How to choose between FlutterFlow and OutSystems

The agreements

First of all, the similarities, because there are plenty of them to discover. Below is a (very) brief list:

• Both are low-code tools (read more about that in the previous blog), suitable for making high-quality apps in a short time.
• For both tools, the learning curve is a lot less steep than traditional software development (writing code).
• Both tools offer a number of crucial functionalities out of the box, so you can quickly put an app live. This includes hosting and publishing your app, authentication and standard UI elements.
• With both tools, you can create apps that are available in your browser or downloadable from the app stores.
  

The differences

A few of the key differences:

• With FlutterFlow, you must choose a separate tool for your backend (e.g. Supabase or Firebase), while OutSystems has the entire development environment in one tool.
• Both tools offer the possibility to build on standard functionalities by writing your own code, but the options with FlutterFlow are more extensive. This makes it easy to write your own functions and you can create your own UI components with Flutter code.
• FlutterFlow allows you to download the source code of your app.
• There is certainly a large overlap in possible applications for the two tools and the distinction is therefore not so black and white. However, they both have a different focus. OutSystems has more focus on business applications, while FlutterFlow's focus is more on mobile applications and startups.
• There is a big difference in licensing costs for the two tools. For OutSystems, a license starts at around 50,000 euros per year, while a FlutterFlow license costs 600 dollars per year (per developer). In addition, there are other costs, such as the costs you incur for using Supabase or Firebase.
  

When do you choose OutSystems?

OutSystems offers all functionalities in one tool. This includes building screens, designing your data model, defining process flows and setting up CI/CD pipelines to deploy your apps. This makes it ideal for creating complex business applications. Suppose we create an OutSystems app to automate your production process. Then we can let that process in OutSystems respond to various events from internal and external systems, perform database updates, and set up a task for an employee in certain exceptional cases. In doing so, OutSystems offers support for strict compliance rules, including ISO certifications and role-based access.

Have a look at our cases to see what we've built with OutSystems

With OutSystems, for example, you can build:

• Customer portals
• ERP integrations
• Process Automation Tools
  

When to choose FlutterFlow‍

The combination of FlutterFlow and Supabase (or any other back-end tool) is very strong and certainly also offers the possibility to respond to events from external systems. However, it is less suitable for controlling the orchestration of various processes. For complex business processes, it is therefore better to contact OutSystems. FlutterFlow, on the other hand, is very suitable for building mobile apps that require a smooth user experience. Because FlutterFlow apps run underwater on Flutter and those apps can run as native apps on different devices, FlutterFlow allows you to create apps that feel beautifully designed, fast and intuitive to your users. In combination with the lower licensing costs, this makes FlutterFlow very attractive for start-ups, for example.

With FlutterFlow, for example, you can build:

• Mobile applications
• Apps with a strong focus on the visual user experience
  

Want to know more?

Hopefully this blog has made you a bit wiser, but if not: I would be happy to provide some extra text and explanation. For example, are you curious about which of the two tools is better suited to your project? Send me a message!