So, you’ve successfully built a business from the ground up, or you’re modernizing your organization by springing it into the digital sphere! Now, you’re keeping your projects relevant and looking for innovative ways to maintain or increase consumer engagement, build brand loyalty, or expand your brand’s capabilities in a new and creative way.
With Bubble exceeding two million users in the last year alone, it’s no wonder why more and more businesses are looking for freelance Bubble developers for hire. While at face value, Bubble doesn’t require users to have a background or even basic knowledge of coding or programming, the platform does require this knowledge for some of its features or capabilities.
In this article, we explore what Bubble can do, as well as its benefits and disadvantages.
What Is Bubble.io?
Bubble.io was developed in 2012 by Joshua Haas and Emmanual Straschnov as a visual programming language that serves as a no-code development and application platform. It enables everyday people without a technical background to build web applications without needing to learn or type code.
With Bubble, you can hit all four key areas of a successful app:
- Prototype: Be able to demonstrate your ideas before making an investment in your technical resources with the Free option.
- Launch: You can build customer-facing platforms and internal tools easily with just a few clicks instead of taking months to research and prepare them.
- Iterate: With Bubble, you can empower all members of your team to make changes–big or small–regardless of their development background.
- Scale: Bubble allows you to gain traction and grow without needing to consistently research and worry about infrastructure.
Bubble can help you easily develop web applications for your organization or business, with a comprehensive user interface that allows you to create what you’ve imagined in just hours.
Pros of Bubble
With Bubble, you don’t need an in-house team of developers to make your app possible–but there are many other benefits to using Bubble for your web application needs.
Easy to Use
The biggest benefit is how user-friendly Bubble’s interface is for amateur developers. No matter your experience with coding or programming, Bubble allows you to create interactive, multi-user apps for desktop and mobile browsers. You can include any and all features that help you build a website as robust as Airbnb or FiveThirtyEight–no code necessary.
Anyone on your team will be able to edit, manage, or add features with just a few clicks or using Bubble’s intuitive drag-and-drop features. The platform is intuitive, fully customizable, and produces perfectly polished designs.
Quick Web App Development
From pixel-perfect designs to ready-to-go Bubble templates, you can develop a web application that would normally take developers months to complete in just hours or days.
Currently, there are more than 1,069 designed templates separated into a diverse multitude of categories to meet your needs, including:
- Online store
- Project management
- Marketplace
- Dashboard
- Social
Bubble also offers a plugin marketplace with more than one hundred options for official and community-created plugins. Just like with the templates, you can customize the plugins available by category. Choose plugins for everything from media to technical, and everything else you can imagine.
Scalability
Bubble offers multiple tiers of subscription services so you can get exactly what you need, when you need it. The free option is ideal for when you’re still in the development phase and not ready to launch. Ready to go? Simply upgrade to the next tier! Bubble offers a wide range of options so your subscription can grow with you.
How much the Bubble app costs depends on which tier you subscribe to. It offers a range of prices from free to around $350 per month, depending on the scale of your app.
Cons of Bubble
No rose is without its thorns, and Bubble is no different. Here are a few downsides to working with the Bubble platform:
Slow Performance
If you want higher speeds of performance, you do need to pay for it. The free and lower-priced tiers of Bubble subscriptions require you to share a server, which can slow down loading times or cause lags for users. If you want your own server, you need to subscribe to a higher tier to avoid those lags and slow loading times.
Inability to Create Native Mobile Apps
Currently, Bubble doesn’t allow you to develop mobile apps for Android or iOS devices. While you can edit your web app to have a mobile interface, the app itself cannot be downloaded to a user’s phone through the app store and must instead be accessed through a web browser such as Safari or Google Chrome.
You can create native mobile apps with third-party assistance and workarounds using Bubble, but this requires advanced knowledge of coding.
Poor Game Creation Tools
If you’re new to game creation, you’re better off downloading video game templates or using a gaming plugin from Bubble’s marketplace. Game creators across the web have acknowledged Bubble’s game creation tools are a bit subpar for amateurs. Most recommend using a plugin to help with game creation, and while many are free, some of them require you to pay around $50 for a standard license.
Bridging the Gaps With Guru
Because the plugin marketplace and community-sourced additions on Bubble can create additional costs on top of your subscription, it may be better to hire a freelance expert to do that work for you.
Guru is the leading freelancer platform that connects you with hundreds of qualified Bubble developers at a price point you’ll love. Simply use our search function, refine what you’re looking for (whether it’s experience, portfolio work, rates, or specialized skills), and instantly connect with hundreds of freelancers who can get the job done. Start your search today and take your web presence to the next level!
