Is Bubble.io the Best Full-Stack, No-Code Platform in the Market? Expert Review 2024

---

The intent of writing this review is not to convince you to opt for Bubble.io as your low-code platform but to tell what it has to offer & what it is capable of. So, the plan is to keep this review as straightforward and concise as possible.

It’s always been challenging to implement one’s ideas into reality when creating digital solutions, be it an eCommerce marketplace, social networking solution, or a SaaS application a couple of years ago. But, things changed for good as the World saw a surge in no-code or low-code platforms offering even a newbie to coding to bring ideas to reality. The one such solution making all the headlines is Bubble.io, one of the most advanced yet straightforward-to-use, no-code solutions.

What is Bubble.io?

Bubble.io is a SaaS platform that allows users & businesses to create software, be it SaaS, Dashboards, CRMS, Marketplaces, Social Networking solutions, and much more, using Bubble.io’s no or low-code platform. Simply put, if you have an idea that needs a digital footprint to execute it, Bubble.io can help you create one.

Why use Bubble.io?

Using Bubble.io can help you create digital products faster & with less or no additional resources to design & develop your business idea. Hence, it considerably reduces your infrastructure & development costs. Eventually, to build better products and go out to the market fast.

Yes, there are other advantages of using Bubble.io, which I will detail later in this article. Yes, there are also disadvantages to using a low-code solution, which we will discuss later.

Do I need to know how to code to use Bubble.io?

It depends on what you are developing. To use no-code platforms, one must have at least beginner or intermediate coding knowledge to work on Bubble.io. No code means you don’t need to work with the code, which doesn’t mean you don’t know what’s happening at the code level. Intermediate-level coding knowledge will always help to design a robust software product.

Bubble.io Features

Development

UX Development

Bubble.io claims one can build a complex product like Airbnb or Facebook using its platform. I acknowledge the claim, as many businesses have designed similar complicated SaaS products using Bubble.io, whether very simple or complex software solutions.

Bubble has helped multiple companies raise Billions of dollars in funds; that says it all.

Bubble calls itself a visual programming language, where your workspace is nothing but a dashboard to create your application where the code is hidden from your first view. However, you can always edit your code to see how it behaves in the front end.

Bubble.IO’s drag-and-drop editor literally needs no coding experience to create stunning products. Create interactive, multi-user, responsive, and functional with just a click of a button. However, intermediate-level knowledge of coding can always help create a potent application.
Technically speaking, Bubble compiles JavaScript modules, CSS, and HTML into a functional Node.js app using a JSON-based language.

Integrate your app to the World

You can extend the Bubble.IO app’s capabilities further using its Javascript Plugins or no-code API connectors. The library of plugins is humongous, some paid and others available for free to integrate into your application. Explore Bubble’s plugin marketplace for business solutions or create your plugins for the no-code community.

User & data management

Each Bubble application is equipped with an out-of-the-box user management system that can be readily integrated into your project.

Concerning data management, with Bubble.IO, you can create, design, query, and export your data within a highly scalable and secure environment. One can also set up user accounts that are Auth2.0 compatible, including Google & Facebook.

Design

Ease of development

If you can drag and drop a file onto an email to send to your friend, then you can efficiently work with Bubble.IO to create picture-perfect frames with no coding knowledge required, i.e., HTML or CSS. I personally agree with it, but it depends on what you are creating. I’m sure you are not here to create a Hello World app.

A moderate understanding of how code works is a must to create a robust application that can do stuff. Don’t fall into the trap of no code; there is no such thing. It should be called a Low-Code instead of a No-Code solution in an ideal scenario.

Multi-Lingual Support

Bubble allows you to automatically display the appropriate language, currency, and formats for your website messages without any extra effort. Our platform currently supports over 80 international languages, and adding more is a breeze.

It’s inbuilt, which means no additional plugin is required. Phew! 😮‍💨

Hosting

Now to the backbone of your entire App: The infrastructure and maintenance.

Bubble handles server maintenance, infrastructure, and operations securely, so you don’t have to. It provides deployment and hosting services that allow you to focus on your project. Additionally, there are no hard limits on user numbers, traffic volume, or data storage. Thank you, Bubble.

Application Scalability

You can allot additional server resources to the app when required without any additional technical changes.

Do you have to pay more for additional server resources?
Yes. Bubble allows you to pay only for the amount of storage you use, with the option to increase capacity as needed. You use more, you pay more.

Version Control

Version Control Management on Bubble is simple & safe, with a private environment to test changes, merge & deploy. 

Backups

Instantly reverting to any point in its history for revisions is straightforward with Bubble.io. No worries here!

Security & Privacy

Bubble offers free, automatic SSL certificates for all websites, as well as secure infrastructure and multi-factor authentication to ensure the safety of your collaborators and users.

Security

• Bubble’s user authentication system ensures secure data with password hashing, salting, encryption, and more.
• Take control of your data’s privacy with BBLE’s natural language privacy rules.
• Bubble offers reliable, industry-standard services like AWS and Cloudflare. We are SOC 2 Type II compliant, pen-tested, and GDPR compliant.

Growing with Bubble

What do you mean by growing with Bubble?
This involves mainly the marketing of your application post the development. Mainly concerning marketing, measurement & engagement. Can you do this, Bubble? Yes, of course! But this is where the plugins come into play.

Measurement & Engagement

Bubble.io readily integrates with popular analytics solutions like Google Analytics 4 to help you gather critical data to make calibrated decisions for your application.

Capture user behavior within the application using Mixpanel to help refine your marketing strategy by understanding what your user wants.

Growing your Audience

With Bubble, you can send customized, transactional emails to your users and integrate them with email list management services. You can also manage your SEO by setting meta tags, customizing URL text and titles, and generating site maps.

