Noloco vs. Zite: Build Fast. Stay in Control.

Zite builds apps from AI prompts: you describe what you want and it generates the app, including database, pages, and logic. It's fast to start with, especially if you don't have existing data.
Noloco connects to your existing data sources (Airtable, Google Sheets, Postgres, and more) and gives you a visual builder to create apps without prompting loops or credit spend. The core tradeoff is speed-to-prototype vs. control, data flexibility, and production readiness.

No. Noloco connects to your existing Airtable bases with live two-way sync. You don't migrate anything. If you update a record in Noloco, it updates in Airtable instantly — and vice versa. Your existing workflows, formulas, and automations stay intact.

Zite can generate a client portal from a prompt, and it does have authentication and basic role-based access. But if your clients need to see only their own records (not a filtered view of a shared database), you need row-level permissions — which Noloco provides natively. Zite's access control works at the group and workspace level, which is sufficient for some use cases but falls short for isolated, per-client data views.

Yes. Noloco offers a 14-day free trial of the Build plan, which includes almost every feature. This allows your team to fully evaluate workflows, permissions, automations, and integrations. No credit card is required to get started.

Yes. A single Noloco app can pull from multiple data sources simultaneously : Airtable bases, Google Sheets, Postgres, Xano, Supabase, MySQL, and more. You can build pages that reference data from different sources in the same interface, without duplicating or migrating anything.
Zite's app generation is primarily built around its own native database, with Airtable and Google Sheets as secondary connectors.

Role-based permissions control what a user can do — view, edit, create, delete — based on their role in the app. Row-level permissions control which records a user can see at all. In a client portal, row-level permissions mean Client A only ever sees their own records; they can't see Client B's data even if they share the same app. Zite supports role and group-based access.
Noloco supports both: including field-level permissions that hide individual fields from specific roles entirely.

Yes. This is one of the most common reasons teams move to Noloco. You build one app, and each client sees only the records linked to them, not a filtered view of a shared dataset, but genuine data isolation at the row level. No duplicating your app per client, no managing separate workspaces. One app, scoped correctly per user.

Both, and often at the same time. Many Noloco apps serve two distinct user groups: an internal team with full data access and admin controls, and external clients with a scoped, branded view of their own records. You manage permissions, roles, and layouts for each group within the same app.
Zite can generate both types of app, but separating internal and external access with record-level isolation requires more configuration.

Most teams connect their data source and have a working app within an hour. Noloco reads your data schema and auto-generates pages for each table, so you're not starting from a blank canvas. A basic client portal — login, record list, detail page — typically takes 1–2 hours to configure. More complex apps with custom workflows and multi-role permission structures take longer, but Noloco's template library covers most common starting points.

No. Noloco is built for operators, not developers. If you can configure a spreadsheet and think clearly about what different users should see and do, you can build a production-ready Noloco app. For teams that want to move faster, Nola — Noloco's AI assistant — can scaffold pages and suggest configurations.