A Spanish company based in Valencia, Mobincube made the tech news in 2013 for raising close to 1M$ through an equity crowdfunding company. The startup had a simple goal: offering drag and drop app development based on templates so that anyone could create an iOS or Android app.
Back then, Mobincube also had plans to accelerate its efforts in the U.S.. This was reflected in their opening of a Silicon Valley office to increase credibility and worldwide market share. They also promised an expansion of their features from original simple content like Google Maps, phone calls and SMS to more advanced functions.
So fast forward a few years, and it’s time to answer the burning questions: how does the technology behind Mobincube hold up compared to the competition? Have they fulfilled any of their promises? What kind of apps are they good for? Read our detailed review to find out.
Mobincube screenshots
Mobincube Pricing
Free
Build unlimited apps with (obtrusive) ads. You get 500 000 push notifications per month.
S
You can start removing ads from your apps, but only get 40MB of ad-free storage in total. 1M push notifications. 1000 monthly users maximum.
M
Same as S plan but you get 100MB of ad-free apps. 3M push notifications and Google Analytics integration. 5000 monthly users maximum.
L
Same as above but with 15GB of data and a cloud user manager. 15000 monthly users maximum.
XL
Same as L plan but with 25000 monthly users maximum.
Pros & Cons
Unlimited free apps:
These all come with ads, but if you want the cheapest app solution, it’s hard to beat a 0$ price tag.
Optimised for ad profit:
We can’t comment on how much you can make from ads, but it’s definitely what Mobincube sell themselves on.
Database integration:
You can create complex databases for your users to find all kinds of things, from places to products.
Uninspiring templates:
It will be very hard to make an app that stands out based on what you get to begin with.
Size restrictions:
Even with the Advanced plan at $9.99 you can only build apps whose size is less than 100MB.
Intrusive ads:
Ads regularly switch places with the app menu so your users are bound to click on them accidentally. It’s really annoying and kind of a cheap thing to do.
Rating details
| criterion | rating | comments |
|---|---|---|
Ease of use |
| It’s easy enough to sign up. You don’t need to enter any credit card information and you can get started right away. The editor is a bit buggy and lacking in clear instructions. Also, prepare to run into some frustrations if you try and build an app without a template. |
Design, flexibility and templates |
| Mobincube offers 30 templates to choose from. One big plus is that you can preview a whole example app before you settle on a design. On the downside, the templates aren’t particularly exciting or modern. And if you start customising things, you have very few options such as adding pictures and changing background colours. Also you can’t preview the design changes for certain screens in real time (you have to open the app preview each time). |
Languages | You can use the website in 8 languages. However, even the English version suffered from bad translation and some sections are not translated at all. | |
Platform Support | iOS Android PWA | It is unclear if you can publish to iOS without paying an extra fee due to Apple’s new guidelines. |
App features | ||
Ad support | | Oh yes, Mobincube is very pushy about their ad support – this is probably due to the fact that they have their own ad network. However, you can also integrate AdMob or another service. |
Push notifications | | Limited depending on the price plan. The numbers reset at the beginning of each 30 day period. |
Location-based Services | | You can add points on a map and create actions when users click them (send you to a link for instance). You can also create a database of places and display how far they are from the user using GPS. Be warned that it’s not exactly intuitive though. |
E-commerce |
| You can add products, images and description – but manually as there is no CSV option. Payment only seems to be via PayPal. You can’t link to any other online shops. |
RSS feed options | | Pretty basic – you do get the option to load the RSS as a web page. |
Adding your own HTML code | | You can add a “HTML” screen and add the code you want inside. |
Social media integration |
| Basic display of a Facebook or Twitter page |
Loyalty features | | Coupons are available, but you need to create them in their Cloud service for some reason. (The reason being that you need a paying subscription to access it). |
Newsletter tool | | Not available. |
Advanced Features | ||
Team Management | | Not available. |
iBeacons | | Not available. |
API available | | Although you need to do it access it via HTTP, which is technically advanced. |
Testing | | You can download the preview app on your phone. The online preview for the editor worked one time out of four. |
Analytics | | You can use Google Analytics with the advanced plan. |
Reseller Program | | There is a reseller program. Since you get unlimited apps with Mobincube, the main advantage here is that you get 1GB of ad-free apps and a white label option. It costs $99.99 per month. |
Support |
| We asked a few questions via email and the answers came back the same day. The online resources are ok but it’s a bit hard to find what you want, especially as they mix the English and Spanish support pages. |
Fun Factor |
| The editor is too buggy, slow and strangely designed to be any fun. |
Overall rating |
2/5 | Unimpressive features, non-intuitive interface and a focus on putting ads in front of your app users’ eyes gives us an uncomfortable feeling about Mobincube. It would be very hard to recommend them to anyone at this point, except maybe if you want complex database management. |
Conclusion
So what exactly happened with Mobincube? It’s hard to know without a doubt. But the fact is that their editor is not great and can’t compare to the best solutions for creating an app without coding knowledge. Moreover, their features are some of the most basic around, apart from the database feature. But even then, it’s not intuitive to use and you’ll need a few hours or days to get them to behave like you want.
So in conclusion, here are very few reasons we would recommend Mobincube over competitors. Maybe if you want a free app and don’t mind the obtrusive apps. Or if you want to spam the Apple and Play store with hundreds of low-quality apps in order to make money from ads. But we can’t suggest you do that in good conscience, especially since we can’t even guarantee you’ll make a profit.
To be perfectly honest, we suspect Mobincube tried very hard to focus their efforts on creating apps that support their ad network. Their whole communication is focused on how much money you can make from ads, and as a business model, we don’t think it’s very solid or attractive offer for our users.
FAQ
What if I need more disk space?
You need to purchase extra space bonuses for 50€ per every 250MB pack
About Florian
He’s also a father of two, so that’s his excuse for the peanut butter on his keyboard.
