Alpha Anywhere vs. Power Apps

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Alpha Anywhere
Score 9.9 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
The Alpha platform is a unified mobile and web app development and deployment environment with distinct "no-code" and "low-code" components. The vendor says that using the Alpha TransForm no-code environment, business users and developers can take full advantage of all the capabilities of the smartphone to turn any form into a mobile app in minutes, and power users can add advanced app functionality with Alpha TransForm's built-in programming language. IT developers can use the…
$35
Power Apps
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
PowerApps is a low code / rapid application development product from Microsoft that allows users to quickly build apps.
$20
per month per user
Pricing
Alpha AnywherePower Apps
Editions & Modules
Alpha TransForm (no-code component)
35/month
Alpha Anywhere Business
$1,499/year
Alpha Anywhere
$1,499/year
Alpha Anywhere Business Pro
$2,499/year
Alpha Anywhere Enterprise
Call Us +1 781.850.4600
Volume Discounts
Power Apps Premium
$20
per month per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Alpha AnywherePower Apps
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
Additional DetailsQuestions? Call us: +1 781.229.4500
More Pricing Information
Features
Alpha AnywherePower Apps
Low-Code Development
Comparison of Low-Code Development features of Product A and Product B
Alpha Anywhere
8.4
4 Ratings
3% below category average
Power Apps
7.9
19 Ratings
9% below category average
Visual Modeling8.53 Ratings7.617 Ratings
Drag-and-drop Interfaces6.52 Ratings9.018 Ratings
Platform Security8.84 Ratings9.218 Ratings
Platform User Management8.94 Ratings8.218 Ratings
Reusability9.24 Ratings5.018 Ratings
Platform Scalability8.54 Ratings8.217 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Alpha AnywherePower Apps
Small Businesses
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Quixy
Quixy
Score 9.8 out of 10
Quixy
Quixy
Score 9.8 out of 10
Enterprises
Quickbase
Quickbase
Score 9.2 out of 10
Quickbase
Quickbase
Score 9.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Alpha AnywherePower Apps
Likelihood to Recommend
8.9
(6 ratings)
8.3
(21 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
9.7
(6 ratings)
User Testimonials
Alpha AnywherePower Apps
Likelihood to Recommend
Alpha Software
The speed of development from concept, through development and delivery of the end product is so impressive [with Alpha Anywhere]. There is an impressive array of genies and helper functions meaning that you can focus on what matters, the end user experience. It is not a "No code" solution but it is a very impressive "low code" solution which allows detailed access under the hood to tweak the applications to your own needs and the needs of your clients.
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Microsoft
PowerApps is well suited for "quick-wins" and fast prototypes of business solutions. It also is beneficial for situations where business partners and developers work together - it allows the business folks to provide a "quick-and-dirty" prototype which is then fleshed-out by developers that are trained experts on the platform. The interactive and easy to understand representation of the solution allows business partners to "see" the solution and add, remove, or correct aspects of it themselves. It provides a common view and understanding of the actual solution across business units and tech teams. PowerApps, being a low-code\no-code platform is not well suited for business processes that require many complex computations or large amounts of custom code - such as solutions that are better architected as Web Site or "full-blown" desktop solutions. There are solutions that are just not easy or quick to accomplish in a low-code\no-code platform. Enterprise Architects should know the difference, however business partners often try to create a solution and only when stuck because it becomes too complex do they engage a tech team for assistance - at which point there are sunk-costs involved and hinderences to re-platforming the solution
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Pros
Alpha Software
  • Our company had been creating small business applications since the 1980's, when we used DBase IV (don't laugh... that's what was available). Then, we got more "sophisticated" with Microsoft Access. Clearly, we would always be limited with what we can do with those two programs. By accident, during an Internet search, we saw and ad for Alpha Anywhere (back then, it was called Alpha V). After working with the 30 free trial for just two weeks, we retired Access, for good. The best part was Alpha's flexibility in its use of "back end" data tables. That allowed us to use existing Access tables as we redesigned the front-end program (Alpha ships with its own DBF system, but we prefer SQL-Based tables). You can choose, SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, Access, Paradox (actually, too many to name) for your tables. You can even create links to Excel spreadsheets or QuickBooks Tables. It's outstanding!
  • Alpha allows developers to create very large and very complex programs. However, it's also a great choice for RAD (Rapid Application Development) for those who need to be up and running quickly or for less experienced programmers. Actually, the interface truly allows for "codeless" development of your application (more on that later). That means you can design a fully functional application, without typing a single line of code. They have some examples on their website.
  • My favorite part of Alpha is that it is constantly adding features and functions that allow us to do more with our applications. In fact, one of my biggest problems is that I need more time to learn and practice the added features as fast as they are introduced
  • Prior to Alpha Anywhere, we never considered creating/developing "mobile" applications (for tablets, smartphones, etc.). Alpha created a unique "panel" system that makes those application work great... and allows for the design of very sophisticated Apps.
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Microsoft
  • Power Apps has formats that are pre-built that don't require any coding which makes it easier to achieve your vision. This does become a challenge if your App needs don't fit into that format.
  • We deal with a ton of data so the fact that you can connect to any data source in addition to their pre-stablished data connections makes the process a breeze.
  • The online learning resources and tutorials are helpful as well for those who are tech savvy.
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Cons
Alpha Software
  • I really enjoyed product when the database was a part of it, less maintenance
  • Converting to the cloud has been challenging
  • Security setup should be simpler, like Softr or Stacker
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Microsoft
  • More complicated to understand in comparison with Nintex Forms.
  • Complicated to find errors.
  • Using PowerApps for SharePoint Forms is a bit complicated by setting up the start and load scenario with a lot of JavaScript.
  • Load values, change them by code, and save them back could be easier. Actually quite complicated to handle a lot of variables.
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Usability
Alpha Software
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
PowerApps is a great solution and I have spent the last year familiarizing myself with the platform and building custom applications to complete a whole range of tasks such as asset management, custom invoice generation, and item restriction tracking. We as a company have barely begun to scratch the surface of what can be achieved with PowerApps.
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Support Rating
Alpha Software
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
The community forums are extremely responsive to questions asked, there is a good body of online documentation and many community posts to draw from. Although the platform has changed, which means some of the posts are out of date and the solutions provided aren't relevant. Of relevance, I read over 400 articles plus documentation to get this first app built in SharePoint, move it to SQL and make it work exactly the way it should.
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Alternatives Considered
Alpha Software
Alpha Anywhere is a full-stack IDE. It’s no code and low code, but you can also custom code if you need to. About 10% of our application is no code. 80% is low code and 10% is custom code.
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Microsoft
Much cheaper, much more customizable, and easier to use. There is not much of a learning curve and the licensing cost is much cheaper. PowerApps does one thing very well, whereas other platforms are mediocre. There is much more customization possible for your in-house workflows that you can build yourself vs using NetSuite engineers to build it for you.
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Return on Investment
Alpha Software
  • Allows for a great return on investment since you can quickly become very productive and complete more projects and applications in a shorter period of time with hand coding and the normal programming headaches of PHP, C#, Angular, etc.
  • You can afford to take on more and smaller projects since they will require far less time to complete than more traditional development environments.
  • Alpha Anywhere is continuously updated coming out with new features and capabilities on essentially a daily basis. Continuous improvement and frequent updates allows you to always stay ahead of the curve and competitors.
  • Alpha Anywhere allows you to offer lower cost solutions that will be completed in less time and that will be much easier to support and maintain.
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Microsoft
  • It has given us a focal point for development. We now have the possibility of connecting to mobile and the default SharePoint online interface isn't always easy to manipulate. PowerApps has given us an opportunity to improve our user experience.
  • An improved user experience has given us a better shot at compliance. When users don't fight the environment, they don't gravitate towards workarounds or non-compliance.
  • As lists and libraries change, the platform scales pretty well.
  • Having users with the capability to create their own forms and tools has dialed back the app dev need (there is a balance though) and distributed power to the process architects and people who actually need the solutions in the first place—much more efficient model of service delivery: self-service.
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ScreenShots

