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ULTRA-LEANAI app builder (vibe coding) · Israel

Base44

Is Base44 a zero-employee company? No. Base44 was solo-founded and bootstrapped, but it had roughly 6–8 employees when Wix bought it (sources disagree on the exact number), so it was an ultra-lean company rather than a zero-employee one. It is now part of Wix.

Base44 is an AI app builder ('vibe coding'). It generates working web and mobile applications from natural-language prompts, including front end, back end, database, authentication and hosting. Wix.com acquired it in June 2025, and it now runs as a Wix product.

base44.comFounded by Maor Shlomo[1],[5]

Zero-Employee Score

—/ 100

Confidence
None
Observable
0%
Insufficient evidence for a point score: only 0% of model weight is observable (minimum 60%). Evidence-supported range 0–100.

Key facts

Classification
Ultra-Lean
A small human team with exceptional AI and software leverage.
Latest supported valuation
$92.2M
acquisition priceverified5 Mar 2026
Revenue evidence
Unknown
unknown
Founders
1
stale18 Jun 2025
Employees
≤9
self reported4 Mar 2026
Contractors
None disclosed
Recurring contractors, where disclosed
Revenue per human
Unknown
unknown
Founder hours / week
Unknown
unknown
Last verified
16 Oct 2026
Next review 14 Jan 2027

Autonomy map

How each function is executed

Rated only where a source describes the function. Unknown is not low.

  • EngineeringUnknown

    No source describes how this function is executed.

  • ProductUnknown

    No source describes how this function is executed.

  • MarketingLow

    The founder credits growth to an affiliate program, users sharing their builds, an AWS Summit keynote, B2B bulk licences and his own build-in-public posts. Meta ads were small. No source describes AI-run marketing.[9],[5]

  • SalesUnknown

    No source describes how this function is executed.

  • SupportUnknown

    In June 2025 the founder said the next gains would come from 'improving and automating support', which implies support was not yet fully automated. No source describes who handled it.[9]

  • FinanceUnknown

    No source describes how this function is executed.

  • LegalUnknown

    No source describes how this function is executed.

  • OperationsUnknown

    No source describes how this function is executed.

Zero-Employee Score

Score components

Computed by the same deterministic model as the calculator, using only evidenced inputs.

Score component breakdown
ComponentWeightInputScorePoints
Recurring workflow automation20%Unknown?—
Human-headcount dependence15%Unknown?—
Founder intervention15%Unknown?—
Agent decision autonomy15%Unknown?—
Contractor dependence10%Unknown?—
Revenue per human10%Unknown?—
AI & software economics5%Unknown?—
Approval burden5%Unknown?—
Operational resilience5%Unknown?—

Operating model

How the company operates

Before the acquisition, Base44 was a bootstrapped, solo-owned product. It generated apps with a database, storage, authentication, analytics and integrations from text prompts, using Anthropic's Claude via AWS. Growth came mostly from word of mouth, the founder's posts, an affiliate program and B2B partnerships with eToro and Similarweb. It employed about 6–8 people at the deal, reportedly hired in the month before.[5],[6],[9],[1]

After the acquisition, Wix said Base44 would continue as a distinct product. Wix's 20-F says 'many of our Wix team members transitioned to Base44-dedicated positions', and Base44 costs (compute, marketing, specialised talent) are described as substantial.[1],[2]

Founder responsibilities

  • Built Base44 as a side venture after reserve duty and publicised its growth on LinkedIn and X.[5],[8]
  • Chose the LLM vendor (Anthropic Claude via AWS) 'mostly for cost-per-performance reasons' and managed token costs and margins.[5],[9]

Stack

AI & software stack

Models
Anthropic Claude (incl. Claude 4)[5],[9]
Infrastructure
AWS[5]

Timeline

  1. May 2025

    Base44 hires its first (six) employees, per Globes.[6]

  2. 4 Jun 2025

    Founder posts that Base44 made $189K profit in May 2025.[9]

  3. 13 Jun 2025

    Wix acquires 100% of Base44, Inc. (acquisition date per 20-F).[2]

  4. 18 Jun 2025

    Wix announces the acquisition: ~$80M initial consideration plus earn-outs through 2029; ~$25M retention bonuses expected for employees in 2025.[1]

  5. 6 Aug 2025

    Wix: Base44 ARR expected to grow from 'just a few million in June' to $40–50M by end of 2025.[3]

  6. 2026

    Q1 2026: Globes reports ~$38M in Wix shares paid as earnout to the founder and some employees.[7]

  7. 4 Mar 2026

    CTech reports Base44 reached $100M ARR and that Shlomo is set to receive a further ~$90M after hitting milestones.[8]

  8. 5 Mar 2026

    Wix 20-F discloses $92.2M total purchase consideration ($18.1M cash + $74.1M contingent) plus $43.0M retention and $8M equity awards.[2]

  9. 13 May 2026

    Wix reports Base44 at ~$150M ARR as of May 2026.[4]

Provenance

Evidence table

Every observation we hold, newest first, as stated by the source. Conflicting claims are kept side by side.

