Mendix and OutSystems are prominent low-code development platforms that simplify application building through visual interfaces and minimal coding. Mendix emphasizes ease of use, rich visual customization, and a cloud-native architecture that supports diverse deployment scenarios. OutSystems, on the other hand, focuses on enhancing developer productivity and offers robust features for enterprise deployment, including cloud and on-premise options.
The summary above is based on 45 interviews we conducted recently with Mendix and OutSystems users. To access the review's full transcripts, download our report.
"Mendix code and coding logic are very visual. It looks like a flow chart rather than lines of code. Rapid development is what drew us to Mendix."
"I think that the workflow and automation features are quite good."
"There is a free version of the solution you can use."
"You can scale the solution."
"The development environment is model-driven. We can use the information from this for our business engineers to make the information models, and they can also execute the model."
"The integrated security saves a lot of time, especially when it comes to setting up user-roles and security. Also, database updates work automatically. There is no need to write queries to update the database, once you make an update."
"The solution is stable."
"The pricing is very clear, with no hidden fees."
"I find it to be a genuinely cool and effective platform for my development needs."
"OutSystems is a low-code solution. Most features are like drag-and-drop, so it's pretty easy to work. Thus it helps the organization by saving time for developers."
"OutSystems' low-cost approach has positively impacted our productivity, because we were able to develop faster with OutSystems, enabling us to implement many changes during our sprint."
"We've used features like batch processing timers, components, and integrations with other systems like SAP, which have accelerated our development process.In terms of productivity, we've seen a 30 percent reduction in screen design time and an additional 10 percent improvement when implementing client requirements. OutSystems' integration capabilities have significantly enhanced our app's functionality, making it quicker and easier to connect with other systems."
"The drag-and-drop feature is very valuable."
"Once built, web/mobile components can be reused in all new developments. In addition, the OutSystems Forge is very useful. We can exchange components and even already-built applications, reducing costs to build specific solutions."
"Reduces the manual labor in compiling and deploying applications and generating procedural code (by reducing development bureaucracy/processes, resulting in real gains). The LifeTime Server approach, requiring just a few steps to publish applications in production environments, is fantastic."
"It provides for faster development and better software releases."
"A constraint of Mendix is that you have to look for the required plugins which takes up development time. There are a limited number of Mendix experts in the market."
"In the beginning, it is difficult to learn and work with."
"While the documentation is good, the development box could be better."
"Mendix is great for internal applications but not so great for a public-facing interface. It lacks a proper directory structure for public use. The URL will not change from page to page unless a deep link is created for each page. That makes it difficult to bookmark pages in the browser to view later on."
"Overall, integration with the enterprise ecosystem needs improvement."
"Needs multiple database connections so an app can directly read/write data to/from multiple databases. This would enable easy splitting of big applications that have complex entity relationships."
"Mendix is slightly less scalable than I'd like."
"The code refactoring tools could be better, especially for applications running for years. It's not bad, but it could be smoother. Also, writing new widgets can be trickier than it should be for some people, but not if you're familiar with Mendix."
"It is hard to find the logic in OutSystems. From an improvement perspective, I want to be able to properly use logic in OutSystems."
"The integration points need to be increased. People have also started to adopt this solution for their regular needs. That means it's not only the big enterprises that are adopting this solution. There are also small and medium enterprises that are adopting it. I've read that where you have large deployments, OutSystems starts to crumble a bit. That is the idea that no customer would know at the beginning and would also not like to hit the wall there. When it is on the client, there are a lot of applications already on low-code, and then suddenly you realize that you want to do some big applications, and you face hurdles. This is the general feedback for all such platforms."
"The dashboards in OutSystems could improve. There are a lot of tabs in the service center that can be confusing."
"The technical features are good, but the actual commercialization is out of reach."
"The prices should be lower. It is a little bit too high for a small market."
"The initial setup is a little difficult."
"The new version could be improved."
"In OutSystems, cloud management is an area of concern where improvements are required."
Mendix is ranked 4th in Low-Code Development Platforms with 48 reviews while OutSystems is ranked 3rd in Low-Code Development Platforms with 46 reviews. Mendix is rated 8.4, while OutSystems is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Mendix writes "Low-code, helpful support, and great native mobile capability". On the other hand, the top reviewer of OutSystems writes "The visual program provides the advantage of only requiring one skill set for both the front and backend ". Mendix is most compared with Microsoft Power Apps, Appian, Oracle Application Express (APEX), ServiceNow and Salesforce Platform, whereas OutSystems is most compared with Microsoft Power Apps, Appian, ServiceNow, Oracle Application Express (APEX) and Pega BPM. See our Mendix vs. OutSystems report.
See our list of best Low-Code Development Platforms vendors, best Mobile Development Platforms vendors, and best Rapid Application Development Software vendors.
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