Exploring QuickBase Alternatives: Finding the Perfect Low-Code Platform for You

The accelerating pace of change in business, and the increasing drive toward digital transformation, is causing a major shift in the role of IT. Rather than being the primary function to create, customize, and control business applications, surveys show thatbusiness-driven IT strategies now account for a significant proportion of overall technology budgets. And no-code platforms are the springboard for this trend. If you’re exploring no-code platforms for creating custom business apps, and have looked at Quickbase as a potential solution, it’s important to investigate Quickbase alternatives to be sure you’re choosing the best platform for your business needs.

This is a critical business decision, illustrated by Gartner’s prediction: “By 2025, 70% of new applications developed by organizations will use low-code or no-code technologies, up from less than 25% in 2020.” That rapid growth is due to no-code app development’s ability to deliver a new level of business agility. And with 41% of employees currently identifying as business technologists – reporting outside of IT departments and creating technology or analytics capabilities – it’s a trend where you need to be at the forefront.

Exploring Quickbase Alternatives for Your No-Code Business App Development

Quickbase is a widely adopted no-code tool for building cloud-based database apps, but there’s no one-size-fits-all software solution when it comes to data management. In addition to investigating features and capabilities, it’s important to understand each platform’s pricing model. When it comes to Quickbase, its user-based pricing model and minimum user levels present a cost-prohibitive roadblock for many businesses, especially for use cases where there are large numbers of external constituents including portals or building a ISV / software platform upon which to sell subscription services to different user tiers based on their data access level.

That’s why comparing Quickbase alternatives, assessing their strengths, weaknesses and the business environments where each is designed to shine, is the next step in your search.

Caspio

Caspio is another player in the no-code platform SaaS space that can be explored as an alternative to Quickbase. The platform enables you to create data-driven apps. You can import large datasets, set up relational data structures and create multi-step workflow automations to handle business processes.

Using Caspio’s app builder you can construct data-driven applications and you can embed them in your existing website. This feature can help maintain visual consistency across your online presence, if that’s a priority. However, its limited aesthetic customization options may leave you wanting more when it comes to matching the look and feel you want for your applications.

Caspio’s pricing model allows for unlimited builders and users, but be aware that as you scale your data pages – including forms, reports, charts, search queries and drill downs – above the number included in your plan, additional charges will apply.

Airtable

Airtable is another player in the no-code space. It presents itself as a hybrid between a spreadsheet and a database. Airtable offers a customizable and expandable grid view to visualize and manipulate data or manage projects with a kanban view. The platform offers a range of templates to jumpstart your app development. Its blocks (add-ons) enable more functionality like sending email, generating reports, and integrating with other services.

While Airtable presents users with a level of familiarity based on its similarities to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet layout, it’s limited in its ability to create connections between data tables. Because of this, complex, multi-step business applications that require advanced relational database structures, may fall outside the scope of this solution. It’s well-suited for simple to moderately complex applications, but as your needs grow and your business evolves, you might find yourself limited by Airtable’s capabilities. It is best suited to small businesses, startups, or teams within larger organizations that need a visual tool to organize and manage their data and help with project management.

Airtable offers a tiered pricing model based on the number of user seats you need. Tiers also include limited amounts of records, data, views, integrations and data security features, so it’s important to thoroughly assess your intended use case and expected scalability needs to determine if pricing and functionality can meet your no-code needs.

Kintone

Kintone focuses on collaborative workflow management. With Kintone, you can build business apps for tasks and processes using a drag-and-drop interface. From a CRM app for sales to an expense reporting app for accounting and a content calendar for marketing, you can build different types of apps based on your business needs.

Kintone offers granular user permission controls so you can decide who has access to what, down to individual fields within an application. However, some users report that while building basic applications is relatively straightforward, developing more complex applications can have a steeper learning curve, with some finding the user interface less intuitive than configuring other no-code platforms.

Kintone is the best fit for medium to large companies that require strict security controls and have the resources needed to work through the learning curve for building and using the apps and driving user adoption. Kintone’s pricing is based on your number of users, so it’s important to weigh how many team members and other users, as well as your data requirements, to determine if this no-code platform is right for you.

OutSystems

OutSystems is another alternative to Quickbase, but it’s a low-code platform versus a no-code development platform. OutSystems encourages users to apply some actual coding to create more complex web-based apps with customized functionality, when necessary.

Outsystems is a better fit for medium to large companies that need scalable, enterprise-grade web apps and extensive integration with existing systems. The platform is designed for larger, more complex projects in mind. While designed to handle complexity, smaller businesses or those with simpler needs may find it overwhelming and less user-friendly to navigate compared to other no-code platform alternatives. And, while the low-code element adds flexibility, it could require additional time and resources to complete your projects, especially if you’re starting without coding experience.

