Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Appsmith VS Thoughtbot Administrate

Compare Appsmith VS Thoughtbot Administrate and see what are their differences

Appsmith logo Appsmith

Appsmith is an open source web framework for building internal tools, admin panels, dashboards, and workflows.

Thoughtbot Administrate logo Thoughtbot Administrate

Administrate is a library for Rails apps that automatically generates admin dashboards.
  • Appsmith Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-07-17

Turn any datasource into an internal app in minutes. Appsmith lets you drag-and-drop UI components to build pages, connect to any API, database or GraphQL source and write logic with JavaScript objects.

  • Thoughtbot Administrate Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12

Appsmith features and specs

  • Open Source
    Appsmith is an open-source platform, which means it's free to use. Developers can also contribute to its development and customize the platform according to their needs.
  • Easy Integration
    Appsmith allows easy integration with a variety of data sources including REST APIs, databases, and third-party services, making it highly versatile for different applications.
  • Drag-and-Drop Interface
    The platform offers a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface for building dashboards and admin panels, which reduces the time required for development.
  • Pre-built Widgets
    Appsmith comes with a collection of pre-built widgets like tables, charts, and forms, which can be directly used in applications for rapid development.
  • Community Support
    Being an open-source project, Appsmith has a strong community that can provide support, share solutions, and contribute to the platform's growth.

Possible disadvantages of Appsmith

  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly interface, there is still a learning curve involved, especially for developers who are new to the low-code/no-code paradigm.
  • Performance
    Performance can be an issue with more complex applications or very high data loads, and it may require optimization to ensure smooth functioning.
  • Customization Limitations
    While it offers various customization options, it may not be as flexible or powerful as fully custom-built applications for highly specific requirements.
  • Limited Advanced Features
    The platform may lack some advanced features found in more mature enterprise-level tools, potentially limiting its use for very complex or specific business needs.
  • Hosting and Maintenance
    As an open-source tool, hosting and maintenance are the user's responsibility, which can be a disadvantage for those who prefer a fully managed solution.

Thoughtbot Administrate features and specs

  • Customizability
    Administrate is highly customizable, allowing developers to extend and modify the dashboard to fit their specific needs. This flexibility is ideal for complex applications that require tailored admin interfaces.
  • Rails Friendly
    Administrate is designed to work seamlessly with Ruby on Rails applications, leveraging Rails conventions and making it easy to integrate into existing projects.
  • Active Community
    There is an active community and regular updates to the repository. This ensures that bugs are addressed and new features are integrated, making it a stable choice for long-term projects.
  • Simple User Interface
    The user interface of Administrate is intentionally simple and minimalistic, which helps in keeping the admin dashboard clean and easy to navigate.

Possible disadvantages of Thoughtbot Administrate

  • Limited Features Out-of-the-box
    Compared to other admin interfaces, Administrate offers fewer features by default. This might require additional development time to implement features like advanced filtering and UI components.
  • Performance Constraints
    In large-scale applications, Administrate can experience performance issues, particularly when dealing with large datasets, which might require additional optimization efforts.
  • Basic Authorization
    Administrate does not have built-in support for complex authorization schemes; developers need to manually implement and configure their own authorization logic, often using additional gems.
  • Styling Limitations
    While Administrate offers a clean UI, customizing the styling can be more challenging compared to other solutions that allow greater control over the UI look and feel.

Analysis of Appsmith

Overall verdict

  • Appsmith is generally considered a good solution for developers looking to create dynamic internal tools with minimal effort and cost. It provides a balance between ease of use and advanced functionality, making it a popular choice among startups, fast-growing companies, and teams with tight resources.

Why this product is good

  • Appsmith is an open-source internal tool builder that empowers developers to quickly create custom applications without the extensive overhead of traditional development. It is appreciated for its flexibility, allowing seamless integration with various data sources and APIs. The drag-and-drop interface and the ability to write custom JavaScript make it both user-friendly and powerful. The platform supports rapid prototyping and iteration, enabling teams to build robust applications efficiently. Additionally, the active community and comprehensive documentation contribute to a supportive development environment.