Evidence table for Base44
DateMetricValue / claimSourceGrade
13 May 2026Run rate
period 2026-05
“Achieved ~$150 million of ARR as of May”

Post-acquisition figure from Wix Q1 2026 results, for Base44 as a Wix business unit with Wix resources and staff. Not relevant to the at-acquisition classification. Globes (src-base44-7) reports $100M ARR in March 2026. Excluded from headline facts: describes Base44 as a product inside Wix after the acquisition, not the company as classified.

5 Mar 2026Acquisition price
period 2025-06-13
“total purchase consideration ... $92,158 [thousand]: cash $18,058K + contingent earnout (fair value) $74,100K”

Audited FY2025 20-F, Note 3: Wix acquired 100% of Base44, Inc. on 2025-06-13. $1,000K of the cash went into escrow for 12 months. The founder's earnout depends on 'revenue-related metrics for the calendar years 2025 through 2028'. The contingent liability was remeasured to $89,531K at 2025-12-31. Not counted in purchase price: 'cash retention bonuses and other payments totaling $42,988 [thousand]' to the founder and certain employees through 2028, plus $8,000K of RSUs and PSUs, both treated as compensation. Goodwill was $80,893K and intangibles $14,130K. Closing cash ($18.1M) is far below the widely reported '$80M cash'.

5 Mar 2026Employees
period 2025-06-13
“the Founder and certain employees of Base44 are eligible to receive cash retention bonuses”

The audited filing confirms Base44 had employees besides the founder at acquisition, but does not state a number. Goodwill is attributed partly to the 'acquired workforce'.

4 Mar 2026Employees
period 2025-06
“with fewer than 10 employees”

CTech, describing the company at the time of sale. Consistent with both 6 and 8.

6 Aug 2025Run rate
period 2025-06
“grow ARR from just a few million in June to $40 to $50 million by the end of 2025”

Wix Q2 2025 results (6-K Exhibit 99.1), quoting CEO Avishai Abrahami. 'A few million' ARR in June 2025 is the closest official pre-acquisition revenue figure. An unsourced aggregator figure of $3.5M ARR before the deal (arr.club) is not recorded. The 2025 announcement said the contribution to 2025 revenue would be 'inconsequential'.

18 Jun 2025Acquisition price
period 2025-06
“initial consideration of approximately $80 million”

Wix's official announcement. It adds earn-out payments 'paid through 2029 predicated upon certain performance metrics', and expects 'approximately $25 million in retention bonus payments paid to Base44 employees in 2025'. The release does not say how the ~$80M splits between cash, contingent consideration and retention. See obs-base44-acquisition_price-2 for the audited accounting, which differs.

18 Jun 2025Acquisition price
period 2025-06
“$80M cash ... 'the deal was cash, Wix confirmed to TechCrunch'”

TechCrunch, citing Wix confirmation, also says eight employees would 'collectively receive $25 million of the $80 million' as retention. This conflicts with the audited 20-F (obs-base44-acquisition_price-2): only $18.1M cash at closing, with $74.1M contingent on revenue earnouts, and retention payments outside the purchase price. Globes (src-base44-6) reported 'an initial payment of $80 million and further milestone payments in 2029'.

18 Jun 2025Founders
period 2025-06
“6-month-old, solo-owned vibe coder”

Solo founder Maor Shlomo. Wix's 20-F (src-base44-2) refers to a single 'Founder'.

18 Jun 2025Employees
period 2025-06
“he had eight employees, Wix confirmed”

Acquirer confirmation reported by TechCrunch; a single outlet. Conflicts with Globes' six (obs-base44-employee_count-2). The figures are not reconciled; possibly different counting dates or definitions.

18 Jun 2025Employees
period 2025-06
“has only six employees who were all hired last month”

Globes; a single outlet, unattributed. 'Last month' means about May 2025, which suggests Base44 had no employees before then. Conflicts with TechCrunch's eight.

Globes [6]
18 Jun 2025Users
period 2025-06
“250,000 users”

TechCrunch, based on the founder's public posts: 10,000 users in the first three weeks and about 250,000 over six months as a standalone company. Registered users, not paying users.

18 Jun 2025Funding raised
period 2025-06
“has yet to raise any money”

Bootstrapped: TechCrunch says 'still-bootstrapped'; CTech says 'without raising external funding'.

