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IBM MobileFirst vs Mendix comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM MobileFirst
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
13th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Mobile App Platforms (7th)
Mendix
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Rapid Application Development Software (8th), Low-Code Development Platforms (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Mobile Development Platforms category, the mindshare of IBM MobileFirst is 2.5%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Mendix is 15.2%, down from 22.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mobile Development Platforms Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Mendix15.2%
IBM MobileFirst2.5%
Other82.3%
Mobile Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

MT
Streamlines development of hybrid applications, and has ability to integrate device-native code
It was a cakewalk for us to develop mobile apps for three different platforms using IBM MobileFirst. Since it was a consumer application built for large-scale events, it was very crucial for us to manage application compatibility with all sort of devices. With MobielFirst, we could actually achieve this with very little trouble. With help of this product, we have been able to develop mobile applications without having complete knowledge of each mobile OS's native programming. App development, delivery, and code management have been very efficient using this product.
Mitchel Mol BGS - PeerSpot reviewer
Has improved development quality and speed but has introduced persistent IDE slowdowns
In recent years, the IDE has been more buggy and slower, and although there have been more features added, I would like to see more stability, as some areas that used to work for a fairly long time are now slower in my development, which feels like a step back. I choose a seven mainly due to the issues we've faced with slowdowns and bugs during development, while runtime has been very stable, and the overall output on Mendix platform is still good; there is definitely some room for improvement, and I would probably have given it an eight or even a nine if those issues weren't hurting my developer output for the past few years. Overall, Mendix platform is stable, but the IDE could be better.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"With help of this product, we have been able to develop mobile applications without having complete knowledge of each mobile OS's native programming technology. App development, delivery, and code management have been very efficient using this product."
"I like Its capability for developing hybrid applications, with an ability to integrate device-native code as well"
"IBM MobileFirst has one of the most feature-rich admin panels."
"It's amazing that you can build web apps and mobile (hybrid) apps with one code base in a few clicks. It's a full continuous integration environment."
"Mendix code and coding logic are very visual. It looks like a flow chart rather than lines of code. Rapid development is what drew us to Mendix."
"On a recent project, using Mendix cut development time by about 40-50% compared to traditional coding for a workflow app."
"There is a free version of the solution you can use."
"It is a brilliant solution."
"The most valuable features of Mendix are the drag and drop functions, the data entities, domain models, and all the related features."
"Mendix provides the ability to create solutions that fill gaps that I would otherwise be unable to address with standard software."
"The features that I have found most valuable with Mendix are its business process management and its minimal low code, both from an interface perspective and from a process perspective."
 

Cons

"There are issues with push notifications, especially for Windows mobile apps. JSONStore also crashes abruptly at times."
"I would like to see improved support for native device functions."
"I would like to see more documentation as well as how-to documents."
"I would also like to see automatic adjustment to the Java Heap, whenever an application load becomes too much for the application. It could also use hot database replication."
"Feature-wise and in terms of technical aspects, Mendix is excellent, but its pricing is steep."
"We'd like to be able to write in C Sharp to develop code for Mendix."
"Mendix could improve in customization and UI, UX flexibility, native mobile development, and agile tooling for developers."
"Mendix is slightly less scalable than I'd like."
"All software applications have their hiccups, including the Mendix Studio Pro developers program."
"I struggle with solutions like Mendix in terms of creating enterprise solutions."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cost depends upon various factors. Size of the overall application and product usage matter a lot. For an enterprise-grade application, this certainly comes out as an economical solution. However, for small-scale applications, it can turn out to be on the higher side."
"Mendix is not open source, but its license cost is cheap, particularly when compared to the Appian license. The license model would depend on how many users you have and how many applications you are creating. If you are creating a single app, you just need to have a single app license, so it's free. If you want a multiple app license to cover two thousand or three thousand users, for example, internal users or external users, then you need to pay for the license. There's also a license model for above three thousand or four thousand, or five thousand internal and external users."
"I would not recommend the solution to small and medium-sized businesses because it’s expensive. It’s great for big organizations. I rate the pricing as a three out of ten."
"There is a license required to use Mendix. The solution's price is high, but it is best suited for enterprise companies that have the budget. It is not for small or medium-sized businesses."
"Initially, we started with a year for approximately $25,000, and if we need to expand the number of seats then we will increase it."
"Its cost is higher than competitors. The cost mostly includes licensing. It is charged per user. The cost model could be better. When you have a big company, what does per user mean? If I have a company where I have 40,000 people who will go to access it but only 200 do, how do you license it and who do you pay for? If they hit it once, do you pay for it? The licensing is complex for a big company. It is easy for us to buy all we can eat, get an enterprise license agreement, and call it good."
"Mendix licensing cost is based on the number of apps you have on the server. At the basic level, it is free of charge, so that seems reasonable, but once you go beyond that, and when it comes to the number of users on the app, that basic structure doesn't work, and the pricing tends to get a little bit steep."
"Pricing used to be complex, but Mendix has improved that quite a bit."
"Mendix seems a bit expensive. But in terms of wanting to have less developers and higher velocity, the total cost of ownership is fine. It's not cheap, though."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business25
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise23
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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What do you like most about Mendix?
We also use Mendix Enterprise Integration for complex business logic. It's a low-code platform, so we run Mendix in the Mendix Cloud.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Mendix?
I have some idea about the licensing part, and it depends on the person and the number of applications.
What needs improvement with Mendix?
Currently, I do not see any improvements needed in Mendix. However, I have not used Mendix for the last few months, so I lack insight into any new features that might have been added.
 

Also Known As

MobileFirst, Worklight
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

UniCredit Business Integrated Solutions, Gruppo Unipol, Raymond James Financial, Toshiba GCS, CST, ABK-Systeme GmbH, BNP Paribas
Genzyme, TNT, Yahoo, Capgemini, Roche, D&B, Aegon, kpn, AZL, Sky, Arch, Penn State Univeristy, BancABC
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM MobileFirst vs. Mendix and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.