Knack Software

Knack connects up to so many other 3rd party apps through Zapier that the options are potentially limitless. We've been able to cancel our SalesForce subscription and came up with your own custom CRM using Knack. It's affordable, the support is great and it's feature rich.

Pros

Easy to get up and running on. Quickly map out data elements and connect to layout without having to code Javascript. If you do know Javascript, you can customize the workflow and experience even more.

Cons

There are no additional web themes without paying a developer to customize.

Pros

The app builder is a great feature of this software. There are a lot of useful options such as searching, various forms and tables. I find it easy to customize although having little background in programming helps but not required. Easy interface after a little bit of use.

Cons

Knack servers can use some updating. Can be slow at times with complex queries which can be frustrating. Knack support tries to address all our concerns, but some issues will take some time to fix. The front end could use some updates also and to have access to change the visuals would be nice

Pros

- Lives up to the "no code" billing many other platforms tout, but with Knack you can actually build a feature-rich app without coding.
- Zapier integration recently improved, greatly expanding the capabilities of the app
- Out of 10-15 database apps I tried, the learning curve was shorter and support documentation was more useful with Knack
- Easy to implement and strong user security/user roles implementation
- Unlike many business-focused app builders, Knack is designed for many users in structure and in pricing model, so it's the best for customer-facing applications (including ecommerce websites)
- Basic subscription plan includes all the features most will need, unlike many apps that pull 1-2 critical features into their mid-tier and enterprise plans.

Cons

- Pricing plan options are slim, and the base plan is a bit more expensive than others in the similar tier.
- Very difficult to style the app in an attractive manner without a fair amount of CSS and/or Javascript understanding (though the standard design is fine and mobile friendly). Limited options for customization in the dashboard.
- Main troubling issue is with how pages and views get created with every menu and link you add..causing a quickly overwhelming page structure and sitemap. Biggest related caution is that when simply deleting a menu item, you could also be deleting an entire page or detail view without clearly being told that (and no way to recover it).

Pros

It allowed me to easily customize a website to allow multiple users to enter information without having a pay account.

Cons

You have to program yourself. I'm not the most technical person so this takes some time. Only training will help.

Pros

This is Everything I need from a database & simple interface builder. I took a long time evaluating existing products for my business programs to no avail, and decided I needed custom solutions. As a nonprofit I know we couldn't afford paying someone to do it so I took it upon myself to research options & move forward. Knack was my first intro to "no code" cloud app builder and I love it. I check around every 6 months or so to see what competition is out there, I've yet to find anything I enjoy using quite as much.

Cons

That apps cannot integrate / stay in sync. It's going to take a lot of extra work to integrate all my company's apps, as it is not feasible for all our programs / branches to use one app, and some information needs to be in sync across all apps. I just know by the time I've finally done it, they will have built in the feature / option...

Pros

Ability to customize databases; real-time updates; many template options to choose from; customer service is excellent. I've used this several times for an annual holiday website. Our users were so impressed and became repeat donors.

Cons

customer service agent and his staff were very helpful as I extensively redesigned a template to serve our varied needs. I have been very satisfied and think the only confusion I ran into is customized differences between mobile and website versions.

I didn't find it helpful.

Pros

It is relatively easy to use, otherwise I didn't notice anything outstanding, anything what would be worth mentioning here.

Cons

I found it very limiting as it can handle only very basic tasks. I also didn't like that there is no mobile application. The way it displays on mobile device is very clumsy. Customer support is so so.

Increased communication between staff and clients, accurate record keeping for all clients, and for all staff to access!

Pros

How customizable it is to our ever changing needs as the company grows and changes! We are able to access it on multiple devices at once, and have different log ins for each employee!

Cons

Have experienced software shutdowns that have slowed business, not always able to do what we need, but there is usually a work-around!

Cons

Absolutely terrible customer service. I signed up, spent 2 days making an app, then the builder completely froze. I tried 5 computers, all different browsers, as soon as you log in it give a spinning gear and freezes. Knack support said it's because I'm using Chrome and that Chrome is bad at handling memory (even though I told them I tried IE, Edge, Safari, on 5 machines). Then today, I spent 3 hours making an app and doing email templates. I go get a drink, come back, it's COMPLETELY GONE. I contact their support, they said their backups failed and they don't have one, and that they confirmed I DID have an app, but that it's no longer there. They said even though I just signed up 2 days ago, they don't do refunds, but that I'm welcome to cancel my service in their portal. I canceled it and filed a chargeback with Visa. Avoid this company, extremely shady.

Pros

Ease of use and user function to arrange data for customers. The support staff have been so supportive I ask them questions all the time and are just really happy to help with sometimes silly questions.

Cons

Could do with a little more customisation to represent data such as tiles and visual tools like a website builder would work great for the visual representation for pages. Though I feel knack could be set to bring on some awesome features later on.

Think knack could also have multiple object records within a list of data connected to the logged in user as big work arounds are needed for this at the moment

I have been able to build multiple application to help run my business from CRMs to project management solutions. The builder is easy to use and has a lot of features. There is a job board if you need a larger application too. And the pricing model is excellent, much better than some of its competitors.

