BDK Native
- iOS + Android apps$99
Total, once$99
1 build + 4 rebuilds, the rebuilds banked for 12 months
The apps are yours for good. No renewal.
Introductory pricing, valid until Thanksgiving.
For Emergent apps
Put your Emergent app in the App Store and Google Play
Try a sample purchase, the camera, a deep link, Face ID and push on your own phone, free, while you build in Emergent. Pay once when it's right.
- Free on your phone first, before you pay and before an Apple developer account.
- $99 once for both apps. No monthly fee.
- Nothing to lapse. Your app keeps working.
Sample products in Preview. Your own products in your build.
All five run in the free BDK Preview app.
Keep your Emergent workspace and code private. BDK needs just your app's live address. On iPhone, BDK Preview opens your own previews.
Try it on your phone first.
Natively's own docs say in-app purchases, deep links, the camera and audio don't work in their preview app. All four run in BDK Preview, free, on your own phone (purchases with sample products).
What you can test in each service's free preview, before you pay. From each company's own docs, as of October 29, 2026.
BDK Preview next to Natively Preview.
 BDK Preview | Natively Preview | Median | Despia | MobiLoud | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Push notifications | Yes¹ | Yes | No shared preview app. You test in a browser simulator, where some native features can't be tested, or in a watermarked build of your own app. | No shared preview app. You test free watermarked builds of your own app. | Their team arranges a preview of your site before purchase. Native-feature testing on a phone isn't documented. |
| Camera | Yes² | No | |||
| Record and play audio | Yes² | No | |||
| Deep links | Yes³ | No | |||
| In-app purchases | Sample products⁴ | No | |||
| Face ID / fingerprint | Yes² | Not documented | |||
| Google / Apple sign-in | Shows the hand-off⁵ | No (social login) | |||
| Your own loading screen | Yes⁶ | No (custom loading screen) | |||
| Needs an Apple developer account to try on iPhone? | No (public TestFlight)⁷ | No (App Store) | Yes ($99 a year) | Yes ($99 a year) | Not documented |
✗ where their docs say it doesn't work. “Not documented” means we found nothing either way. Sources below.
- Push in BDK Preview runs on BDK's own keys; your own OneSignal and Firebase keys are used in your build.
- Phone features that need no account of your own run in Preview, as they will in your build.
- Deep links in Preview run through BDK's Branch / ChottuLink setup, under BDK's branding.
- Purchases in Preview use BDK's sample products; your own products work in your own build.
- BDK Preview can show the hand-off, but it doesn't prove your store app's Google or Apple sign-in setup.
- Your loading screen, in Preview. Your own icon shows in your build.
- On iPhone, BDK Preview opens your own previews. It doesn't prove store review.
Sources, as of October 29, 2026 (15)
Pay once. Not every month.
Like buying a bike instead of renting one every month. BDK is one payment; a wrapper subscription keeps charging.
One payment
If you stop paying: There's nothing to stop. No subscription, no banner, no kill switch. Your app keeps working.
Natively Unlimited, monthly
- Month 1$49
- Month 2$49
- Month 3$49past BDK
So far$147
Or Lifetime, paid once$699
and every month after
Yearly, $384, passes BDK on the first payment.
If you stop paying: Their FAQ says a blocking banner covers the app until you reactivate.
Prices from each company's pricing page as of October 29, 2026; BDK prices as of October 19, 2026. Apple ($99 a year) and Google ($25 once) charge for their own developer accounts with every service. Median: $229 activation, then $179 a year on Starter; its free tier is for limited use.See pricing
Yours to keep.
Your own listing.
Published from your own Apple and Google accounts. Ratings, reviews and installs are yours.
The Android signing key.
It comes with every Android build.
Go fully native later.
When it pays, your team can build a fully native app. It can ship as an update to the same listing: same name, same reviews.
Point the app at a new address from your BDK dashboard, with no new store submission.
Closer to native.
Screens slide in, sheets pull down, prompts appear when they're needed. Each one is a call from your app's code, through the free @thebdk/native package.
71 native features in total. Try most of them live in the demo app.Open demo.thebdk.com
- Native transitions
- Modal sheetsNew
- Share sheetNew
- Sign in with AppleNew
- Live locationNew
- App badgeNew
- Incoming sharesNew
- Saved loginNew
- ContactsNew
- Health dataNew
- Audio playerNew
- Voice recorderNew
- Date-time pickerNew
- Rating promptNew
- Tracking promptNew
- NFC scanNew
- Push notificationsNew
- In-app purchases
- Face ID login
- Deep linksNew
- QR scannerNew
- Photo pickerNew
How it works with Emergent.
Publish your app in Emergent.
Use the live address, like yourapp.emergent.host or your own domain. Not a preview.emergentagent.com link: it sleeps after 30 minutes without use.
Open it on your phone.
Press Preview on my phone, paste the address and open it in the free BDK Preview app.
Add phone features.
