Bubble Review: Is it the right web builder for you?

It’s hard for many people to believe that you can create a fully functional and robust app without any coding experience. But believe it! In today’s growing digital landscape great solutions are available to make software more accessible to everyone. Bubble is a popular no-code app builder that’s making waves, and for good reasons. 

At 100DaysOfNoCode, we’re always looking for the best ways for no-coders to build their software. Bubble surely is a no-code tool that we can’t ignore and we want to share why!

What is Bubble? 

Founded in 2012, Bubble is a comprehensive no-code tool that allows you to build and host web apps, SaaS platforms, CRMs, and marketplaces without writing a single line of code. The team at Bubble believes that everyone should be able to create technology and aims to make web app building accessible to everyone.

Bubble’s main selling point is that it has its own visual programming language to make it more accessible for those without any coding experience to create an app. Additionally, as a no-code platform, it still provides the freedom and flexibility of customization that would usually come with a low-code platform.  

As a user, you’ll have the power to decide how your web app looks, its data structure, and control over its overall performance. This makes Bubble a great option for building either simple prototypes or fully functional SaaS products that have the opportunity to scale. 

Bubble claims to give users a good balance between power and ease of use. This is pretty believable considering you can create complex web apps with its robust point-and-click editor almost 10 times faster than if you were coding them yourself. 

Bubble’s Key Features

Let’s take a closer look at what features you can expect from Bubble.

No-code developer

Bubble’s developer is one of the most advanced no-code web app builders out there. Users can experience total freedom when building by making use of the drag-and-drop workflow tool. 

The best part is it’s fully customizable and functional: 

• You have absolute control over how your app performs as you can tell Bubble what should happen when visitors perform specific interactions with your app. 
• You can customize the language and appearance of your app for different individual users. 
• Bubble’s builder offers a wide array of development tools to accommodate the creation of a wide variety of apps. The tools are always present under different category names on the left sidebar of the interface. 
• You can build privacy rules to control which data users have access.
• You can process transactions that are completed on your app, send emails, and save and display your data at any time. 

User-friendly design tools

In Bubble’s ‘Design’section you can get a good view of how your app is currently looking as you’re building it. Here, you can also easily add your text and rearrange your images or videos. 

If you want to bring your site to life, you have the option to add animations and responsive layouts. There’s a preview button to help you see how your app performs with these added animations so you’ll always have a clear vision of how your app is progressing. 

Scalable hosting infrastructure

Bubble allows you to launch your app instantly through its cloud platform. This way, you’ll have automatic security and privacy attached to your app. With built-in analytics, you can also track your number of visitors and workflow runs to find out which parts of your app are being used the most. 

Stay rest assured because Bubble will host and scale your site as your web traffic starts to grow. You won’t need to deploy any servers. Bubble will provide a secure, production-ready, and scalable infrastructure. 

Convenient integrations

Bubble offers a wide array of integrations to make sure you stay connected to your networks. 

Some notable platforms Bubble integrates with are; Google Apps, WordPress, Slack, PayPal, Stripe, Trello, Calendly, Hotjar, Zoom Meetings, Mailchimp, Microsoft Outlook, Zapier, Typeform, Dropbox Business, and Twitter.

Bubble Academy

One of Bubble’s greatest achievements is its active community. Even though the learning curve of the platform can be steep, you’ll have access to a lot of help when you’re getting started. Bubble Academy is the platform’s online learning suite that helps beginners get to know how to use Bubble. It includes a wide range of video tutorials and learning resources to help you if you get stuck using the platform. 

Content creators in the Bubble community also offer step-by-step videos and written guides to help make the onboarding process a bit smoother for those who aren’t so familiar with web-building tools. 

Who is Bubble For?

Bubble is quite inclusive because it’s designed for teams of all sizes. You can bring your app to life if you’re just starting with a small viable product or scaling from a prototype to a mature SaaS solution. 

• Freelancers
• Startups
• Medium businesses
• Large enterprises

Bubble Pricing

Bubble offers four plans for their pricing; Free, Personal ($25/month), Professional ($115/month), and Production ($320/month). 

The Free plan is a good place to start if you want to get a feel of the platform. You’ll get the core platform features, with 500MB storage and full community support. If you want a personalized domain you’ll have to opt for the paid plans. 

Bubble Pros & Cons

Pros

• Bubble makes software development possible for everyone
• The platform securely handles web deployment and hosting, without a limit on the number of users or volume of traffic
• You get design freedom without requiring knowledge of HTML or CSS
• You can create multi-user web apps for both desktop and mobile
• Sufficient privacy rules 
• Seamlessly integrates with billing software like Stripe and Braintree for payments
• Automatic backups so you never lose your progress
• You can access video tutorials and lessons on Bubble Academy to help you get familiar with the Bubble editor
• All plans offer a free trial

Cons

• A limited number of backups for the free plan
• You can’t export your code to host elsewhere
• As it has many features, it takes some effort to learn to use it fully

Wrapping Up

If you’re looking for a flexible, no-code web app builder that’s going to allow you to set up all the advanced visual programming you’ll need to bring your digital solution to life, Bubble is a great option. 

Of course, the journey won’t be entirely simple if you have absolutely no experience, but fortunately, Bubble provides resources to help get you through. Even better, you’ll come out with a robust app and some new skills to help you scale even further. 

Some of our alumni at 100DaysOfNoCode have benefitted from Bubble’s platform to create web apps and game-changing SaaS solutions, so why shouldn’t you? If you think you need more help understanding the world of no-code, we’ve got you covered. Just take a look at our wide range of courses so you can be on your way to bringing your vision to life!