Technologies are constantly evolving, and many companies, including web developers, now consider it essential to save time when creating tailor-made in-house applications. AppSmith and Budibase are two platforms that meet this need, offering advanced functionality and flexibility for the development of professional applications.
AppSmith is a popular Open Source platform for creating in-house tools by connecting databases and APIs, offering total customization. Budibase, on the other hand, offers an all-in-one approach to database management and application design, enabling the rapid creation of CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) applications tailored to specific needs.
What do these two tools offer in terms of user-friendly interface, team collaboration options and advanced security measures? In this review, you'll discover the powerful features of these tools and how they meet the specific needs of developers and enterprises.
What is AppSmith
Developed in 2019, AppSmith is a popular open source platform for creating and hosting internal tools on your website. It lets you connect multiple databases and APIs to create applications using real-time data. With AppSmith, you can easily create administration panels, CRUD applications and workflows.
A major advantage of AppSmith is that it's open source, with its source code available on GitHub. This means you can customize the tool to your needs and contribute to its improvement. Being a low-code tool, it's best suited to developers.
Using AppSmith's pre-configured user interface widgets (GUI components) with your databases and APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), you can create dynamic applications and implement complex procedures. It's a user-friendly platform for creating customized internal tools on your website.
Developed in 2019, AppSmith is a popular open-source platform for creating and hosting internal tools on your website. It lets you connect multiple databases and APIs to create applications using real-time data. With AppSmith, you can easily create administration panels, CRUD applications, and complex workflows.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages :
- AppSmith is an open source tool whose source code you can modify
- Benefits developers looking for advanced functionality
- Self-hosted on AWS (Amazon Web Services) Cloud Platform
- The free option offers more features than Budibase
Disadvantages :
- Requires basic programming skills
- Long learning curve
AppSmith Pricing
AppSmith has a total of three service offerings. Firstly, we have the free community offer, which consists of cloud hosting, various data sources and widgets, as well as customizable UI themes and more.
The second offer, aimed at businesses, is priced at $0.40 per hour per user, with a monthly limit of $20 per user. It includes a wide range of features perfectly suited to business needs, advanced access controls, audit logs and SSO integration for internal applications, plus many other benefits.
Finally, the third offer is designed for companies looking for customized solutions. Users are entitled to a service level agreement, customized integrations and widgets, and application migration services. In addition, the company offers these users an Airgrap edition, giving the company secure deployment of their application.
Some solutions to develop with AppSmith
- Manage recruitment: Review applications, set up interviews using the Google Calendar API and share interview feedback.
- After-sales service: send personalized messages to your customers by integrating messaging tools such as Trello and Whats'app.
- An agenda: schedule meetings with your team by allowing them to consult your Google calendar.
What is Budibase?
Budibase is an all-in-one platform that offers advanced capabilities for developing professional applications. Developed in 2019, Budibase is not only a database management tool, but also an efficient way to design applications tailored to your specific needs. With Budibase, you can easily create CRUD (create, read, update, delete) applications in a very short space of time.
This allows you to automate and efficiently manage a variety of projects, such as forms, administration panels and many other creations. Budibase opens up new possibilities for users who want to quickly create applications tailored to their specific needs, without having to engage in complex development.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages :
- User-friendly interface for non-technical users
- Quick to get started building applications
- Affordable pricing less expensive than AppSmith
- Connects to data sources and retrieves them as needed
Disadvantages :
- Free option limited in functionality
- Developers may find that Budibase offers less flexibility in terms of customization.
Budibase Pricing
Budibase comes also with 3 subscriptions offers such as free, premium and enterprise services. The free service, while interesting, limits the number of users to 05. On the other hand, users benefit from community support and have free access to create as many applications as they need.
The premium offer costs $50 per month per user. However, if you wish to take advantage of the cloud option, the monthly budget per user is $5. The privileges granted by the premium offer are an unlimited number of users, one week of automation, data backup, etc.
Finally, Budibase offers an enterprise package. To benefit from this offer, users must contact customer service directly. Privileges include multi-year contract subscriptions, AD/SCIM integration to simplify user and group management, in-depth app customization, reactive and priority customer support.
