run the whole platform on your infrastructure. One runs an agent.
An agent in your VPC; the platform stays in theirs.
- Hybrid runs the on-premise agent in your AWS, GCP or Azure VPC to execute queries and code, on Enterprise only.
- Configuration, permissions, app definitions and Clark inference stay in Superblocks' cloud, reached outbound-only, so disconnected operation isn't possible.
- AWS Cloud-Prem is single-tenant but operated by Superblocks as a managed service; air-gapped operation isn't documented.
Free to self-host, Business for governance.
- Open source under Apache-2.0; the whole platform self-hosts from the free tier.
- SSO, audit logs and RBAC arrive on Business at $15 per user.
- Air-gapped deployment is an Enterprise add-on.
Everything runs where you put it.
- Control plane, data plane and app definitions on your infrastructure: Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, GCP, on-premise or air-gapped, from the free Community Edition.
- SSO with SAML, OIDC and LDAP, audit logs and Git sync on Team at $199 per builder.
- ToolJet AI Enterprise runs the AI server inside your network as well.
Who builds the app when you ask
Superblocks answers with Clark and a meter. Appsmith answers with a code assistant. ToolJet answers with its own agent or yours.
Clark builds, and every build costs GAUs.
- Clark generates apps from prompts, metered in Governed Agent Units: a full dashboard is 8 GAUs by their figures; Teams includes 100 a month.
- You pick a mode (Max, Standard or Smart), not a model; Superblocks routes to frontier or open-source models behind the scenes.
- The Builder MCP lets Claude create, edit and publish apps by conversing with Clark, so agent builds consume GAUs too.
Helps you write code inside the app.
- Ask AI generates JavaScript and SQL in JS modules and queries, self-hosted only, with your own Anthropic, OpenAI, Azure OpenAI or Ollama key.
- No whole-app generation and no MCP server, so a coding agent cannot drive the builder.
- Appsmith AI is a keyless runtime datasource for text and image tasks; the LLM datasource adds RAG.
Our agent, or the one you already use.
- ToolJet AI is built in, needs no setup, and runs on GPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok, your choice.
- Or Claude Code, Codex or any MCP client composes the app over the MIT-licensed MCP server: around 50 tools, no ToolJet credits.
- Either way the result is a native app you can inspect and edit in the visual builder.
- Claude Code
- Codex
- GitHub Copilot
- Cursor
- Grok Build
Superblocks vs Appsmith, feature by feature
Verified against each vendor's published pricing and documentation on 7 September 2026. Vendors change plans often; if something has moved, tell us.
| Feature | Superblocks | Appsmith | ToolJet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licensing & deployment | |||
| Open source | Proprietary; only the on-premise agent is published | Apache-2.0 | Community Edition, AGPL-3.0; MCP server MIT |
| Self-hosting | Hybrid (data plane only) or AWS Cloud-Prem, both Enterprise | Free and above | Free, Team and Enterprise |
| What runs in your network | The data plane; control plane and app definitions stay in Superblocks' cloud | The whole platform | The whole platform |
| Air-gapped | Not documented | Enterprise add-on | Supported |
| Pricing | |||
| Free tier | No; 14-day trial of Teams | Up to 5 users, cloud | 2 builders, 50 end users, self-hostable |
| Cheapest paid plan | Teams: $125 monthly or $100 annual, flat, up to 15 builders | Business: $15 per user per month | Starter: $29/mo with 2,000 AI credits |
| Tier with SSO and audit logs | Enterprise, no published price | Business: $15 per user, every user | Team: $199/builder, published |
| End users | Unlimited | Billed like builders; Business caps at 99 users | Included up to 100 on Team; unlimited on Enterprise |
| Apps | 1 hosted app included; $10/mo each after | Unlimited | Unlimited on Team |
| AI metering | GAU packs from $1 to $1.25 per unit, recurring, reset monthly | None published; Ask AI uses your own key | Credits per plan with pay-as-you-go top-ups; none over MCP |
| AI & coding agents | |||
| AI app generation | Clark, metered in GAUs | None; Ask AI writes JS and SQL snippets | Multi-page apps from a prompt on every plan |
| Built-in AI agent | Clark, announced on Claude Opus 4.6; modes, not models | Ask AI: self-hosted only, your own key required | ToolJet AI; choose GPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok on paid plans |
| MCP server | Builder MCP (Claude at launch) and Admin MCP (Enterprise) | None | Open source, MIT; Claude Code and Codex plugins, any MCP client |
| What your agent does | Converses with Clark, which does the building | Not applicable | Composes the app itself from ~50 tools |
| Credits consumed by an agent build | GAUs, same as any Clark session | Not applicable | None |
| Bring your own LLM key | Not for Clark, except Bedrock on AWS Cloud-Prem | Any self-hosted instance; Anthropic, OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, Ollama | Enterprise: Anthropic, Gemini, Grok, OpenRouter |
| Security & governance | |||
| SSO / SAML | Enterprise | Business and above | Team plan: SAML, OIDC, LDAP, Google, GitHub |
| Audit logs | Enterprise | Business and above | Team plan |
| RBAC | Teams | Business and above | Custom user groups on Team |
| Source control / Git sync | Enterprise: GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps | Git sync with branches, PRs and CI/CD | Team plan; any cloud or self-hosted Git |
| Secrets management | Enterprise | Not listed | AWS, Azure, GCP, HashiCorp Vault |
