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I just found a new free AI app builder that creates full apps, automations, and workflows in seconds, and I haven't seen anybody else talk about this. This tool lets you stop overpaying for software that has so many features you don't even use, or lacks the features you actually need. Instead, you can custom build your own internal or external AI workflows in just a few minutes. The brand new AI tool I am talking about is Softr, and it is absolutely incredible.
We can simply describe what kind of app we want to build. If we click on create new app, there are several different ways we can start. We could start by describing exactly what we want to build or go through more than 90 different templates.
These templates cover many different use cases like portals, internal tools, dashboards, CRMs, and marketplaces. You can even build a website on here.
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Note from Softr: Whether you are building from scratch or need a head start, you can explore our complete library of App templates to speed up your development.
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Alternatively, we could start from scratch by selecting what kind of data we want to use in the app. Then, we can begin creating the app by going through all of the different available blocks. If they don't have the exact block you want, you can simply use the Vibe-Coding block.
Just say you want a custom component that looks or functions differently, and the AI will actually go through and build it out for you. Before we get carried away building our app, I want to walk you through a few other features.
If we look under databases, we can do a very similar thing. We can import our data from a CSV file or Airtable.
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Note from Softr: While you can connect to external data sources like Airtable or Google Sheets, using native Softr Databases is the powerful, built-in way to manage your data directly within Softr for maximum performance.
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We could also start with a pre-built template for our database. There are so many different ones available, including an AI CRM, a client portal, and a SaaS customer portal. This completely gets rid of the need to pay for really expensive external software.
We can also start our database from scratch, very similar to what we saw with the app earlier. It looks like a typical database, but they made it really easy to interact with. If we look at the fields, we can add pretty much everything you would ever need inside of a CRM.
You can even create AI fields if you want a specific prompt to run based on the data you have inside the database. Moving over to workflows, we can see that you can actually build out powerful automations natively in Softr.
We could start fresh and choose which integrations we want to connect. We can also choose built-in triggers, like running a workflow from a webhook, on a recurring schedule, or as a one-time event.
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Note from Softr: By utilizing Softr Workflows, you can keep your logic close to your design. This helps you consolidate tools and removes the need to rely heavily on third-party automation platforms.
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You can select exactly which apps and actions you will be using, like updating databases or sending emails. We can also start a workflow with a pre-built template. For example, if we want to scrape a URL, summarize the data with AI, and save it to a database, we can do that incredibly easily.
This gives you all the tools you need to build basically anything you can imagine. Next, I want to show you forms. If we create a new form, we can visualize exactly what it will look like and how the submitted data will flow into the CRM we are building.
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Note from Softr: Need to capture user input? Learn more about creating highly customizable Forms in Softr to seamlessly feed data into your apps.
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You can go through and customize these forms in any way that you want. These building blocks allow you to replace any expensive software you are currently overpaying for. On top of that, Softr has an AI Co-Builder that can literally help you build anything.
It can answer your questions, help you make changes, and acts as a powerful assistant throughout the process, especially if you are not a coder.
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Note from Softr: When you don't want to start from scratch, simply open the AI co-builder and prompt for what you want. It generates complete apps, pages, and database schemas instantly, while still letting you tweak everything manually.
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Before we get into building our tool, let's take a quick look at integrations. By clicking on connect new, you can see all the different data sources you can integrate with. It is important to emphasize that this works for internal-only apps as well as external-facing business apps.
This platform lets you replace off-the-shelf software, custom-coded apps, and messy spreadsheets. Softr Databases can replace the need for Airtable, Supabase, or Google Sheets, while Softr Workflows replaces multiple third-party automation tools. On top of that, it is built with enterprise-grade security and scale, so they handle all the hard stuff for you.
To get started, we are going to use a specific prompt. We will ask the AI to build a dashboard that tracks clients and their results for a social media consulting agency. This agency helps people grow on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube.
I need to be able to easily track who requires a daily check-in, review their information, and monitor their follower growth. We are going to insert this prompt and begin building the app. I will link this up to some data I already have and build out custom workflows to supercharge the app.
This will result in something much better than anything else I have used, as right now I am managing all of this in Google Sheets. The AI asks about the main things I want to track in the dashboard, and I will select all of the available options. For managing the daily check-ins, I will select multiple options because I want to make this as advanced as humanly possible.
When asked about different user access levels, I will choose a single admin setup since I am the only one looking at it. However, if you are building this for an external audience, you can easily add teams and multiple user groups. Next, I will choose to log in with email, but you could also set up Google or SSO.
I will restrict signups so people cannot create their own accounts, keeping this app private for my own use. For the app's main navigation, I am going to set it to appear at the top for both desktop and mobile users. As you can see, the AI goes through and asks questions about everything you might need.
In terms of themes, I love the Blue Moon theme, which looks absolutely awesome. I will click on create app, and it will begin building the entire application. The final result is going to be far more sophisticated than my current spreadsheet setup.
The AI is now cooking things up and automatically creating the different database records. Now, check this out. Literally from that one single prompt, we have a fully built application.
We can see the interface right away, allowing us to interact with the design. We can preview what the app looks like on a desktop, a tablet, and a mobile device. We can go through and customize this however we want, from choosing the data source to adjusting the displayed content.
You literally have the power to customize everything. If you are a coder, you can get as advanced as humanly possible. If you are not a coder, you can keep it simple and just go back and forth with the AI Co-Builder to make your changes.
