FlutterFlow
The last no-code tool that I tested out before deciding which one to stick with is FlutterFlow. FlutterFlow is based on Flutter logic as its name implies. It's definitely one of the more difficult ones to fully understand but it has some powerful features that no other tool offers. It has so many features that I am still discovering new things after using it for 6 hours. But let's first start with the builder itself
Making layouts follows the same principles as programming in Swift. You place the components you require in columns, rows and stacks. You can also make additional styling changes like padding, changing colours, aligning text, and so on. You have full design freedom with FlutterFlow.
There are tons of settings that you can change to tweak the app to your liking. Everything from choosing your theme to publishing the app to the App Store can be done here. It is a smart idea to read through the settings before starting to build your application. It will save you lots of time styling everything. You can basically change anything in the app.
At first sight, FlutterFlow really overwhelms you with functions if you are using it for the first time. Luckily, they have plenty of documentation and tutorial videos to guide you. There's a high chance that finding the answer to your question is just a click away.
To store data, FlutterFlow suggests using Firebase or Supabase. If you have an app that requires authentication, Firebase is the only option you have. A big advantage of FlutterFlow focusing on one provider is that everything is built around it and works, and the documentation is excellent. Firebase is complex for someone like me who has never used it but their documentation guides you through it. You can easily change Firestore rules to make sure the right people have the right access.
Due to their free education plan, I can upload my code to Github or download it. These are functions that no other tool has. This allows you to open your code for Swift and run it there.
You can add custom code to your FlutterFlow project. You can write custom functions, widgets and actions. I plan to test this feature later on in the project.
Maybe not the most important thing, but I received an answer to my educational request question after 10 minutes.
The visual builder is laggy on my computer. I don't have the new one but a 2019 MacBook Pro should be able to handle the job. It's just not as fast and smooth to build as other tools like Adalo and Glide. After a little while, you start to learn how to work with it and it gets less and less annoying.
FlutterFlow doesn't provide the option to run your application on your phone itself. Adalo and Bravo Studio both have this option and it's just handy to have. You do have the ability to download your code. Open it in Swift and run the application on your phone. But this is a lot of work to test your app. You can try out the app by building it in the browser but it's just not the same.
The app crashes quite often. This happens when you make an adjustment like changing the height of a container. It happens multiple times a day and is quite frustrating.
You have the options to make a new collection and mark it as a sub collection of an existing collection. The downside of this is that you can't manage the data inside of the sub collection. This way you can't create sample data easily or view what's inside of the collection.
FlutterFlow has the steepest learning curve of all the tools I tested but is by far the most comprehensive tool out there to make your no-code app. I believe that FlutterFlow is more focused on people that already have some programming background. It offers a rich set of features for building robust, scalable applications.