Best for
Best for operations teams whose departmental processes have outgrown spreadsheets and whose IT department wants governance around whatever replaces them.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
AI App Builders Comparison
Quickbase vs. Zoho Creator
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for teams that want low-code apps with a native mobile version out of the box and the option to host them anywhere, including their own servers.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Quickbase | Zoho Creator |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $35 / user / month Team is $35 and Business $55 per user per month, priced annually. Neither figure includes the platform minimum, a base charge on top of the per-user price. All users in an account must be on the same plan. Enterprise is quoted by Quickbase. | Not stated |
| Free trial | 30-day free trial with the Business plan features | 15-day free trial, no credit card required, defaulting to Professional features; a free edition covers one custom application |
| Output | Custom operational applications with tables, forms, reports, dashboards, roles and workflow automation | Custom web applications with a matching native iOS and Android app, plus portals, business processes, integration flows and BI dashboards |
| API | Yes, JSON REST APIs; the platform analytics API and solutions API are Enterprise only | Yes |
| Hosting | Not stated | Zoho's cloud, AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, or installed on your own servers on-premise |
| What it generates | Custom operational applications: tables and forms for the data, more than 13 report types and personalised dashboards, roles and permissions, and pipelines for workflow automation. Pave, the AI builder, takes a description of how the work happens today and constructs the application, including data structures with linked records, user roles and permissions, automation and hosting | Custom web applications with a native iOS and Android app for every app built, plus PWA support and built-in mobile device management, and beyond single apps portals, business processes, integration flows and BI and analytics. CoCreator, powered by Zia, builds the app from a plain-language description, and conversational analytics answers questions about a dataset in plain English |
| Stack and frameworks | There is no framework or language to choose. An application is assembled in Quickbase's own builder and runs on Quickbase's platform, and it is widened rather than swapped: more than 40 pre-built Pipelines integration channels connect it to other systems, and Quickbase Extensions, a paid package, adds document generation, e-signatures, SMS, email notifications and mapping to the same app | A drag-and-drop builder over an app schema with more than 40 form field types; custom logic is written in Deluge, Zoho's own scripting language |
| Auth and database | Quickbase's own tables and linked records, with role-based permissions, encryption, audit logs and data classification. Single sign-on and SCIM provisioning arrive with the Business plan; restricting user creation to realm admins and managing token permissions is Enterprise | Role-based access control with single sign-on, IP restrictions, automated user management and SAML and Active Directory integration for large organisations |
| Hosting and deploy | Hosted by Quickbase, with the application ready to use once built. On-premise connectivity and data warehouse integrations are Enterprise features | Zoho's cloud with auto-scaling and data centres in multiple geographies, or deployment to AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, or installation on your own servers on-premise. ISO 27001, 27017 and 27018 certified and SOC 2 compliant |
| Payments | No payment collection or checkout of its own, and none is documented for the apps built on it: these are internal operational applications rather than customer-facing products. Money stays in the systems Quickbase connects to, through the financial software category among the 40+ pre-built Pipelines channels or through the JSON REST APIs | Payment fields run through pre-integrated gateways, configured once and then reused by workflows; Razorpay, Cashfree and PayPal appear in the documentation, and which gateways are available depends on the data centre and the country and currency configured |
| Access to the code | Code pages let a builder add custom HTML, CSS or JavaScript to an app and surface it through a button, a hyperlink, a formula URL field or an iframe; JSON REST APIs cover programmatic access | The Deluge script behind every component can be read and edited in the Application IDE under Developer Tools, and an application's Deluge Script can be downloaded as a .ds file; that export is refused when a report in the application shows data from 150 fields or more |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise |
