Betty Blocks announced a platform restructuring designed to challenge what CEO Chris Obdam calls "the broken economics of low-code development." In a direct challenge to industry giants, the company declares it's not fixing low-code but replacing it with a model where, as Obdam states, "success doesn't come with penalties."
The announcement comes as enterprise dissatisfaction with digital platforms grows. Recent BCG research shows that while 79% of organizations say their platform's value justifies the cost, 70% are actively seeking alternatives, a contradiction Betty Blocks attributes to vendor lock-in and pricing concerns.
Low-code is broken, and we're not here to fix it, we're here to replace it," Obdam stated during the company's "Breaking Low-Code" webinar on December 4th. "The promise was speed, but the reality turned into dependency. Low-code platforms don't scale with your success. They monetize it."
Three core commitments:
1. Usage-based pricing without per-user Fees
Unlike platforms that charge per user per month, Betty Blocks charges only for active development work. End users incur no licensing fees, and applications no longer under development carry no platform costs.
The company provided specific comparisons: a PowerApps deployment requiring premium connectors for 400 users costs approximately €90,000 annually, while a comparable Betty Blocks setup would cost €10,000. For enterprises running 30+ applications, these differences compound to potential savings of €3-5 million annually.
2. Betty Blocks Open: Standards-based code portability
All applications built on the platform export as standard React (frontend) and WebAssembly (backend) code that runs on any infrastructure without modification. The platform supports multiple backend languages including Rust, TypeScript, Python, and .NET.
"In the end, the most portable aspect in software is still code itself," Obdam explained. Each exported application includes documentation for independent deployment and can run outside the Betty Blocks environment.
This addresses a significant industry problem: research shows 83% of enterprise migration projects from low-code platforms fail or significantly overrun budgets, with large-scale migration costs potentially exceeding $20 million annually.
3. Deployment sovereignty
Betty Blocks provides on-premises, EU private cloud, and hybrid deployment options. The company frames sovereignty across three dimensions: where applications run, who controls them legally, and whether organizations can export them freely.
Industry context
Traditional low-code platforms employ pricing models that tie costs directly to application success: per-user fees, per-app charges, undisclosed enterprise pricing, or complex points systems. These models often include hidden charges for premium connectors, API capacity, and storage that appear as organizations scale.
Betty Blocks argues this creates a fundamental misalignment: "When your pricing model discourages scaling, discourages adding users, and discourages building more applications, you're actively working against digital transformation," Obdam said.
The company notes that some organizations are moving applications from low-code back to traditional development because ongoing licensing costs exceed value delivered.
Technical implementation
Betty Blocks' architecture uses WebAssembly for backend logic and React for interfaces, generating standard code that integrates with conventional CI/CD pipelines and version control systems. The platform leverages open-source standards including WASM Cloud.
"If you're a React developer and you open up our code, you will understand it," Obdam said. "A low-code platform should adhere to your infrastructure. If you're a Python company, it should do Python. If you're .NET, it should do .NET."
The company has also developed AI-powered migration tools for organizations currently using PowerApps, OutSystems, and other platforms, offering guaranteed timelines and fixed budgets. "We can fix your business case within a year," Obdam stated.
Market positioning
Obdam contrasted low-code's trajectory with broader software industry trends: "The rest of the software world is moving toward openness, flexibility, and accessibility. Open source is thriving. AI is making software development more accessible than ever. The low-code industry is swimming against this current."
Betty Blocks positions itself in direct competition with Microsoft PowerApps, OutSystems, Mendix, and Appian, but targets organizations seeking to rationalize vendor dependencies or requiring deployment sovereignty for regulatory reasons.
Availability
The new pricing model and open architecture are available immediately. Betty Blocks offers a free trial and yearly contracts. Organizations can test code exportability before committing.
A technical webinar on the WebAssembly architecture and React export process will be announced.
