MIT App Inventor vs Progate

MIT App Inventor is a free, browser-based platform for creating, testing, and sharing mobile apps with block-based programming. Its Designer is used to choose components, and its Blocks Editor is where users program app behavior. Projects can include games and media, AI for images, sounds, and text, surveys and charts, maps, sensors, and internet-connected devices. The MIT AI2 Companion app supports testing as an app is built on iOS and Android devices over Wi-Fi. Users can share projects for others to load and remix, then package completed apps for installation on Android. Although apps can be built for Android and iOS, the getting-started information says packaged app building and installation are Android-only for now. The browser tool supports Chrome, Firefox, and Safari on most laptops and desktops, plus Chromebooks, iPads, and Android tablets. A Google account is required. Creators own their apps and can download or delete them from the server. MIT says it tracks site usage and project-development information and may log device and browser details.

Progate is an online programming-learning service designed to take beginners toward becoming creators. Lessons combine illustrative slides, a browser-based coding environment, and ordered learning paths. Listed subjects include HTML and CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Ruby, Ruby on Rails5, PHP, Java, Python, Command Line, Git, SQL, Sass, Go, and Node.js. Mobile apps for Android and iOS provide slides and keyboard layouts optimized for phones and tablets; the service is also listed for macOS and Windows. Progate has a free plan with some introductory lessons. Plus provides all lessons: $14.99 a month, $12.99, paid once for six months, or $9.92, paid once for 12 months. The longer plans are paid at registration, exclude taxes, and auto-renew. Progate for School offers eligible schools free access to two selected language-course groups and team progress management. The company was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. Its English web service and English mobile-app interface are scheduled to be discontinued on September 30, 2026; code and certificate exports must be downloaded from the web platform before then.