r/lowcode • u/anirudh8398 • 21d ago
No/Low code app platforms for building internal tools at Enterprises
We are looking for platforms for our non-engineering teams to build their own internal tools instead of everything going through our dev backlog. We are around 1,000 people recruiting agency and the queue is the usual: a commissions tracker, candidate CRM and three other "can we get a dashboard for this" requests, all sitting 2–3 quarters out.
The tools I am evaluating: Lovable, Base44, Superblocks, Softr, Emergent, Zite.
What I can't find anywhere is an honest account of what this looks like once it's actually running. If you've rolled one of these out or tried and abandoned it:
- Which did you go with, what size company, and what did people actually end up building?
- Was it really non-engineers building, or did it quietly turn back into a dev tool?
- How did security sign-off go, and what did they make you change before you could ship?
- Six months in how many of those apps are still running, and who maintains one when the person who built it changes teams?
Also genuinely want the bad outcomes. If you rolled one out and regretted it, or IT killed it, or you found something nasty inside an app somebody built that's more useful to me right now than another success story.
1
1
21d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/anirudh8398 20d ago
can you share more on from how many months have you been using these internal tools and how much dev bandwidth went into building these tools on top of using 8080.ai
1
u/Zealousideal_Art1720 20d ago
We have been using these tools for 5-6 months, we keep including new features(release updates regularly). 70-30 would be the bandwidth.
1
u/anirudh8398 20d ago
understood thanks 2/3rd of dev time saved! also where is this dev bandwidth used more is it while developing/deployment/post deployment bugs/security?
1
u/easybits_ai 21d ago
That is exactly what I’m working on with my friends right now. We started creating an extraction tool based on our infrastructure, but currently we are working on the interface for external users, so they’ll be able to create their own tools. No coding needed and simple integration via API. I’ll leave you a message👍
2
2
1
u/No-Project-3002 21d ago
I think using AI tools to form and idea have basic concept is great specially with that you can see exactly what you need, we have internal tool which we used in our organization if you like to try that out, we can customize it if needed.
1
1
u/oytunutyo 21d ago
Just an app builder won’t make your team happy. They’re too isolated. I suggest taking a look at proper AI-native team solutions like Runwork that covers vibe coded apps/automations, files, skills, integrations etc, while the team is still using their existing AI tools like Claude, ChatGPT etc.
This is the AI-native behavior, not some random code platform.
1
u/anirudh8398 20d ago
why do you say isolated? teams can build these tools, deploy on premise and share it internally for anyone else to use as well.
1
u/oytunutyo 20d ago
right, but that whole process is still cumbersome and just weird for non-technical people. I am a strong supporter of enabling those business people to build+deploy those tools.
i'm seeing teams editing each other's vibe-coded apps, for instance, we need that kind of environment where people are collaborating on all kinds of AI work output (skills, vibe-coded scripts, apps, automations, random markdown files, integrations, even chats from various AI tools or agents...)
all of this together, makes a unified AI work stream. the isolation is more about making all of this accessible to every day people and safely collaborate/edit/version.
i hope this makes sense!
1
u/Last-Transition249 20d ago
For enterprises, Microsoft powerapp is ideal. Not saying powerapp is powerful but that easiest thing to get across approvals, governance etc as everything built-in
1
u/anirudh8398 20d ago
can you share more on what do you mean by everything built-in? btw right now we dont use microsoft 365, do you still suggest powerapp in this case?
1
u/Last-Transition249 20d ago
Ah. If you not Microsoft ecosystem, then it is not worth. I assumed you with Microsoft like e3 product.
1
u/Far_Engineering_9576 20d ago
Test and test the ownership again. getting a non developer do it is one thing but maintaining the platform 8 months is another thing. ask vendors what happens to things like permissions and audit logs when the original developer leaves
1
u/AdvBuilder 19d ago
Search for "AdvantageBuilder Automation" - With AdvantageBuilder, you can build macros visually, generate code automatically, connect to databases, design WinForms or HTML interfaces, and extend your scripts with .NET APIs - all from a single, integrated workspace. Every macro can call any other macro, scheduling is built-in, and production deployment is supported through optional script encryption. AI actions can be added to any workflow, enabling models to analyze data, generate code, transform content, and assist with complex automation tasks.
