In this article, we'll give you a brief overview of Aftership App Builder, how it works, and the pros and cons. We'll compare it to 5 different Aftership App Builder alternatives including our own platform, MobiLoud, which we believe is the ideal choice for serious businesses to convert web stores to professional eCommerce apps.
What is Aftership App Builder?
Aftership is a well known brand which has a variety of tools, APIs and products for Shopify-based eCommerce stores. Along with its tools for tracking, shipping, returns and more - Aftership also offer a Shopify mobile app builder.
Now let's take a look at Aftership App Builder's pricing.
Aftership App Builder Pricing
Aftership app builder has a Standard plan and an Enterprise plan.
The Standard plan is free and is good for those who want to launch their native mobile app stores. It features sales optimization tools, and app analytics and boasts free traffic for Shopify stores. On the other hand, there's the Enterprise plan for those who want Enterprise-grade service level and custom integrations.
Aftership App Builder Pros & Cons
Aftership's app builder has a basic version which is free. This might work well for budget conscious eCommerce businesses who just want a simple app.
If you want something more tailored to your brand though Aftership may disappoint. The app builder is a simple drag-and-drop builder based on pre-built themes. You won't be able to faithfully recreate your existing Shopify store though or reuse what you already built for the web. The apps are essentially semi-customized shell that pull data from your store via API. This is necessarily limiting.
Now we've had an overview of the tool, its pricing, and its pros and cons. It's time to move on and start looking at some Aftership App Builder alternatives, starting with our own site-to-app platform, MobiLoud.
Aftership App Builder Alternative #1: MobiLoud
MobiLoud powers thousands of top apps, and allows you to convert your site into native eCommerce apps in just days, for a fraction of the cost of custom development.
Our eCommerce app platform integrates with any CMS - whether it's Shopify, WooCommerce, PrestaShop or any other - and let you reuse every plugin, feature and functionality from your main web store.
MobiLoud is the best way to convert your web store into native eCommerce apps for iOS and Android, as well as the best alternative to Aftership App Builder.
There are several key reasons why:
- No templates, no blocks, no APIs - we don't restrict you to our pre-built front-ends, we allow you to convert your web store completely, and to reuse all your existing plugins, themes, and tech stack.
- Keep what works - you already built your ideal site for the web, tweaking it endlessly for conversions and sales. With MobiLoud you can translate that directly into m-commerce native apps, without needing to reinvent the wheel. You already did the hard part, we handle the rest!
- Easy Management - many app builder platforms like Aftership App Builder gives you an extra CMS to manage, adding work for you and your team. Since MobiLoud apps sync with your web store in real time, this work is eliminated, you just need to keep managing and updating your store as usual, and if you want to change something specifically for the apps, use our easy no-code UI.
- Done for you - there's no need for you to fiddle, drag-and-drop, or waste time trying to set the apps up. You just need to tell us any special requirements, add some key information, and our team handle all technical aspects of the app build including submissions to Google Play and the AppStore.
MobiLoud Pricing
We have two standard pricing tiers:
- Startup - For fast launching and validation: $350/month, plus a one-time $1,500 setup fee
- Growth - Perfect for more established businesses: $650/month, plus a one-time $2,500 setup fee
We also have custom, corporate plan for more demanding projects. Read more about our pricing here.
Why MobiLoud?
If you're weighing up the two options, the difference between MobiLoud and Aftership App Builder is clear.
Though Aftership can give you simple template apps hooked up to Shopify, MobiLoud takes you way further by allowing you to reuse everything from your Shopify store in the apps. There is no comparison when it comes to flexibility, power and possibilities.
With MobiLoud, you can launch a native mobile experience for a fraction of the cost. It's much more powerful than a templated app builder, but simpler at the same time.
Want to skip the rest and get your questions answered by one of our team? Book a demo now!
Now we've blown our own trumpet, here are a few other Aftership App Builder alternatives that you're likely to see around the web.
Aftership App Builder Alternative #2: Plobal Apps
Plobal is another Shopify app builder. It gives you a drag-and-drop interface to design your app and a suite of many integrations. However, it has some drawbacks, like not being able to reuse your web store's features. As with all block and template based app builders, you'll only ever be able to create a rough approximation of your existing web store. You're limited to Plobal's pre-made integrations, and if they lack what you need, that's a problem.
Plobal Apps Pricing
Plobal Apps has three plans:
- Growth - basic features with 4 standard integrations - $199/mo
- Essential - enhanced features with 7 standard integrations - $499/mo
- Enterprise - premium features and unlimited advanced integrations - starts at $1199/mo
The more costly the plan is, the more customizability and benefits you get.
