Sub application information is patchy

Hi Bubblies!

I’m wondering if there are any sub app tutorials out there? I have a situation where a client needs a separate database and I find the information on the forum a little bit patchy and unclear.

Before I upgrade my account I would like to at least have a clear understanding of how sub apps work and if I can integrate with my application.

Any pushes in the right direction would be really appreciated.

Thanks y’all

Tim Garrett

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Hello Tim,

I assume that the operation of sub-apps is the same as on a dedicated server. The database is therefore separated (even if it is actually hosted on the same server) from other applications. The main application is pushed to sub-apps. You have to pay for the plugins for each sub-app.

Thanks John

Sorry I have not replied earlier I’ve been on holiday. Will I have to pay for the sub application also? Or does it sit under the existing plan?

Each sub-app has to be on its own plan, unless you’re using a dedicated server and you squeeze all your apps onto that plan.

Got it. So it’s $115 a month per subapp?

I had it in my mind that I could offer SaaS - giving each user a subapp. But this won’t work unless I charge each of them more than $115 a month (my bubble cost). Is that correct?

This is a good question that maybe @eve can shed light on. My understanding is this:

  • The Main App has to be on the Production plan (or higher)
  • Each Sub App has to be on its own paid plan, but that does not have to be on the same plan

This makes sense to me, as you can then scale each customer app independently based on need. I’m only 85% sure this is how it works, though! Hopefully the Bubble team can provide some clarity :smiley:

One thing to note: according to the Pricing page, Sub-apps are restricted to the Production Plan, starting at $475 per month ($529 monthly).

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@andrewgassen You’re entirely correct!

@timgarrett111: essentially, each subapp is a copy of your parent app. This is particularly useful when you have a large number of client applications that all do the same thing but need different databases. Whenever you need to update the subapps, you just need to make changes to the parent app and push them out to all subapps, so your subapps do not need to be on a plan that would allow you as a collaborator, since you would maintain full control of the applications via the parent app.

Let me know if you have a specific question I can expand on!

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I still don’t quite get it. I doubt I can have 1000 separate customers (with 150 active users each) and run all that data through one app on the production plan. I’d prefer subapps, right? Especially for sensitive personal information like what graduate students are doing and where their funding comes from…
So what i want to have after a couple of years:
1000 academic departments (e.g. UPenn Chemistry, Ohio State Political Science, Minnesota Psychology, etc.)
Each dept pays $20/user/year and has an average of 150 users. So I gross $3000 per department per year. If I have to pay $115/dept/month for its own subapp, it costs me nearly half of my gross revenue! But if I just get a personal plan for each of those apps, I wouldn’t have the logs, backup, and scheduled workflow frequency I’d want.

Couldn’t we have a pricing level just for subapps that is around $400/year maybe?

I want this to work on bubble but the pricing has to work for an educational market. Not B2C, not B2B.

Totally agree with you, on a production plan subapps should be cheaper than stand alone to make things scalable and attractive. I’m looking into this but can’t make the numbers close and prefer to have a couple of independent apps and make every change on each.