| Environments | Staging and production on Teams | Dev, staging, production | Multi-environment on Enterprise |
| White labelling | Not listed on Teams | Remove branding on Business | Team plan |
| Platform | |||
| Integrations | 50+ | 25+ databases plus REST and GraphQL | 100+ |
| Components | Component library, count undisclosed | 45+ widgets | 78+ components, custom via React |
| Code in apps | JavaScript and Python | JavaScript | JavaScript and Python |
| Workflows | Workflows as REST endpoints | Open beta on Business and Enterprise | Visual builder with JS and Python, generally available |
| Built-in database | None | Integrated PostgreSQL, doubles as a vector store | ToolJet Database on PostgreSQL, no-code editor |
| Community | No public community | 40,800+ stars, 380+ contributors, 4,700+ forks | 40,800+ stars, 650+ contributors, 5,400+ forks |
Sources: Superblocks pricing · Superblocks Hybrid architecture · How GAUs work · Appsmith pricing · Appsmith AI assistant setup · ToolJet pricing
ToolJet is an open-source, AI-native platform for building internal tools, business applications, workflows and AI agents. The Community Edition is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and has over 40,800 GitHub stars and 650 contributors. It runs on ToolJet Cloud or self-hosted on Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, GCP, on-premise or air-gapped. Apps can be generated by the built-in ToolJet AI on GPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok, composed by Claude Code or Codex over an MIT-licensed MCP server, or built visually with 78+ components and 100+ integrations. ToolJet is SOC 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR compliant and is used in production by Tencent, Swisscom, Duolingo, Gojek, Orange, Unity, ClearScore, Bandwidth, Toss, Endeavour Group, ShareChat, YMCA NYC and hundreds of other organisations. Plans: Free; Starter at $29 a month; Pro at $79 per builder; Team at $199 per builder with SSO, audit logs, Git sync and white labelling; Enterprise from $3,000 a month with SCIM, multi-environment, custom data retention and a dedicated support manager.
SOC 2
ISO 27001
GDPR
Superblocks vs Appsmith, answered
Is Superblocks or Appsmith better for building internal tools?
They optimise for different things. Superblocks leads with Clark, its AI app-building agent, on a flat $125-a-month plan with unlimited end users, but there is no free tier, AI is metered in GAUs, and SSO, audit logs and source control are Enterprise-only. Appsmith is open source and free to self-host with SSO on Business at $15 per user, but its AI is an in-editor assistant and workflows are in open beta. ToolJet combines the two: open source, whole-platform self-hosting from free, whole-app generation with its own agent or yours, and SSO on a published Team price.
Which is cheaper, Superblocks or Appsmith?
For a team of up to 15 builders with many end users and no governance needs, Superblocks: $125 a month flat, or $100 billed annually, against Appsmith's $15 per user. For a small team, Appsmith: five users are free and ten are $150. Once SSO or audit logs are required, Appsmith's Business at $15 per user is a published price while Superblocks needs an Enterprise contract. ToolJet Team is $199 per builder with up to 100 end users and the governance features included.
Can Superblocks and Appsmith be self-hosted?
Appsmith self-hosts the whole platform from the free tier. Superblocks Hybrid, on Enterprise, self-hosts only the data plane: an agent in your VPC executes queries while the control plane, app definitions and Clark inference stay in Superblocks' cloud. ToolJet self-hosts the whole platform, including air-gapped, on Free, Team and Enterprise.
Which has better AI, Superblocks or Appsmith?
Superblocks by a distance. Clark generates full apps from prompts and its Builder MCP lets Claude build through it, metered in GAUs at about 8 per dashboard. Appsmith's Ask AI generates JavaScript and SQL snippets on self-hosted instances with your own key, and there is no MCP server. ToolJet generates whole multi-page apps on every plan with a built-in agent on GPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok, and lets Claude Code or Codex build directly with no credits.
Do Superblocks or Appsmith work with Claude Code or Codex?
Superblocks' Builder MCP lets Claude create, edit and publish apps by conversing with Clark, which consumes GAUs; its Admin MCP for Cursor, Claude Code and Windsurf administers the org only. Appsmith has no MCP server. ToolJet's MIT-licensed MCP server exposes around 50 build tools so the agent composes a native app itself.
Is there an open-source alternative to Superblocks?
Two: Appsmith, under Apache-2.0, and ToolJet, under AGPL-3.0. Both have around 40,800 GitHub stars. Of the two, ToolJet is the one that matches Superblocks on AI app generation, runs the whole platform self-hosted including air-gapped, and ships SSO, audit logs and Git sync on a published Team price.
Is ToolJet enterprise-ready, and who uses it?
Yes. ToolJet runs in production at Tencent, Swisscom, Duolingo, Gojek, Orange, Unity, ClearScore, Bandwidth, Toss, Endeavour Group, ShareChat and YMCA NYC, among others. It is SOC 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR compliant. Team includes SSO with SAML, OpenID Connect and LDAP, audit logs, Git sync, custom user groups and white labelling; Enterprise adds SCIM, multi-environment, custom data retention, air-gapped deployment and a dedicated support manager.
AI-first and open source, in one platform
Generate the app with our agent or yours, then run the whole platform wherever your data lives.
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