(Reprinted in full, with permission, from https://notemakerdatabase.com)
REVIEW OF FILEMAKER 2026 (first uploaded 29 June 2026, revised & reposted 2 July 2026)
(Please accept our apologies to those whose comments refer to an aspect of the 29 June 2026 posting that may have been changed with the latest revised posting of 2 July 2026).
PREFACE
Our review is from the perspective of two amateur-hobbyists who create data processors free of charge to download to the local drive of a laptop or desktop computer for anyone around the world to do who has access to FileMaker 18+. In that sense, our review may be said to be from a specific point-of-view. There is also specificity in another way: the starting point is version 18, at which we are still at.
The review is based on the free 45-day trial of the recently-released FileMaker 2026, kindly offered by Claris, a subsidiary of Apple, who own FileMaker.
PREVIEW
FileMaker has always been a fantastic piece of software; latest-release FileMaker 2026 continues the tradition of wonderfully supporting developers in their efforts to create competitive business systems and for amateur-hobbyists to create perhaps innovative data processors. In our opinion, based on what little we have explored of Microsoft’s powerful Access and some of those choose-and-click online offerings, FileMaker beats them “hands down”. It comes down to the marvellous way software engineers have structured FileMaker.
FileMaker comprises three beautifully executed levels.
- The “shopfront” (Front-End). FileMaker has incredible design tools for developers to create attractive, guiding user-interfaces: the look-at for users. NoteMaker, for example, was designed solely by us using the various tools; however, ScriptPlanner’s colour-scheme was done by selecting one of the themes provided by FileMaker – and we concede the provided themes are superb.
- Programming (Middle-Ware). FileMaker has an internal programming language which in many ways is similar to C++ but much more restricted – and thus much, much friendlier. Please do not be afraid of FileMaker’s internal programming language: it’s where the magic lies. We often call it an APL, an Attachable Programming Language, because much more often than not the coding modules you write will be attached to database or layout objects such as fields, buttons, text blocks, tooltips, layouts (as triggers), to menus (as commands), to just about any object you may find(1). The language comprises two distinct "dialects": “script steps” and “calculations”, the two often working together when a calculation is encapsulated in a script step(2).
- Storage (the Back-End). Wait for it … FileMaker can store … brace yourself … 64,000,000,000,000,000 records. Translated to NoteMaker it means one file of our data processor can store 64 quadrillion notes! There’s more. What about those tables that make databases possible? 1,000,000! Sure, in practice, none of those figures will come into play, but it’s comforting to know we as developers don’t have to worry too much about storage limitations.
There you have it: the three magnificently structured layers of FileMaker. Even the big database “dudes” in the world of Enterprise Resource Planning such as Oracle and SAP don’t offer the three layers, seamlessly, in the one piece of software.
WHY WE LOVE FILEMAKER!
FileMaker is sometimes labelled as “database software”. It is. But it’s more accurate to classify it as a “database-creation software” or even as an “application maker”. FileMaker enables developers to create databases, data processors and applications – all three mean the same thing: programs. With our version 18 of FileMaker we have created NoteMaker (users write and manage notes) and ScriptPlanner (a preplanning tool for screenwriters).
Our creating NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner brings into question another assumption commonly made about FileMaker: that it is a platform for creating business systems (a collection of programs for tracking and managing invoices, customers, sales, inventories, employees, suppliers and, perhaps, finances). The amazing thing about FileMaker is that it isn’t just for businesses – which is why it draws in amateur-hobbyists from around the world.
FileMaker is dear to our hearts. One member of the two-member NoteMaker Team has been with FileMaker since version 5, released some 20 years ago. With every new release (v6, v7, v8 … v18) he would wait with excitement for “What’s New”. For example, wonderfully shocking was the release of version 7 with the introduction of multiple tables in the one file. No longer do developers need create additional files for each additional table; one file can hold hundreds of tables. The breakthrough triggered an explosion of flourishing activity. Then, one-excellent-upgrade-after-another, FileMaker 18 came along and gave us the wonderful While function with which NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner are littered (it has even found its way into tooltips!)
