Updated Feb 14, 2023

UI Bakery
vs. DronaHQ

vs.

In-depth comparison comparison of two popular low-code platforms.

Low code platforms are becoming increasingly popular as they allow developers to build applications faster and more efficiently. Two popular options in this space are UI Bakery and DronaHQ. This article will compare the two platforms and explore their features, advantages, and limitations. Whether you are a seasoned developer or just starting out, will find valuable insights about which platform is best suited for your needs. If you find any inaccuracies, please let us know.

Try UI Bakery

Pricing

Both of the products offer free plans with limited features and paid plans with advanced features.

DronaHQ pricing structure is favorable for startups and small businesses, but its unpredictability may hinder its suitability for growing businesses.

The UI Bakery pricing model might be a more suitable choice for those seeking predictable costs during the growth and development of their company. Unlike DronaHQ, which charges based on the number of app users, UI Bakery allows for unlimited end-users without concerns about usage time, thus providing better cost visibility.

UI Bakery

Self-hosted

Both tools offer competitive pricing models. While DronaHQ could be cheaper for very small businesses, it becomes more expensive and non-predictable once you start adding more users.

dronahq
UI Bakery
Dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    The cost of the self-hosted version of UI Bakery is customized and determined based on the specific needs and requirements of the customer. It is only offered as part of an Enterprise subscription. The basic self-hosted subscription offers the ability to add an unlimited number of end-users without affecting the price, regardless of the time they spend in the app or the number of operations they perform.
    ‍
    To calculate the pricing for a particular use case, you need to schedule a call with UI Bakery tech expert.

  • Dronahq

    DronaHQ has several options of pricing for self-hosted version.
    ‍
    From $0 to $28 per user per month and flexible price for very large businesses. Certainly, the free plan offers an appealing self-hosted option for developers, however, like with other offerings from DronaHQ, the other plans lack predictability.

UI Bakery

Cloud

The pricing model per user per month makes DronaHQ less profitable than UI Bakery in most cases, especially for mid-sized+ businesses.

dronahq
UI Bakery
Dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    UI Bakery offers both a free version with basic features and paid versions with more advanced features.
    ‍
    The pricing for the paid versions ranges from $49 per month to $249 per month.

  • Dronahq

    DronaHQ offers a basic, free version as well as premium paid options with advanced features.

    The cost for the premium version ranges from $12 to $28 per user per month, and a discount is available for annual plans. They also have customized price for very large businesses.

UI building experience

Both tools employ a similar approach for designing interfaces, using drag-and-drop functionality to assemble components within a layout system based on columns.

UI Bakery

Working area and canvas

Both applications use roughly the same dimensional grid for the working area.

DronaHQ
UI Bakery
Dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    UI Bakery uses 24-column layout.

  • dronahq

    DronaHQ uses 24-column layout.

UI Bakery

Adding a component to a card

In UI Bakery, working with components is more elaborate. Components do not overlap each other and can be easily added to cards. While overlapping components may seem useful, it may can issues when trying to change the layout of an  existing application. On the other hand, UI Bakery's method helps you quickly move components to an empty space and make room for new components.

dronahq
UI Bakery
Dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    If the component is too large to fit in the card, it will shift the other components and cause a scrollbar to appear.

  • dronahq

    Сomponents do not shift each other at all, they overlap each other in all cases.

UI Bakery

Development mode

UI Bakery offers a user-friendly and easy-to-use interface for building UI with a dark theme, making it more comfortable for developers during the development process. Additionally, UI Bakery uses standard and widely-accepted terminology for functionality, features, and interface elements, making the learning process less frustrating and confusing.

dronahq
UI Bakery
Dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    Dark theme.The dark theme in UI building helps to distinguish the developer interface from the user interface and is easier on the eyes when used regularly.

  • Functionality is clearly labeled and widely used by developers in both the general programming field and in low-code environments.

UI Bakery

Templates

DronaHQ currently offers a broader range of templates, however, it's worth noting that these templates are only a set of visual design without any embedded logic.
UI Bakery offer templates that come with functionality and could be used as a starting point or a reference for a real app.

dronahq
UI Bakery
Dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    UI Bakery provides 20+ templates.

  • dronahq

    DronaHQ provides 20+ templates.

UI library and component design

While it might seem that UI Bakery has less components, in reality, lots of components DronaHQ offers, could be created using UI Bakery’s components panel settings. For instance, DronaHQ has each type of chart as separate component (Line, Bar, Donut, Area). UI Bakery has a single chart component and a setting that allows to configure the chart's type as well as provide the ability to configure custom configuration supported by eCharts library. Another example is DronaHQ card controls. In UI Bakery, it is possible to achieve the same type of layouts and many other by using a configurable Card control

UI Bakery

Component library

DronaHQ looks like a winner is this comparison. Despite offering over 100 components, some of them may raise questions about their relevance for internal applications. It may be beneficial to prioritize quality over quantity in certain situations. For instance, the most commonly used component in many applications, a table, is a lot more configurable in UI Bakery.