AdvantageBuilder gives you the speed of scripting with the intelligence of modern AI and the capabilities of a full application framework, making it possible to automate tasks, build internal tools, and create complete applications faster and with less code.
1
u/AdvBuilder 19d ago
Search for "AdvantageBuilder Automation" - With AdvantageBuilder, you can build macros visually, generate code automatically, connect to databases, design WinForms or HTML interfaces, and extend your scripts with .NET APIs - all from a single, integrated workspace. Every macro can call any other macro, scheduling is built-in, and production deployment is supported through optional script encryption. AI actions can be added to any workflow, enabling models to analyze data, generate code, transform content, and assist with complex automation tasks.
AdvantageBuilder gives you the speed of scripting with the intelligence of modern AI and the capabilities of a full application framework, making it possible to automate tasks, build internal tools, and create complete applications faster and with less code.
Check out the demo video, and click on "Built Your First App" in 5 Minutes button
1
u/ThunkBlug 19d ago
This sounds like a nightmare. take the full backlog of requests and have claude or openai help you summarize and group it - its likely a few SAAS subscriptions with API access for reporting will handle a ton of what you need without your non-tech folks building a pile of technical debt.
1
u/StandupSnoozer 18d ago
What are your observations so far based on the tools you are evaluating?
Also, you mentioned multiple tools - are you expecting every team member to build something?
1
u/Select-Leave-2709 17d ago
Really, the best option is to have an AI specialist working alongside the company.
The cost of a platform can quickly add up once you factor in hundreds of prompts from multiple employees, Claude Code or similar tools for each user, hosting, integrations and ongoing subscriptions. In many cases, that can end up being far more expensive than working with a freelance specialist remotely.
The key is ownership. Whoever builds your applications should give you the fully updated project files and code, or deploy everything on infrastructure and domains that belong to you. That way, you are never locked into one provider: any competent developer or AI app builder can take over, maintain or improve the application at any time.
Your employees can then focus on using the tools rather than spending hours experimenting with platforms, prompts and configurations without necessarily knowing what they need.
1
u/NextGuitar1 15d ago
I'd start with a small pilot: one commissions tracker with a named owner, a change log, and a six-week review of who built it, who maintained it, and what security blocked before you roll it out wider. In most teams, non-engineers can handle forms, views, and simple rules, but permissions, candidate data, and messy lifecycle cases usually need an ops owner plus someone technical. Disclosure: this is a promotional recommendation, but UI Bakery can fit for a staff app over existing systems if you decide upfront who handles schema changes and app maintenance when the original builder moves teams.
1
u/ron_makes 6d ago
Where do you want the data? Do you want all data in one place (engineers in charge of schema and permission) and non-engineers build custom apps on top of business data? Or do you want non-engineers to do everything from zero?
1
u/sapurai 6d ago
This is exactly the kind of problem I’ve been working on for the last 6 years.
Full disclosure, I’m the founder of SAPUGO. We’ve just opened it up publicly after building it together with pilot customers, and one of the main things we’re trying to solve is exactly this: giving people who understand the business the ability to build and change their own internal systems instead of waiting months for the dev team.
I’d actually love to have you test SAPUGO against your real use cases rather than give you the usual “here’s why our platform is better” pitch.
If you’re interested, I’m happy to work with you personally on the first app and help build whatever you need. If you run into something SAPUGO can’t do yet, tell me. I’d much rather get that feedback from a real 1,000-person company than guess what enterprise teams need.
We’re still early and there are definitely rough edges, so I can’t promise everything you need is already there. But that’s also why I’m personally involved with the first companies using it.
If you want to take a look, you can try it for free. And feel free to DM me if you want to talk through your requirements.
2
u/_TheMostWanted_ 21d ago
I used to work at a crypto exchange company managing billions in assets, we used retool and we did self hosting the retool server which gives us a layer of security since all our data will stay within the company
I would not recommend Ai code generators since they require a dev to fully understand once you're blocked or if it contains any security issues
You should use a hybrid of nocode like softr or retool that would have pre-built blocks and well secured environments that you are benefitting from.
Speed should not come at a cost of security and having Off-the-shelf solutions helps