Should I Build It Should I Build It
01 Jul 2025
Data & Analytics Database Developer Tools

No code database management like airtable, with a simple and clean ...

...design support SQL Query to get data

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.

Your are here

Your idea for a no-code database management tool with SQL query support, similar to Airtable, falls into a competitive space. We've identified four similar products, putting us at medium confidence in our assessment. This category, which we call 'Swamp', is characterized by several mediocre solutions that haven't resonated strongly with users. The average engagement, indicated by the low number of comments (2) on similar products, suggests it's hard to break through. While a clean design and SQL support are appealing, the market may already be saturated with options that haven't quite hit the mark. Given the landscape, standing out will be a significant challenge.

Recommendations

  1. Before investing further, deeply research why existing no-code database solutions haven't become widely adopted. Understand their shortcomings, user frustrations, and missed opportunities. This will help you identify potential areas for true differentiation.
  2. If you decide to proceed, narrow your focus to a specific niche or user group that's demonstrably underserved by current tools. Tailor your features and marketing to their unique needs to gain traction within a smaller, more receptive audience.
  3. Consider offering your SQL query functionality as a tool for existing no-code database platforms. This could be a faster route to market, allowing you to leverage existing user bases and infrastructure, rather than building a full-fledged competitor.
  4. Explore adjacent problems related to data management that might be more promising and less competitive. Perhaps focus on data visualization, integration, or automation for existing database solutions.
  5. Given the crowded market and the challenges faced by existing players, carefully evaluate if this is the best use of your time and resources. It might be wiser to explore other startup opportunities with higher potential for success.
  6. Analyze the criticism of similar products like Basemulti and Anyquery. Basemulti was criticized for lacking differentiation, while Anyquery faced criticism for the lack of a non-downloadable version. Make sure you have a UNIQUE value proposition to stand out, and a self-service option.

Questions

  1. What specific pain points of existing no-code database solutions will your product address in a fundamentally new and effective way?
  2. How will you acquire your first 100 paying customers, and what unique marketing strategies will you employ to cut through the noise in a crowded market?
  3. What unique value can SQL queries bring into NoCode database management?

Your are here

Your idea for a no-code database management tool with SQL query support, similar to Airtable, falls into a competitive space. We've identified four similar products, putting us at medium confidence in our assessment. This category, which we call 'Swamp', is characterized by several mediocre solutions that haven't resonated strongly with users. The average engagement, indicated by the low number of comments (2) on similar products, suggests it's hard to break through. While a clean design and SQL support are appealing, the market may already be saturated with options that haven't quite hit the mark. Given the landscape, standing out will be a significant challenge.

Recommendations

  1. Before investing further, deeply research why existing no-code database solutions haven't become widely adopted. Understand their shortcomings, user frustrations, and missed opportunities. This will help you identify potential areas for true differentiation.
  2. If you decide to proceed, narrow your focus to a specific niche or user group that's demonstrably underserved by current tools. Tailor your features and marketing to their unique needs to gain traction within a smaller, more receptive audience.
  3. Consider offering your SQL query functionality as a tool for existing no-code database platforms. This could be a faster route to market, allowing you to leverage existing user bases and infrastructure, rather than building a full-fledged competitor.
  4. Explore adjacent problems related to data management that might be more promising and less competitive. Perhaps focus on data visualization, integration, or automation for existing database solutions.
  5. Given the crowded market and the challenges faced by existing players, carefully evaluate if this is the best use of your time and resources. It might be wiser to explore other startup opportunities with higher potential for success.
  6. Analyze the criticism of similar products like Basemulti and Anyquery. Basemulti was criticized for lacking differentiation, while Anyquery faced criticism for the lack of a non-downloadable version. Make sure you have a UNIQUE value proposition to stand out, and a self-service option.

Questions

  1. What specific pain points of existing no-code database solutions will your product address in a fundamentally new and effective way?
  2. How will you acquire your first 100 paying customers, and what unique marketing strategies will you employ to cut through the noise in a crowded market?
  3. What unique value can SQL queries bring into NoCode database management?