| Support | Email helpdesk, Community forum | more entries Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat, Community forum |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Live online demos and webinars | Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | Salesforce, Jira, ServiceNow, Procore | more entries Zoho CRM, Zoho Books, Zoho People, Zoho Analytics, Zoho Desk, Zoho Flow, Salesforce, SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle E-Business Suite, QuickBooks, SharePoint, Google Workspace, PayPal, Stripe, Razorpay, Twilio, Zapier |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Free trial Quickbase 30-day free trial with the Business plan features Zoho Creator 15-day free trial, no credit card required, defaulting to Professional features; a free edition covers one custom application
- Deployment Quickbase Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based Zoho Creator Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise
- Support Quickbase Email helpdesk, Community forum Zoho Creator Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat, Community forum
- Output Quickbase Custom operational applications with tables, forms, reports, dashboards, roles and workflow automation Zoho Creator Custom web applications with a matching native iOS and Android app, plus portals, business processes, integration flows and BI dashboards
- API Quickbase Yes, JSON REST APIs; the platform analytics API and solutions API are Enterprise only Zoho Creator Yes
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Quickbase
Strengths
- Pave builds a working app, data model and permissions included, from a description of the existing process
- Governance is part of the platform: roles and permissions, encryption, audit logs and data classification
- No-code connectors to Salesforce, Jira and ServiceNow, plus JSON REST APIs
- Code pages allow custom HTML, CSS and JavaScript where the no-code builder stops
- Quickbase states that customer data is not used to train the AI
Limitations
- The published per-user price excludes a platform minimum that is not published, so the real cost needs a quote
- AI capability beyond Pave, namely the AI agent, Data Analyzer and AI Actions, is a paid Intelligence Package add-on
- Single sign-on, SCIM provisioning, a sandbox and FDA and HIPAA compliance require the Business plan
- All users in an account must be on the same plan, so one requirement can lift the whole account a tier
- Platform analytics and solutions APIs are restricted to Enterprise
Zoho Creator
Strengths
- Every app built comes with a native iOS and Android app, not only a responsive web view
- Runs on Zoho's cloud, on AWS, Azure or Google Cloud, or on your own servers on-premise
- CoCreator, powered by Zia, builds an application from a plain-language description
- Payment fields are built in and route through pre-integrated gateways
- ISO 27001, 27017 and 27018 certified and SOC 2 compliant
Limitations
- Zoho does not print figures on the pricing page, so plans can be compared by content but not by cost without asking for a quote
- The Standard plan is limited to a single application; unlimited apps start at Professional
- Custom logic uses Deluge, a scripting language specific to Zoho
- AI model allowances and cloud function calls are capped per plan and per user per day
- Which payment gateways are available depends on the data centre and the currency configured
Plans
Pricing
Quickbase
- Free trial $0 30 days with the Business plan features.
- Team $35 Per user per month, priced annually, on top of a platform minimum. Personalised dashboards, 13+ report types, workflow automation, user and data security, encryption and audit logs. The AI Intelligence Package is an optional add-on.
- Business $55 Per user per month, priced annually, on top of a platform minimum. Everything in Team plus single sign-on, SCIM provisioning, Gantt charts, a sandbox and FDA and HIPAA compliance. Quickbase Extensions and the AI Intelligence Package are optional add-ons.
- Enterprise Custom Quoted by Quickbase. Everything in Team and Business plus advanced performance tools, advanced encryption, on-premise connectivity, data warehouse integrations, the platform analytics and solutions APIs, and the extensions and AI add-ons.
Zoho Creator
- Free edition $0 One custom application, for individuals and small teams exploring low-code development.
- Standard Not stated Amount not published. 1 application, 20 custom and 50 ready-to-use AI models, 5 data sources, 5 custom connectors, 50 cloud function calls per user per day.
- Professional Not stated Amount not published. Unlimited applications, 100 custom and 250 ready-to-use AI models, 15 data sources, 10 custom connectors, 100 cloud function calls per user per day.
- Enterprise Not stated Amount not published. Unlimited applications, 100 custom and 250 ready-to-use AI models, 30 data sources, 20 custom connectors, 200 cloud function calls per user per day, with advanced integrations and analytics.
- Flex Custom Quoted by Zoho for tailored requirements.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Quickbase
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Zoho Creator
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Quickbase https://www.quickbase.com · no check date recorded yet
Zoho Creator https://www.zoho.com/creator/ · no check date recorded yet
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.