Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

AppWrite VS Rowy

Compare AppWrite VS Rowy and see what are their differences

AppWrite logo AppWrite

Appwrite provides web and mobile developers with a set of easy-to-use and integrate REST APIs to manage their core backend needs.

Rowy logo Rowy

Rowy is an open-source low-code platform to build your product, from MVP to scale. Manage your database in a spreadsheet-like UI, write Cloud Functions effortlessly in the browser, build automation with ready-made extensions to your favorite tools.
  • AppWrite Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-28
  • Rowy Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-09

AppWrite features and specs

  • Open Source
    AppWrite is an open-source platform, allowing developers to inspect, modify, and contribute to the code base, ensuring transparency and flexibility.
  • Self-Hosted
    Being self-hosted, AppWrite gives developers complete control over their data and server environment, enhancing security and customization options.
  • Comprehensive Backend
    AppWrite offers a wide range of backend services out-of-the-box, including authentication, database management, storage, and serverless functions, reducing the need for additional third-party services.
  • Multi-Language Support
    AppWrite supports various programming languages, which makes it versatile and developer-friendly, allowing the integration with different tech stacks.
  • Community and Documentation
    AppWrite has an active community and well-documented guides, tutorials, and API references, which are essential for learning and troubleshooting.

Possible disadvantages of AppWrite

  • Resource Intensive
    Being a self-hosted solution, AppWrite may require significant server resources for optimal performance, which can be costly.
  • Initial Setup Complexity
    The initial setup and configuration can be complex and time-consuming, particularly for those less experienced with server management.
  • Limited Third-Party Integrations
    As compared to some other backend-as-a-service (BaaS) platforms, AppWrite has fewer pre-built third-party integrations, which might limit its extensibility.
  • Newer and Evolving
    AppWrite is relatively new and still evolving, which can mean fewer features compared to more mature platforms and the potential for more bugs.
  • Maintenance Responsibility
    Since it is self-hosted, the responsibility for server maintenance, updates, and security falls solely on the user, which can be a drawback for smaller teams or solo developers.

Rowy features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Rowy offers a spreadsheet-like interface that is intuitive and easy to use, making it accessible for both technical and non-technical users.
  • Real-Time Collaboration
    Supports real-time collaboration, allowing multiple users to work on the same data set concurrently, enhancing team productivity.
  • Integrations
    Provides built-in integrations with popular services and platforms like Firebase, enabling easy data import and export and smooth workflow integration.
  • Custom Functionality
    Users can write custom code or formulas to implement specific logic or transformations on the data, providing flexibility in how data is handled.
  • Scalability
    Designed to handle large datasets, making it suitable for both small projects and larger enterprise-level applications.

Possible disadvantages of Rowy

  • Limited Offline Access
    Primarily a cloud-based solution, meaning there is limited functionality or accessibility when offline, which might be a drawback for some users.
  • Potential Learning Curve
    Despite its intuitive design, users who are not familiar with spreadsheet-based applications might face a learning curve initially.
  • Dependency on Internet Connection
    As a cloud-based tool, consistent and reliable internet access is required, which may not be feasible in all working environments.
  • Subscription Costs
    While Rowy may offer a free tier, advanced features and capabilities are likely locked behind subscription plans, which could be a consideration for small businesses or individual users.
  • Data Privacy Concerns
    As with any cloud-based service, there might be concerns regarding data privacy and security, especially when dealing with sensitive or proprietary information.

Analysis of AppWrite

Overall verdict

  • AppWrite is a solid option for developers looking for an open-source backend solution with robust features. Its well-documented APIs and active community support make it a viable choice for both small projects and growing applications.

Why this product is good

  • AppWrite is considered a good choice, particularly for its comprehensive backend-as-a-service (BaaS) features that cater to web and mobile developers. It provides a suite of services such as user authentication, databases, file storage, and serverless functions, allowing developers to streamline their development process. Its open-source nature means developers have access to the full code base and the community-drive contributions, ensuring transparency and continuous improvements. AppWrite also emphasizes developer experience, offering easy integration with client-side SDKs and providing extensive documentation.

Recommended for

    AppWrite is recommended for developers building applications who require a scalable backend solution without the overhead of managing infrastructure. It is particularly suited for developers who prefer open-source platforms and those who want to avoid vendor lock-in. AppWrite's features make it a good fit for startups, hobby projects, and even educational purposes where full control over the backend is desirable.

AppWrite videos

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Rowy videos

Introducing Rowy - Airtable-like experience for Firestore with GCP's scalability

More videos:

  • Review - Show & Tell: Rowy
  • Review - This FREE Tool Will FOREVER Change Your NoCode/FlutterFlow Development! (Rowy Review)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to AppWrite and Rowy)
Developer Tools
95 95%
5% 5
Productivity
0 0%
100% 100
Backend As A Service
100 100%
0% 0
No Code
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare AppWrite and Rowy

AppWrite Reviews

  1. Appwrite is awesome, free and open-source!

    I've use it instead of Firebase on a 15$ DigitalOcean droplet and saved around ~$150 a month. Managing my own infra does take some extra time, but definitely worth it. The APIs and SDK are also surprisingly much easier to consume than Firebase. Waiting for the cloud version.