DronaHQ
UI Bakery
Dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    57 components available.

  • There is a feature that allows for convenient searching of components and grouping them by meaning.

  • Adding of component can be by two ways: by clicking and by drag-n-dropping on a working area.

  • Custom component available.

  • dronahq

    119 components available.

  • Efficiently search for and organize components by their purpose.

  • Components can be added in two ways: by clicking and by dragging and dropping onto the work area.

  • Custom JS component is available.

UI Bakery

End-user design

It is worth noting that the components in UI Bakery are visually smaller, and their scale is better balanced. This allows more components to fit on the screen. For instance, in the provided examples, the dashboard of UI Bakery is compact and doesn't require scrolling, while the dashboard of DronaHQ doesn't fit the screen and requires vertical scrolling.

dronahq
UI Bakery
Dronahq

Developer experience (Actions & logic)

The tools have similar development experience, but UI Bakery’s is better in several aspects. They are related to debugging apps and building more advanced multi-step logic. This is really important when application is getting more complex.

UI Bakery

Action steps variety and flexibility

Both tools provide all the necessary action steps. Yet again, DronaHQ has a visually larger actions quantity, but UI Bakery actions are way more configurable.

dronahq
UI Bakery
Dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    Custom code - a very flexible action step that allows to interact with other actions, UI components, do data mappings, etc

  • Following action types are supported:

    • Datasource actions
    • Table actions
    • Show notification
    • Execute another action step
    • Conditions
    • Loops
    • Navigation
    • Etc.

  • Action types are highly configurable

  • Multiple action steps within a single action

  • Auto triggers for actions 

  • dronahq

    Custom code - available but can be used mostly for data manipulations

  • Auto-triggers for actions

  • Following action types are supported:

    • Datasource actions
    • Navigation actions
    • Mobile-specific actions
    • Utility actions
    • Loops
    • Navigation
    • Etc.
UI Bakery

Development & debugging

UI Bakery has a lot more convenient development flow.

dronahq
UI Bakery
Dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    Actions panel containing all of the actions used across apps.

  • Action folders.

  • Action scope: global and page-specific.

  • Reusable actions between the different apps.

  • Auto-triggers for actions.

  • Extended action logs.

  • Extended action performance information.

  • dronahq

    No convenient way to view all of the actions for the app.

  • Actions are component-specific only which makes it impossible to reuse them anywhere.

  • Logs - only on the connector level.

  • Performance information - only on the connector level.

  • Action type list сan be confusing because of the large number of actions, that hide inside different panels and user-flows.

UI Bakery

Scheduled CRON jobs and webhooks

Both tools provide the ability to create server-side workflow automations using a variety of data sources, including SQL databases and HTTP APIs. These automations can be triggered through webhooks and scheduled using cron-like jobs.

DronahQ
UI Bakery
Dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    Through Automations feature.

  • dronahq

    Through Automations feature.

UI Bakery

Environments

Both tools provide ability to use multiple environments.

dronahq
UI Bakery
Dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    With UI Bakery's environments feature, you can maintain multiple app versions within a single UI Bakery instance or by utilizing multiple self-hosted instances for separate environments.

  • dronahq

    The DronaHQ environments feature allows for the upkeep of multiple app versions within a single DronaHQ instance, or it can be achieved through separate instances by using multiple self-hosted instances.

UI Bakery

Performance

Both tools provide information about performance of published apps.

dronahq
UI Bakery
Dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    Great performance of the builder and published apps.

  • dronahq

    Moderate performance of the builder and published apps.

UI Bakery

Custom Libraries

Both tools provide possibility to import custom js libraries.

dronahq
UI Bakery
dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    There are several embedded libraries. Additional can be added through the App settings.

  • dronahq

    You can import libraries in the form of JavaScript or CSS files when you have external dependencies that need to be imported into your app.

Datasources

For low-code platforms, the ability to integrate with various data sources is essential. Both applications provide a minimum set of the most popular data sources and integrations.

UI Bakery

Number of datasources and integrations

It's true that DronaHQ outshines many low-code tools in this aspect, but UI Bakery has all the most widely-used and frequently requested datasources and third-party services and APIs.

Dronahq
UI Bakery
Dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    12 - databases
    8 - third-party services and APIs

  • dronahq

    22 - databases
    41 - third-party services and APIs

Workspace management and users

Currently, UI Bakery's user management is better organized and has more advanced features than DronaHQ.

