Xano lets developers build REST endpoints visually. pylo gives your whole team one hosted system: a generated GraphQL API, permissions, flows, admin UI, forms and analytics, hosted in Germany.

TL;DR

Xano is a visual backend builder on Postgres. You create tables, then build each API endpoint as a function stack, visually or in XanoScript, and add AI agents and MCP servers on top. It is purely a backend: the admin interface, forms and dashboards for your client's team are things you build or buy separately. pylo generates the typed GraphQL API from your data model, enforces one permission model on every path into the data, and ships the admin UI, forms, flows and event analytics in the same product. If you want to hand-craft every endpoint, need self-hosting or HIPAA, Xano is a strong choice. If you build for clients who need to work with the data themselves, pylo removes the second and third tool.

What is pylo?

pylo is a Backend-as-a-Service platform from Germany that you can use to build the operating system for your company. You model entities, fields and relations in the admin panel or through the API, and pylo generates a typed GraphQL API instantly. The same permission model governs that API, the admin UI, forms, flows and the MCP server. pylo flows run business processes and automations on top of your own data model and connect to the tools you already use. With pylo you build apps, automations and products on one coherent data base across your whole team.

What is Xano?

Xano is a hosted backend platform from the US, built on Postgres. You design tables in a visual editor, and Xano generates basic CRUD endpoints per table and anything beyond that you build in the Function Stack, a visual logic editor, or in XanoScript, its own scripting language, with JavaScript and TypeScript lambdas as an escape hatch. Xano adds database triggers, background tasks, WebSocket realtime, schema versioning, branching, AI agents and an MCP server builder.

At a glance

Generated API instead of endpoint by endpoint

Xano gives you CRUD endpoints per table, and for everything a real app needs, such as a filtered list with related records or a nested write, you build or extend an endpoint in the Function Stack. That gives you full control over every route. It also means your API is a growing set of hand-built endpoints that someone has to keep in sync with the schema, document and test.

In pylo the API comes from the data model. Add an entity, a field or a relation in the admin panel and the typed GraphQL API updates at once, with filtering across relations, pagination, aggregations and mutations. Your frontend asks for exactly the fields and nested relations it needs in one query, and the generated SDK fails the build when a field it uses is renamed. Field types include relations, enums, JSON, public or private files, rich text, dates, booleans and number/text formatters, with validation built in.

Permissions that follow the data everywhere

In Xano you protect each endpoint yourself: a precondition in the Function Stack checks the user's role or token data before the logic runs. That works, as long as every endpoint gets the right check. Row- and field-level rules are logic you write per endpoint. Team permissions for your own developers are a separate RBAC feature on the Pro plan.

pylo separates tenants at the row level. Inside a tenant, any entity can act as the requester (ARO) and any entity as the requested object (ACO), with hierarchies and field-level rules. Every path into the data goes through GraphQL, so the same rules apply to the API, the admin panel, forms, flows and MCP. A new query or a new form can't skip a check, because the check doesn't live in the endpoint.

pylo flows compared to the Function Stack

Xano's Function Stack is powerful and close to code: variables, loops, conditions, external API calls and database operations, with XanoScript and lambdas on Deno for anything custom. Triggers react to inserts, updates, deletes and realtime events, and background tasks run on schedules (10 on Essential, unlimited on Pro).

pylo flows are built for business processes on top of your data model. Any event in pylo can start a flow, and so can cron schedules and incoming webhooks. Flows include retries, custom rate limiting, error handling and full event logs, and everything is statically typed. pylo ships integrations for email sending and a growing set of third-party systems, and you write your own flow actions in TypeScript. They slot into the builder like the built-in ones, there is no cap on the number of flows, and your client's team can read what a flow does.

Admin UI and forms for the people who run the business

This is the biggest gap between the two. Xano is a backend only. When a client asks where their team edits orders, the answer is a Retool app, a Softr portal or a custom admin you build and maintain, each with its own login and permission setup.

pylo's admin UI is part of the backend. You compose list and detail views from predefined components, decide who sees what and show or hide fields depending on a record's state. The form builder maps forms directly to your entities, including relations, with public or authenticated access, hidden fields, conditional rendering and submission limits per form or per user. Both use the same permissions as the API, so there is no second user model to keep in sync.

Events and dashboards built in with pylo analytics

Xano records request history, traces and an audit log of changes to the workspace. Retention depends on the plan: 24 hours on Free, 7 days on Essential, 28 days on Pro and unlimited only on Custom. Business reporting on top of the data is something you build or connect.

In pylo, every create, update and delete emits an event with the full before and after state, which you can enrich with your own event data through the API. You build dashboards on events and regular pylo data right next to your workflows. Event data and the change history of your entities are kept for as long as your account exists, on every plan.

