Betty Blocks vs. Mendix

Whether you are looking to bring an application to market at record speed, get ahead on the cutting edge of mobile technology, or launch a full digital transformation. It all starts with choosing the solution that’s the right fit for your innovation goals. The Mendix platform is an option but there are plenty of Mendix alternatives available. This article will guide you through the 6 main differences between low-code no-code platforms in order to choose the best fit for your organization.

Empowering builders

Build advanced apps without coding

Radically shorten time to market

Empower your Citizen Developer workforce

Innovate smarter with Citizen Development

Citizen Developers are users who build applications to facilitate the processes of business operations while following the development guidelines of IT. They take full ownership of their needs, know exactly what they want, and accelerate innovation by building apps themselves. This way, all departments are able to contribute to the innovation process of the organization, moving things forward in a fast, secure, and fun way. Ensuring your organization is using the best software possible.


Platform updates
Citizen Development
Pricing
Ease of use

Support
Target audience
Investors

Betty Blocks	Mendix
Fully automated and instant over all web and mobile applications	Migration to a new version costs time and energy. Custom functionality from older versions can often not be transferred to more recent versions.

Number of end-users (capped to a maximum)	Number of end-users (uncapped)

The combination of pro-code, low-code, and intuitive visual modeling with pre-configured blocks allow both business users and advanced users to produce apps. The possibilities are endless.	An advanced platform, suitable to speed up IT. However, its interface is too complex to let business users help with building applications.
Personal contact with our team. We help you find the right partner or support you with developing your application.	Never directly. Always with a partner, which makes finding the right development partner a hassle.
Business applications, innovations, Citizen Development	Low/no-code focus and IoT. Focus on companies with at least 1000 employees, Fortune 1000.
None, privately owned	Siemens

Named a Leader in The Forrester Wave ™ for Low-Code Development Platforms For Business Developers, Q4 2021

We’re proud to be recognized as a key thought leader of the enterprise citizen development movement. We received the highest scores possible in nine criteria, which in our opinion demonstrates our ability to help businesses build beautiful and advanced applications.

The 6 key differences between Betty Blocks and Mendix

To create applications rapidly, you need a high-productivity and user-friendly platform. There are some key differences between Betty Blocks, Mendix, and other Mendix alternatives. What’s the perfect software fit for you depends on your goals, who will be using the platform, required solutions, and features. Here are the six key differences decision-makers take into account when choosing the right platform for their needs (we’ll try to be as neutral and objective as possible, but of course we are biased!).

1. No-code vs. low-code

Betty Blocks

Betty Blocks stands out as business software by being both easy enough that anyone can use it while boasting capabilities powerful enough to produce secure, complex, enterprise-grade applications. Building applications is done with the visual drag-and-drop interface and pre-programmed building blocks.

This way, you are guaranteed to build applications that work flawlessly, in a fast and fun way.

Unlike most no-code platforms, it’s no-code with an escape hatch: While it is not necessary to write any code to develop complex applications, Betty Blocks also supports JavaScript or HTML integrations for added customization. Bringing additional power to low-code no-code.

Mendix

On the other hand, low-code platforms like Mendix require knowledge of coding, specific proficiency with .NET, to build applications.

Professional developers are often their target audience. This platform, in particular, is ideal for teams of java and .NET developers to use to speed up their IT department.

2. Ease of use

Betty Blocks

Betty Blocks is one of the easiest-to-use low-code no-code platforms. Developing with its platform is done through visual modeling and a drag-and-drop interface of application logic, suitable for Citizen Developers.

Low-code no-code platforms like Betty Blocks close the gap between software needs and available developers by creating a new kind of developer: the Citizen Developer. This class of builders is eager to innovate, bring about new ideas and build quickly without needing to code. Because of the platform’s ease of use, a professional developer is not needed on every project.

Mendix

On the other hand, low-code platforms like Mendix require knowledge of coding, specific proficiency with .NET, to build applications.

Professional developers are often their target audience. This platform, in particular, is ideal for teams of java and .NET developers to use to speed up their IT department.

3. Pricing

Betty Blocks

Betty Blocks offers flexible and competitive pricing to suit a variety of business needs and to assist you best leverage your company’s resources. The pricing is based on the number of users but ensures your applications are fully supported without incurring extra costs. That means no-code application ecosystems built with Betty Blocks provide you with all the tools you need without cutting into your budget.

