The honest comparison.
Knack is a no-code online database with unlimited users. Tadabase AI builds the whole app from a prompt — real React you own, on a governed backend.
Describe the app you’d build in Knack — we’ll build it now.
Plain English is enough. You get a working app with a real database, logins and roles, free to start.
A no-code database you click together
or an app from a prompt.
Knack has been a dependable no-code online database for years: tables, connections, forms and views, user roles, and unlimited users on every plan. It is priced per plan — $59 a month for Starter (20,000 records, 3 apps), $130 for Pro (50,000 records, unlimited apps) and from $300 for Corporate, with roughly two months off on annual billing and, for new customers, 66% off the first three months. An AI builder now sits on every plan, and an MCP server lets AI coding tools such as Claude, Lovable or Replit create tables, records and roles in Knack — the front end those tools generate is not built in Knack. HIPAA work runs on the separate Knack Health plans, from $499 a month with a signed BAA and an AWS GovCloud option.
Tadabase AI starts from a description, not a blank table. Describe what you need and the AI generates real React on Tadabase — a database with relationships, authentication, roles, row- and field-level security enforced on the backend, workflows, PDFs and file storage, hosted on your own domain and exportable to GitHub. App users are unlimited on every plan, plans run from $25 to $250 a month with 25,000 to 500,000 records per app, and HIPAA-eligible plans come with a BAA. Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT can also build in your Tadabase account over MCP.
When to pick which. Pick Knack if your team already runs on it, your apps are classic forms-and-tables databases you are happy to click together, or you need AWS GovCloud hosting for regulated data. Pick Tadabase AI if you want the app built from a description, the front end as real React you can export, AI your end-users can talk to, and the backend, security and hosting in one place.
| Capability | Knack | Tadabase AI |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | per plan, unlimited users | per plan, unlimited app users |
| Entry price | $59/mo ($49 billed annually) | $25/mo ($21 billed annually) |
| Record limits | 20,000 (Starter) to 2.5M+ per plan | 25,000–500,000 per app |
| Apps | 3 on Starter, unlimited from Pro | 3–50 published apps, extra slots $5–$9 |
| File storage | 2–50 GB | 5–250 GB |
| Build style | visual builder + AI builder chat | conversational AI that writes React |
| Front end | Knack pages and views | real React, exportable to GitHub |
| MCP for AI coding tools | backend only: tables, records, roles | ✓ build apps from Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT |
| AI for your end-users | AI builder is for app builders | Ask, Analyze, Agents |
| Row-level security | user roles and page access | built in, to backend, field-level |
| Custom domain | from Pro (1), Corporate (3) | ✓ every plan |
| Remove platform branding | from Pro | ✓ every plan |
| SSO | basic on Starter, Advanced SSO from Pro | Business plan (Google, Microsoft, SAML) |
| HIPAA · BAA | Knack Health from $499/mo or Enterprise | ✓ HIPAA-eligible plans with a BAA |
The part Knack can't match.
Generating the screens is table stakes now. What you ship on top — real AI for your end-users, agents that act, and security that holds up — is where Tadabase AI is built differently.
Your users ask. The app answers.
End-users type a question in plain English — "show me overdue invoices this month" — and get a real answer as a table, chart, or number, pulled live from your data and scoped to exactly what that user is allowed to see.
Insights, not just dashboards.
Analyze reads the numbers your users already pulled and writes the takeaway — trends, outliers, what changed since last week — grounded in the real records, never made up.
Agents that take action.
Put an AI agent inside your app to qualify leads, triage tickets, or send follow-ups. It reads, plans, and acts through your workflows — and pauses for human approval before anything high-stakes. Every action is logged.
Security as a default.
Row-level security carried by JWT all the way to the backend, 2FA, SSO and SAML, full audit logs, and a pre-deploy security pass that catches committed secrets and missing auth before you publish.
Ready for regulated work.
HIPAA-eligible plans for healthcare, controls built to SOC 2 guidelines (not independently audited), encryption in transit and at rest, per-tenant container isolation, and a DPA on request — GDPR and CCPA aligned.
A real backend, included.
Database with relationships, authentication, visual workflows, PDF generation, file uploads, schedules, and webhooks ship with your first deploy — powered by Tadabase, already running real businesses for years. Nothing to wire up.
Quick answers.
Still curious? Email support@tadabase.io — a real person answers.
Can I move my Knack app to Tadabase AI?
Is Knack's price going up?
Knack has an MCP server too. What is different?
Which one is HIPAA-eligible?
Do both charge per user?
How Tadabase AI stacks up
against the rest.
Same honest treatment for every tool people weigh Tadabase AI against.
Bring your business into the world of AI.
Launch a real app today.
Already using Knack, or about to? Describe what you would build there and Tadabase AI builds it on a real backend, hosts it and puts it on your domain.