We prioritize features based on user input, especially now that core features are in place. But the idea for the initial set of features were based on our own needs, and our frustration with existing products.

For example, there are lots of reporting tools, but we could not find even one that has good time series analysis. If you want to analyze your personal stock market investments, good time series analysis is essential, so we filled the gap in the market with our own product.

Blazer (https://blazer.dokkuapp.com) does reports and targets non-tech users (preferrablly knows Sql) you should check it out, but yours does more and better.

Nocodb is indeed a worthy competitor! If you're interested in how Visual DB is differentiated from Airtable-like products see here: https://visualdb.com/spreadsheet/#airtable

Thanks for raising those points. To maximize security we are prioritizing on-prem version.

Don't store database credentials at all. Ensure your product and recommended database configuration supports SSO/SAML/etc with credentials managed through Okta or Active Directory. You'll need that if you go up-market into an enterprise.

[deleted]

You can't store database passwords as hashes, because you need the clear password each time to connect to the database. Really, the only way to guarantee security is to use air-gapped systems, in which case you only have to worry about guarding physical access. See https://www.nextgov.com/artificial-intelligence/2024/05/micr...

Thanks for the feedback. Self-hosted version is now a high priority for us since many people have given us this feedback.

Thanks for the feedback. We'll make self-hosted version a high priority.

Yes an on premise solution is quite important for place in hired in. To add to this I’ve been doing a lot of looking into products like this and explored nocodb as a use case. Here are some limitations I’ve run into.

1) Granular user roles/permissions. Nocodb has this but it’s a little awkward with different bases. For example it’s hard to see which tables that user is limited to as you create new bases.

2) Forms. The form needs to have flexibility in required fields which nocodb (and not just based on schema) does but it’s missing a key feature. That would be “created by” field which doesn’t work on external database with different bases for different permissions. As in if you have a different base per user group (to have different permission on table access) adding a new record does not populate created by correctly.

3) relational data. The goal of these products is for non-technical people to use these and none have the option of clicking into the relation to bring up that record on its table. As in all you see is the description/id of the relational record.

4) at some point you want to possibly use the database for user management. Because you may want to write an internal tooling that scans a qr code or something or the form is client based. But then you have users that may live on a different database interacting with your main database. And then you would need to match the users with what they view and what they can create.

Essentially what I found is that with nocodb is that it is good for viewing data but to add data I need to create forms. But then nocodb lacks in “dashboard” statistics and graphs

Sorry if this is not clearly explained. I’m on holiday and tired rn.

Regarding permissions, I think we meet your requirements. End users do not have permission to tables directly, they can only enter data through forms and sheets.

Regarding "created by", do you mean a field that is automatically set, based on who created the record? That's on our todo list.

Regarding relational data, we meet your requirements. Any time there is a foreign key, we display a "..." button which shows up with records from the foreign table you can select the row you want. This is fairly sophisticated... you can display all records from the foreign table (default), our you can have a query, and you can even have cascading dropdowns (for example you select Region in the first dropdown, then it shows Cities in that region in the next dropdown and so on), then matching rows are shown.

Regarding user management we store users and permissions separately from databases, and the permissions you applies to all databases in the application. Permissions are set at the application level and you can create a different application (with connections to same databases if needed) if you want different permissions.

Not a rebrand but a pivot. It is a major overhaul with significant new features such as reporting.

Thanks for the feedback. Triplechecker seems like a cool tool, BTW!

Retool is a great product especially if you are a developer. Visual DB is intended for people who can't or won't code.

Good clarification. Retool runs into a wall pretty quickly if you are unwilling/unable to write ANY sql or js.

How would you describe the differences with https://nocodb.com/ ?

We have a section here on comparison to Airtable: https://visualdb.com/spreadsheet/#airtable These points should apply to other tools similar to Airtable.

Thanks, I've not used Airtable enough to appreciate the comparison entirely but the focus on form building makes a lot of sense. Google Forms sets a low bar and the next best choice isn't obvious to me. Congrats on the launch!

Thanks for the feedback. We have a section on data security here: https://visualdb.com/datasecurity/ We are also planning to release a self-hosted version soon, which can be used with intranet databases - this should take care of security concerns.

Yes please. A self hosted version would be great for companies that have strict security rules about data.