Why do we need more open source in no-code?

Nowadays we can clearly see the growth of open source alternatives to popular no-code tools. In the graph below you can find open source alternatives to Airtable, Retool, Bubble, Zapier, etc. indicated by a green mark.

Why is it crucial to consider the importance of open source when deciding on the right no-code tool for your business:

Data Governance and Compliance

When choosing a no-code tool, it is important to consider the enterprise or public sector rules and policies related to data governance, security, and data sovereignty. Open source tools like Baserow offer data ownership and GDPR compliance for their clients, which opens up no-code to regulated industries like Healthcare, Finance, Manufacturing, Research, and Public Sector.

Extensibility and Customization

As a developer, being able to customize an application to meet the specific needs of your client is powerful. If you are using no-code tools like Airtable, most of them do not offer real extensibility. Many no-code tools offer an app store with API extensions or pre-integrated apps. However, the real extensibility comes from the ability to modify the source code and build specific features/plugins to meet a business's specific needs. This requires a developer-friendly openness, which Baserow offers.

Scalability and Portability

Scalability is critical when building production apps with a large amount of data, users, or API connections. The Baserow architecture is built for scale, remaining fast and stable at high volumes of rows. Since its inception, we have realized the scalability issues of available solutions and created a tool that allows our clients to grow without compromising on performance. We offer the ability to deploy the app on-premise, to give your DevOps team the flexibility to scale horizontally with K8S for instance or deploy in the cloud provider of your choice. By choosing to self-host, you are never limited by the amount of data to store in your databases and have full decision power on the portability of your application.

Business Continuity and Security

Another big pain point for no-code users is the dependency on the SaaS vendor, increasing the risk of increasing costs, product quality, acquisition, or discontinued service. Using open source software hedge the risk as the software is available forever, regardless of the software vendor. Businesses that have integrated Baserow into many of their business processes will never face the risk of sudden discontinuation of the tool. No vendor lock-in is a huge advantage if you plan for the long-term.

What is Baserow?

Baserow offers a secure, fast, and flexible no-code open source database solution. With Baserow, you can manage large volumes of data, install it on your own server and easily integrate it with other tools because of our API-first approach, and much more.

The no-code movement is here to stay, and the importance of open source cannot be overstated. It is time to embrace open source and reap the benefits that come with it.

Check out Baserow for an open source no-code database!