AppSheet

Overview

AppSheet is Google's no-code platform for building business applications and automations without writing code. An app starts from data rather than from a blank canvas: Google Sheets and Drive, Microsoft 365 and hosted Excel files, Cloud SQL, Azure SQL, BigQuery, Salesforce objects, Dropbox, Smartsheet, OData, Apigee and REST APIs, or AppSheet's own database. Gemini for App Creation is the AI route in, reached through Create, App, Start with Gemini: the maker describes a business process in natural language, Gemini answers with a proposed app structure listing the tables and their columns, and on confirmation builds the app and opens it in the AppSheet editor for previewing, customising and sharing. It is included with every paid licence rather than sold separately. Beyond app screens the platform automates work with email, SMS and push notifications, does intelligent document processing and OCR, and calls Google Apps Script functions. Paid plans run from $5 per user per month for Starter through Core at $10, which is included with most paid Google Workspace plans, to Enterprise Plus at $20, with a separate Publisher Pro plan at $50 per app per month for public apps that need no sign-in.

Best for teams on Google Workspace that want mobile and web apps over data already sitting in spreadsheets and cloud databases.

Two things make this an easy call or a poor one, and neither is the AI. The first is the licence: an organisation on a paid Google Workspace plan very likely owns Core already, which turns the question from what to buy into what to build. The second is where the data sits. Because an app is a layer over a table rather than a new store, teams whose work already lives in sheets and cloud databases get something usable quickly, while teams starting from nothing gain less. The plan ladder is the thing to read carefully before committing, since it is drawn around data volume and governance rather than around features a maker would notice: the row limits and the enterprise connections sit at the top, so a pilot that grows tends to move tier for reasons nobody planned for. Publisher Pro is the exception worth knowing about, being the only way to pay per app instead of per head.

Key Facts

Features

What it generates

Mobile and web business apps for work such as operations, field work, HR, sales and project management, plus automations sending email, SMS and push notifications; Gemini for App Creation generates the app from a described business process, proposing tables and columns before building

Stack and frameworks

No-code throughout: apps are configured in AppSheet's editor rather than written in a framework, and logic is extended with Google Apps Script functions and the REST API

Auth and database

Runs on existing data rather than its own: Google Sheets and Drive, Microsoft 365 and hosted Excel, Cloud SQL, Azure SQL, BigQuery, Salesforce, Dropbox, Smartsheet, OData, Apigee and REST APIs, with an AppSheet database included. Row limits per database scale with the plan, from 5 databases of 2,500 rows on Starter to 200 databases of 200,000 rows on Enterprise Plus. Enterprise data service connections and the stronger security, team management and governance controls are Enterprise Plus, which needs a Google Workspace administrator account

Hosting and deploy

Google cloud only, with apps published to end users rather than deployed to infrastructure; there is no self-hosted option

Payments

No built-in payments. No payment provider appears among the external services AppSheet documents, so a provider has to be reached like any other API, through a REST data source or a webhook step in an automation

Access to the code

Apps live in AppSheet rather than as an exportable codebase; Apps Script and the REST API are the extension points

Integrations

• Google Sheets
• Google Drive
• Google Apps Script
• BigQuery
• Cloud SQL
• Microsoft 365
• Azure SQL
• Salesforce
• Dropbox
• Smartsheet
• OData
• Apigee

Deployment and Support

Deployment

• Cloud (SaaS)
• Browser-based

Support

• Email helpdesk

Onboarding

• Documentation and knowledge base

Company size

• Small and mid-sized
• Enterprise

Suitability

The table combines the industries the vendor addresses with the company sizes the tool is aimed at. An empty cell means the combination is not stated, not that it is ruled out.

Pros and Cons

Pricing

• Free

  $0

  Full platform access for prototyping with up to 10 test users. No time limit stated.

• Starter

  $5

  Per user per month. Basic application and automation features, spreadsheet and cloud file storage connections, 5 AppSheet databases of 2,500 rows each.

• Core

  $10

  Per user per month. Advanced application and automation features, application security controls, email support, 10 databases of 2,500 rows each. Included with most paid Google Workspace plans.

• Enterprise Plus

  $20

  Per user per month. Adds enterprise data service connections to APIs, SaaS and databases, enhanced security, team management and governance, machine learning modelling, priority support and 200 databases of 200,000 rows each. Requires a Google Workspace administrator account.

• Publisher Pro

  $50

  Per app per month rather than per user. For publicly accessible apps that need no sign-in, with unlimited users per app and the Core feature set.

Best For

• Technology

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