AppSheet: similar but different

[Shiv]

I was watching a YT video of a filmmaker from our state who is a bit geeky and likes to use new technology and he mentioned an app that they used to track the Web series production, which they wrapped up recently. It was a simple-looking app and for the vast majority of the time, I felt it was glide itself. But he told it’s built using AppSheet.

At this point - the ignorant me - went and looked up AppSheet and saw that is kind of in line with glide itself but it has more or less similar features and some advanced and some not so much. The UI looks far more overwhelming but the DB options are something to crave for. ( David’s post earlier in the day about Excel backend tempted me to ask this question).

How many of you No-Code gurus here, use AppSheet also for your client solution and your experience so far?

Apologies if this post sounds like a comparison one but it’s not intended for it.

-Shiv

[nathanaelb]

Hi @Shiv, about a year ago I was looking for a tool to turn a Google spreadsheet into something a little bit more visual and friendly.

I feel comfortable sharing the list of tools I researched at the time (yeah Google Keep, told you my life would be rough without Google products ):

(@JackVaughan @david @Mark @Jason If you feel like sharing such a list is inappropriate in the community forum, please let me know of course and I can amend my post or remove it entirely.)

This is a copy-paste, please do your own research as this list is probably outdated now:

– Nocode development platforms –
AppSheet (pricing per user)
Awesome Table: visualize/view the Google Sheets in the browser (diff. formats)
Glide (pricing per app)
Bubble (web apps, website)
Carrd
Webflow
Adalo
BettyBlocks - Pricing per app complexity
Caspio
Claris (ex-FileMaker)
Quick Base
Spreadsheet Converter (licence-based, limited options)
DraftBit

– Gated app –
Memberstack
Memberspace

You can also check out Makerpad or Nucode to discover other tools.

Every builder/developer has their own set of criteria when choosing a tool. Mine were: minimalist app design that doesn’t allow me to mess up (I cannot design for my life), simple to build, based on Google Sheets, affordable to get started to see if I might stick to this, fun (!), seems like the company will go somewhere (team, speed of development).

Glide fit all of this. And more. Glide Learn is special: @JackVaughan’s way of presenting information could not fit my learning style better, I love his explanations, the information is easy (for me) to digest. What an incredible talent Jack is, I swear. Also, I had not at all anticipated the importance of the Glide community. I didn’t know it at the time, but the strong community has made a huge difference in my app building journey.

I tried a few other solutions before choosing Glide.
Bubble: the learning curve was too steep for me.
AppSheet: it felt too pricey to get started and I was disappointed by how the apps looked.
BettyBlocks: I tried quickly but for some reason didn’t get into it.

I tried Glide and was instantly hooked. Now Glide feels like a family anyway, so they are stuck with me

So I haven’t told you anything about AppSheet because I never got that far. I could just share my journey about choosing the tool that fit my needs and why I chose Glide.

[yinon_raviv]

Every word

[Golaki]

Glide already has a detailed post on it.

Glide versus AppSheet • Glide

I second @nathanaelb. I tried Appsheet and Bubble before Glide as they can connect to multiple databases. But, the intuitiveness and ease of Glide is unparalleled.

And of course, our wonderful community.

[ThinhDinh]

@nathanaelb

Glide feels like a family anyway

Everything is beautifully worded, but especially this. This gets me into the forum everyday.

[Shiv]

Awesome stuff. Thanks so much for your journey @nathanaelb - My journey has been pretty recent but has been wonderful when it comes to Glide. I went from figuring out whats Glide to making an app and going Pro with it etc within 2 months because I was able to learn and do things faster ( not to forget the best part of Glide being its amazing community - which everyone everywhere are jealous about ). Btw I did try to learn adalo and bubble but just lost it in the beginning itself. Carrd didn’t impress me with the feature set at all.

@Golaki Never knew about this link at all. Good to see some inspiration floating around between glide and appsheet.

Having said that not sure how many of you attend the weekend NoCode Clubhouse rooms and I get to bump into so many suggestions and recommendations but eventually I have people say if you want something quicker and with the kind of feature set you want then stick to Glide

-Shiv