Budibase

A platform for building internal apps, forms, automations and AI agents on top of your databases, which you can host yourself or use as a cloud service.

28.4k stars, 2.2k forks TypeScript On GitHub since June 2019

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

What is Budibase?

Budibase connects to databases and APIs and lets you build internal tools on them: data apps, forms, approval flows and automations, with AI agents that answer staff requests and start workflows. It runs in Budibase Cloud or on your own servers with Docker or Kubernetes. Apps you build with it do not include any GPL code, according to its license notes.

Good fit if

  • You build admin panels, request forms and approval flows for staff on top of existing data.
  • You want automations and AI agents inside the same tool as the apps.
  • You need a self-hosted option with a Helm chart.

Look elsewhere if

  • You need pure workflow automation without app building: n8n or Activepieces.
  • You want no paid parts in the codebase: in Budibase, paid features are part of the same repository.

Before you adopt it

Budibase sets a license per package and describes itself as GPLv3 overall, with some packages under MPL. Paid features live in their own package under the Business Source License, which is not open source. Contributors sign a contributor license agreement. The self-hosted stack runs about eight services, including PostgreSQL, Redis and MinIO.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 30 October 2026. Report a correction

Budibase health: is it still maintained?

74 of 100, actively developed

  • Activity
    2,622 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 29 October 2026.
    30 / 30
  • Contributors
    8 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 39% of them.
    13 / 20
  • Releases
    2 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, v3.50.0, on 19 October 2026.
    15 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Too few recent issues from outside the team to measure, so this part gets a neutral score.
    10 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 6.1 of 10.
    6 / 10

Read from GitHub on 1 November 2026. How the score works

Budibase license: is it open source?

Budibase uses GPL-3.0, an open-source license approved by the OSI. Some features sit under a separate paid license inside the same repository. Contributors sign a contributor license agreement, which lets the owner relicense their work later.

  1. June 2019First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayGPL-3.0, with paid parts: license file assigns a different licence to part of the code; separate license packages/pro/license.md (BUSL-1.1). A contributor license agreement is required.

How to run Budibase yourself

Docker
Dockerfile or compose file in the repository
Compose file
hosting/docker-compose.yaml: 8 services (minio, redis, postgres)
Setup effort
4 of 5, judged from the compose file
Kubernetes
Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
No app builds in GitHub releases
Interface languages
6 languages

Install instructions: budibase.com or the README on GitHub.

Alternatives to Budibase

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Questions about Budibase

Is Budibase open source?

Yes. Budibase is published under GPL-3.0, an OSI-approved open-source license. Some features are kept under a separate paid license in the same repository.

Is Budibase still maintained?

Its health score is 74 of 100 (actively developed). It had 2,622 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 29 October 2026, and its latest release came out on 19 October 2026.

How do I run Budibase?

You can run it with Docker, on Kubernetes with the Helm chart in the repository. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What are the alternatives to Budibase?

Close alternatives in the Workflow automation category include n8n, Windmill, Dify.