Acquired by Google in Spring 2020, AppSheet is an intelligent, no-code app platform for everyone. Users can create apps to transform the workplace. Common use cases include field service, transportation, customer surveys, incident reports, field data capture, compliance reports, delivery tracking, and property surveys. Used by the Fortune 500 & Industry Leaders Customers include Clearlink, Enterprise Holdings, ESPN, Pepsi, the University of Michigan, and the State of…
$5
per user/per month
Claris FileMaker
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
Claris' FileMaker is presented as a Workplace Innovation Platform, and is used to create a custom app. Manual processes can be automated with Claris FileMaker Pro, and apps can be created to manage contacts, track inventory, organize projects, etc.
$21
per month per user
Pricing
AppSheet
Claris FileMaker
Editions & Modules
Premium
$5.00
per user/per month
Pro
$10.00
per user/per month
Business
Contact sales team
Enterprise
Contact sales team
Platform Subscription
$21
per month per user
Individual desktop license
$594
one-time fee
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AppSheet
Claris FileMaker
Free Trial
Yes
No
Free/Freemium Version
Yes
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Yes
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
Personal apps and prototype are always free to build. Don't pay until you're ready to deploy.
What can I do for free?
Use the complete set of AppSheet features for free while building one or many app prototypes (for as long as you like). Invite up to 10 users for free to use your apps & share feedback.
How do Business Subscription pricing work?
Business Subscriptions enable a suite of performance & management features for organizations with cross-departmental app creators, and pricing is based on each unique requirements. Connect with the AppSheet team at solutions.appsheet.com/contact to learn more.
AppSheet in my opinion is a great enabler, especially for small businesses. Am not too sure about Scaling up though. As such, I did not find it limiting as far as my needs were concerned so far. Licensing could be made more affordable for countries like India. There could be more slabs e.g. Let's say 10-15 people company could be asked to pay lesser than the fee for 15-20.
If your company is really small, I can understand the need for a product like this. However, I would go for MS Access... FileMaker Pro can not be integrated with other systems (like MS Access can at least be handled by C# for instance, and can be integrated with MS Excel or even SQL server). I'm really not sure in what scenario one would choose for FileMaker Pro. If your application or company grows bigger, you're going to have a problem to move to another environment. Also, the fact that only one person can work with the backend at any given time is a problem in a somewhat larger company.
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.
The relational database management system makes the program highly customizable to fit the needs of any product. You can add a ton of information to each record and update your inventory on a regular basis with an Excel import or manually inside of the record. It has the capability to incorporate barcoding, which can manage your available inventory with ease.
The scripting language allows FileMaker to automatically calculate complex algorithms automatically or generate report outs with the click of a button. This allows for greater UI, especially with active users who are not familiar with writing code. Almost all of our internal data is linked to the FileMaker database
The server license allows many users to update the database in real time, which is handy if your inventory is constantly changing. We have users with Macs, PCs, iPhones and handheld tablets linked to our FileMaker database and they are updating the information constantly throughout the day.
If you invest some time into formatting and scripting the database, there is a high ease of use for users without knowledge of any programming or FileMaker itself.
Although there is a lot of study material, it takes time to understand the full potential of the Appsheet.
Although all the material [are] in English, it is possible to access translations or learn in the forums and in an intuitive way.
The simplest apps can be created with the free version, for more complex functions or to achieve certain distributions, a license must be paid per user.
Developer features need to be beefed up - namely adding the ability to search code for a phrase or keyword and the ability to do the same in the "relationship graph" in the database.
Add ability for users to edit the same table record at the same time by version control.
Allow Filemaker Server to use more than 1 core; currently multi-processing is not supported and it can be tricky to find just the right server to support the application you've built to the fullest capacity.
It it not really up to me but my opinion does have some weight in the decision and the reason I would renew my use FileMaker Pro 8.5 is because I am finally getting used to it! Now that I have been working with the program, tasks have become quicker and projects are getting done faster. File Maker Pro 8.5 really is a versatile tool and I think we are just scratching the surface with it's abilities.
The usability rating I'm providing is for the development interface - the usability of the application you build is relative to how much effort is put into the application. Filemaker needs to roll out some features that are "modern" sooner rather than later. They do roll out new features every year, but at a slow pace. We generally get 1 new TRULY useful feature every year. They need to step it up some!
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.
The forums are great with lots of helpful experts and the staff monitor them to provide help where needed. There have been a couple of unique technical issues I've had to deal with that I haven't been able to get resolved so I chose to score this a 9 instead of a 10.
Suggest you use an iterative R.A.D. or AGILE development approach. (i.e. rather than writing a gigantic spec for a system, then building it). FileMaker facilitates quick prototypes. Developing an example, then allowing users to "try it out" is a snap.
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.
FileMaker is still the quickest way to go from zero to having a minimum viable working solution. Simple solutions can be built in as little as a afternoon of development. It is the only tool I am aware of which allows tech savy end users with domain knowledge to build bespoke apps for their businesses without undertaking professional software development training.
It is hard to quantify, but being able to produce effective and easy-to-use apps for field surveys, I have greatly improved my data collection capabilities.
Digital data collection also significantly reduces data preparation time for statistical analysis in software such as Rstudio or JUMP.
Data integrity is greatly improved by reducing data collection errors and removing the analog-to-digital conversion step, which is a source of data errors.
We are a more agile company because of FileMaker. A few of us who are tech-savvy enough to manage the database (but are not professional developers) can make needed adjustments to our database without having to employ an in-house developer or contract with a 3rd party. As our business processes evolve and change, it's easy to update the database to accommodate those changes.
