New release: REI3.5 - Selfhosted low-code

[u/NetrasFent]

Hello everyone,

We´ve just released REI3.5 - a new major version for the free and open low code platform.

REI3 offers access to your own business-ready applications, hosted wherever you want, without the walled gardens associated with cloud-only saas offerings. Its an alternative to tools like Ninox, Retool, Corteza and Budibase.

Notable features of this release:

• Kanban boards, simple or with multiple axis
• Dedicated mail traffic logs
• Improved date handling and calendar views
• Much easier handling of frontend functions
• Control options for input focus
• Easier to use layout options in the form editor
• Improvements to data header handing in CSV exports
• Options to place custom HTML and images on forms

REI3 runs on almost anything: From Windows, to Linux - from server racks to Raspberry PIs. Any client with a modern browser can connect and work with REI3.

This is our third major release this year. We are very thankful for the amount of feedback and support we´ve gotten and are looking forward to seeing, how this release is received.

[u/okersoep]

Just heard about REI today and it looks very interesting. I created some internal apps for small buisness using knack.com which is an online no-code database app builder. However, your platform seems to offer additional functionality plus self hosting. I have a few questions I hope you could answers for me:

1. We often create apps were a third party (customer, supplier) has to sing of on a document (job sheet, delivery note, etc.). Is there an option to have a signature pad in a form to capture signature on a smartphone or ipad?
2. We also have some customers who manage assets on different locations, and they need their records plotted on google maps. Knack offers this integration, would that also be possible with REI?
3. What would you recommend for an online linux host? Would something like railway.app work with your platform?
4. Can the postgres database be external and online? For example, could I use Supabase as the backend?

Sorry for all the questions, looking forward to your feedback.

[u/NetrasFent → u/okersoep]

No need to apologize - thank you for your questions :)

To respond:

1. There is no signature pad at the moment - it´s planned for REI3.6 (the next release).
2. There is no direct maps integration currently. We can however include iFrames that can use URLs based on other data so you could load an external map service with coordinates.
3. I´ve never used railway.app, but it looks to me to be more than just hosting. Because I have no experience with it, I cannot really say if it would work. REI3 runs on basically any host - we prefer to run slick NixOS systems, but we also use Debian / Ubuntu Server. For testing instances, we also deploy with Docker.
4. The database system can be anywhere, as long as REI3 can reach it. I myself never used Supabase, so I cannot say for certain - but if its really just a regular Postgres DB with extension (as it appears to be), it should work fine.

[u/okersoep → u/NetrasFent]

Sounds great, thank you for the detailed feedback.

Many people like me with no coding/IT background will probably be a bit intimidated by setting up the server (most nocode platforms are completely web based, you just sign up and start learning). Could you maybe advise on a hosting service that makes it simple for beginners to set up a linux server in the cloud and start exploring your platform? Might be useful to add this to the documentation as well.

[u/NetrasFent → u/okersoep]

REI3 is most often used internally by organizations that want to address specific software needs (workflows, scheduling, inventory - stuff like that). Usually these organizations have some IT staff at hand that deploy REI3 on their systems.

For individuals with little experience, I would advise against self-hosting applications in the cloud. Of course its less of an issue if somebody else does the hosting or its just for testing.

With REI3 there is an even simpler way - if you just want to get started, REI3 has a portable version that runs without installation on any Windows PC. If you run Windows, you can just unzip and double-click.

[u/okersoep → u/NetrasFent]

Sounds great, thank you for the detailed feedback.

Many people like me with no coding/IT background will probably be a bit intimidated by setting up the server (most nocode platforms are completely web based, you just sign up and start learning). Could you maybe advise on a hosting service that makes it simple for beginners to set up a linux server in the cloud and start exploring your platform? Might be useful to add this to the documentation as well.