Aftership App Builder Alternative #3: Vajro
Vajro is a Shopify-focused app builder known for its affordability and appeal to smaller eCommerce ventures. By using templates and drag-and-drop widgets, they create branded apps that connect to Shopify through the use of templates and APIs. Yet, the heavy reliance on templates limits your ability to recreate the functionality of your web store, even on higher-tier plans.
Vajro Pricing
Vajro has four plans:
- Starter - basic features and integrations - $99/mo
- Core - advanced features and integrations - $249/mo
- Premium - premium features and integrations - $499/mo
- Plus - premium features, integrations, and priority support - $999/mo
The more costly the plan is, the better app functionalities and benefits you get.
Aftership App Builder Alternative #4: Tapcart
Tapcart is a platform that allows businesses to create mobile apps for Shopify without coding. It's well-suited for small and medium-sized eCommerce businesses. However, some users may find the templates and blocks to be somewhat limited compared to a solution like MobiLoud.
Tapcart Pricing
Tapcart has three plans:
- Core - 15 blocks, basic features, and basic integrations - $200/mo
- Ultimate - unlimited blocks, advanced features, and integrations - $400/mo
- Enterprise - unlimited custom blocks, dedicated customer success manager, and premium integrations - $1K/mo
The more costly the plan is, the better app features and benefits you get.
Aftership App Builder Alternative #5: Shopney
Known for its robust integrations, themes, and features, Shopney serves as a straightforward app builder for Shopify eCommerce stores. If you need a simple app that duplicates your site's product catalogue, Shopney could fit the bill. Yet, due to its template-based design, it can't really turn your site into iOS and Android apps or fully leverage your existing plugins, themes, and features. For businesses that are unique and complex, this will be a restriction, forcing your store to align with their set mould.
Shopney Pricing
Shopney has four plans:
- Silver - basic features with flexible design - $99/mo
- Gold - basic features with flexible design with 20 elements - $199/mo
- Platinum - advanced features and unlimited design elements - $499/mo
- Enterprise - premium features and functionalities and a dedicated success manager - starting from $999/mo
Summing Up
We've looked at a few Aftership App Builder alternatives, and given you some key information about each.
As we've seen, many of these tools share the same key issues.
On one hand, their reliance on blocks, themes, templates, and pre-built widgets does allow you to build and launch (some kind of) eCommerce app fast, affordably and easily compared to custom development. Yet this same reliance puts you and your brand in a straightjacket.
It means that you will only ever approximate your website, and you'll be forever at the mercy of whatever pre-built features they have as well as whatever data they can fetch via API (which can change). The apps will be a branded shell with some of your data pulled in and not much more.
While this is OK for simple stores, with small product ranges and basic features, this will almost always be a deal breaker for serious eCommerce brands. You probably have a finely-tuned tech stack, along with all the plugins, third-party integrations, and custom features you need to drive sales and revenue.
To discard all this hard work for cookie-cutter apps with your logo on doesn't make sense.
Why MobiLoud is the Best Way to Build eCommerce Apps
That's why, although we're biased of course, we believe MobiLoud is not only the best Aftership App Builder alternative but a superior alternative to every eCommerce mobile app builder on the market.
The first key reason: we allow you to reuse everything from your site in the apps.
If it already works well on the mobile web, it'll be even better as iOS and Android apps. It makes no sense to ditch that winning formula and those painstakingly chosen tools just to compromise with restrictive templates. That's too much of downgrade from what you've already built, and with MobiLoud - unnecessary. Keep what already works.
The second core reason: it's so simple to manage MobiLoud apps.
Platforms like Aftership App Builder will often add hours per week to your workflow with effectively a new CMS to manage. In contrast - MobiLoud apps sync in real time with your site. There's no need to manually add new product lines, update pricing, or worry about keeping the apps up to date. The apps will reflect changes and updates to your site instantly.
This goes for any core changes you make to your site too. You can switch out plugins, pull off a major rebrand, or build whatever custom functionality you choose. It doesn't matter what it is - it'll work straight out of the box in the apps, which can grow with your brand into the future.
On top of this, our team handle any ongoing updates and maintenance needed as part of our service, along with all fiddly aspects of the app build and bringing them live to Google Play and the AppStore. We work with you to ensure your apps are a success, and we're only ever an email or phone call away.
Build Your eCommerce Apps Now
MobiLoud allows you to combine the best of the web with the best of native apps. It's a winning formula, check out the success these eCommerce brands have had:
More than 2,000 other businesses used MobiLoud to build winning apps - and you can too.
Unlike with Aftership App Builder, there's no risk. We don't do long-term contracts and we'll refund you if you're unhappy with the apps. If you're like most of our eCommerce customers - the apps will pay for themselves almost immediately.
It all starts with a call with one of our app experts, where we go over your exact requirements for the apps and answer your questions.
