Discussion Anyone using Jestor software? (No-code/low-code app builder)

[White Haus]

Just bought a lifetime license to this software for cheap on AppSumo (awesome site btw if you don't like subscription models).

Home - Jestor

Do it yourself. No code required to build scalable Apps, automations and workflows for your entire company.

jestor.com

Looks pretty interesting so far... spent the last couple of days playing around with it and I think it's going to come in really handy.

Going to build an order form, project tracker, CRM etc. all within one platform. Kind of looks like a cheaper version of FileMaker so far.

Has some pretty cool AI features where you can ask it to build you an app for anything, and a couple minutes later it spits out a basic version of it.

Anyone checked this out yet?

 

[WildWestDesigns]

If one keeps their apps small, very focus and stay within the lanes of the opinionated runtime, can do some really good stuff with it. Not for me, I prefer being able to only be limited by my imagination (even if that runs the risk of "shooting my foot off" as they say). Although I have written traditional apps in Godot (game engine), having the ability to even just use a scripting language allows for more compared to not offering it.

AI, rather it's art or code, I'm not a fan of. Not for really any skynet tinfoil hat theory, but just in the fact that it's way too high level abstraction and when we get to a user base that will have only known that and not know what it's abstracting, it's going to bring about some bad results (even more so considering that there are programs to poison the AI scraping barrel as well). The downside of getting tools that are too abstracted away from the inner workings. At that point, we get people that can't do X, because the tool is down. I make no illusions, it's going to exist in some form more likely as people are pumping in too much money otherwise, but I do think people need to learn the basics first, before they go on to that, regardless of the industry.

I don't necessarily mind some abstraction, but typically once there is an abstraction (especially a really high one), people focus on that and don't know the basic underneath. Don't have to be an expert, don't have to do it full time, just something of the basics will be better compared to nothing at all.

Having said that, I would much rather people create what tools that they can period versus being at behest of OEMs that just milk that SaaS cow for as long as they can.


Unfortunately, as I get older, I long for a simpler time, give me my animation peg, ACME Punch, Ames guide and Speedball and I'm happy.

 

[CanuckSigns]

That looks really cool! My only warning is to make sure you can export the data from it, the Lifetime license model scares me from a business point of view, the companies that offer it usually end up going under or finding a way to end the contract, and your data is held hostage.

 

[Pauly]

Theres a few like this. I've used appsmith before. - https://www.appsmith.com/

Usually tools like this, i look at the FOSS/OSS community first. usually apps like these, you want the OSS versions because the community supports more external tools.

 

[White Haus]

If one keeps their apps small, very focus and stay within the lanes of the opinionated runtime, can do some really good stuff with it. Not for me, I prefer being able to only be limited by my imagination (even if that runs the risk of "shooting my foot off" as they say). Although I have written traditional apps in Godot (game engine), having the ability to even just use a scripting language allows for more compared to not offering it.

AI, rather it's art or code, I'm not a fan of. Not for really any skynet tinfoil hat theory, but just in the fact that it's way too high level abstraction and when we get to a user base that will have only known that and not know what it's abstracting, it's going to bring about some bad results (even more so considering that there are programs to poison the AI scraping barrel as well). The downside of getting tools that are too abstracted away from the inner workings. At that point, we get people that can't do X, because the tool is down. I make no illusions, it's going to exist in some form more likely as people are pumping in too much money otherwise, but I do think people need to learn the basics first, before they go on to that, regardless of the industry.

I don't necessarily mind some abstraction, but typically once there is an abstraction (especially a really high one), people focus on that and don't know the basic underneath. Don't have to be an expert, don't have to do it full time, just something of the basics will be better compared to nothing at all.

Having said that, I would much rather people create what tools that they can period versus being at behest of OEMs that just milk that SaaS cow for as long as they can.


Unfortunately, as I get older, I long for a simpler time, give me my animation peg, ACME Punch, Ames guide and Speedball and I'm happy.

Good points you make.

Personally, I'm always stuck between a blank slate and overpriced saas apps that never really do exactly what I want. I have no coding or app-building experience (aside from a few hours playing in Filemaker years ago) so something user-friendly/for dummies like this is appealing. The AI feature is fun to try/play with, but beyond that I don't intend on using it. (For example, I asked it to create a order form app for a sign shop and sure enough, it spit out a simple version of it including sign types etc.) At the very least it could be used to generate ideas or bases for creating custom apps and workflows.

That looks really cool! My only warning is to make sure you can export the data from it, the Lifetime license model scares me from a business point of view, the companies that offer it usually end up going under or finding a way to end the contract, and your data is held hostage.

Good point! I'll have to ask them what the export / pulling out process looks like. At this point I don't plan doing anything super critical with it that we can't easily undo. For roughly $300 CDN it's worth the small risk to play around with it.