In conclusion, both tools offer affordable rates. We can say, however, that Budibase's offerings are less expensive in terms of price. But the most important thing to remember is that each of their value propositions meets specific needs.
Some solutions to develop with Budibase
- Equipment tracking and management application: improves operational efficiency, reduces risks and offers better resource management within the company.
- A sales commission calculator: this simplifies the management of commission-based payments to your employees automatically.
- A prospecting form: this solution will enable you to develop your base of potential customers and improve your communication with them.
Comparison of main differences and characteristics
AppSmith and Budibase each have their own special features. Here are the main differences and features you need to know about these tools.
User interface
AppSmith offers a grid-based interface where you can simply drag and drop predefined elements called widgets (components). These components, such as tables and forms, can be added and organized on your application's interface. On the other hand, AppSmith supports JavaScript, enabling you to make these elements dynamic. This means you can retrieve, send and transform data to other sources.
This gives you the ability to add resources and create more dynamic interactions within your application. It's ideal for developers who need to have complete control over the creation of their applications.
Budibase's interface is the exact opposite of AppSmith. It could be characterized as "modular", as it is divided into three main sections, which are like the different parts of a toolbox. These sections are: data management, design, automation and publishing.
The first section, called "data management", is like a table with which you can organize your information in a personalized way. You can create different categories and add information in the corresponding columns.
The "design" section is like a creative workshop. In fact, you have different pages or screens on which you can make the different sections of your application dynamic. Next, you can choose where to place buttons, images, text and everything else you need to make your application attractive and easy to use.
Finally, when your application is ready for others to use, you can publish it. Budibase makes this step easy by allowing you to deploy your application on the Internet.
Collaboration
End-users of your applications can benefit from AppSmith's team collaboration functionality, which improves efficiency through sharing. Collaboration is smooth and secure, encouraging the exchange of ideas and respecting confidentiality.
You have a wide choice of sharing options, whether for the whole workspace or for individual applications. Different roles, such as application viewer, developer and administrator, can be assigned, each offering varying levels of authorization and access.
Each team member is granted the appropriate authorizations in AppSmith, ensuring precise rights management. In addition, predefined roles facilitate collaboration between team members, enabling a fast and efficient workflow.
As for the collaboration option on Budibase, it's slightly more convenient than AppSmith's and offers several alternatives. To access it, simply click on the "Users" button, where you can configure access to your application. In this section, you'll have an overview of the users and groups who have authorization to access your project.
Similarly, you can customize the permissions of each user in your Budibase space, depending on what you wish to allow them to do in the application.
Users can be added easily via the search bar or by using their e-mail address. If you can't find the users you're looking for, you can always invite them by sending them an e-mail. Please note, however, that the invitation is only valid for seven days. After this period, the user will no longer be able to access the site unless you make updates.
Focus on Safety
AppSmith and Budibase work in tandem to offer you optimum protection for your sensitive data. Thanks to their secure approach and preventive measures, you can rest easy knowing that your information is in safe hands.
AppSmith's role as a proxy layer gives you a major advantage in terms of data security. AppSmith's security system has been designed so as not to retain any of your sensitive data. Instead, it acts as an intermediary, retaining only important credentials, which are then transferred to your backend (all parts not visible to users).
This approach protects you from any security holes that could compromise your sensitive data. As a result, you benefit from reinforced security and total confidentiality for all operations carried out in your application and its various sections.
By opting for Budibase's cloud (storage server), your data also benefits from enhanced security thanks to secure HTTPS connections and TLS encryption. This is an advantage over AppSmith, which is unable to store data. In fact, Budibase carefully monitors internal activities, regularly tests for vulnerabilities and carries out security audits.
Even if the unexpected happens, you don't have to worry, because the Budibase cloud saves and protects your data for every action you need to take. This means you have a complete history of your activities, and your data is safe.
Responsive
AppSmith's responsive option enables your application to adapt to different screen sizes. It automatically adjusts the layout according to the width of the browser, respecting a maximum limit. If the browser exceeds this limit, spaces appear.
However, the application does not shrink below a certain minimum limit, and displays horizontal scrolling if necessary. There's also a "Fluid" option that allows the application to fill all available browser space, with no maximum limit.
