Zappter

What the product is

Zappter App Builder is a no-code, drag-and-drop builder for iOS and Android apps, made by Zappter AG in Zurich, Switzerland. The company's site says you can create your own app "with drag and drop and zero code." The German-language page goes further, describing it as "dem einfachsten und anpassbarsten App-Builder der Welt" (the simplest and most customizable app builder in the world), which is the company's own claim. The English page is written for small business owners who want a do-it-yourself app, and it names salons, cafes, clubs, consultants, bloggers and students as examples.

Zappter AG sells more than this one product. The company home page lists Zappter App Builder next to Zappter Systems, a software suite for telecom operators, and Zappter eSIM, for building an eSIM telecom provider, and calls the company "The Future of Telco Tech." This entry is about the App Builder only. The site is offered in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish.

What you build and how

The editor is built around design freedom. The German page contrasts itself with builders that give you fixed layouts: "Vorgefertigte statische Designs und Vorlagen? Nicht bei Zappter!" (prefabricated static designs and templates? Not at Zappter!). Its real-time designer lets you change every color, every layout and every font, and the page says "Alles was du in deiner App siehst, kann umgestaltet, verschoben, versteckt und hervorgehoben werden" (everything you see in your app can be reshaped, moved, hidden and highlighted). You still start from a template: the sign-up steps tell you to register, pick the template you want and follow the instructions, then design the app and submit it. The page describes the platform as "100% anpassbar" (100% customizable) and says you can build and maintain the app without IT knowledge.

Because design is the core, the FAQ covers screen sizes directly. If your business uses an iPad for internal operations, you do not need a separate tool: you create your design and save it, create templates for different screen sizes, and import the saved design into the new template, keeping a template for each device size. The page recommends defining one for the iPad screen size you use.

Features arrive as plugins. The English page says that after signing up for a subscription and logging in to the portal, Zappter guides you through your first app at first login, and that you "use marketplace plugins to add your required app features." Every plan includes access to the Zappter Marketplace. Pricing applies to a short list of capabilities: "Pricing is only for these features: eCommerce, bookings, event management, and for landing pages," and the page points you to a Zappter Calculator for the price of your particular app. That covers the shop, appointment and event shapes of app that small businesses ask for. The sample-app list shows the range: online spa booking, salons and barbershops, cafes, clubs, consulting apps for independent contractors, blogging and content marketing apps, and a university student planner. Each has a build-steps page, and the consulting and blogging samples are marked as buildable with free plugins.

Publishing is done inside the platform. The German page says you can create the whole app online, from content creation to your app icon and app store photos, without complicated manual steps, and that Zappter runs an organized submission process that stays current with App Store guidelines, for both the Apple App Store and Google Play. The English page refers to an app store assistant for publishing. The plans also list a Progressive Web App and a custom web-app domain, so an app can have a web presence as well as store listings.

Custom work is handled through the company. The FAQ says Zappter is "not a mobile app development company," so it does not develop independent apps for businesses, but it can build your app, design your theme and test your app inside its platform. If your needs are complex and unique, it can develop a new plugin for them. You can write to the team about your requirements, and they will evaluate them and advise on the right route.

The marketplace is where integrations live. The German page headlines "Über 150 Plugins sofort verfügbar" (over 150 plugins available right away) and lists, among others, push messages, e-commerce, an event system, a booking system, a built-in CRM, email and SMS authentication, an SMS gateway with Twilio, geolocation, a QR code system, stamp cards and loyalty points, customizable forms, a tip plugin, multilingual apps, real-time chat, in-app purchases, subscriptions, a classifieds system, a delivery system, custom payment rules, an ePUB reader, DeepL, Tawk.io and a Spotify widget. Payments run through Stripe, Payrexx, PayPal and Paymob, and the English page adds Datatrans and Payrexx Twint. On the commerce side, Zappter connects to Shopify and WooCommerce, and for marketing it names HubSpot and Mailchimp. The English page also describes multi-store apps, workstations to manage orders, a built-in store manager connected to front-end sales, and sales and user behavior analytics with on-demand reports and exports. The German page says Zappter keeps your app current with the latest iOS, Android and API upgrades.

On white label, the FAQ is direct: "Currently, we don't have any." The company says it is working on an affiliate structure that focuses on white label as an option.

What the pages say about plans, limits and support

The German-language page shows the plan structure. The first plan is free ("Kostenlos") and includes an iOS and Android app, 200 MB of app storage, a custom web-app domain, a Progressive Web App, access to the Zappter Marketplace, a standard network level and HA backend services. The Standard plan costs "CHF 49.90 / Monatlich" (per month) and lists the same set with 2 GB of app storage and a premium network level.

Sign-up is free and the English page says no credit card is required to start building your first app. The honest print is in the FAQ. The company says "Zappter is a free app maker for students" and that building an app for students or non-profit organizations does not need one of the business plugins. But it also says that if you build an eCommerce store you need to subscribe to the eCommerce plugin, and if you build a full booking app you need the Reservations plugin. The same FAQ makes a point of saying that most "free" builders charge for certain areas, plans or plugins once you look closely, and that Zappter is no different for commercial apps. The English page also argues that free iOS and Android builders are "virtually non-existent" if you are trying to build a complete app, and presents its own approach as fair pricing: free at the core, subscribe to the features your business needs as it grows.

Support is a Help Center and a Community, both linked from the header and footer, plus a contact form for talking to a Zappter expert or the sales team. The English page lists online support, escalation tickets, user guides and walkthroughs, and says the team will create a design for you on request, free. The German page names the people behind it, including a Head of Customer Support and a Senior App Expert. The company home page lists partners, including Sunrise Communications AG, Cablegroup AG, Bexio AG and 1GLOBAL.

Who it suits and who it does not

Zappter suits a small business owner or founder who wants an iOS and Android app that does not look like every other builder's output, and who would like to start at no cost. A cafe, a salon, a consultant or a club can follow one of the sample builds, customize color, layout and typeface, and publish through the platform's store assistant. Students and non-profits can stay on the free plan without touching paid plugins. It also fits a business that needs different layouts for phone and tablet, since the saved-design-per-screen-size workflow is documented.

It is a weaker choice for anyone who needs a white-label program today, because the company says it has none. A team that wants custom business logic beyond the marketplace plugins has to write to Zappter about a new plugin, which the company offers to build for unusually complex needs. And once you add eCommerce, bookings, event management or landing pages, the free label stops applying, so a store or reservation app needs a plugin budget from the start.