I have a complex project that is reaching the limits of Bubble’s capabilities. It’s got supabase as a backend already, and weirdly have just heard about weweb for the first time.
There’s almost no content online on the material differences between the two (aside from the fact that weweb is only a frontend, which is fine for me in this case) but from what I can see in a bit of playing around in the editor it seems that the no-code UI layer is a lot more closely aligned with the actual javascript happening behind it, and actually allows you to get into the javascript on pretty much every element - which opens up quite a lot more flexibility.
Anyone have any experience with it? What did you like/not-like compared to Bubble?
I have just been on Bubble for so long that it feels like second nature to me so I guess I’ve not looked at alternatives and just assumed that Bubble was the most powerful no-code frontend… and therefore defaulted to using it, despite the fact that I pretty much only use it as a frontend now.
if you have an external database do not use bubble
I switched to weweb and xano 6 months ago for all new projects and it has been an absolute dream I cannot speak highly enough of both platforms
I still use bubble for very simple apps but almost everything now I build on weweb/xano it’s been the best decision. very difficult to change and unlearn all the bad/lazy habits of building on bubble and it was a steep learning curve but man what a huge improvement.
I really want to test it, but my project is huge, with dozens of pages and integrations with other systems… I’m phobic just thinking about redoing everything from scratch …
Bubble is a terrible front-end, terrible back-end, and an amazing full stack platform.
Front end is slow to load so ransk poorly in SEO, has limited support for motion and animation, does not support all CSS properties natively, is a pain to deal with with custom CSS. We can’t do things like dynamically position a group focus, for example.
The backend is slower than a native Postgres database. It’s orders of magnitude more expensive, too.
So, why is Bubble a great full-stack platform? Because the two integrate so well (everything around workflows and dynamic expressions in Bubble are what makes it powerful). That saves so much developer time that cost is worth paying for and the speed is rarely an issue. If you move your backend off of Bubble, you lose those benefits and are stuck with the cons of the front-end when there are purpose-built tools to build a front-end and integrate them with an external backend.
OK, thanks for the clarification. I see where you’re coming from. Your comments were directed specifically at using Bubble as either a frontend or backend alone. I still think the comment is excessively harsh, and that it would depend on the specific use case.
I happen to think the frontend functionality - the so-called “new responsive engine” was brilliantly engineered, and it’s actually not difficult to become proficient for those who take the time to understand it. That modest time investment will pay off down the road (and it’s a much smaller investment than with traditional development). The UI/UX for leveraging the frontend functionality leaves a bit to be desired though. Maybe the upcoming property editor revamp will be an improvement.
Also, both backend performance and page load times have improved over the past year and a half or so (with more to come it seems). That said, improving initial page load is near the top of my wish list. I’d like to see it drop to around one second (and it seems doable with various strategies - including reducing or eliminating render-blocking JS). I have no doubt the engineering team is capable. It’s just a question of priorities.
For those familiar with CSS, integrating it into a Bubble page is actually not difficult; and some pretty spiffy things can be done (as I’ll be showcasing at some point). And FWIW, there are motion / animation capabilities that many might not be aware of - including parallax effect. Maybe I’ll post on it at some point.
C’mon George, you know that WU charges aren’t paying just for the backend.
No doubt it’s impressive engineering! But there are so many more limitations compared to other tools like WeWeb or Framer which are front-end first.
And we’d expect that, right? Bubble’s not designed to be a master of front-end or master of back-end, it’s designed for full stack.
So yeah, compared to any other front-end only tool on the market, I do think Bubble’s a pretty bad front-end, but that’s okay because it’s not trying to be just a front-end.
I mean let’s go a lot simpler. Just look at the tooltip, that’s all that needs to be said.
And look at how awkwardly groups collapse/expand their heights. Or how there’s a “lag” if you use the Animate option when hiding groups. The group will wait until the animation is complete to collapse, you basically can’t use that at all and have to rely on different CSS transitions.
Un this is more style recalculation issue rather than implementation problem imo.
I just discovered today that if you don’t add a style (from preset), bubble adds all the styles inline on the element => HTML gets bigger plus the infinitely nested DOM elements that bloat further => browser has hard time rerendering
I am actually building a frontend only on Bubble because I don’t have the patience for the traditional “new” way of building and it comes out vereeeery quick and snappy. It’s going to be the app only tho.
The landing page and blog will are custom and the backend is Supabase.
On quite a bit I suspect; or else we wouldn’t both be here on the Bubble forum having this discussion.
I do tend to take a rather nuanced view of most things Bubble (and life), and I like to discuss the finer points. After all, one never knows when they will learn something that might shift their perspective.
I’ve spent too much time on the internet, so I’ve lost all my nuance.
Though, that doesn’t mean I’m not open to changing my view! I posted a public boilerplate editor today for people to decide for themselves whether I’m talking out my ass or not and discuss what they might do differently
Well said. At 42 years of life, I’ve finally started to understand this. Be open, and you may just be able to improve through new learnings.
That is called hard headedness Not the best trait to keep close to your chest as you age. One of the things I’ve taught my 21 year old brother that opened his eyes is that the male brain is not fully developed until 25 years of life, and it is the decision making and impulse control that takes the longest to fully develop.
Best job I had at 15/16 was working in a retirement home as the server for dinner. I got to soak up a lot of wisdom from a lot of years of life of other people. Set me on a path to be more of a listener and learner rather than a talker.
I think it keeps developing until 35 depending on risk taking behaviour of the male and the culture. Male brain is developing as the need to adapt is there. I wish the science of psychology were more advanced.
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Maybe the upcoming property editor revamp will be an improvement. 
Not the best trait to keep close to your chest as you age. One of the things I’ve taught my 21 year old brother that opened his eyes is that the male brain is not fully developed until 25 years of life, and it is the decision making and impulse control that takes the longest to fully develop.