Bubble or WebFlow, what would your choice for a large B2B Directory?
Hi all,
I'm stuck in between Bubble and WebFlow to choose as a platform for a large B2B directory with some dynamic features to make customized lists, ratings, portfolio pages etc. Bubble seems to be a viable option considering it has its own database whereas you have to rely on third-party services to handle the database in WebFlow. However, speed will be crucial as well and Bubble seems to be lagging behind WebFlow in terms of page load speeds and which will adversely affect SEO.
I'm sure both are much better options with regard to Wordpress but I'm curious to learn experienced users' opinions.
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neither. strongly suggest you to look at https://wappler.io for a long term, more extensible, more robust solution.
@remo We are trying to solve a similar problem with NoCodeSheets
For example, a directory like structure can be built of your data similar to https://ncs6.hashforms.com - The cards on the homepage are dynamically rendered from Google sheets.
This way you dont have to spend time on design, connecting data sources etc. Its SEO friendly as well as the data is rendered from server side directly.
Having said that I still want to see a sample website/page on what kind of pages you were looking for. Again you cannot build a super complex product but something like listing, directory kind of designs are very well possible.
If you can sign up to NoCodeSheets , we can take the discussion from there.
Totally understand the predicament. Just went through a similar decision myself.
It really came down to what I envisioned the future of the site/app to need.
Hope that helps. I wrote more on the comparison here: https://brycevernon.com/webflow-vs-bubble/
Hi Bryce that was a pretty good comparison. I've been using webflow for over 5 years but natively knew I couldn't build the same kind of marketplace app so I have been working in bubble. But recently it's been headache after headache I understand there is a learning curve for bubble but the written documentation is written like a documentation for programming terms and the videos scattered over youtube have multiple ways to achieve the same thing. I might be better off to learn airtable and hook it up with webflow. Do you have any new thoughts 9 months after you wrote that blog post?
That’s totally fair. Bubble can get super complex. Places like buildcamp.io are making it easier. But without some concentrated support like that, it’s gonna be tough to get things polished.
I enjoy dipping my toe into some code and so Bubble feels fun. I like knowing that if I hit a roadblock there’s likely a detour.
If you can get it done in Webflow, then that’s gonna save you some headache.
Not sure if that helps too much.
I believe it's better to use the tech you know than waste time learning a new tech. Especially if you're building an MVP to validate an idea.
If you decide to use Airtable as your backend, then I would recommend you try PowerImporter to automatically sync it with your Webflow CMS. You'll save more headaches than trying to do it with Zapier or Integromat.
Disclaimer: I'm the indie hacker behind PowerImporter. 😁
Powerimporter is super impressive. I imagine if webflow gets their plugin marketplace off the ground it would be a popular item. It seems to handle the biggest headache of the formatting that often screws up syncing data. Nice work.
Thanks! Yeah, I can't wait to see what extra features we will be able to create when they have a proper plugin API for us to play with.
But, for now, the CMS API will suffice for syncing data.
@JudoHacker I will look into it. For my own reference as a no-code enthusiast I think those automation tools are important to have a base understanding and grasp especially when doing more advanced but after you know something a tool to remove headaches is always good if the cost can be justified. I just picked up an airtable membership. I think that is the way to go for sure for this and other projects. I think my frustration with Bubble is that for certain specific things there are tutorials mostly rehashing the same build taught by several people but the breadth of knowledge isn't there as far as education. And it's a platform with it's own language that is actually as hard to understand as code in some instances. That has been my experience from trying to use it for a few weeks. Definitely worth sticking to what I know.