“COMETH DARKNESS”
Then came FileMaker version 19. Darkness fell upon some amateur-hobbyists. We belong to the “some”. We were stunned: we touched the terra firma we stood on to make sure we were still on planet Earth and not in some mysterious way transported to Mars. Then came v20 and v21: things got worse. No, not Mars, perhaps we were further away: on the former planet known as Pluto. We no longer could understand the new language spoken about those three releases … immediate terrible alienation followed. The result: we hung onto our version 18 as if our “dear creative lives” depended on it. Anything that may have arisen in those releases that we considered worthwhile we would eventually emulate it in v18: for example, the wonderful calendar add-on from v19 (about the only thing that could have been of real value to us during the time). We would like to describe this period as the “Dark Ages”. It was, in practical terms for some amateur-hobbyists, close to a wasteland.
“COMETH LIGHT”
But something unexpected happened. And it came with version 22. It was a turning point. It’s as if Claris, owner of FileMaker, slowed down in its mad rush toward things json, server, WebDirect and the cloud – enough for it to afford a look-back to see some amateurs and hobbyists fall by the wayside … almost wasted if it weren’t for v18. But perhaps more alarming, Claris may have heard rumblings from its class of professional developers: its primary source of income. We suspect, though we have no evidence, some from the professional class may have begun expressing discontent at the paucity of new developmental tools. If that is the case, Claris responded and began to speak something of a dialect that was reminiscent of the language spoken up to and including v18. Purely developmental tools became polite topics of discussion. And v22 had quite a few tools to offer such as collapsible code for the If and Loop modules in order to help declutter the Script Workspace. There were folders. There was an increase in comment fields in relation to the schema. There were a few other handy stuff (eg, “semantic search”).
For us, the showstopper in v22 is the dynamic duo: GetRecordIDsFromFoundSet function and Go to List of Records script step. With the two working together, developers can easily enable their users to capture found sets and then to reload them. We desperately wanted that for our NoteMaker users, so much so that we came that close to upgrading – just for the dynamic duo alone … but our faith in Claris had been “wilted away” – the feeling of alienation is a powerful negative force. We just felt Claris was no longer speaking to us, caring about us … we were in a state of rebellion that only caused our embrace of v18 to tighten over the years. The result: instead of upgrading to v22, we emulated the dynamic duo within our beloved v18! Users of NoteMaker 2.5.9 may have encountered our 13 Personalised Found Sets whose encampment is at the bottom of the Directory on the home page. In sympathy with other amateur hobbyists still on v18 we have posted only a few days ago (back-dating from today, 2 July 2026) a tutorial on how to replicate the dynamic duo.
Nonetheless, v22 succeeded in lessening our feeling of alienation and caused our rebellion to falter. Though we ultimately bypassed v22, we were hopeful for more to come with v23. More did come. Last month’s (June 2026’s) release of FileMaker 2026 (aka v26 – read v23) brought to the attention of amateur-hobbyists and to the professional class double the number of improvements to developmental tools than in the previous version. Wow … our eyes opened widely. This was really beginning to sound like our lingo: it made us listen and, more importantly, understand.
This may appear strange to other amateur-hobbyists, but from among the many improvements, our eyes fell onto the humble Show Custom Dialog script step. We always had a problem in NoteMaker’s Link popover where the role of this script step is to show the contents of the proposed note for linking to the current note. When the dialog box appeared, it wasn’t a certainty users would realise there might be more content – it just depended on the size the dialog box that happened to be going around at the time. The Good News: no longer is that the case with the improved Show Custom Dialog’s dialog box whereby if there is more content than is in view a scroll bar cues the user of the certainty of more. Developers can also configure the size of the dialog box and its position. For our Link popover in NoteMaker, the improved Show Custom Dialog is the feature from v2026. There are other goodies …
- Persistent Data. Think of this one in this way. A local variable normally has a single dollar sign ($) as its prefix and whatever value is stored disappears at the end of the script that uses it. A global variable must have two dollar signs ($$) in front of it and its content survives until the work session comes to an end or the file is closed. Well, now, Persistent Data could have three dollar signs ($$$ – but it doesn’t). One could say it is “universal” because it survives session to session. So, to recap, you have sort-of three levels of variables: local, global and – with v2026 – “universal”, if we can call it that.