AI and MCP with guardrails

Xano has AI integration: you build AI agents that use your function stacks as tools, and you define MCP servers in XanoScript. Agents are limited by a maximum number of steps, but can write into your data directl. The in-product Xano Agent shows you a diff before pushing to a draft, though database tables and API groups publish directly.

pylo's MCP server is ready to connect, for developers who use agentic coding and for team members who want to analyze their data. The AI gets exactly the connected user's read permissions, nothing else. pylo never applies an AI's writes directly: they arrive as proposals that a human accepts or declines inside pylo, whatever AI client someone uses.

File handling

Xano stores public files, and private files from the Pro plan, and transforms images with presets and format conversion. On the Free plan only files up to 1 GB are allowed, and they are watermarked.

pylo stores any file type in EU-hosted object storage with public or private links, a file library and no file size limit. You can build file processing, such as image conversions, as custom pylo flow actions.

Agencies and multi-tenant work

Xano has a mature agency program: client workspaces in one dashboard, transfer of a workspace to the client with one click, and client billing through Xano. A transfer creates a copy that does not sync afterwards, and each client still needs a frontend and an admin tool for their team.

With pylo, agencies run many client workspaces from one user account. Each workspace is its own tenant separated by RLS, and one login switches between them. Client teams get the admin UI, forms and dashboards in the same product, with unlimited users on every plan, and pylo can bill the agency or the client directly.

Pricing

Xano prices by plan tiers with limits on workspaces, seats, database size and background tasks. On top of Xano you usually pay for an admin or frontend tool for your client's team.

pylo's price already includes hosting, flows, the admin UI, forms, analytics and personal onboarding. Every plan has every feature and unlimited users. Plans differ only in included usage for records, flow actions and file storage.

Hosting, compliance and reliability

All pylo content data, data models and databases live in data centres in Germany. Our subprocessor list is public and names every non-EU parent company openly. A GDPR data processing agreement is part of the terms, and we never use customer data to train AI models. Paid plans come with a 99.5% availability SLA, hourly encrypted backups kept for 30 days at a separate German location, and support from the team that builds the product.

Xano is a US company. Paid plans let you choose regions in 15 countries, including Germany and the UK, while the Free plan runs in the US only. Xano holds a broad set of certifications, including SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001, and offers HIPAA as a paid add-on. Backups roll over 7 days on Essential and 14 days on Pro.

Where Xano is the better choice

We would rather tell you than have you find out later:

• You build every endpoint exactly the way you want it, with XanoScript and JavaScript/TypeScript lambdas when the visual editor isn't enough.

• Xano has a mature development lifecycle: branching, merging, schema versioning with rollback and workflow tests. pylo has no staging or schema versioning yet.

• You can self-host Xano or run it in your own cloud on the Custom plan.

• It holds more certifications, including SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and HIPAA with a BAA.

• It has a large community and many tutorials for no-code frontends like WeWeb and FlutterFlow.

If you want a programmable backend where developers craft every route, and you're fine adding the admin and form layer yourself, Xano is excellent. pylo is for teams that want that layer built in.

Where pylo is a great Xano alternative

We think these are the main reasons to pick pylo over Xano:

• An API you don't have to build. The typed GraphQL API comes from your data model, including nested relations, filters and aggregations, with no endpoint to wire up per use case.

• Permissions that hold everywhere. Rules live on the data, not in each endpoint. API, admin panel, forms, flows and MCP all go through the same permission layer.

• Your client's team can work in it. Admin views, state-dependent fields and a form builder come with the backend, so you don't add Retool or Softr with a second user model.

• Analytics you don't have to instrument. Every change is recorded as an event with before and after state and kept as long as your account exists.

• AI access that's safe for production. MCP runs with the connected user's exact read permissions, and every write goes through human approval in pylo.

• No per-seat pricing. Unlimited users and API requests and all features on every plan. Only three meters are billed: flow actions, records, and file storage/traffic.

• German hosting from a German company. Data stays in Germany on every plan, including the free one, and the DPA is part of the terms. You get a 99.5% SLA from the first paid plan, hourly backups with 30-day retention, and personal support from the people who build the product.

FAQs - Questions and answers about pylo

• Does pylo have REST endpoints like Xano? pylo's API is GraphQL, generated from your schema, plus webhooks for incoming and outgoing calls. Most REST use cases are covered by a GraphQL query or a flow with a webhook trigger.

• Can I write custom logic like in the Function Stack? Yes, pylo flows cover events, schedules and webhooks visually, and custom flow actions are plain TypeScript that slots into the builder.

• Is pylo open source? No, but you can export all data at any time as CSV or JSON or through the API. The data models, flow definitions and generated SDK code are yours to keep, even after you leave.

• Can I self-host pylo? No, but if you need specific hosting options, we can discuss them as part of the Enterprise plan.

• Does pylo scale? Yes, production workspaces of our customers already run with millions of records today.

• Where exactly is my data? Content data is in data centres in Germany and backups are kept at a different German location.

• Can I get access now? pylo is currently in private beta, you simply request access and we will set up your first entities with you on a call and onboard you personally for your first project.