I've got a really rough map of what I can see this looking like when it's done - just a question of smarting small and making sure the tables/databases are all set up and linked properly for now.

Worst case scenario, I've wasted $300 and a few hours. Best case scenario, I can build a simple app that will allow us to enter orders, track their progress, and make notes as they go through production. CRM and Inventory would be next on the list.

 

[White Haus]

Theres a few like this. I've used appsmith before. - https://www.appsmith.com/

Usually tools like this, i look at the FOSS/OSS community first. usually apps like these, you want the OSS versions because the community supports more external tools.

What did you think of appsmith? Looks pretty well-polished.

Can you elaborate on your comment regarding FOSS/OSS? (I had to google those acronyms, ha)

I've (very briefly) looked into open-source app builders but I feel like they quickly become over my head.

I intentionally went this route mostly due to the lifetime/one-time fee vs the saas neverending trap. Seems like Jestor is fairly new and not super polished, but seems like it has potential.

 

[Gettin'By]

Maybe it's different outside of the USA, but looking at the plans page it's definitely subscription here.

 

[Pauly]

What did you think of appsmith? Looks pretty well-polished.

Can you elaborate on your comment regarding FOSS/OSS? (I had to google those acronyms, ha)

I've (very briefly) looked into open-source app builders but I feel like they quickly become over my head.

I intentionally went this route mostly due to the lifetime/one-time fee vs the saas neverending trap. Seems like Jestor is fairly new and not super polished, but seems like it has potential.

I only had a play with it, but not for what i wanted to do with it. But it's pretty cool.

FOSS/OSS Free Open Source Software.
Basically with FOSS (plenty of FOSS that you can pay for, for more features & Support) is community support. the community build the apps and maintain them. With more popular ones, there's the user community who help each other out. If the app supports plugins / integration and for example you want google drive integration. You could either build it yourself, someone may have already done it, or you can request the feature and one day it'll most likely appear.
If you really like the app, some have paid support, etc and with more features.

An example, Im using a CRM that's still in Alpha. is it buggy? Sure. Each time i report the bugs, the guys who work in it, will replicate it and fix them.
hey this would be better if it worked like this. They will review the suggestion.

basically, community support with FOSS apps is huge. As long as the project is popular. Theres always people coming and going, and people are willing to help.

ironically, every app uses some technology that's either FOSS or OSS.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

There are a million people on Fiverr that write apps, much cheaper and you own it at the end.

 

[White Haus]

I only had a play with it, but not for what i wanted to do with it. But it's pretty cool.

FOSS/OSS Free Open Source Software.
Basically with FOSS (plenty of FOSS that you can pay for, for more features & Support) is community support. the community build the apps and maintain them. With more popular ones, there's the user community who help each other out. If the app supports plugins / integration and for example you want google drive integration. You could either build it yourself, someone may have already done it, or you can request the feature and one day it'll most likely appear.
If you really like the app, some have paid support, etc and with more features.

An example, Im using a CRM that's still in Alpha. is it buggy? Sure. Each time i report the bugs, the guys who work in it, will replicate it and fix them.
hey this would be better if it worked like this. They will review the suggestion.

basically, community support with FOSS apps is huge. As long as the project is popular. Theres always people coming and going, and people are willing to help.

ironically, every app uses some technology that's either FOSS or OSS.

Interesting, thanks for the reply! I like the idea of the community support, sounds like a really good concept. Rather than paying for overpriced apps that tell you what options you need.

 

[White Haus]

Maybe it's different outside of the USA, but looking at the plans page it's definitely subscription here.

It was a limited-time offer on https://appsumo.com/

They offer apps/etc. for discounted one-time rates as opposed to the usual subscription model.

Lots of goodies on there, but Jestor was my first purchase. They'll usually have different tiers depending on users, options etc.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

I've been heavy into automation and self built apps for the last 5 years... basically built a replacement to 10 employees that takes our orders from placed to production in minutes.

That said, I have tried ReTool, Jestor, ZapierApps, JotForm Apps, AppSheet, and about a dozen others. I've settled on Appsheet for now as it's dead simple but it's not pretty and I can mix spreadsheets and a SQL DB. It ties directly to our automation tools and is simple to build on.

The issue I've had with Jestor is it gets complicated when using an external DB.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Can you elaborate on your comment regarding FOSS/OSS? (I had to google those acronyms, ha)

I've (very briefly) looked into open-source app builders but I feel like they quickly become over my head.

My entire workflow is open source. I did use one program that was commercial, and not to knock it, I didn't need the entire feature set, so I wrote my own GUI wrapper around FFMPEG (which the commercial program used under the hood as well, but they had a ton more features, I just didn't need all of that). If you look in the About section of your program of choice, usually libraries that are used are listed and if they are open source, you'll usually see an open source license next to it (MIT, BSD, GPLv2/3 etc(for libraries I prefer the first one, but the 2nd will do)).

