AppSheet vs. CARTO vs. Retool

If you need to manage special assets with unique characteristics and keep data in spreadsheets, Appsheet is ideal for replacing these sheets with a system. Once you start using it, you find yourself trying to move everything into Appsheet. It is perfect for generating internal software that would otherwise never be developed due to programming costs.

Incentivized

CartoDB is great for generating geographic visualizations of data where the geographies are well-defined. It would be great for analysts to develop visualizations of data with spatial elements. That being said, the software is limited if you want to do any real data munging or analysis, as it can be cumbersome to use and there isn't a great interface for actually saving the results of different manipulations (you can save it as a new file, but it's hard to do version control, etc.). I would recommend preparing the data outside of CartoDB and only using the tool for visualization once the data is well prepared.

Incentivized

Works well in: Connecting directly to databases and APIs holding candidate data. Allows teams to easily drill into records from different data sources. Quick to build dashboards. It wouldn't work well without a team to actually get it set up. There is limited design/ branding, making it look very basic. Your team requires training because data can be overwritten easily. Having some knowledge with your whole team is super important, and if you work with contractors or non-tech people, this can be a huge issue.

Incentivized

• Calculations - I have several apps that do some pretty complicated calculations, and decision making to build things like Shopping Lists for a Kanban assembly team, where the app will help a stocker determine whats low in a kanban assembly line stock box.
• Document generation and record keeping - I have an app that users digitally sign and receive PDF contracts, and the system automatically records all records from the transaction. Everything is held in files on YOUR OWN DRIVE (Google Drive) so when you're done with the project or AppSheet you DONT loose your data.
• Client/Customer Management - I follow the old school "Swimming with Sharks" model for client retention and customer engagement, and have built several small customer tracking tools for local businesses. This tool is limited ONLY by your imagine and desire to learn.

Incentivized

• It is amazing at allowing control of the visualizations. It takes a little bit to get used to but the combination of full SQL queries and CSS-like styling is very powerful.
• The services are built on a robust stack of open source software. I was able to build a standalone instance of CartoDB relatively easily (after some research and trial and error).
• Server side map rendering is key for handling large data sets. The way the images are returned makes them very easy to catch in an HTTP cache to minimize the hits to the server. The interactivity that CartoDB has built in makes this completely transparent to the end user, they can click on parts of the static images and be presented with popups or change map styles. It's a very clever implementation.

Incentivized

• Ease of use - someone with small amount of experience can use it.
• Adaptability - you can build a lot of things with it.
• Reliability - works quite well.

Incentivized

• Once the tables / UX Views get way too many in number, it can become a little daunting to manage. This part of the UX may need something really smarter.
• Ability to Undo.
• Could provide more UI Look and Feel options. BTW, the new Graphs look great, but have some bugs, while the new INPUT() feature is a great addition too.

• I don't like the new Builder UI as it has been tough to explain. Other than that I have no complaints.

Incentivized

• Some Retool apps can become slow to load or refresh.
• When multiple team members work on the same app, changes can overwrite each other or break functionality.
• The UI/UX is pretty basic.

Incentivized

We are still less than 10 users and probably may continue to be so. But, this being a franchisor set up, could be of use to other users like us.

It's just great. The usability is the best thing about Appsheet. You must choose which things will really be used later. You have to be careful of not generating something too big and then it feels like something that need to be learned. This is something that resolve problems, but you had to be able to think before doing. It will not solve problems itself. You need to find the problem, think a solution, and then use appsheet to make this solution a reality

Incentivized

Because even though it is quite intuitive it is not the best tool I have ever seen.

Incentivized

AppSsheet has a support group and they show videos to help app builders. Though I have truck drivers' hours and can't join the webinars. Support groups with better assists me on a Saturday evening or a Sunday that I have time off. It's hard to watch videos driving down the highway.

I did everything on my own

Incentivized

The ease that AppSheet provides to the developer is limitless. Before starting with AppSheet I used other software, but they didn't give me the tools at my fingertips.
When I learned about AppSheet and everything it could do, I understood that it was what I was looking for, the ease with which everything is related within the app with a few clicks is impressive.

CartoDB is more user friendly and quicker to learn than ArcGIS Online and Mapbox

Incentivized

We selected Retool because it offers the best balance of usability and power compared to alternatives like Appsmith, ToolJet, and OutSystems. It allows us to build much faster, with broad integrations and strong enterprise features like permissions and environment management. Competing tools were either too limited, required more engineering effort. Overall, retool support has been decent too.

Incentivized

• A good impact in general at the beginning since the free version allows great development so the investment in the implementation is of knowledge and time.
• As a consultant I have expanded my services through this platform including new low code application building services.

• CartoDB definitely saves a lot of time when creating visualizations. Previously, I would use different software and have to make edits manually (or just create the visualizations manually to start with). I would say that the software definitely cuts the time required to create certain visualizations by a half or two-thirds.

Incentivized

• Major impact - ability to build a backend system is huge.
• Major impact - used every day by multiple people.
• Major impact - ability to be used by less technical teammates.

Incentivized