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Low-code is a software development paradigm that facilitates and accelerates software creation by offering visual app-building functionalities, code abstractions, and developer productivity tools.
In our “Low-code Hall of Fame“ series, we review the best low-code development platforms in the business. And another low-code tool in our list is UI Bakery. It’s a promising internal software builder supported by a dedicated developer team and quite a number of businesses driving profits from using it. But enough introductions, let’s find out what makes UI Bakery a good choice for low-code internal tools development.
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UI Bakery profile
UI Bakery is a low-code development platform and a company based in Lithuania. It was founded in December 2018 by a team of software developers led by Vladimir Lugovsky. The platform grabbed the attention of the low-code development community with great performance, advanced functionalities, and scalability.
UI Bakery is a top solution for building your web-based internal tools fast and integrating them with multiple APIs, 3’d party systems, and other data sources. Users like the platform for the large variety of pre-made UI components and ease of use due to the drag-and-drop functionalities. Above that, UI Bakery offers customization opportunities for professional low-code developers that allow them to create custom UI elements, API connectors, and app business logic. It provides low-code developers with a wide range of tools to create complex workflow automatization tools, stable and aesthetic front-ends, and web-based applications.
In 4 years, the platform helped thousands of businesses to streamline their internal business processes and create workflow automation services quickly and effectively. UI Bakery is highly appreciated by the development community and was listed as a top performer of the year by Product Hunt and rated a 4.9-star rating on G2. Bakery team rapidly evolves the platform to be the best experience for citizen developers and professionals.
What’s inside
User Interface
The bakery includes multiple no-code functionalities accessible for the non-technical business staff to build internal tools in a matter of hours. That is possible due to the drag-and-drop interface, embedded with 50+ out-of-box components like charts, tables, and graphics, and adjusting the apps’ interfaces with CSS. WYSIWYG HTML editor also facilitates the front-end development of an internal web application.
At the same time, pro developers will find a set of features to build custom components and connectors fast or even take JS components published on CDN. Among the list of developer tools, UI Bakery offers version control, smart code suggestions, and team collaboration tools.
Integrations
The platform has s number of connectors for the world’s most popular databases, BPM systems, and collaboration tools. Among them are Salesforce, MongoDB, MySQL, Slack, AWS S3, Firebase, Google Sheets, and others. UI Bakery applications are capable of centralizing the data from multiple sources and provide functionalities to change it from a single interface. You can integrate REST and GraphQL APIs using the postman-like interface and curl shortcuts. UI Bakery's internal tools can filter, group, and join data from multiple sources.
Customization capacity
You can create custom UI components for you or an internal tool using JavaScript. For the convenience of developers, there are lots of developer tools and features like IDE, version history, SSO integrations and etc. You can also write custom queries to derive data from various data sources at the same time. Besides, Bakery has AI suggestions for custom queries that speed up the coding.
Another feature that makes UI Bakery stand out from other similar platforms is white labeling. Thus, you are able to put your brand signs on the app instead of the platform’s ones.
Use cases
As we mentioned, the application field of UI Bakery revolves around internal tools, business operations automatization, and workflow optimization.
With Bakery, you can create multi-step workflows for simple ETL operations, alerting, and data synchronization across multiple sources. The workflows and internal tools are able to use data from HTTP APIs, SQL databases, Google Spreadsheets, CRMs, and other sources. To build sophisticated solutions, you can apply loops, conditional business logic, and asynchronous operations.
The platform will be a great way to supplement your existing BPM system and internal workflow. You can connect Bakery’s internal applications with your existing business system to extend its capabilities owing to pre-build connectors. Workflow integrations are token-secured so you won’t need to worry about your data while it transfers between your system’s elements.
Pricing
UI Bakery has a free 14-day trial that allows you to test its full capacity. After the trial period, you can choose from one of the following packages, depending on your business needs.
Free - $0
The free plan includes functionalities and components to build simple data representation applications.
Individual - $49 per month
An individual package will do for a small business or an employee who seeks to organize work-related information and manage it from a single app.
Plus - $119 per month
This plan also suits SMEs and allows making custom branding for your application.
Team - $249 per month
The team pack will match the needs of a large business and an enterprise allowing an unlimited number of app users and apps. Plus, it opens the features for building automatization tools of high complexity.
On-premise/ Enterprise - custom pricing
The on-premise plan is for enterprise only. It includes all the power of the UI Bakery platform and beyond.
UI Bakery Pros & Cons
UI Bakery Pros:
- Intuitive and functional UI building interface;
- UI Bakery doesn’t charge you for each end-user;
- An unlimited number of app pages you can create within one tool;
- Easy integration with databases, APIs, third parties;
- A constantly evolving library of UI templates and out-of-box connectors;
- Comprehensive documentation with step-by-step written guides and videos;
- Lively support team and community that continually enriches Bakery’s functionalities.
UI Bakery Cons:
- You will need at least basic knowledge of web development. The platform may seem comparatively complex to the complete non-techies.
UI Bakery alternatives
Although UI Bakery will solve almost all your internal workflow issues and improve customer service, you might consider using other low-code platforms. Here are the alternatives:
Verdict
All in all, UI Bakery is one of the best platforms in the class of internal tool builders. The abundance of pre-made components and a beginner-friendly user interface allow citizen developers to create performant and functional internal tools. Even if you have no particular experience in software development, UI Bakery will allow you to start building and deploying workflow automatization tools, collaboration apps, and web-based internal apps in a matter of hours.
The more advanced low-code developers familiar with JavaScript will open the more complex dimension of the platform. Using JS programming language, you can create custom components and connectors to create the exact system you need for your business. Also, you can go beyond the limits and contact UI Bakery team for enterprise solutions where Bakery’s developers will build the needed functionalities right for your project.
And here’s what low-code developers and platform users say about their experience with UI Bakery:
What I like about UI Bakery:
“It is rare that you work with a company whose people mirror the best aspects of their product. UI Bakery has a simple interface backed by a complex and helpful team who are truly responsive to feedback. Where some teams shrug an apology for a missing feature, this team will take that feedback and either help you find the right Lego or literally build for you. In the low/no code arena, they are the rising star!”
Source: G2
“Using UI Bakery we have been able to build an agile and efficient user interface in record time.”
Source: Capterra
“It's super easy to use and they have very good customer support. Also, the pricing is ok.”
Source: Capterra
What I dislike about UI Bakery:
“It's hard to say dislike - there are things that need improving but every week improvements are rolled out. I have been able to achieve almost everything I needed although sometimes workarounds are required. As others have mentioned, the getting started documentation wasn't great but they know this and have already started making improvements.”
Source: G2
“Perhaps a greater detail in the information would be convenient, however, that was compensated through its excellent technical support.”
Source: Capterra
“Sometimes it fails to load. And they still have some UI bugs, but they solve them quickly.”
Source: Capterra
Low-code development experts
There’s no faster and easier way to build your business application or internal workflow optimization software than by using a low-code approach. Low-code and no-code platforms make software development available, affordable, and easy for all businesses (SMEs, startups, and enterprises) and individuals alike. But usually, to access the full potential of low-code you may need professional developer assistance that has experience using these platforms.
You can discuss your project with our low-code development experts if that is your case. We have more than 7 years of software development experience including working with various low-code development platforms. Some of our developers even participated in the creation of one of such platforms. We can help you at any stage of your low-code app development: from the right low-code platform selection and process strategizing to full-scale development, customization, and integration with your existing systems. For more information, reach out to our low-code development team leads and get a free consultation.
P.S. We love writing about low code. Subscribe to our blog to get the latest insights in your inbox.
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