UI Bakery

Roles management

Currently, UI Bakery boasts a more advanced level of roles management.

dronahq
UI Bakery
dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    UI Bakery has three pre-defined roles (admin, editor, user) as standard options and the ability to create additional roles with fine-tuned access to data sources and applications. The option to create custom roles is only available in the Team plan.

  • dronahq

    DronaHQ has three pre-defined roles (administrator, creator, end-user). Custom roles available on enterprise plan only.

UI Bakery

Audit logs

Both tools provide audit logs for enhanced administrative control.

dronahq
UI Bakery
dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    Audit logs for more admin control. Available on Team plan.

  • dronahq

    Audit logs for more admin control. Available on Enterprise plan.

UI Bakery

Integrations with external analytics and logging solutions

UI Bakery provides integration with different external analytical tools.

dronahq
UI Bakery
dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    Can be integrated with Datadog, Google Analytics 4, etc.

  • dronahq

    NO external analytics solutions.

On-premises experience

Both apps have self-hosted versions.

UI Bakery

Installation

Both apps have self-hosted versions, providing users with the option to host and manage the tools on their own servers for added security and control. UI Bakery has far more easier installation flow for self-hosted version

dronahq
UI Bakery
dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    To try self-hosted version of UI Bakery, you can obtain a 14-day license key by copying and executing a CURL command. UI Bakery is delivered as a set of Docker containers that can be deployed using tools such as docker-compose or Kubernetes.

  • dronahq

    DronaHQ self-Hosted installation steps are as below:

    • Create an account on the portal of Self-hosted DronaHQ 62 website and log in to it.
    • You will receive a bash command.
    • Copy and paste the command into your system’s terminal.
    • This will download all the necessary files and libraries and thereafter will extract them.
    • Your self-hosted on-prem version of DronaHQ will start running on the localhost:8080.
    • Simply activate it and it will be ready to use.

Releases & version control

Both apps have git version control in release.

UI Bakery

Git version control

Both UI Bakery and DronaHQ offer integration with Git control, which facilitates version management and collaboration within teams.

dronahq
UI Bakery
dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    By connecting to a Git repository, multiple users can develop apps in parallel. Changes can then be pushed to the Git repo and undergo code review before being merged into the default protected main branch.

  • dronahq

    DronaHQ provides similar experience with Git version control.

Onboarding process and studying materials

Both DronaHQ and UI Bakery come with comprehensive documentation that includes examples, which assists users in understanding how to effectively and efficiently utilize the tools.

UI Bakery

Onboarding

Both DronaHQ and UI Bakery offer an onboarding process, each with its own unique approach. DronaHQ provides a four-step guide with video links, while UI Bakery features a well-organized sequence of screens to guide the user through the familiarization process.

dronahq
UI Bakery
dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    UI Bakery has an unconventional onboarding process. Its screens and the first-time login flow are designed to facilitate a smooth introduction and ease of familiarity with the app by minimizing any discomfort.

  • dronahq

    To get started with DronaHQ, there is a 4-step process. The user should follow the steps and watch the videos to learn about the app.

UI Bakery

Studying materials

Both tools provide educational resources for learning how to use the applications, but UI Bakery offers a more personalized approach to customer support, while DronaHQ places more importance on community involvement and user self-sufficiency.

dronahq
UI Bakery
dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    Excellent customer support and documentation are provided, including videos on YouTube. Enterprise customers have access to a shared Slack channel where they can receive real-time engineering assistance.

  • dronahq

    Excelent documentation. Has community and discord. Tutorials in videos on Yotube.

  • BUT: If you have used low-code tools before, it might be necessary to use DronaHQ's tutorials and support. This is because DronaHQ works differently and has unique terms compared to other similar tools.

Security

Both tools offer similar level of security measures they take to ensure that customer's data source credentials do not get exposed.

UI Bakery

Security and compliance

Both tools offer encryption of data source credentials, which is crucial for this type of platform.

dronahq
UI Bakery
dronahq
  • UI Bakery

    UI Bakery implements multiple security measures including the encryption of data source credentials. The full list can be found at https://docs.uibakery.io/security.

    UI Bakery self-hosted version can be provided as air-gapped solution.

  • dronahhq

    DronaHQ securely encrypts all database credentials and keeps them safe.

PricingSelf-hostedCloud
UI building experienceWorking area and canvasAdding a component to a card...Development modeTemplates
UI library and component d...Component libraryEnd-user design
Developer experienceAction steps varietyScheduled CRON jobs and we...EnvironmentsPerformanceCustom Libraries
Datasources
Workspace management a...Roles managementAudit logsIntegrations with external and...
On-premises experience
Releases & version controlGit version control
Onboarding process and st...OnboardingStudying materials
Security and compliance
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