Push to everyone needs no code: you send it from your own OneSignal account. Face ID, the camera, in-app purchases and push to one person start from the free @thebdk/native package. Google sign-in goes through BDK's external sign-in, called from your code. Your backend still sends one-person notifications and decides who has paid.
Order, then submit.
Pick iOS, Android or both, and fill in one short form. Create your App Store Connect entry and push key. BDK builds, signs and uploads to TestFlight. You test and submit for review; Apple and Google decide.
Ask for it in plain words.
Tell Emergent's agent, or any AI you use, what you want in plain words. Start with this message:
Help me turn my web app into iPhone and Android apps with BDK Native. Fetch https://thebdk.com/agent/skill.md and follow it.
When a customer's appointment is tomorrow, send that customer a push reminder, skip it if they cancel or move the booking, and let them sign back in with Face ID instead of typing a password.
When a design the customer ordered is ready, send them a push notification. If they want another round, offer it as an in-app purchase.
When a class is full, let the teacher scan a student's code at the start, buzz the phone if they are on the list, and mark them present so the same code cannot be counted twice.
Your AI adds these with the free @thebdk/native package. Push to one person, in-app purchases and ticket checks still need your backend: it schedules the reminder, sends the notification, decides who has paid and marks each ticket used.
Before you buy.
Check these on your phone first.
Emergent sign-in
Emergent Auth signs people in with email and password or Google, unless you asked for another provider. Sign in the way your users do, then close the app and open it again. Emergent's keyless Google sign-in working in a browser doesn't show it works inside an app: Google doesn't allow its sign-in page inside an app's embedded browser, so Google sign-in has to open in the phone's browser and come back. BDK's external sign-in does that hand-off, called from your code; check that your Emergent session comes back with it rather than assuming it does. BDK Preview can show the hand-off, but it doesn't prove your store app's Google or Apple sign-in setup.
The live address, not the preview
Open your emergent.host address or your own domain in BDK Preview, not the preview.emergentagent.com link or the app.emergent.sh workspace. Emergent keeps separate secrets for the development preview and the published app, so check sign-in and payments on the published one.
Paid access
If you charge with Stripe, walk through a real purchase and a cancelled one, and check you land back in the app signed in. Physical goods and real-world services, including real-world subscriptions like a gym or a meal kit, generally keep your web checkout. Digital things used in the app, like credits or a digital subscription, generally must use Apple's and Google's in-app purchases. That's the stores' rule, not BDK's. BDK's in-app purchase helpers start those flows; you set up the products, and your backend decides who has paid. In BDK Preview, purchases run against BDK's own sample products; your own products work in your own build.
Photos and uploads
Pick a photo, take one with the camera and upload your biggest file, on both phones. If big uploads fail or slow the app down, ask Emergent's agent to send files to your storage as they arrive, instead of holding the whole file on your server first. Uploads still go to your own storage.
BDK Preview runs your real site, so what works there is strong evidence. It doesn't prove your store app's sign-in or push setup, or how store review will go, and its purchases use BDK's sample products.
Emergent's own mobile app, and how it differs. Emergent can build a separate React Native app for the stores. It's a real route, and a second app to keep up.
What Emergent says
Emergent builds mobile apps with React Native and Expo, one mobile codebase for iOS and Android, and publishes them to the App Store and Google Play. Its store guide says: “Emergent manages EAS on your behalf.” It signs the builds and uploads iOS builds to TestFlight; you send them to review and upload the Android build to Play Console.
Its Web to Mobile guide describes converting a web project into a separate mobile app: the backend is shared, and the screens are rewritten in React Native. It says: “It does not support Next.js projects.”
You try the mobile app on your phone in Expo Go by scanning a QR code. Its plan page lists the Mobile Agent, publishing and custom domains on the Standard and Pro plans, not on Free.
Why keep your web app
Emergent's mobile route is real: it reaches both stores, with push and in-app purchases. It is also a second app. Emergent's Web to Mobile guide describes keeping your backend and rewriting your screens in React Native, so a change to your screens then needs making and checking in both. BDK puts the web app you already published in the stores: one app to keep up, and every change you publish shows up in the installed apps, with no store update.
You can try it before you pay. BDK Preview runs push, the camera, Face ID, deep links and sample purchases on your own phone, free. Emergent's phone preview runs in Expo Go, and Expo's docs say: “The FaceID authentication for iOS is not supported in Expo Go.” They also say remote push isn't available in Expo Go on Android from SDK 53, and in-app purchases need a build of your own. Emergent's route tests those in TestFlight or a downloaded Android build, on a paid plan.
Price isn't the difference here. As of October 30, 2026, Emergent's Standard plan is $20 a month with 100 credits, and it covers publishing, custom domains and Emergent's mobile route, so its mobile app needs no extra plan. Your Emergent plan and hosting credits are a cost either way. On top of that, BDK is one payment, with no monthly fee to keep paying.