Alpha Anywhere Screenshots

Screenshot of Inspection Solutions is a mobile business app designed for inspectors who need to inspect construction vehicles in the field, but showcases functionality relevant to many other field apps. The app includes the critical features now required in modern field services apps, such as offline capability, bar code scanning, voice annotation and digital ink. It is a native-quality hybrid app created using the Alpha Anywhere V4 rapid mobile application development and deployment platform.Screenshot of Pumpjack Pro is a sample application for Alpha Anywhere designed for inspecting pumpjacks - those machines that look like bobbing horse heads above oil wells. Features include: 
- Pass/fail buttons
- Photo capture
- GPS location capture
- Indicator meters
- A popup cheat sheet
- A popup video
- A signature capture control
- Offline operationScreenshot of DevCon 2016 is an offline-capable mobile/web application for navigating the Alpha Software Developers Conference. Although this is a real, working application it also makes a great sample application for anyone who wishes to build a Conference Schedule Application in Alpha Anywhere.This application was created using out-of-the-box Alpha Anywhere functionality with a minimum of custom JavaScript so it is easy to modify. Developers can make modifications to this sample inspection app directly from within the Alpha Anywhere IDE. 
- Updates Against Live SQL Data
- Works offline
- Can be Used as a Web or Mobile Application
- Can be Modified for Your Own UseScreenshot of Alpha TransForm Data Colleciton AppScreenshot of Alpha Anywhere Punch List appScreenshot of Alpha TransForm inspection app