What would you build first in Bubble?
Make a booking request that a staff member can mark as approved. The form is one screen. A workflow is the sequence of actions that runs when someone uses it, such as saving the date and setting the status to Pending.
- Check the practice environmentUse a fresh project with fictional records and only test accounts you control. Confirm the Data tab is on Development and the app has no live connections or actions that send messages, collect money or change an external calendar. Keep the exercise on paper if you cannot confirm those conditions.
- Define one requestGive a booking request an owner, a date and a status. Set rules that let its owner read it and let only the staff role approve it. In the visual editor, make the submit button create a Pending request.
- Check the two roles in PreviewSubmit as an ordinary test member, then open a separate session as a second member. The first should see their own request and the second should be unable to read or approve it. Use the test staff account to approve it, then check that the first member sees Approved.
Where do records and accounts live?
Bubble provides the app’s database and user accounts. You decide who can read a record and which actions they can take.
A privacy rule can stop the wrong account from reading a booking even if it knows the booking’s address. Set the rule in the database. Hiding a button on the screen leaves any underlying action permissions unchanged.
Add a condition to the approval workflow so it runs only for staff. If you later connect a calendar or payment service, configure separate test credentials using the connector’s documented private authentication settings. An app’s data rules do not control what a connected account can do.
What changes when you deploy?
Preview opens Bubble’s Development version. Deploy transfers your app changes to the Live version on a paid web plan.
Development and Live have separate Bubble databases. Fake requests created in Development stay there when you deploy app changes. Before deployment, check the live address and the destination for each connected service independently. If a form has real effects, start with a read-only check after the release.
What does a small web app cost to run?
Bubble charges for the app plan and measures work the app performs in workload units. Searches, workflows and web requests can add to that total. AI features in the editor have a separate credit allowance.
Check the workload chart after trying a representative action in Development. The figures in the table are plan allowances, so the same number of visitors can use different amounts of work. On paid plans, additional workload can cost extra. If you disable overages and reach your workload limit, Bubble says it takes the app offline until you add capacity, enable overages or reach the next billing period.
| Web plan | Price | Included monthly | Where it runs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 50,000 workload units and 500 AI credits | Development |
| Starter | US$32 per month, billed annually | 175,000 workload units and 1,000 AI credits | Development and Live |
On a small screen, scroll the table sideways to read every column.
What can you take to another host?
Bubble’s paid plans let you export records from the Data tab as CSV files. A Bubble app runs on Bubble, and the editor does not export it as runnable code for a different host.
For a practice export, switch to Development and choose a view with only fictional records and fields you have approved for export. The owner’s export includes every selected field in that view without applying the app’s privacy rules. On Free, write down which fields you would need to recreate one booking. Keep a separate list of the screens, workflows, sign-in setup and uploaded files you would have to reproduce or move.