Budibase

Budibase is overwhelming at first glance. The onboarding experience throws you into a full app-building environment with databases, screens, automation workflows, and data sources. For someone who just wants to create a contact form, this is like being handed an aircraft cockpit manual when you just need to know how to drive.

The learning curve is steep. You're not just building a form; you're connecting to data sources, configuring screens, setting up tables, and managing backend logic. The interface feels dense, with panels, sidebars, and configuration options everywhere you look. This complexity is justified for what Budibase is designed to do, but it's far from the streamlined experience of dedicated form builders.

The good news: If you invest the time to learn it, everything makes sense. The platform is logical once you understand its structure. The documentation is thorough. For developers or technical users building internal tools, this complexity eventually becomes an advantage.

The bad news: For non-technical users who just need to create a simple form, the interface feels like overkill. You'll spend time learning concepts that aren't relevant to basic form building, like CRUD operations, screen layouts, and backend queries.

Budibase gets 3 out of 5 for its form-building experience, and we are being generous here. Just be aware, this is for the form-building experience; among app builders, Budibase fares not too badly, as they have to have extensive options available to their users.

Budibase packs a punch when it comes to features. You can connect to virtually any database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, REST APIs, Google Sheets, and more), build complex automations, create multi-step workflows, and deploy self-hosted or cloud-based solutions.

For forms specifically, Budibase offers:

• Multi-step forms with conditional logic
• Custom validati,on including regex support
• Form data stored in your own database (huge for security and compliance)
• Advanced form automation and workflow triggers
• Integration with external systems via APIs
• Custom styling with CSS

The platform is open-source, which means unlimited customization if you have coding skills. The self-hosting option on even the free plan is rare and valuable for organizations with strict data requirements.

However, some features that form builders offer by default are missing or require workarounds:

• No built-in form analytics or completion tracking
• Limited pre-built form templates (most templates are full apps)
• No native A/B testing for forms
• No form-specific sharing or embedding options

Budibase also lacks some conveniences found in dedicated form tools, like pre-built notification templates, submission limits, open-close dates, automatic response emails, or form view tracking. But everything can be tweaked if you have human and time resources for you can spare for development.

Forms built in Budibase look functional but basic. The platform prioritizes utility over aesthetics, which is appropriate for internal tools but limiting if you're trying to create public-facing forms.

Out of the box, forms have a clean but dated appearance. You can customize them with CSS if you have coding knowledge, but there's no visual theme editor or style presets as you'd find in dedicated form builders.

Budibase is an open-source platform, so you can use it for free if you self-host the app. Just remember that self-hosting has its own costs.

Apart from the free self-host option, you have Budibase cloud plans. Budibase has an interesting approach to its cloud pricing; you pay for the app+ app users.