Maya's UI is based of the Qt framework which is open source (I think portion of Adobe programs use it as well (probably QtWebkit)), so contrary to a lot of normie opinions, (F)OSS is quite robust in a lot of areas and some do have commercial support and some will charge for ready to go binaries as well.

 

[White Haus]

I've been heavy into automation and self built apps for the last 5 years... basically built a replacement to 10 employees that takes our orders from placed to production in minutes.

That said, I have tried ReTool, Jestor, ZapierApps, JotForm Apps, AppSheet, and about a dozen others. I've settled on Appsheet for now as it's dead simple but it's not pretty and I can mix spreadsheets and a SQL DB. It ties directly to our automation tools and is simple to build on.

The issue I've had with Jestor is it gets complicated when using an external DB.

Thanks for the feedback, sounds like you've checked out a lot of options over the years! Mind if I send you a PM to pick your brain at some point?

I'm already finding lots of bugs/limitations with Jestor and I've only played around with it for a few hours. Lots of features are behind an upgrade (subscription) paywall which sucks since the whole point of going this route was to avoid another subscription.

So far support is non-existent - I got a few (automated) onboarding emails "from" the founder and when finally I replied with one simple question on Friday and have yet to receive a response. I'm thinking I might just use this as a stepping stone for the next month to try to get my feet wet and really figure out wants vs needs then get a refund.

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

Thanks for the feedback, sounds like you've checked out a lot of options over the years! Mind if I send you a PM to pick your brain at some point?

I'm already finding lots of bugs/limitations with Jestor and I've only played around with it for a few hours. Lots of features are behind an upgrade (subscription) paywall which sucks since the whole point of going this route was to avoid another subscription.

So far support is non-existent - I got a few (automated) onboarding emails "from" the founder and when finally I replied with one simple question on Friday and have yet to receive a response. I'm thinking I might just use this as a stepping stone for the next month to try to get my feet wet and really figure out wants vs needs then get a refund.

Sure any time, I like bouncing ideas back and forth it makes for better Solutions using multiple viewpoints.

What is your initial goal you want to accomplish with software?

 

[White Haus]

Sure any time, I like bouncing ideas back and forth it makes for better Solutions using multiple viewpoints.

What is your initial goal you want to accomplish with software?

Thanks, much appreciated!

So my initial goal is/was:

-Create internal order form that is easily editable and doesn't require a bunch of manual steps.
-Create digital job board to store all orders w/ status and due dates etc
-Create digital schedule for daily tasks and tracking project progress

Bonus/next goals are:
-Create CRM/database for all customer info
-Create Estimating system
-Create a home to store and organize internal documents, systems, SOP's, training related document etc.
-Create Inventory management system

So far I've been able to create a rough version of my first three goals within one "app" in both Jestor and Stackby (yes, I'm already moving on to something else).

Jestor is visually a bit more polished but has lots of bugs (simple yet essential things like being able to move Kanban cards up and down - should be a no-brainer to have this option). I mistakenly didn't purchase the highest level of license (App Dev) so I'm kinda stuck there. Not upgrading to a monthly subscription as that defeats the whole purpose of lifetime membership, which lead me to Stackby.

Also available for lifetime deal on AppSumo if anyone feels like checking it out: https://appsumo.com/products/stackby/

Stackby isn't super pretty, and a bit confusing at first, but I think it has potential. It also has the option, with "page designer", to essentially create a printable docket that pulls all the data from your table.

So workflow would be:
1. Open order form, enter all relevant data for the new project. This then automatically gets entered to the grid (digital job board), Kanban boards (schedule, by status and/or which day of the week it's assigned to).
2. Print job docket, goes into clear sleeve and follows the job around the shop
3. Status gets updated as it progresses using update forms or editing status manually
4. When job is completed, user makes relevant notes, updates completed/shipped date and method and job card gets archived*
5. Order is invoiced in QB and submitted to customer A/P (no change there)

I still need to think about/look into what happens when the job is completed/archived. One of the main motivations behind all this is that our current system has several redundant steps and once a job is completed and invoiced, it just gets deleted off the board. We obviously have records in Quickbooks with the estimate and invoice, and some variation of a order docket/order form saved along with notes, but it's spread across too many apps and locations.

I think if we could find a way to attach all relevant documents (invoice, notes, pictures etc) to the job card before archiving, it would make referring back to it much easier as well as duplicating/repeating orders.

What I'm starting to realize, is that whatever I'm working on now will likely just be a stepping stone and that ultimately I will have to create/have created a standalone app built from scratch. I always seem to be stuck between off the shelf solutions that don't have the level of customization that I want, and needing to have something built 100% custom. (Which we can't really afford right now, otherwise I'd just go that route)

Whew, that turned into a bit of a rant. More to follow later after I get a chance to tinker with Stackby some more.