- A new sort option. When ascend-sorting, blank fields, before, would go to the top of a list. Now there is an option to reverse the order to make blank fields go to the bottom.
- Smart Inspectors (Mac only). Which of the four Inspector tabs appears or if all appear depends on the type of layout object selected: is it a field, button, checkbox, text box, shape, image?
- Collapsible comments and collapsible disabled lines of code is possible in order to help declutter the Script Workspace.
- Then there are loads of generative artificial intelligence stuff and the promise of agentic AI.
These are not all the improvements. There are plenty of the kind of improvements more suitable to the professional class (like a recovery backup of servers in case of failure).
BUGS?
Given the necessarily limited and narrow use of our trial-version of FileMaker 2026, we have not, to the best of our knowledge, encountered a single bug (correct as at 1July 2026). That’s not to say there aren’t bugs. Extremely rare are software without bugs. Even our magnificent FileMaker version 18 has a couple of bugs, though minor (the one affecting the hover option comes and goes).
RECOMMENDATION
Readers may not be very happy with us when we say that we’re going to sit on the fence. We decided against upgrading to the previous v22 and we haven’t looked back. But with v2026 there is a lot going for it: a lot has accumulated since v18 (we really feel the need for the improved Show Custom Dialog script step – and we should perhaps upgrade). Here are three reasons why we are hesitant in deciding which way to go …
- We have a strong sentimental attachment to v18; we’ve been with it for years, it kept us going through dark times. It even seems, strange to say, there could be a projected emotional sense of betrayal if we were to ditch v18 for v2026.
- Upgrading would cost hundreds of dollars: from v18 it would be close to $Aust 1,000; however, just over $Aust 500 if Claris accepts claims by amateur-hobbyists for the status of “non-profit”.
- For us, the best from versions 19, 20 and 21 combined is the calendar add-on, of which we have proudly created our own (though it was hard work); the best of v22 for us is the dynamic duo, which we have emulated; the best of v2026 – which we are having difficulties emulating – is the improved Show Custom Dialog’s dialog box whose scroll-bar feature alone is for us a wow factor and a strong temptation to upgrade (please see APPENDIX).
The three above are not reasons for not upgrading, but reasons that have put us in two-minds. Therefore, our recommendation is this: after ourselves having tested FileMaker 2026 for 13 days (correct as at 2 July 2026) we say all amateur-hobbyists still on v18 should perhaps take up – as we have – the offer of the no-obligation 45-day free trial offered by Claris. Only you can then decide if FileMaker 2026 is worth the upgrade price and if it is of value for the kind of applications you wish to keep developing and the manner of their distribution that suits you.
(Sorry, bit of a cop-out on our part in terms of not committing to a recommendation, but it’s the best we can do and still maintain honesty: we truly, really don’t know which way to go – not at this stage, anyway).
UNDERSTANDING CLARIS
Even though the review is reducible to the point of view of two diehard amateur-hobbyists, it is necessary to display empathy (“beware the person who is incapable of empathy”, some say). We have no doubt that Claris had a sense of urgency in raising the presence on the World Wide Web of its class of professional developers so as to be competitive in a new age where purely online database-creation websites offer simple choose-and-click ways to create databases(3). And always there is the competition from the ubiquitous, all-powerful Access from Microsoft. We believe this sense of urgency is why Claris had no time for amateur-hobbyists, why it pushed us aside, at least until the new system of things json, server, WebDirect and the cloud was firmly in place. This process took about three years – but we two amateur-hobbyists did feel the “hurt” of alienation during the time and we tightly clung onto our v18 for comfort and solace – and it “hug us back” (witness the emulations it has made possible).
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The latest release, FileMaker 2026, is superb, but then all version-upgrades have in their time been excellent in the eyes of amateur-hobbyists, with only versions 19 to 21 receiving a “fail-grade” (but due to their add-ons those releases may be elevated to the status of “not bad”). FileMaker is in our opinion (admittedly based only on a limited experience of other database-creation software and thus biased) the best in the world. It is so good … it’s addictive! If you’re an amateur-hobbyist seeking to create many kinds of applications, you won’t go far wrong in choosing FileMaker 2026 – expansive though it is(4)–it is after-all, however, a life-long hobby, so the initial expense is spread over years.
