Base44 to AWS

Base44 to AWS, step by step

Here is what each Base44 feature becomes once it lives on AWS.

AWS — Amazon Web Services, Amazon's rent-a-server business — is where the apps I'm asked about most often end up. This page is the whole route for moving a Base44 app to AWS: what the export hands you, which AWS service takes over each job Base44 was doing, and how the switch happens while your app keeps running.

The assessment is free, and nothing changes on your app until you say so.

What moves, and what has to be rebuilt

Base44's export gives you the frontend code only. That single fact shapes every step below.

Comes with you
The frontend

Every screen your users see, as real code. It gets hosted on AWS almost as-is.

Gets rebuilt on AWS
The backend

Your database, your login system and your users' files all live on Base44's servers. Each one is rebuilt on an AWS service you own.

That's not a dead end. It's the work list.

Which AWS services replace which Base44 features?

AWS has a service for every job Base44 was doing behind the curtain. Here's the mapping I use, with each one in plain words.

Your screens
S3 + CloudFront

The exported code becomes a set of files served from S3, Amazon's file storage. CloudFront keeps copies of those files near your users, so pages open fast whether they're in Sydney or Chicago.

Your database
RDS (PostgreSQL)

RDS is a database that Amazon runs and patches for you. PostgreSQL is the database engine inside it — old, boring and trusted, which is exactly what you want holding your records.

Your logins
Cognito

Amazon's login service. It stores user accounts, checks passwords and handles resets, so the most security-sensitive part of the rebuild doesn't get written from scratch.

Your users' files
S3

Photos, documents, attachments: everything your users uploaded goes into a storage bucket in your account. Same warehouse as the screens, different shelf.

The behind-the-scenes logic
Lambda + API Gateway

Lambda runs small pieces of code only when they're called, and bills only for those moments. API Gateway is the front door that takes each request from your app and hands it to the right piece. Together they do the invisible work Base44 was doing.

AWS has other valid picks for every row of this table. These are the ones I reach for first because they're simple to run and cost little when idle.

The move, in order

Seven steps. Your app on Base44 keeps running through all of them.

1
Open your own AWS account
In your name, on your card, from day one. If we part ways mid-project, everything built so far is already yours.
2
Export the frontend from Base44
The code goes straight into a repository you own. Exporting is a copy, not a move. Nothing changes on the running app.
3
Rebuild the backend
Database on RDS, logins on Cognito, file storage on S3, app logic on Lambda. This is the bulk of the work, because it's the part the export doesn't give you.
4
Rewire the frontend
The exported screens still ask Base44's servers for their data. Every one of those calls gets repointed at your new backend.
5
Copy the data and check it
Your records are copied into the new database and compared against the originals, count for count. Nothing is deleted from Base44.
6
Test side by side
Both versions run at once. You work through your own checklist on the AWS version, at your own pace, while users carry on with the old one.
7
Cut over
Your domain points at AWS. You cancel Base44 whenever you're comfortable. That decision stays yours.

The price floor, the fixed written quote and how the risk is removed are all on the Base44 migration page.

What will AWS cost you each month?

I won't put a number here, because it would be a guess dressed up as a fact. What I can tell you is what drives the bill: how much data you hold, how much traffic you get, and how much your users upload. AWS charges for use, so a quiet app costs little and the bill grows only as the app does.

Two things matter more than the amount. The bill arrives in your own account, visible from the first week, with no invoice passing through me. And unlike a platform subscription, no one can reprice your whole business in one email.

The assessment includes a cost estimate for your specific app, based on your real data and traffic.

Questions founders ask about the AWS move

No. The accounts are opened in your name and the handover is in plain words: what each service does, what it costs, and who to call if I get hit by a bus. You own it the way you own your car without being a mechanic.

Yes, if they've built and run a backend before. The map on this page is the same one they'd follow. Where it goes wrong is usually the data copy and the login rebuild, so budget the most care there.

It depends on how much backend Base44 was quietly doing for you, which is exactly what the free assessment measures. What I won't do is guess here. After the assessment you get a fixed date in writing.

No. The AWS version is built beside the running app, you test it against your own checklist, and the domain only switches after it passes. Base44 keeps serving your users until that moment.

Sometimes, honestly. AWS charges for what you use, so a small app runs cheap. But a steady, simple app can be happier on a plain server at a fixed price. If that's you, the assessment says so and you save the difference.

Find out what your move looks like

30 minutes on a call. You'll leave with the AWS shape of your app and an honest read on whether the move is worth making now.

Book a migration assessment →

Free, no obligation. If AWS is the wrong fit for your app, I'll say so on the call.