  • Confidence: Medium
    • Number of similar products: 4
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 2
  • Net use signal: 0.0%
    • Positive use signal: 0.0%
    • Negative use signal: 0.0%
  • Net buy signal: 0.0%
    • Positive buy signal: 0.0%
    • Negative buy signal: 0.0%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Relevance

Basemulti – Build Airtable-like interfaces for any database, no-code

18 Nov 2024 Artificial Intelligence

Hey HN! I'm excited to share Basemulti, a no-code platform I've been working on.Basemulti allows you to:- Create Airtable-like interfaces for MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, or MariaDB - Generate instant APIs for your data - Build a headless CMS on top of your existing databasesKey features:- No-code solution - Support for various cell types (text, number, date, image, etc.) - Relational data management - Virtual formatting (doesn't affect source data) - Granular permissions - One-click deployment on VercelBasemulti aims to bridge the gap between complex database management and user-friendly interfaces. It's perfect for rapid prototyping, content management, or adding a visual layer to your existing data.I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback. The project is open-source, and contributions are welcome!GitHub: [https://github.com/basemulti/basemulti](https://github.com/b...Looking forward to your comments and suggestions!

Basemulti is a no-code platform for database management. Users are curious about how it differs from similar platforms like Budibase, Baserow, and NocodeDB. There is also a comparison of features between NocoDB and Basemulti.

The product lacks differentiation from competitors and its uniqueness is questioned.

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Relevance

Anyquery – A SQL query engine for anything (CSV, GitHub, Airtable,etc.)

09 Aug 2024 Developer Tools

Hey HN, I’m Julien, and after finishing my CS sophomore year, I wanted a project to keep me busy during the summer. So I built anyquery for fun, a SQL query engine for pretty much anything.SQL is the industry standard query language for databases. But what if it could query other services? That’s what I wanted to explore. Kinda like Yahoo! Query Language, except that I was too young to see it.Anyquery can run queries on local/remote files (CSV, JSON, logs with Grok, Parquet, HTML tables, etc.), SaaS (GitHub, Notion, Spotify, etc.) and local apps (Apple Notes, Git, Google Chrome tabs, etc.). I’ve built 35 integrations. Anyquery can also transform a Google Sheets or an Airtable base into a SQL database with INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE support. Additionally, it can act as a MySQL server to leverage its ecosystem (BI tools, ORMs, etc.). Finally, you can run PRQL and PQL (KQL inspired language) queries with it.Under the hood, it uses Go and SQLite's virtual tables. Therefore, you can use the SQLite ecosystem (like sqlite-vec, datasette, etc.). The project is licensed under the AGPL-v3.Personally, I find the project useful for data migration (I’m using it to transfer my Pocket bookmarks to Raindrop) and data visualization (connecting my GitHub data to Metabase or Tableau)I would love to hear your feedback about the project.Website: https://anyquery.dev/docs/#installationSource code: https://github.com/julien040/anyqueryBrief overview of the architecture: https://anyquery.dev/docs/developers/project/architecture/

Users expressed interest in the product, with one asking about differences from DuckDB for CSV. Another user suggested using a $5/month droplet for live query demos. There was also a positive comment praising the idea, and a dismissive comment questioning why the user couldn't implement the suggestion themselves.

Users criticized the lack of a non-downloadable version and the absence of self-service options.

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Relevance

I made an open source SQL engine for anything (APIs, file) using SQLite

15 Aug 2024 Developer Tools

Hey HN, I’m Julien, a CS student, and I built anyquery, a SQL query engine for pretty much anything.Anyquery can run SQL queries on local/remote files (CSV, JSON, Parquet, HTML, etc.) and SaaS (GitHub, Notion, TodoIst, Shopify, etc.). Anyquery can also transform a Google Sheets or an Airtable base into a SQL database with INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE support. Additionally, it can act as a MySQL server to leverage its ecosystem (BI tools, ORMs, etc.). Finally, you can run PRQL and PQL (KQL inspired language) queries with it.Under the hood, it uses Go and SQLite's virtual tables. Therefore, you can use the SQLite ecosystem (e.g. sqlite-vec, datasette, etc.)I would love to hear your feedback about the project.Website: [https://anyquery.dev/](https://anyquery.dev/docs/#installati...Source code: https://github.com/julien040/anyquery(I know it’s a repost. I thought that posting the previous SHOW HN during the weekend was badly timed. If you find it inappropriate, please don’t hesitate to flag the post. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41203559)

Julien built anyquery, a versatile SQL query engine.

Reposted due to bad timing.

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