Can Bubble.io process payment?

Yes, of course!
Integrate your Bubble app with Stripe and Braintree for complex payment models, which include subscriptions, deferred payments & third-party transactions.
Bubble also enables you to build an e-commerce checkout cart, develop SaaS products, or create crowdfunding platforms.

Collaborate

User management using Bubble.io also enables you to create individuals and teams to collaborate in developing your no-code (low-code) solution. Keep your team engaged and informed in real-time with Bubble.

• Add up to 40 collaborators –  Bring together up to 40 teammates to work on your application with customizable permissions and access rights. Whether it’s marketing, legal, design, or any other field, anyone can pitch in without needing to write code.
• Work together in real time, privately – Collaborate with your team in real-time and directly provide feedback with notes, tasks, and comments on your app. Keep your application secure and selectively share it until you’re ready to unveil it.

What do I get to do with Bubble.IO’s Dashboard?

Workflow

With Bubble.io, the sky is the only limit to what you can achieve. Simply put, do you have an idea? You can manifest it, provided your idea requires a digital footprint. Every idea starts with a workflow, meaning what must happen when you do something on an app.

With Bubble.io, you can design your workflow with ease. It offers an easy-to-use and straightforward setup where you can design your workflow firsthand. I call, and mostly, the entire World calls the workflow the backbone of any application 🙂

You crack your idea’s workflow, and 90% of your job is done concerning your product development journey with Bubble.io. Easy peasy.

The Design Tab

Bubble offers UI building blocks to design your app—more like playing with Legos. It is simple, but you must know what to put and where. They cover handy visual elements and dynamic containers to help group elements, input forms, and more.

View all design elements here.

Data Tab

The data tab is where you manage all the data that the application requires. One can create custom data types, add users, and control all the application’s app data. If you have experience with spreadsheets, this would be a piece of cake for you. Simply put, the data tab within the Bubble.io dashboard is the epicenter of your database management.

Style Tab

The style tab lets you control all the styles for your visual elements. Be it the button’s color or border-radius—one place to control your global styles. It’s like the backstage for a fashion show 🙂

Plugins Tab

By definition, Plugins add individual features to your application; for example, if you want to generate a random number within your app, you either add this ability within the code yourself or add a plugin that generates a random number, a pre-designed 3rd party solution.

Be it an extension of your Bubble elements, new event-based actions, or making an API call using 3rd party APIs. Bubble plugins can do it all. Your options are endless.

Bubble.io has many contributors who design such plugins and make them available in the plugin marketplace; it could be either paid or free of cost. It also endorses some of the standard plugins officiated by Bubble.

[Youtube Video]

Pricing

Let’s discuss the elephant in the room now, i.e., how much will Bubble cost me (or your company)?

Bubble.io has been pocket-friendly to get started. It’s free to start with the prototype, and you only pay when you want to go live.

Bubble.io’s primary agenda is to help you raise funds, which has helped many entrepreneurs get in Billions of dollars.

Bubble.io offers five plans,

• The Free Plan is perfect to get started, and I intend to build a relationship with Bubble.io, projects that are under construction.
• The Starter Plan – Ideal for building MVPs & tools for a moderately sized user base
• The Growth Plan – For projects with complex features & larger user base
• The Team Plan – For enterprise level solutions, projects that require high-usage
• The Enterprise Plan – For internal tools & customer facing solutions

Free	Starter	Growth	Team
$0.00 /month	$29.00 /month	$119.00 /month	$349.00 /month
Best plan for anyone who wants to learn how to use Bubble.	Ideal plan for App launch & Testing	Perfect choice for growing your user base	Best for scaling your team and business

Marketplace

Bubble’s marketplace offers you options, assistance, and guidance required to manifest your idea into reality. The marketplace is a repository of pre-built, ready-to-install templates, plugins to extend app features, boot camps to enrich your knowledge, a list of Bubble-endorsed top agencies to outsource your app development & coaches to help you get answers to all your queries. What more?

• Templates – The Bubble community offers a variety of pre-built apps and templates that you can use to create your projects quickly and easily.
• Plugins – Use Bubble’s pre-built apps and templates or add new elements, actions, and API connections to extend its functionality.
• [View complete list]
• Agencies – You can buy services from Bubble’s active community of consultancies and agencies.
• Bootcamps – Boost your learning with courses from Bubble’s lively community of educators.
• Coaching – With one-on-one Bubble coaching, you can receive expert guidance to improve your skills and get answers to your questions, allowing you to create even more robust applications.

Bubble Academy

The academy is your Bible to build on Bubble, from understanding the Bubble platform to expert features. From simple crash courses to expert-level hand-holding, Bubble Academy offers it all.

• Video Tutorials: Access Bubble’s extensive video library to find answers to specific problems. Access them all here.
• Manual & Forum:
  • Take your Bubble learning to the next level with our manual and forum.
  • Get comprehensive guidance and connect with other users to get support.
  • Become a Bubble pro in no time!
• Coaching: Accelerate your learning with Bubble’s coaching marketplace. Find a coach to help you achieve your goals and take your skills to the next level. 

My Inference about Bubble.io

The numbers below speak for itself. Yes, the journey will be challenging with Bubble, but you can create what you are looking for. I highly recommend Bubble just because of the kind of content it has made available in its academy. It’s thorough.

Bubble openly flaunts the success that it has been part of with thousands of successful entrepreneurs & founders to gain access to funds and grow its customer base. Bubble has all the right to do so. Do take a look at it.

The Bubble is ideal for many founders, enterprises & developers, and the market’s best no-code (low-code) platform. It can’t get more straightforward and more cost-efficient than Bubble.

Bubble is a clear example of what a community can offer to the world when it comes together.

Bubble is a success already, and why not be part of it?