Front end for Airtable recommendations

[Andrew_Davies]

Hello all

I know there is no "one size fits all" answer to this question - but I am desperate to get it resolved.

Keen on anyones ideas / thoughts on a front end solution for Airtable.  At the moment I use lots of shared bases - which does the job, but I would love other users to be able to edit and comment on records.

Requirements are :

• Ability to edit / update / add Airtable records
• All data / backend to be stored in Airtable 
• Needs to look clean / classy / professional / snappy - but I would be creating a functional website used to manage projects - not necessarily sell things
• Ability for users (that I invite) to be able to log in and add comments   Only up to about 10 users.  Log in process should be very easy (I like Glideapps method of using an email pin)
• Grouping a list of data essential (ie - grouping by category / type) - just like you can in an Airtable grid view.
• Scaleable - initially I want to use it as a simple "Maintenance log" - where users can log issues.  Eventually I would like to use it for inventories, schedules, condition reporting etc.
• Ideally priced around $30 p/month
• IN active development - being improved all the time

So far I have tried :

• Softr is winning for me at the moment. Built a nice website this morning.  Could do with a few more layout options - but I may be missing something.  I would need the professional plan which is over my budget though (typically - I only need a little more than the cheapest paid plan offers)
• Glideapps is promising too - but I have doubts over its scaleability.
• Stacker just looks too expensive.  
• Miniextensions looks good, but I just don't get their pricing/
• Airtable Extensions would have been ideal(ish) - except for the lack of custom domain.  But Airtables pricing is nuts.  I could manage with users just commenting - with 10 users that would be approx $200 p/month - not worth it.
• Have also tried Pory - didn't get very far - happy to give it another go.

Any thoughts / suggestions would be much appreciated!

Andrew

[Andrew_Davies]

I am leaning towards Glide if anyone is interested. 

anyone have any experience with Glide?

[Lforino]

@Andrew_Davies    Did Glide work out for you?  I am looking front end for apps that I built in airtable.  I would eventually like some of these to be open to our customers as a form of self servicing.  Budget isn't the most important thing for us, as most of the products you mention seem to be around $100/mo.  

Would love to hear what you chose and how its working for you and what limitations it has that you weren't aware about?

[Andrew_Davies]

Hi

Sorry for the slow reply. Have you got anywhere yet?

Glide has worked out well for me but it’s not perfect. I guess that’s the nature of no-code - there is an inevitable compromise. 

One of my issues is there is so much choice!  I delve into one solution thinking it’s the bees knees, only to hit a road block after several wasted days. But that said, I have settled on Glide (for now at least)

it’s an ever changing market though and definitely worth keeping an eye on what is available. Thinks are l improving all the time. 

Likewise - would be interested to hear how you get on!

andrew 

[Andrew_Davies]

Hello

I’ve posted about this elsewhere on the forum (search for Noloco) but I’ve had really good success with Noloco. 

More info on the other post - but it’s working really well for me. 

noloco.co 

andrew 

[James_ryans]

Checkout https://basefront.app looks interesting for this use case but you need to embed into your existing site plus you’ll definitely need some bespoke work to setup editing and webhooks etc to send / save data to a separate base. 

[Mariam_Ispiryan]

I'm really glad to hear you’ve explored Softr as your front end solution for Airtable. It's awesome that you've already had a positive experience building an app with our platform!

Here are a few more reasons why Softr is a great fit for you, just in case you're still weighing your options to build an Airtable frontend:

• Easy Data Management: Softr's CRUD functionality makes updating or deleting records a breeze. It's super intuitive.
• Always in Sync: With Softr, your data syncs in real-time with Airtable, so you never have to worry about things getting out of date.
• Secure and Simple User Management: Invite users to your platform securely, and set up access levels and visibility rules without any hassle. You can also define app-level restrictions to ensure restricted data cannot be viewed, updated, or deleted in your app.
• Grouping & Filtering: Our list and table blocks offer powerful grouping functionality. You can filter and group data effortlessly, saving you time and energy.
• Pricing: Softr offers a "free forever" plan, so you can try it out for as long as you want and upgrade only when you need. Softr’s paid plans include a higher number of users & collaborators, unlimited database records, and more building blocks compared to Noloco.
  • On a basic Softr plan ($49/month), you get:
    • 10 internal users (collaborators) and up to 1000 external app users
    • Real-time data sync with Airtable
    • Ability for users to log in and add comments with easy sign-in options (email/password, or with Google)
    • A variety of building blocks, including user profile, list + list details, table, map, basic forms, and more
    • Ability to embed your app into other sites, or add custom code to your app
    • Live chat support
• Scalability: Softr is constantly adding new features and improvements, making your applications even more scalable. Whatever you're envisioning—whether it's inventory management, scheduling, or reporting—we make it easy to add functionality to your apps when you need it.

Please get in touch if you have any questions!