    ๐Ÿ Competitors: Firebase
    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Easy to use|Cost effective|Open-source|Great user experience|Super simple|Self hosted
    ๐Ÿ‘Ž Cons:    Self hosted

10 Top Firebase Alternatives to Ignite Your Development in 2024
Appwriteโ€™s self-hosted nature gives you complete control over your data and infrastructure, great for those who are security-conscious. It also offers a comprehensive set of features, including user authentication, database management, storage, cloud functions, and more. Itโ€™s like having your very own Firebase, but on your terms.
Source: genezio.com
Top 7 Firebase Alternatives for App Development in 2024
Appwrite is an open-source backend-as-a-service platform that provides a comprehensive set of tools and APIs to help developers build modern applications. It focuses on simplicity and developer experience.
Source: signoz.io
Best Serverless Backend Tools of 2023: Pros & Cons, Features & Code Examples
Appwrite is a self-hosted BaaS platform giving you all the tools you need to build all sorts of application.
Source: www.rowy.io
2023 Firebase Alternatives: Top 10 Open-Source & Free
Appwrite permits the development to benefit from its open-source version without paying anything. However, its official website also declares that it will share the pricing details for Appwrite Cloud soon.
12 Best Open-source Database Backend Server and Google Firebase Alternatives
Appwrite is a self-hosted backend server for building web, mobile and desktop apps. It supports multiple applications natively without hacks or workarounds.It features a dashboard for apps, database, user, functions and storage management, real-time analytics per project, live connections monitor, background tasks and webhooks.Appwrite also is suitable for creating Geo-data...
Source: medevel.com

Rowy Reviews

  1. So many ideas made possible

    Streamlining the setup process by eliminating the need to configure Firebase and cloud functions in the Google console makes Rowy a must try service. This saves invaluable time, allowing you to focus exclusively on BUILDING. You literally have a beautiful and intuitive spreadsheet like UI to manage and build your backend on top of.

  2. Bobby
    ยท No Code Developer ยท
    Not only visualises Firestore data as spreadsheet, but also comes with a lot of features

    Rowy's spreadsheet UI turns my Firestore table data into a spreadsheet view where I can manage data, it's super cool! I can even invite my team members and have granular access management! I'm sooooo excited.

    The out of box features are also very handy, I can create a derivative from my existing data, and even have an action column to define actions to perform with JavaScript when I click on it! The extension/webhooks are also so cool, I built a Discord message bot and a ton of automations in no time!!!

  3. Extremely easy and intuitive to use

    The ability to interact with your database via a spreadsheet-like UI makes this one of the most intuitive back-end tools out there, and the various automations offered add to the experience and make it incredibly user-friendly.

    ๐Ÿ‘ Pros:    Easy to use|User-friendly

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, AppWrite seems to be a lot more popular than Rowy. While we know about 178 links to AppWrite, we've tracked only 5 mentions of Rowy. 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.

AppWrite mentions (178)

  • Creating a Chatbot that actually Stands Out! (vibe coded version)๐Ÿฆ–
    Initially, I was using the Supabase free tier, but I was hitting the limits, and my app was becoming stale. Then I switched to Appwrite. Both are totally different; one is SQL, while the latter one is NoSQL. Although use node-appwrite package to skip the manual schema add-ons. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • The future of coding: Cursor, AI, and the rise of backend automation with Appwrite
    Appwrite is an open-source platform that simplifies backend setup by providing authentication, databases, storage, functions, and hosting all in one place. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • How to Use Appwrite in Android Jetpack Compose
    I love Appwrite. My first hackathon was actually from Appwrite (using Appwrite) 2 years ago, and I've been using it ever since. - Source: dev.to / 12 months ago
  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (July 2025)
    Appwrite | Remote | Platform Engineers, AI, Interns | https://www.appwrite.careers Appwrite (https://appwrite.io) is an open-source backend platform that helps developers build secure web and mobile apps faster. Weโ€™re hiring engineers across multiple teams to improve infrastructure, expand developer tooling, and scale our platform. Open roles: โ€“ Platform Engineer. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Build a React File Sharing App with Granular Access Controls (ReBAC)
    Appwrite is a backend-as-a-service platform that provides authentication, storage, and database. Appwrite is used for authentication and storage. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

Rowy mentions (5)

  • Introducing BuildShip
    We are the team behind Rowy.io and today we are super excited to launch BuildShip. BuildShip was created with all the feedback we got from the amazing community of no-code/low-code builders using Rowy and months of hard work by the team. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Guide to building an application the quickest?
    I want to build an application as soon as possible, I don't care to be employed by a company or be a "complete" software engineer. I have a service which provides the bank-end (rowy.io) but need help building the app/front-end. Are there any recommendations or tutorials out there for learning enough to build an app/learning which questions to ask open.ai in order to help? I just want to build out my idea as soon... Source: about 3 years ago
  • how do you move to second page in firestone?
    Just thought will put it out here as it seems like a pain point we also faced when trying to use Firestore console UI...trying to manage the data/find it etc was a pain :( So we built an open-source spreadsheet-like UI to manage your Firestore data as easily. Hope you find it useful :) Website: https://rowy.io/ Github: https://github.com/rowyio/rowy. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Opinions on Retool for an admin panel?
    Hi ๐Ÿ‘‹ cofounder of http://rowy.io - lowcode cms platform purpose built for Firebase - manage Firestore, build any cloud functions, upload files directly to Firebase storage - with real-time updates. Source: over 3 years ago
  • I made an Open-source FireStore UI tool to make development with Firestore less painful!
    Also from the same makers, there is rowy.io however that is completely different beast in its own :). Source: over 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing AppWrite and Rowy, you can also consider the following products

Supabase - An open source Firebase alternative

Airtable - Airtable works like a spreadsheet but gives you the power of a database to organize anything. Sign up for free.

Firebase - Firebase is a cloud service designed to power real-time, collaborative applications for mobile and web.

NocoDB - The Open Source Airtable alternative

Clerk - Clerk.io, the artificial intelligence for e-commerce that knows your customers interests.

SeaTable - SeaTable is an innovative no-code platform for creating custom digital solutions without programming. Intuitively build user-defined databases, applications, and workflows.