Recommended for

  • Startups and small businesses needing to develop internal tools quickly and cost-effectively.
  • Teams looking for a user-friendly yet powerful platform for building applications using existing data sources.
  • Developers who prefer open-source solutions with a supportive community and extensive customization options.
  • Organizations looking for an alternative to traditional software development for building internal dashboards and admin panels.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Appsmith and Thoughtbot Administrate)
No Code
89 89%
11% 11
Data Dashboard
0 0%
100% 100
Developer Tools
93 93%
7% 7
Productivity
91 91%
9% 9

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Appsmith and Thoughtbot Administrate

Appsmith Reviews

Top 9 Low-Code Tools for 2023 for low-code development
Appsmith is a low-code platform that empowers users to build business applications and workflows without writing extensive code. It offers a visual interface for designing UIs, integrating data sources, and creating custom logic. With Appsmith, users can connect to databases, APIs, and third-party services, and build dynamic and interactive applications. Its collaborative...
Appsmith vs ILLA Cloud: Comparing Two Low-Code Platforms
Deployment Options: Appsmith offers two deployment options: Appsmith Cloud and self-hosting. Appsmith Cloud is a free hosted service that lets developers start building their apps on any device without any installation or configuration. Self-hosting is a free option that lets developers host Appsmith on their own servers or cloud providers for more control and security.
Appsmith vs. Tooljet: Which Low-Code Platform is Better for You?
In this blog post, we will compare two popular LCDPs for building internal tools: Appsmith and Tooljet. We will also introduce ILLA Cloud, a new and innovative LCDP that offers a viable alternative to Appsmith and Tooljet.

Thoughtbot Administrate Reviews

We have no reviews of Thoughtbot Administrate yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Appsmith might be a bit more popular than Thoughtbot Administrate. We know about 6 links to it since March 2021 and only 5 links to Thoughtbot Administrate. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Appsmith mentions (6)

  • Airplane acquired by Airtable and is shutting down
    Founder of Appsmith (https://appsmith.com) here. This is very unfortunate news. I have a lot of respect for the founders & the product. In fact I even used Airplane for a few side projects in the past. It's sad to see the product die. IMO, most folks alluding to them running out money is incorrect. I think they simply ran out of energy or the will to go on. This is very common among early stage companies. But, as... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Web no-code/low-code tool recommendation? Backend+frontend+analytics and simple to learn
    As well as Appsmith & Retool. They all have generous free tiers, in my opinion. Each can be self-hosted too. Source: over 2 years ago
  • No code platform that can be self-hosted on AWS
    Hello, you can check out Appsmith. It's an open-source platform with all the features you mentioned and it's great for building business apps! Source: over 2 years ago
  • Affordable low code platform for internal tools?
    Appsmith is self hosted right now. It’s as customizable as Retool, easy as Internal, and less glitchy than Budibase. Tooljet also offers a self hosted version, but Appsmiths dev team updates improvements so much faster. Source: over 2 years ago
  • February Round-up: New Helm Charts, Product Updates, and Collabs
    If you’ve followed Appsmith for a while, you know that we can do a lot in 30 days! In the second month of 2022, we cleared a few bugs and created an all-new event called How Do I Do X, where many frequently asked questions live. Source: about 3 years ago
View more

Thoughtbot Administrate mentions (5)

  • The Admin Framework for Minimalist
    Thoughtbot/administrate is a well-known framework for administrative screen, but it's not developer friendly。I implement my own template files for Administrate, so when new Administrate version released, It is hard to update Administrate because template file is changed.**. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Get help from thoughtbot for free (mentoring / office hours)
    I work at thoughtbot, you might know us for our open source work like administrate, factory_bot or shoulda-matchers. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Show HN: Build Ruby on Rails apps 10x faster – Avo
    This looks very similar to Administrate by thoughtbot https://github.com/thoughtbot/administrate. - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • Rails administrate : big tutorial, bits of philosophy
    You can also open in your browser, the official repository here, and the docs here, it will be helpful. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • Free trial feature
    That's exactly what we do. Easy to extend trials as needed for users when needed too via https://github.com/thoughtbot/administrate. Source: over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Appsmith and Thoughtbot Administrate, you can also consider the following products

Retool - Build custom internal tools in minutes.

Jet Admin - Build business apps really fast

ToolJet - Open-source alternative for Retool

Active Admin - The administration framework for business critical Ruby on Rails applications.

Budibase - What Wordpress is to websites, Budibase is to web apps. Budibase is a free and open source web app builder for creating, launching and growing web applications. Budibase eliminates repetition and dramatically reduces development time. Check it out.

Avo - Prevent human errors when implementing analytics