While OutSystems offers a free version to start building a single app, its pricing is primarily based on custom quotes.

Zoho Creator

Zoho Creator is a low-code application development platform for designing and building custom apps that can automate business workflows and streamline your data management processes.

A key strength of Zoho Creator is its integration capabilities. The platform empowers you to build apps that can integrate with your existing systems. Its mobile capabilities mean that if you’ve got a lot of mobile (iOS or Android) users, you can keep them all connected in real-time.

Zoho Creator can be a fit for small to medium businesses, especially those already using Zoho’s suite of applications. That said, some users report that the platform becomes increasingly complex as you attempt to build more sophisticated apps. So the learning curve could be steep if you’re looking to use its advanced features.

Zoho Creator offers a tiered pricing model based on your number of users. It also puts limits on the amount of data, workflow automations and other features based on each tier, so it’s important to complete some pre-planning work to determine your estimated cost.

Bubble

Bubble is a no-code platform known for its broad customization capabilities. It allows users to create interactive, multi-user apps for desktop and mobile web browsers with a high degree of control – from the user interface to the logic that drives the data manipulation.

While flexibility is its strong suit, that can also be a double-edged sword because the customization capabilities can come with a learning curve. This is especially true for users that lack prior experience in application development. The user interface can also seem overwhelming to new users because of the breadth and depth of available options. Bubble is best suited to businesses that require extensive application customization, and those that have the time and resources to invest in overcoming the learning curve.

Bubble’s multi-tier pricing model is primarily based on the resources and features you need. For example, higher level plans provide more capacity, faster response times and additional features like version control and priority support, so it’s important to be able to predetermine your requirements to understand cost.

Mendix

Mendix is a low-code platform for enterprise application development. It’s designed to accelerate digital transformation in larger organizations. Mendix is best suited for large businesses with complex applications. It features visual development and model-driven logic that enables users to build custom apps without extensive coding knowledge. It also features an array of collaboration tools so developers and stakeholders can communicate within the platform.

Mendix will challenge users without a technical background versus more user-friendly no-code platforms. It can serve businesses that require multi-cloud deployment because it supports a variety of cloud platforms like AWS, IBM Cloud, or Mendix’s own cloud services.

Mendix offers a multi-tiered pricing model and a free level to start building an app. It provides custom price quotes for higher levels

Knack

As a no-code online database platform, Knack simplifies the process of building powerful business apps that are customized to the unique requirements of your business. Knack lets you easily manage your data and mine it for insights. And unlike the Quickbase interface, which some users find overwhelming – especially those new to no-code platforms – Knack’s robust, user-friendly builder tools offer an intuitive drag-and-drop experience that simplifies application development so a new generation of problem solvers  can transform workflows to mirror the way your processes work within your unique requirements and can then optimize them. You can design and build the exact solution you need without any software coding experience. And Knack offers pre-designed app templates to get started fast.

Knack lets you build forms, search and filter data, set up workflows, process automations and notifications, and create custom reports and insightful dashboards to deliver the data-driven answers your stakeholders need to improve decision making – all with just a few clicks and drag-and-drop actions. Knack also offers more flexible design and customization capabilities than Quickbase. With Knack, you can easily create tailored solutions that function well and align with your company’s visual brand identity.

Scalability is another of Knack’s key strengths. As your business grows, your database needs also evolve. Knack scales with you, easily handling larger volumes of data and more complex data structures. And unlike other platforms that charge per user, Knack’s utility-based pricing model means you only pay for what you use. This can add up to significant cost savings, especially for smaller businesses or those with fluctuating user counts.

But it’s not just about data storage — Knack also prioritizes data security with granular, role-based user access capabilities. You can precisely control who has access to what data, ensuring sensitive information is always protected. And Knack lets you create custom user interfaces and web portals. These portals provide secure, curated views for individual users or roles, allowing you to deliver a personalized experience to your customers or team members. And Knack’s pricing model means you can add users without scaling your cost, so you can make sure all the right people have access to the data they need with a customized portal that makes it easy and intuitive.

And Knack’s robust analytics and reporting capabilities let you define at-a-glance dashboards for key stakeholders. You can track important metrics and KPIs in real time with actionable insights.

Finding Your Best Quickbase Alternative

Finding the right no-code platform can help you to streamline operations, automate workflows and make data-driven decisions. While Quickbase is a strong contender, other no-code platforms may offer different advantages that are more suited to your specific needs.

Choosing the right platform is the first step toward empowering your team and improving business efficiency. For businesses looking to leverage the power of their data without the typical complexities of designing and building business apps, Knack is the no-code platform that doesn’t sacrifice power for simplicity – giving you the best of both worlds.