For Softr apps
Put your Softr app in the App Store and Google Play
BDK Native turns your published Softr app into real iOS and Android apps for your own App Store and Google Play accounts. The apps load your live Softr app, so you keep building in Softr 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.
Free to try. BDK never needs your Softr workspace or your data, only your app's address.
Last updated
How it works with Softr
Publish your app in Softr.
Use the published address: the softr.io address Softr gave you, or your own domain. BDK needs that address, not a link from the Softr editor.
Try it on your phone, free.
Press Preview on my phone, paste the address and open your app in the free BDK Preview app. Sign in and use it the way your users do.
Add phone features, if you want them.
Push to everyone needs no code: you send it from your own OneSignal account. Face ID, the QR scanner, the camera and push to one person start from the free @thebdk/native package, added with a Custom Code Block (Softr's docs list it on Pro and above). Your own automation still decides who gets a one-person notification.
Order your build.
Pick iOS, Android or both. Then fill in one short form: the app's name, icon, loading screen and your store account details.
Get your builds and submit them.
BDK builds and signs your apps and gives you a step-by-step guide. You submit them from your own Apple and Google accounts, and Apple and Google decide.
Ask for it in plain words
Tell your AI, or whoever adds your Custom Code Blocks, what you want in plain words. An AI can 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 job is assigned, notify that technician. Show their open-job count on the iPhone app icon, and use notification badges on Android.
- Let customers open their portal with Face ID instead of typing a password, and save their login so they skip the sign-in form next time.
- Let our team scan the QR code on a machine to open its maintenance record, and take a photo of the repair with the phone's camera.
These start from the free @thebdk/native package in a Custom Code Block. Your own automation still decides who gets each notification and remembers which phone belongs to which user; Softr still handles sign-in and who can see each record. On iPhone the badge can be a number; on Android it follows the notification. Saving the photo onto the record stays in Softr. Face ID and saved login need an integration with your existing sign-in system. Check that this works with your Softr setup before relying on it.
Closer to native
The details that make an app feel native are built into every BDK app.
Native screen transitions
A new screen slides in, and you swipe back from the edge, like the apps already on your phone. Each screen has its own web view.
Native modals and sheets
A screen slides up, and you close it by pulling it down or tapping close. Sheets can stop at half or full height, each with its own web view.
Permission prompts when they're needed
Camera, photo and location prompts appear by themselves the first time a feature is used.
Status bar
Solid, translucent with blur and your own tint, or transparent.
Your own splash, loading and transition screens
Each set on its own, including animations such as Lottie and SVG.
71 native features in total. Try most of them live in the demo app.Open demo.thebdk.com
What you need
- Your app, published. The softr.io address Softr gave you works; your own domain is optional.
- An Apple Developer account for iOS and a Google Play developer account for Android, in your own name.
- No access to your Softr workspace or your data. BDK only needs 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 a Custom Code Block.
What stays yours
- Your store listings, ratings and reviews. The apps are published from your own accounts.
- Your Softr app, its pages and its data sources.
- Your users, their accounts and your data stay in Softr and the data sources you connected. BDK doesn't move or copy them. Sign-in and checkout for digital goods may need changes for the app (see the checks below).
- The Android signing key. It comes with every Android build.
Check these on your phone first
Do these in BDK Preview before you buy, on an iPhone and an Android phone if you can.
Magic links and emailed codes
Softr can sign people in with a magic link, an emailed code or a password. A magic link tapped in the phone's mail app may open in the phone's browser instead of your app, so try every way your users sign in, then close the app and open it again. A code or password typed on the page inside the app is worth trying too: it does not send them out to the mail app. Close the app, open it again, and check that they are still signed in.
Google sign-in
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 to the app. BDK's external sign-in does that hand-off, called from your code; check that your Softr 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.
Paid access
If you charge with Softr's Stripe checkout, walk through a real purchase and the customer portal, 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 or automation decides who has paid. In BDK Preview, purchases run only against BDK's own sample products; your own products work in your own build.
Your plan and your users
The app opens your Softr app, so your Softr plan still applies, user limits included. Softr's paid plans include a custom domain; its Free plan doesn't. Sign in as each kind of user you have and check what each one can see.
Push notifications
Try sample push in BDK Preview. After receiving your own build, test notifications from your OneSignal account. Test Softr's workflow notifications separately in its installed web app.
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 only.
What Softr says
Softr's FAQ says: “Softr builds are PWAs (progressive web apps) and cannot be published to the iOS App Store or Google Play.” It adds that this applies across all plans.
Its mobile app is installed from the browser to the home screen and needs an internet connection. Softr's FAQ still says Professional plan users and above. Professional is an older plan name, not the current plan called Pro. A recent Softr post lists the installable app on the Business plan. Check which applies to your subscription.
Softr workflows can send push notifications to the installed web app or to an in-app inbox, on Business and above.