Pros

Power, capability and ease of use

Cons

Would like more form layout capabilities

Advice to Others

Does take some time to understand all of the features

Pros

Look of the app is very nice. The "Builder" they have come up with is innovative, not your normal database building tool. It takes some getting used to. There are some limitations to it, that other databases don't have.

Cons

Very poor customer support, if you are on the lowest plan. They will not pick up the phone and call you, nor can you call them. They claim a response time of between 24 and 48 hours....not true. I am now having support requests unanswered for 4 days. Their blog and self-help support site are very poor. There is no main office or phone number, they all work from their homes across the US. Apparently, they don't have titles and they think it's funny to post pictures of themselves on their website with funny made up titles in the organization. This organization needs to grow up and get serious. I will terminate my plan with them and ask for a full refund if things don't improve dramatically in the next day or two.

Very powerful to customize for your specific need

It's not that easy to build without strong computer skills

I paid for knack to code ours but they no longer do that - they have a list of contractors you can hire to do custom work

Pros

Can be a build a system quite powerful

Cons

Wish would integrate w barcode scanner

Need to invest time to really learn the platform

Advice to Others

Be prepared to spend time or $$ to get your app up and running

Knack has been a useful product. I find it to be helpful to small and medium-sized clients who want a database without the high price tag.

Pros

Knack has a good user interface and is a lower price point for databases of this type. They have very good service and the online chat help is excellent.

Cons

I have found that we need developers to do work that I would not call high level but this assistance does ramp up the relatively low cost of the product. This happens with almost every database, but I was hoping Knack would be different.

Advice to Others

Good, solid investment and allows you to grow with it over time.

What's geek candy? It's that little moment of excitement you got when you opened up that sweet lego set, or figured out your phone can do "talk to text." I'm a middle-of-the-pack kind of geek... better than some geeks and worse than equally as many. What's cool about Knack is that it can offer something for everyone. I have used it to give us much more insight into our business. We can track progress and make better decisions.

Pros

Knack is easy to use, they listen to their customers and the pricing structure is awesome.

Cons

The app layout through the UI is limited.

Advice to Others

Give it a try, especially if you are a middle-of-the-pack geek, you won't be disappointed.

I use Knack to build my main business application. The interface and functionality is excellent and I have looked at all the alternatives at length. If you are not an IT person, then this really is the business. The tutorials are also good. The support team are responsive in the chat interface. During the two years I have been using the product there have been continuous upgrades which have been excellent.

Pros

Great intuitive interface, great software, fair pricing. Now that EU servers are available this makes it a great product for users like me who hold client data and need to comply with EU data privacy laws. I am already delighted with the product, but have seen a beta version of the new builder which in my view takes the produt from excellent to perfect. As a non-technical user (I am no more than a competent excel user) I had never thought I could build my own functioning application. With Knack, I can.

Cons

The standard support hours are based on the US working day so that means we in Europe have to wait. Having said that, if there is an emergency there is 24 hour response there. This is a minor niggle and I guess when Knack grows to dominate the world they will put more support on.

Advice to Others

Test it, buy it.

After listening to vendors with my company for weeks, I had enough. Every system that was pitched for our needs was either ugly, or inflexible, and not all that infrequently, both. I began my search for online database platform technology and quickly found Knack among a few other competitors. What set Knack apart was the appearance of the software. I am of the believe that a product is worthless if no one ever wants to look at it, and Knack stunned me. It was a clean, crisp, interactive set of user interfaces that quickly led to live database views. I set up the trial, and was sold.

Pros

Intuitive design! It just makes sense from the get-go, even if you have little understanding of relational databases, with a bit of light reading of Knack's thorough documentation, it's not difficult to get going.

Cons

Definitely the way the front end views of your database operate in a mobile device. Some of the feature's are basically unusable, and if your user's are going to use a mobile device, you really have to keep that in mind when developing the database's UIs or you can end up with a bit of a mess.

Advice to Others

You need to have some understanding of relational databases prior to taking on the challenge, unless you are looking for a challenge. If you are not interested in a challenge and need a deliverable met at an affordable price, check out Knack's builder network.

I've created a number of different applications with Knack and its been able to satisfy all of our use cases and be extensible where needed. Its been great to use and you can build web applications at a fraction of the cost it would normally be. There are great custom developers that can build entirely or help out with integrations as needed.

Pros

Powerful and yet easy to use. Extensible

Cons

Some of the features take some time to learn, have to invest some time up front getting to know what it can do.

Advice to Others

They have a builder network where you can post applications that you need built and get custom development or integrations done.

Using Knack for making a customized ERP for my business. Used for database, forms, checklists, timesheets, CRM, service dispatch and more.

Pros

Very simple and quick to create tables and connections. Good selection of functions. Reasonably priced. Good API and intergration with Zapier.

Cons

A few small bugs and some missing features. Could have been better interface for tablets and mobile devices.

This is a power software that has expontial potential. As an operations manager it has been wonderful to build great applications for my team without the middle man or crazy cost. Somethings I try and other don't but it is always building on itself. I am looking forward to seeing the development from the software.

Pros

DIY... It has a learning curve but if you get excel you can figure this out! Which makes it easy for me to play with all my ideas.

Cons

It is still growing and does have some limitations but support has been great and they seem to listen to the needs of the customers.

Advice to Others

Pair it with Zapier. Makes for a great automated database system.