BuildShip
BuildShip is an AI-powered no-code backend platform that lets users build workflows, APIs, and AI agents via natural language prompts, serving no-code developers, enterprise teams, and regulated industries with compliance certifications.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2023
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What BuildShip does
BuildShip, operated by Rowy Inc. (Delaware C-corp, d/b/a BuildShip), is a remote-first AI-powered no-code/low-code backend platform founded in 2023 by Harini Janakiraman (CEO) and Shams Mosowi (CTO). The platform enables users to describe backend logic in natural language and have an AI builder generate workflow nodes and flow logic, which can then be refined in a visual drag-and-drop builder connecting 50+ ready-made integration nodes spanning AI models, databases, communications, payments, storage, and no-code frontends. Output includes REST APIs, scheduled jobs, database CRUD operations, and AI assistants, with optional export as production-ready JavaScript for self-hosting on Vercel, GCP, AWS, or Azure.
The business model combines product-led growth (free tier entry, self-serve sign-up) with a credit-based subscription across Starter, Pro, and Business tiers, an enterprise sales motion for large customers requiring compliance, and a 30% affiliate program. Customer base spans regulated enterprises (WHO, Deriv, Accel) and long-tail SMB/indie users (99Hunters, EPYC, OPENFORMAT, Domainpedia, eScripts), with revenue split between recurring subscriptions and usage-based credit consumption. Compliance certifications include GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, and ISO 27001, enabling enterprise procurement.
The company raised $3M in early 2023 from Worklife VC (lead) and AI Grant, with strategic angels including Guillermo Rauch (Vercel), Nat Friedman (ex-GitHub), Balaji Srinivasan (ex-Coinbase), and Daniel Gross. The BuildShip V2 release in November 2024 marked the transition to a production-grade platform, followed by 2025 expansion into MCP-ready agent tooling, AI Assistant Builder, and Enterprise tier features.
BuildShip firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- BuildShip
- Legal name
- Rowy Inc.
- Website
- https://buildship.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2023
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- BuildShip is an AI-powered no-code backend platform that lets users build workflows, APIs, and AI agents via natural language prompts, serving no-code developers, enterprise teams, and regulated industries with compliance certifications.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
BuildShip industry classification
Industry- Product category
- AI Workflow and Backend-as-a-Service Platform
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Low-Code/No-Code Integration Builders (BPAMAOAL)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Data App Builders (Forms, Portals & Internal Tools) (HDAEAKAK)
Keywords
Where BuildShip is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
BuildShip business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- Subscription Plans: Credit-based pricing with multiple tiers (Starter, Pro, Business). Users pay for credits consumed by workflows, AI generation, and other operations. Annual discounts available.
- Usage-Based Credits: Pay-per-use model where users consume credits based on workflow executions, AI generation usage, and other platform operations.
- Free Tier: Free entry tier allowing users to start building without upfront payment, with upgrade path to paid plans.
- Enterprise Custom Solutions: Custom solutions and tailored functionality for enterprise businesses with unique needs beyond standard features.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | Monthly | Starter Plan - Entry level for individuals and small projects |
| Usage-based | Monthly | Pro Plan - Mid-tier for growing teams and projects |
| Usage-based | Monthly | Business Plan - High-volume enterprise tier |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
BuildShip product offering
Product offeringCore offering
BuildShip is an AI-powered visual workflow builder and no-code/low-code backend platform that lets users describe backend APIs, scheduled jobs, and AI workflows in natural language. The AI Builder generates flow logic and nodes that can be visually tweaked, connected to 50+ ready-made integrations, and exported as production-ready JavaScript for self-hosting or deployed on BuildShip Cloud.
Product overview
BuildShip is a unified AI-powered low-code/no-code backend-as-a-service platform positioned as an open-source Firebase alternative. The core product is the BuildShip visual workflow builder, which combines AI-powered prompt-to-flow generation with drag-and-drop nodes and full code access. The platform integrates the Core Platform with specialized sub-products including the AI Assistant Builder for creating custom AI agents, Keyless Nodes for rapid AI integration, MCP-Ready Tools for AI agent frameworks, and an Enterprise Tier for self-hosting and compliance. The ecosystem includes a Templates marketplace, an Affiliate Program, and dual deployment options (BuildShip Cloud for managed hosting and Self-Host for customer infrastructure). Users can generate workflows from natural language prompts, connect to 50+ ready-made nodes, export code for self-hosting, and deploy AI-powered backend services without extensive coding knowledge.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- BuildShip (Core Platform) AI-powered visual workflow builder enabling users to build APIs, scheduled jobs, database CRUD operations, and backend logic using natural language prompts and 50+ drag-and-drop nodes. Targets developers and enterprise teams needing scalable AI workflow automation without extensive coding.
- AI Assistant Builder Standalone tool for creating custom AI assistants with tool access, database connections, and personalized experiences. Supports OpenAI, Claude, Azure, and Groq assistant backends. Targeted at teams building domain-specific AI agents.
- Keyless Nodes Pre-authenticated nodes for top AI providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, etc.) enabling rapid prototyping without manual API key management. Users can bring their own keys for cost optimization. Targeted at developers wanting fast AI integration.
- MCP-Ready Tools Custom tools designed for AI agents that can be connected to AI agent frameworks via Model Context Protocol (MCP). Templates library allows developers to build and share MCP-ready tools for AI agent workflows.
- BuildShip V2 Major version release of the BuildShip platform introducing production-grade scalability, JavaScript export, MCP-ready tools, enterprise-grade security features, and AI assistant capabilities. Targeted at teams needing production-ready AI workflow infrastructure.