Why keep your web app
Softr's mobile app is an installable web app, not an App Store or Google Play listing. BDK builds and signs iOS and Android apps from your live Softr app. You submit them from your own developer accounts; Apple and Google decide whether to approve them. You don't need Softr's installable app for this: the store app opens your live Softr app.
Your Softr plan is a cost either way. As of October 30, 2026, Basic, the first paid plan and the first with a custom domain, is $19 a month billed annually or $25 monthly, and Pro, the first plan where Softr's docs list the Custom Code Block, is $99 a month billed annually or $119 monthly. 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.
Compared with other app wrappers
One app on iOS and Android, with push notifications, for the first 12 months.
A wrapping subscription keeps charging. Natively's Unlimited plan, in the table, is $49 a month on monthly billing: its third charge brings you to $147, past BDK's one-time $99 for both platforms, and its second ($98) passes $69 for one platform. Its yearly plan, $384, passes either on the first payment.
| BDK Native | Natively (BuildNatively) | Despia | MobiLoud | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan | Both platforms | Unlimited | Hybrid Pack | Growth |
| Price, first 12 months | $99 one-time | $384 a year, or $49 a month ($699 once for Lifetime) | $498 one-time, with 400 build minutes | $679 a month, billed annually ($8,148 a year) |
| Billing | One-time, with four rebuilds included | Yearly or monthly subscription, or one-time Lifetime | One-time pack | Monthly or annual subscription |
| If you stop paying | There is no subscription to stop | If a monthly or annual subscription lapses, their FAQ says a blocking banner covers the app until you reactivate; Lifetime is separate | No subscription is shown for the pack | Their terms end the license when the paid period ends; their FAQ says you then remove the app from the stores or replace it with another vendor's app |
| Free preview of your own site on a phone | Yes, in BDK Preview | Yes, in Natively Preview, with a limited set of native features | Free watermarked builds; on iPhone they need your own Apple developer account and signing | A free preview of your site is offered; testing native features on a phone isn't stated |
Median also has a free tier for limited use; its Starter plan is a $229 activation, then $179 a year. Its terms limit commercial use on the lower plans, so it isn't priced here. Prices exclude Apple and Google developer fees, taxes and usage charges.
Prices as of , from each company's pricing page.
Try first, pay once
No subscription, no upsells.
You pay once per build purchase. There is no monthly or yearly BDK fee and no hidden charges.
Build and test on your phone, free.
Try native features, push, in-app purchases and your loading screens in BDK Preview before you pay, with up to 20 previews per account. In Preview, push runs on BDK's keys and purchases use BDK's sample products. On iPhone, BDK Preview opens only your own previews; to show your app to clients or early testers, use BDK Preview on Android or the web.
Builds, typically within hours.
We typically deliver builds within hours or overnight. An automated check tells you within 2–3 minutes if anything is missing.
Your web app can move.
Point your app at a new address from your BDK dashboard, with no new store submission: same listing, reviews and installs.
Moving off Softr is a different step.
Pointing your app at a new address needs no new submission, but moving the app itself off Softr means rebuilding it somewhere else: Softr hosts the blocks your app is made of.
What it costs
$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
How do I turn my Softr app into an iOS and Android app?
Publish it in Softr and give BDK the published address: the softr.io address Softr gave you or your own domain. Try it free in the BDK Preview app on your phone. When it works the way you want, order a build: BDK makes signed iOS and Android apps, and you submit them from your own Apple and Google developer accounts.
Isn't Softr's mobile app the same thing?
No. Softr's mobile app is an installable web app: people add it to their home screen from the browser, and Softr's FAQ says it can't be published to the App Store or Google Play on any plan. BDK builds and signs iOS and Android apps from your live Softr app. You submit them from your own developer accounts; Apple and Google decide whether to approve them. You can keep both.
Will my Softr changes show up in the app?
Yes. The app loads your live Softr app, so whatever you publish from Softr 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.
Will magic links and Google sign-in work in the app?
Test them in BDK Preview before you buy. A magic link tapped in the phone's mail app may open in the phone's browser rather than in your app, so the user ends up signed in there instead. A code or password typed on the page inside the app is worth trying too: it does not send them out to the mail app. Close the app, open it again, and check that they are still signed in. 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 to the app. BDK's external sign-in does that hand-off, called from your code through the free @thebdk/native package; check that your Softr 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.
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 Softr 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 or automation decides who has paid. In BDK Preview, purchases run only 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 lets you try your own site in Natively Preview, with a limited set of native features. 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.
Which Softr plan do I need?
BDK only needs your published address, so the app itself doesn't need a particular Softr plan, and your plan's user limits still apply. Softr's paid plans include a custom domain; its Free plan doesn't. For phone features beyond push to everyone, you add the free @thebdk/native package with a Custom Code Block, which Softr's docs list on Pro and above.
Docs
See your own app on your phone, free, before you pay anything.