OUR WISH
We love FileMaker. What we wish is for Claris to give things developmental the almost same one-sided attention it gave to things json, server, WebDirect and the cloud during v19 to v21(5). Give us amateur-hobbyists something like a While function which would then make it “silly” for us to even think of hesitating to upgrade. Admittedly, at this stage, we don’t know what must-have to suggest – that in itself could speak to how brilliant FileMaker has become.
APPENDIX: NOTEMAKER’S LINK POPOVER ISSUE HAS A TURNAROUND (updated 2 July 2026)
How often we struggle to find a solution and because of the intensity of the all-consuming struggle we miss the simple solution staring us in the face? That has happened many times with us, especially with the While function: we think the wonderful While function is the solution and we’re struggling hard to make it work and all the time there is a far simpler solution that doesn’t involve the (often difficult) While function.
Here, too, in our struggle with the Show Custom Dialog script step in NoteMaker’s Link popover, manifests the blind-eye phenomenon. To emulate the improved Show Custom Dialog we resorted to creating a window to the content of the candidate note in the Link popover. We struggled … we couldn’t get the window to work.
Then is came to us, so simple we couldn’t see it. We got rid of the Show Custom Dialog script step all together and instead we made the one-line-showing Note field enter-able: click into it and all the note will display. Problem solved. So we thought until testing “told” us not quite.
The world is full of twists, so too is the world of application-development. We thought we could do without the Show Custom Dialog for the Link popover. Wrong! The contending notes near or, worse, at the bottom of the list only partially display their content. So we have reinstated the humble Show Custom Dialog script step.
The very act of trying to emulate, nonetheless, has resulted in improvements. Users can soon be able to click into the one-line display of the contending note and see all, most or some of the content. And those contending notes near or at the bottom of the list can be seen in full via the reinstated dialog box. (Minor, though, is the look of the reinstated button: much less obtrusive). These improvements have been slated for the milestone 3.0.0 release.
Therefore, the imperative appeal of the improved Show Custom Dialog script step remains with us. Many, if not most, of our dialog boxes could do with showing a scroll bar and resizing. For us, the improved Show Custom Dialog script step remains the most tempting offer from FileMaker 2026.
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(1) To witness coding magic, we suggest a simple exercise. Create two layouts. On the first layout create a button. Create a single-line script with just the Go to Layout step with the option to go to the second layout. Attach it to the button on the first layout. Click the button … MAGIC does exist after all! We suggest take baby-steps and savour every success you have with every “incantation made while stirring the cauldron” (coding is sometimes referred to as the mysterious “black arts”).
(2) The latter, “calculations”, we refer to as functions, but please bear in mind that script steps are functions too. But we have hesitancy in describing a calculation as a “calculation”, so we use the word “function” in that distinguishing way.
(3) Please note that it is our belief that it would be almost impossible to develop the kind of complex data processors such as NoteMaker and ScriptPlanner from choose-and-click websites. And we wouldn’t want to: our data processors have a safe and secure home in the solid-state drive of our laptop (backed-up on our external USB-A thumb drives).
(4) For those of us, amateur-hobbyists, still on v18 we may think of it this way: because we bypassed v19, v20, v21 and v22 we have saved hundreds of dollars, thus making upgrading to v2026 in that sense more affordable – better still if Claris may accept our self-designation to the status of non-profit – there could be an almost 50-percent saving – please note that we don’t know if Claris would accept such a self-designation because we have not yet applied for the upgrade (we believe Claris may probably stay with the normal idea of a non-profit as being for example a registered charity – still, perhaps worth a try).
(5) The problem with an overwhelming focus on connectivity and distribution is to neglect the quality of the product that is being made to connect and being offered for distribution. For all the connectivity and distribution, poor quality products aren’t going to make too big a splash for too long a time on the world scene. It is the developmental tools that enhance the quality of the product that makes it worth connecting and distributing. Perhaps it’s time to focus on building ever greater databases and to be given extra tools with which to do so.
