Show HN: Budibase – An open-source low code platform

• budibase

  332 20,600 10.0 TypeScript

  Budibase is an open-source low code platform that helps you build internal tools in minutes 🚀

  

I've been looking for a no-code solution to quickly build webapps on top of APIs exposed for mobile apps. I've been documenting OpenAPI specs[0], and evaluated most Nocode solutions in the market, trying out the "Rest API" integration in all of them.

Did the same for Budibase, and here's some feedback (on just the REST API integration):

1. Please link the (?) icon to the correct place in the docs. eg, if I'm on the REST screen, it makes more sense to send me to https://docs.budibase.com/quickstart-tutorials/crud-app-with..., instead of https://github.com/Budibase/budibase/discussions/

2. Provide html input placeholders in all fields. Understanding whether "Url" field refers to the base URL, or a complete endpoint URL (different platforms treat this differently) is confusing. Even things like whether or not it needs a trailing slash. Having a placeholder with a standard API (such as OpenAPI Pets example) makes it easier.

3. The Jinja template format is great (I don't think any other platform came close to what this simple solution does) - but it isn't documented well enough. The API endpoint creation form should guide me to it as a possibility - without me having to look for it.

4. Really liked the auto-schema detection.

5. The forms really need to be more explanatory. ("Parameters" could refer to HTTP body parameters, or REST API parameters, but it's unclear)

6. Rough edges such as [1] should either be fixed, or automatically be disallowed.

As an aside, I'm curious why the entire nocode industry docs are on GitBooks.

[0]: https://stoplight.captnemo.in/

[1]: https://github.com/Budibase/budibase/discussions/1385#discus...

• appsmith

  233 31,450 10.0 TypeScript

  Platform to build admin panels, internal tools, and dashboards. Integrates with 25+ databases and any API.

  

Appsmith founder here. Congratulations on launching Budibase! I think it's a beautiful product.

Like MJshanks mentioned, there's some overlap in the usecases but there are significant differences in the platform direction. Budibase is more no-code, while Appsmith is geared towards developers aiming to build complex applications.

Appsmith is a more popular and mature tool with high quality documentation, video tutorials and stellar community support. The GitHub stars, issue list, and size of Discord community reflect this. [0]

1. According to users who've tried both, Appsmith's UX is simpler and enables building information dense UI. Appsmith has drag and drop to build absolute UI vs. relative positioning in Budibase. This does make Budibase apps more mobile responsive than Appsmith ones. Links to comments by other HN users [1] [2]

2. Appsmith is a more powerful platform with a high ceiling and low floor for entry. You can build simple apps quickly by auto-generating them. In Appsmith, you can write full-fledged JavaScript anywhere on the platform. This ensures all your business logic is always expressed correctly. You can map over data, merge data from different data sources, trigger conditional workflows, and conditionally control widget properties all with a few snippets of code.

Few more feature differences:

1. Appsmith has more UI components and support for 100+ charts

2. Built in git sync for version control

3. Real-time commenting and real-time editing(WIP) to enable collaboration between users

4. Appsmith has organizations/workspaces to help freelancers manage multiple projects

5. Error logger and linter to debug issues

[0] https://github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28991242

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28304152

• WorkOS

  workos.com sponsored

  The modern identity platform for B2B SaaS. The APIs are flexible and easy-to-use, supporting authentication, user identity, and complex enterprise features like SSO and SCIM provisioning.

  

• Hugo

  548 72,452 9.8 Go

  The world’s fastest framework for building websites.

  

Hi,

Nope it isn't - our website is built with hugo https://gohugo.io/

Our hosting dashboard is built with svelte.

Suggest a related project