Betty Blocks doesn't include a tiered system for the platform that limits access to features. Instead, every user has full access to the entire our entire offering from the start. Why? Because our BHAG: "By 2023, everyone can build web applications and mobile applications" means our pricing should cater to all types of organizations and employees. Read more about our

the pricing plan here.

Mendix

The pricing model of Mendix is based on the number of users, starting at $37.50 per user per month for a single application, and $156.50 per user per month for the professional model. For applications with very few users, this is favorable, but when the number of users increases, costs get out of hand fast. Aside from user-based pricing, Mendix charges for a variety of add-ons, such as storage, additional application environments, support, real-time support, etc.

Take the enterprise project approval or expense reporting application for your company, which will support 5,600 users. That exact same application would be extremely more expensive based on this pricing model, going up to over €$200.000 a year!

The price for your application can vary widely, depending on the complexity and number of users for both platforms. Run the numbers so you’re sure you’re making a calculated decision.

4. Security

Betty Blocks

Betty Blocks is the first no-code platform with ISO 27001 certification.

This certification objectively demonstrates to the world that they comply with the International Standard for Information Security (ISO 27001) and have taken all necessary precautions to protect sensitive information against unauthorized access and processing.

To keep your applications 100% secure, it's absolutely mandatory to always keep them updated. The platform operates 100% from the cloud and has no deployment. Whenever an update is available, all applications running on the platform are automatically updated instantly, ensuring maximum security of your data making it one of the best alternatives when it comes to security.

Mendix

Mendix has implemented an information security management system (ISMS) according to the ISO/IEC 27001 standard. The basis of this ISO standard is the development and implementation of a rigorous security program, which includes the development and implementation of an ISMS.

Mendix is deployed in the cloud and also has a desktop modeler. Keeping these two synced and updating the desktop version requires action from the user. On their website, you can find a comprehensive list of these. Not keeping the desktop version up-to-date can lead to security risks.

5. Culture

Betty Blocks

Playful, down-to-earth, independent. That’s Betty Blocks in a nutshell. Originating from a small village in the Netherlands, the Betty Blocks family works passionately to make enterprise-grade application development fun and accessible for everyone. An audacious goal, but we’re getting it done before 2023, pinky promise.

While the competition focuses on scaling and selling fast, we focus on building our legacy and being of value to the community. Working with Betty Blocks means you are part of our family and you feel that in everything we do.

Mendix

The platform is founded on the premise to lower cost, build apps faster and deliver better applications.

Siemens acquired Mendix in 2018 to focus on R&D innovation, which changed the course for the company. Under Siemens’ direction, the company’s long-term goals are subject to change. Everything Mendix does feels corporate and focused on the technical side of the platform, which makes sense for a technical company, but it doesn’t give many clues for their culture. Moreover, the acquisition of Siemens ensures that many employees will leave Mendix in the near future.

6. Services

Betty Blocks

When you’re a user of our platform, we want you to succeed. Our goal is customer satisfaction and a stellar experience. What does that mean for you? It means that whatever product you use from Betty Blocks, you have an extensive support system that helps you whenever and wherever. We have several service managers to make sure your problem is solved quickly and efficiently. Personal contact is a core value in everything we do.

Betty Blocks doesn’t only offer the platform Betty Blocks on its own. In fact, one of our most important features is that we have our own Academy where we don’t only school Citizen Developers to become as skilled as they’d like, we also school no-code developers to offer customized products to our customers and maintain, extend and develop the platform.

Mendix

Mendix has a global partner ecosystem and a developer community. They offer customer success, support, and expert services to ensure the success of their customers. However, with standard support you only have access to the Mendix community. For extra assistence, you need to upgrade to gold or platinum, at a price.

At Mendix you are on your own. They deliver the platform, you take care of the development (with a partner, if needed). According to the Mendix community, reasonably priced Mendix partners (or skilled resources) are often difficult to find.

Named a Leader in The Forrester Wave ™ for Low-Code Development Platforms For Business Developers, Q4 2021

What challenges do you face?

Research Mendix alternatives

Whether you’re focused on a single application or a complete digital transformation, it’s important to know which platform can provide you with the best features and service depending on your needs so that you can survive the new era of application development. If you want to know how the Betty Blocks platform caters to your business challenges, you can request a call with one of our citizen development experts to discuss solutions, based on your business case.