Quantifiable outcome
- Development speed increased by 10X for Web3 application building
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use BuildShip
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
BuildShip technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration54 records
AI capability15 records
Feature8 records
BuildShip partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- FlutterFlowcoreDeep integration with FlutterFlow allowing users to build visual frontends in Flutter while using BuildShip for backend APIs, workflows, and database operations. Seamless connection between FlutterFlow triggers and BuildShip workflows.
- BubblecoreIntegration with Bubble no-code platform enabling Bubble users to add AI-powered backend workflows and API endpoints.
- OPENFORMATcoreStrategic partnership enabling Web3 application building. BuildShip creates backend logic connecting OPENFORMAT's on-chain game mechanics and reward systems with user-facing applications. Joint case study showcasing 10X development speed improvement.
- OpenAIcoreIntegration with OpenAI models for AI-powered workflow generation, AI Assistant nodes, and GPT-based automation capabilities.
- AnthropiccoreClaude AI integration for building AI assistants and running LLM-powered workflows.
- StripecoreStripe payment integration for handling subscriptions, webhooks, and payment processing within workflows.
- MongoDBcoreMongoDB integration including database triggers, CRUD operations, and search functionality for workflow automation.
- SupabasecoreSupabase database integration with triggers, CRUD operations, and search capabilities.
- TwiliocoreTwilio integration for messaging automation including WhatsApp and SMS capabilities in workflows.
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP)coreSelf-hosting deployment option on GCP, Google Cloud Storage integration, and Google Workspace integration.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreSelf-hosting deployment option on AWS including S3 storage integration.
- Microsoft AzurecoreSelf-hosting deployment option on Azure for enterprise customers requiring Azure infrastructure.
- VercelcoreSelf-hosting deployment option on Vercel for frontend developers using Vercel infrastructure.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights7 records
BuildShip competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Zapier: Zapier is the dominant no-code workflow automation platform with thousands of app integrations and a large SMB/enterprise base. It directly overlaps BuildShip in connecting apps, automating workflows, and exposing APIs without code, but at much larger scale and broader consumer reach.
- Inngest: Inngest is a developer-first durable workflow and event orchestration platform. It overlaps BuildShip on scheduled jobs, event-driven workflows, and self-host deployment, targeting engineering teams rather than citizen developers.
- n8n: n8n is an open-source, self-hostable workflow automation platform with a visual node-based builder. It competes head-to-head with BuildShip's self-host, full-code, and AI node capabilities and shares the developer-focused audience.
- Make: Make (formerly Integromat) is a visual automation platform with deep app integrations and complex multi-step workflows. It targets the same no-code/low-code builder audience as BuildShip, with stronger brand recognition in European and enterprise markets.
- Pipedream: Pipedream offers developer-focused workflows with code-level customization and managed infrastructure. It directly competes with BuildShip's prompt-to-flow plus JavaScript export model and shares the API-first, code-friendly positioning.
Broad incumbents
- Retool: Retool is a widely adopted low-code platform for building internal tools, dashboards, and admin panels. It is broader in scope than BuildShip but overlaps on the internal-tools, backend-API, and enterprise-automation use cases.
Emerging players
- Stack AI: Stack AI is an enterprise-focused AI agent and workflow builder with a visual interface for connecting LLMs, data, and tools. It targets similar use cases to BuildShip's AI Assistant and prompt-to-flow features with strong enterprise security positioning.
- CrewAI: CrewAI is an open-source framework for orchestrating multi-agent AI systems. It is an adjacent AI agent infrastructure play that intersects BuildShip's MCP-Ready Tools and AI Assistant builder on the emerging agent tooling stack.
- Vellum: Vellum is an AI development platform for building, evaluating, and deploying LLM workflows. It overlaps BuildShip's prompt-to-flow and AI node capabilities and is increasingly competing for the same AI workflow builder audience.
- Lindy AI: Lindy lets non-technical users build AI agents that automate workflows across tools. It overlaps with BuildShip's AI Assistant Builder and prompt-to-flow but is positioned more toward business users than developers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
BuildShip social profiles
Digital presenceBuildShip compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
BuildShip financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
BuildShip leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
BuildShip funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
BuildShip M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about BuildShip
What does BuildShip do?
BuildShip is an AI-powered visual workflow builder and no-code/low-code backend platform that lets users describe backend APIs, scheduled jobs, and AI workflows in natural language. The AI Builder generates flow logic and nodes that can be visually tweaked, connected to 50+ ready-made integrations, and exported as production-ready JavaScript for self-hosting or deployed on BuildShip Cloud.
Is BuildShip a public or private company?
BuildShip is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was BuildShip founded?
BuildShip was founded in 2023. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is BuildShip based?
BuildShip is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does BuildShip make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Subscription Plans are the primary driver. The others are usage-Based Credits, free Tier and enterprise Custom Solutions.
Who are BuildShip's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Zapier, Inngest, n8n, Make and Pipedream. Retool is listed as a broad incumbent. Emerging players are Stack AI, CrewAI, Vellum and Lindy AI.
Does BuildShip have an API?
Yes. BuildShip provides a REST API with standard HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) for building API endpoints. The platform supports time and event-based triggers alongside HTTP triggers. Workflows can be exported as production-ready JavaScript. Users can create custom nodes with code logic and connect to external services via API calls, webhooks, and OAuth-based authentication. Developer documentation is at docs.buildship.com.
What industry is BuildShip in?
BuildShip's product category is AI Workflow and Backend-as-a-Service Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAOAL, Low-Code/No-Code Integration Builders, with a secondary code of HDAEAKAK, Data App Builders (Forms, Portals & Internal Tools). Its SIC code is 7372.