Gadget review

Gadget is a hosted JavaScript platform for building and running full-stack web apps. It combines a backend, frontend, database, custom API, and hosting in one development environment, so a team can build an app without assembling those pieces from separate services.

The platform includes a Postgres database with a spreadsheet-style interface for managing records. Backend actions run in a Node.js environment and can handle serverless API work, scheduled tasks, and background jobs. Gadget also supports third-party API connections, webhooks, and dataset syncing.

For the frontend, developers can build with React and use auto-generated components connected to the app’s API. An AI assistant has project context and can help with app development. Gadget says an app can be deployed with one command, with hosting and scaling handled by the platform. The pitch is a single JavaScript workspace from database to deployment—not a general-purpose no-code builder.

Gadget’s main advantage is consolidation. JavaScript teams can keep data, backend actions, API connections, React interfaces, and hosting in one platform. That can mean fewer services to configure and maintain, particularly for apps that rely on scheduled jobs, webhooks, or synced third-party data. The spreadsheet-style database interface also gives teams a way to inspect and manage records without working only through code.

The pricing page lists a free Hobby plan for solo developers, capped at 2 seats, 10 CPU hours, and 0.5 GB of data storage. It includes unlimited development environments and one production environment. Pro costs $35 per month and raises the caps to 10 seats, 30 CPU hours, and 3 GB of storage; it also lists 1 million platform credits per month and seven-day backups with point-in-time recovery.

That gives a small team a published paid entry point rather than requiring a custom quote from day one. Premium is listed at $350 per month, with higher limits: 25 seats, 150 CPU hours, 15 GB of storage, and 5 million platform credits per month.

The limits matter if your app grows beyond a small project. Hobby’s 10 CPU hours, 0.5 GB of storage, and single production environment leave little room for heavier production use. Pro raises those ceilings, but still caps teams at 10 seats, 30 CPU hours, and 3 GB of storage. Premium costs $350 per month, so the jump from Pro is substantial for a team that needs more capacity.

Going over the listed allowances can add costs. The pricing page lists extra CPU time at $0.30 per hour, additional data storage at $1.50 per GB, and additional platform credits at $1 per 100,000 credits. AI assistant credits are listed separately at $25 per 100 credits. Other possible add-ons include execution capacity at $25 and additional production environments at $10 each.

Annual billing prices are not published, and Enterprise pricing is custom. Teams should map expected seats, CPU use, storage, and assistant-credit needs before treating the monthly plan price as the full cost.

Gadget’s Hobby plan is free, but it is capped at 2 seats, 10 CPU hours and 0.5 GB of data storage. It includes one production environment. The pricing page lists Pro at $35 per month, with a 10-seat cap, 30 CPU hours and 3 GB of storage. Premium jumps to $350 per month—10 times Pro—for up to 25 seats, 150 CPU hours and 15 GB of storage. Enterprise pricing is custom; annual prices are not published.

Watch the usage charges as well as the plan jump. Listed add-ons include $10 for no cold starts, $20 for Smart CDN and $25 for execution capacity. Extra CPU time is $0.30 per hour; additional data storage is $1.50 per GB. AI assistant credits cost $25 per 100 credits. The page lists monthly pricing but no annual billing prices, so there is no published annual discount to compare. If your app outgrows its included CPU, storage or credits, the advertised plan price may not be the whole bill.

Moving to Gadget means bringing more than a frontend: the platform combines React interfaces, a Postgres database, backend actions, API connections and hosted deployment. A switch may involve adapting those app components to Gadget’s environment, rather than moving only a website. The published material does not describe migration tools, supported import formats or a data-export process, so check those details before committing existing data or workflows.

Leaving could mean moving the same pieces elsewhere: database records, server-side actions, integrations and hosting. The source does not publish how portable those components are or what export options are available, so we can’t say how much work an exit would take. That uncertainty is worth weighing against the convenience of keeping the stack together. We also don’t have Reddit reports in the published material, so we can’t substantiate a claim about what typically makes users leave. If you expect to exceed included CPU time or storage, price those limits and the relevant add-ons before switching.