Test, launch and improve with real users on BDK first. Once the app has traction, a fully native version you sign and submit for this same app can ship as an update to the same store listing: same name, same reviews, and your users simply get an update. The Android signing key comes with your BDK build.
Your Emergent project, your code and your backend stay yours. Emergent's FAQ describes exporting your code to GitHub on paid plans; if you later host the web app somewhere else, point the app at the new address.
What you need.
- Your web app, published. A yourapp.emergent.host address works; your own domain is optional. Emergent's plan page lists publishing and custom domains on Standard and Pro.
- An Apple Developer account for iOS and a Google Play developer account for Android, in your own name.
- For iOS: create your App Store Connect entry and push key. BDK builds, signs and uploads to TestFlight. You test and submit for review; Apple and Google decide.
- No access to your code or your Emergent workspace. BDK needs just the address.
- For push notifications, which are on unless you switch them off: your own OneSignal account (the free tier works) and Firebase project. Switching push off or back on is a new build you submit again.
- For other phone features, the free @thebdk/native package in your app. Emergent's agent can add the calls.
$69 for iOS, $69 for Android, or $99 for both, paid once. Introductory pricing, valid until Thanksgiving. Each purchase includes one build and four banked rebuilds; the rebuilds expire 12 months from payment. Extra rebuilds are $19 and also expire 12 months from payment. Changes to your site never need one. Apple ($99 a year) and Google ($25 once) charge for their own developer accounts.
Prices as of .See pricing
Questions
What does BDK Native do with a Emergent app?
BDK Native turns your published Emergent web app into real iOS and Android apps for your own App Store and Google Play accounts. The apps load your live site, so you keep building in Emergent and every change you publish shows up in the app, with no store update. Try it free on your phone first in the BDK Preview app, before you pay anything.
Isn't Emergent's own mobile app the same thing?
No. Emergent's mobile route builds a separate React Native app: the backend is shared, the screens are rewritten for phones, and Emergent's managed builds take it to the stores. It's a real route. BDK puts the web app you already published in the stores instead, so you keep one app, and every change you publish shows up in the installed apps with no store update. You can try it free in BDK Preview, with push, Face ID and sample purchases, before you pay. Price isn't the difference: Emergent's Standard plan covers its mobile route, and BDK is one payment on top of your plan.
Will my changes in Emergent show up in the app?
Yes. The app loads your live site, so whatever you publish from Emergent shows up in the installed apps right away, with no store update. The app itself needs a rebuild when you change what is built into it: its icon or name, the three screens, orientation, permission text, push or deep-link settings, or background audio. You also need one for a newer BDK engine, or when Apple or Google require a new build.
Which Emergent address do I give BDK?
The live one: yourapp.emergent.host or your own domain. Not a preview.emergentagent.com link, which sleeps after 30 minutes without use and keeps its own secrets, and not the app.emergent.sh workspace. If you move to your own domain later, point the app at the new address from your BDK dashboard, with no rebuild.
Will Emergent's Google sign-in work in the app?
Test it in BDK Preview before you buy. Emergent Auth's Google sign-in needs no keys of your own, and working in a browser doesn't show it works inside an app. Google doesn't allow its sign-in page inside an app's embedded browser, so Google sign-in has to open in the phone's browser and return to the app. BDK's external sign-in does that hand-off, for Apple sign-in too; your app calls it through the free @thebdk/native package, and your Emergent session has to pick it up when it returns. BDK Preview can show the hand-off, but it doesn't prove your store app's Google or Apple sign-in setup. Test the sign-in your users actually use in your own build before you submit it.
Can I keep charging with Stripe in the App Store app?
For physical goods and real-world services, including real-world subscriptions like a gym or a meal kit, yes: your web app's Stripe checkout is the right path, and it's the same page inside the app. Digital things used in the app, like credits or a digital subscription, generally must use Apple's and Google's in-app purchases. That's the stores' rule, not BDK's. BDK's in-app purchase helpers start those flows; you create the products in App Store Connect and Google Play Console, and your backend decides who has paid. In BDK Preview, purchases run against BDK's own sample products; your own products work in your own build.
How is BDK different from other app wrappers?
BDK is a one-time payment: $99 for both platforms, with no subscription. As of October 29, 2026, Natively's Unlimited plan is $384 a year or $49 a month ($699 once for Lifetime), Despia's Hybrid Pack is $498 one-time, and MobiLoud's Growth plan is $679 a month billed annually. Natively Preview excludes in-app purchases, deep links, the camera and audio; Median and Despia have no shared preview app. Despia offers free watermarked builds; on iPhone those need your own Apple developer account and signing. Prices change, so check each company's pricing page.
Will Apple accept my Emergent app?
Nobody can promise that: Apple and Google decide. Emergent can also build a separate phone app, with its own screens, which is a real way to look like more than a website. If you put the website itself in the stores, give people a reason to install it: a reminder for tomorrow's appointment, Face ID on the login they already have, or a ticket check that marks the ticket used.
Last updated
See your own app on your phone, free, before you pay anything.