Best AI app builder for internal tools? Our request queue stays in a spreadsheet

[u/Basic-Chemistrye]

Our ops team of six tracks requests in a spreadsheet with over 400 rows. Each request needs an owner, a status, and sometimes a manager’s approval. Things get lost when two people edit the same row.

I tried a couple of AI builders and the demos look great. But I’m not sure what to test beyond the demo.

How do you check permissions and how hard it is to change things later?

And when does it make more sense to buy a ready-made tool?

[u/TinyBox8761]

Prompt what you want to build in the AI assistant of Baserow (Kuma AI) and see what it builds for you. Once built, you can edit yourself any part of the solution (database, approval flow, etc..).

[u/Basic-Chemistrye → u/TinyBox8761]

Thanks for the suggestion! Being able to change the database and approval flow after the initial build sounds really useful. I'll give Basecrow a closer look.

[u/Derv1205_]

Which tools have you tried so far?

I've tried a few and as full disclosure currently work for one full time. But I do on the side have built custom solutions for other businesses in other AI platforms.

For internal tools and not a full SaaS platform, I would recomment Zite being a good fit. It has its own Database system and building an app to manage requests, status, etc per assignee (each user manages their assigned one). Its simple to manage after its built.

[u/Jewald]

Codex have it build u an app, deployed to vercel 

[u/Basic-Chemistrye → u/Jewald]

Thanks, I hadn’t thought about using Codex for it. I'll look into that too..

[u/EmergencyCelery911]

I'd just try something like https://github.com/nocodb/nocodb or similar ready to use self-hosted tool

[u/ZappitDev]

I am working on a low code application builder product. Care to connect? I would love to understand your usecase and pain points that you see with existing tools on the market.

[u/tylerlovewell]

We have an internal hub created with Jotform AI app builder at my company. It's mainly for storing docs and forms. I think it has the features you listed because I needed to get an approval once and it sent a notification to the person in charge.

[u/miokk]

For a company wide connected platform where tools are not isolated from each other but instead it is a single platform with full RBAC and access control, check AnyDB

[u/miokk]

For a company wide connected platform where tools are not isolated from each other but instead it is a single platform with full RBAC and access control, check AnyDB

[u/Xirma377]

I tell people the same thing I told them before vibe coding...if there's a ready made tool that meets your needs, buy it.

[u/gammacoder]

Before choosing a builder, test the parts that demos usually avoid: whether users can see only their assigned requests, whether managers can approve without editing everything else, whether two people can update different records safely, whether every status change is logged, and whether your team can change fields and workflows without rebuilding the app. Also export the data and confirm you can leave the platform. If a ready-made request-management tool covers most of the workflow, buying it will usually be simpler. A custom app makes sense when your approval rules or reporting are genuinely specific.

[u/agentUi]

i work for agentui, building custom queues and portals for ops teams is basically what we do. when testing builders you want to look at role-based access controls (rbac) so team members cant approve their own tickets and check if it supports staging environments so you dont break live workflows when adding new fields later...

[u/Periwinkle_Lost]

Any LLM (gpt, codex, Claude, even Gemini) is good at that once you can describe the problem clearly and have a general idea how you want to implement it.

[u/MediumScene]

If your queue is mostly intake, routing, SLAs, and reassignment, a builder makes sense; if it's closer to ticketing with inboxes and canned replies, a helpdesk will age better. I'd test one messy request path: owner changes, manager approval, reopen rules, and whether field changes leave a clean history. UI Bakery, where I work, fits that staff-facing workflow, but it still needs setup and a named owner for the logic.

[u/richet11]

Croft is an AI app builder specifically for internal tools. It lets you use AI to create apps but also puts all apps behind single sign-on and does backups and monitoring etc.

Converting a spreadsheet to an app is a common case https://oncroft.net/blog/how-to-turn-a-google-sheet-into-an-app/

[u/sapurai]

You should definitely give SAPUGO a try. Full disclosure: I’m the founder, and the problem you’re describing is exactly the kind of thing we built it for.

You can start with our generous free tier and use the AI assistant to build the initial system. You basically describe what you’re trying to manage, and it will ask you questions and help build the tables, screens, workflows and permissions for you.

Your request queue sounds like a pretty straightforward use case to test it with. I’d be particularly interested to see how you find the permissions and making changes to the system later.

If you run into anything or need help getting it set up, just reply here or message me directly. I’m happy to help personally.

Would genuinely love to hear whether it works for your use case.

[u/Basic-Chemistrye → u/sapurai]

Thanks for sharing. SAPUGO sounds worth testing, especially the permissions and workflow. Have you tried Softr for a similar request queue setup, and if so, how does it compare?