To change the layout, simply select a new option from the drop-down menu. This change applies to all pages in the application. The responsive option makes it possible to create applications that adapt easily to different devices, guaranteeing a better user experience.
With Budibase, you have the power to design applications that offer a fluid experience on different devices, whether desktop, tablet or mobile. Explore simple yet effective techniques for perfecting the design and optimizing the usability of the applications you create specifically for your team.
In this way, you can adjust component settings to suit each device, such as positioning form labels to the left on a PC and above on a mobile.
These components, which can be parameterized to adapt the application to various devices, are as follows:
- Breakpoints adjust the interface to suit the screen.
- The Flexbox organizes elements in rows or columns.
- Flex-wrap for optimal display.
- The hamburger menu is added automatically for smaller screens.
In short, although AppSmith adapts to all device screens, its support is limited when it comes to the width limit. In contrast, Budibase offers a more advanced responsive option that doesn't require horizontal scrolling to view all elements, like AppSmith.
Connecting APIs
APIs are interfaces that enable different computer programs to communicate and access the functionality of another program's data. Connecting AppSmith to a REST API enables your application to interact more effectively with it.
First of all, you need to provide the API URL and any authentication parameters. If you need to make several requests to the same API, you have another option.
On the one hand, you can configure an authenticated data source to avoid repeating this information. This avoids confusion. On the other hand, you need to configure the details of your request, such as the method (e.g., get or send data), headers (additional information for the API) and parameters (information specific to your request).
Next, you'll indicate the type of data you want to send or receive, such as JSON (a language for structuring and exchanging data) or data in the URL. If the API returns a lot of data, you also have the option of managing pagination to obtain results in stages.
The REST API is a way of accessing and manipulating data from a server using HTTP requests. Budibase supports the connection to data sources, using the REST API to add a data source of the same type (REST).
By clicking on the "REST" option in the menu, you can integrate a new data source. Next, you'll configure this data source by specifying additional parameters such as queries, default headers, authentication and variables.
When configuring a REST data source, you may want to give it a recognizable name to help you get your bearings. Queries are specific requests that you can create from scratch or import from other existing sources. These queries allow you to retrieve the data you want.
To summarize the Budibase procedure above, all you need to do is :
- add a new REST data source ;
- configure according to your needs;
- use queries to retrieve the desired data.
Taking into account their characteristics and operation, AppSmith is better suited to interacting with APIs through configurations. Budibase, on the other hand, goes beyond this by connecting to data sources and retrieving them as needed.
Integrations
Budibase integrates a large number of software packages to bring greater functionality and automation to your application. These include data sources such as :
- Integromat,
- Zapier,
- Airtable,
- MySQL,
- PostgreSQL,
- Redis,
There are many other tools available to meet different needs. Secondly, Budibase makes it easy to deploy your application on self-hosting tools such as Kubernetes, Docker and Digital Ocean.
Like Budibase, AppSmith integrates popular databases such as PostgreSQL, MySQL and MongoDB, GraphQL. To extend the possibilities, you can use APIs to access external sources that can help you better automate your workflow. There are some twenty APIs available, including those from Notion, ActiveCampaign, APITemplate.io, Shopify and Xano.
Conclusion
AppSmith and Budibase are low-code application development tools that offer advanced functionality and ease of use. AppSmith stands out for its extensive support for integrations and automation, enabling users to quickly create customized, interactive web applications.
To exploit the full potential of AppSmith, knowing how to use JavaScript will be a great asset. This is one of the reasons why it is best suited to developers in training.
What's more, Budibase stands out for its data-centric approach, offering greater flexibility and scalability for application creation. It is ideal for companies that want to develop software to better manage thousands of databases. Both platforms enable users to design and deploy applications without requiring programming skills, offering a solution accessible to all.
AppSmith and Budibase make application creation easier, faster and more affordable for individuals and businesses alike. For all your high-performance application development projects, Noxcod is committed to supporting you and putting its expertise at your service. With their proven experience in technological developments, they have a perfect mastery of tools such as Bubble, Glide, FlutterFlow, etc.