Globes [6]
4 Jun 2025Profitability
period 2025-05
“Base44 made $189K profit in May, not $100K”

Value is May 2025 monthly profit in USD, from the founder's LinkedIn post (date derived from the post's activity ID; the page shows only a relative timestamp). He attributed the margin gain mainly to Claude 4 (fewer bugs, fewer LLM calls, longer prompt-cache window). Revenue was not disclosed; this is unaudited.

Data quality

How much of this is verified

Sources
9
8 independent
Observations
13
Verified (A/B)
5
First-party (C)
8
Weak (D)
0

Unknown fields

  • Revenue
  • Founder hours
  • Workflow automation share
  • Autonomy map
  • Founded

Verified 16 Oct 2026Next review 14 Jan 2027

Open questions

What we could not verify

  • Exact headcount at closing: six (Globes) vs eight (TechCrunch, 'Wix confirmed'). The 20-F confirms employees existed but gives no count.
  • When Base44 was founded and launched: 2024 per Globes, 2025 per CTech, '6-month-old' in June 2025 per TechCrunch. Was it a solo operation before the May 2025 hires?
  • Pre-acquisition revenue: only 'just a few million' ARR in June 2025 (Wix) and a claimed $189K May profit (founder). No exact ARR or revenue figure from a primary source.
  • How the widely reported '$80M (cash)' reconciles with the audited $18.1M cash plus $74.1M contingent earnout and separate retention and equity payments. The total eventually paid (earnouts through 2028 and 2029) is not yet final.
  • How far AI or automation ran Base44's own internal functions (support, engineering, marketing) before the acquisition; sources describe the product, not internal operations.
Submit a correction

Sources

Sources

  1. [1]

    Wix.com Ltd. (reprinted by Taiwan News). Wix Acquires Base44 (Wix.com press release via GlobeNewswire)

    Transaction announcement · Published 18 Jun 2025 · Checked 16 Oct 2026

    Acquirer's official release, read via a reprint. States 'initial consideration of approximately $80 million', earn-outs through 2029 and ~$25M in retention bonuses. Team size and Base44 revenue are not disclosed.

  2. [2]

    Wix.com Ltd. / SEC EDGAR. Wix.com Ltd. Form 20-F for fiscal year 2025 (Note 3: Business Combinations — Base44)

    Audited financials · Published 5 Mar 2026 · Checked 16 Oct 2026

    Fetched via curl (WebFetch truncated at 100K characters). Audited acquisition accounting: $92,158K total consideration, earnout on 2025–2028 revenue metrics, $42,988K retention and other payments, $8,000K RSUs and PSUs.

  3. [3]

    Wix.com Ltd. / SEC EDGAR. Wix Reports Second Quarter 2025 Results (Form 6-K, Exhibit 99.1)

    Regulatory filing · Published 6 Aug 2025 · Checked 16 Oct 2026

    Fetched via curl. CEO quote: Base44 ARR 'from just a few million in June to $40 to $50 million by the end of 2025'.

  4. [4]

    Wix.com Ltd. / SEC EDGAR. Wix Reports First Quarter 2026 Results (Form 6-K, Exhibit 99.1)

    Regulatory filing · Published 13 May 2026 · Checked 16 Oct 2026

    Fetched via curl. 'Achieved ~$150 million of ARR as of May' (post-acquisition).

  5. [5]

    TechCrunch (Julie Bort). 6-month-old, solo-owned vibe coder Base44 sells to Wix for $80M cash

    Independent press · Published 18 Jun 2025 · Checked 16 Oct 2026

    Wix confirmed the cash structure and eight employees to TechCrunch. User and profit figures come from the founder's public posts.

  6. [6]

    Globes. Wix acquires Israeli vibe coding co Base44

    Independent press · Published 18 Jun 2025 · Checked 16 Oct 2026

    'only six employees who were all hired last month'; 'has yet to raise any money'; 'founded last year' (i.e. 2024), which conflicts with TechCrunch's '6-month-old' and CTech's 'founded in 2025'.

  7. [7]

    Globes. Wix pays $38m earnout payments for Base44

    Independent press · Published 13 May 2026 · Checked 16 Oct 2026

    Post-acquisition: ~$38M in Wix shares in Q1 2026; ARR $100M in March and approaching $150M by mid-May 2026.

  8. [8]

    CTech (Calcalist). Base44 founder Maor Shlomo set to receive $90 million in cash after hitting milestones with Wix

    Independent press · Published 4 Mar 2026 · Checked 16 Oct 2026

    Says he sold Base44 'with fewer than 10 employees' and 'without raising external funding'. Another CTech headline reportedly says the $90M is in shares; not checked.

  9. [9]

    LinkedIn (Maor Shlomo). Maor Shlomo LinkedIn post: 'Base44 made $189K profit in May, not $100K'

    Social post · Published 4 Jun 2025 · Checked 16 Oct 2026

    Publication date derived from the LinkedIn activity ID; the page shows only '1y'. Founder statement, unaudited.