Updated Sep 25, 2024

Adalo and Xano: a powerful backend for your no-code apps

What is Xano?

Xano is a low-code platform that allows developers to create and manage applications more efficiently and quickly. It provides a visual, no-code interface that lets you create, test, and deploy application backends without needing to write code. What is a backend you might ask? A backend is simply the data and logic an app needs to serve information and interactivity to the end-user. For Adalo apps, this is always built-in to the Adalo editor to provide a seamless, uncomplicated building experience for Adalo makers. More technical Adalo makers, however, may benefit from using Xano as their app’s backend for a number of reasons.

Instead of hosting your app’s database and custom actions in Adalo, Xano provides a platform that can store your app’s users and data on a dedicated server built to service just your Adalo app. This server is called an “instance” and can be scaled to hold more records, perform faster, and compute more advanced logic than the built-in Adalo database.

Adalo Meet Xano 🤝

Adalo and Xano teamed up to create a super powerful integration for connecting your Xano backend to your Adalo frontend. Now when you create a new app, you can choose to use Xano as your database instead of Adalo. After choosing this option, just plug in your Xano base URL and Adalo will reach out to get all your Xano users and other data. Anytime you need to make changes, just import the new collection or refresh the connection to re-sync. After you’ve integrated Adalo and Xano, you’re ready to take advantage of all the powerful features Xano enables for your apps!

Features

Aside from using Xano to store the users and data of your app, one of the key features of Xano is its ability to automate repetitive tasks and processes through cron jobs. By creating cron jobs or “tasks” you can have your Xano instance automatically update all users in your database on a given date or automatically reset a product’s expiration date based on when it was last purchased. You can even use cron jobs to send recurring or scheduled notifications to your users.

Another feature of Xano is its built-in support for a wide variety of data sources. This includes support for traditional relational databases, NoSQL databases, cloud-based data storage solutions, or even more well-known no-code products like Airtable or Google Sheets. This makes it easy for you to connect your app to the data source you need, without needing to write any additional code or add external collections in Adalo. The most powerful part of this is the ability to combine these data sources for display in your Adalo app!

One of the most powerful features of Xano is its ability to integrate with other popular tools and services. This includes support for popular cloud platforms such as AWS and Google Cloud, as well as support for popular automation tools such as Zapier, Make, and IFTTT. This allows you to easily connect your app backend to a wide variety of services and automate tasks such as sending email notifications or updating social media profiles without having to create and stack custom actions together in Adalo.

Xano also offers a wide range of pre-built templates and modules that can be used to quickly create apps for a variety of use cases. This includes templates for creating e-commerce apps, CRM systems, and project management tools. These templates can be easily customized to work with Adalo and meet the specific needs you may have for your app.

What’s more, Xano also includes a built-in analytics and monitoring system that allows Adalo makers to track the performance and usage of their apps in real-time. This lets you quickly and efficiently identify, debug, and fix any issues with your app backend.

When Should I Use Xano as My Backend?

Sometimes it can be difficult to determine when you might what to use Xano for your app over Adalo’s already powerfully simple database. Here are a few things to consider when trying to decide:

Are you a new Adalo maker or a seasoned, veteran builder? If you’re new to Adalo or app development in general, it’s probably best to stick with Adalo’s built-in database. Otherwise, if you need advanced functionality and scaling, definitely give Xano a look!

Are you needing to save on your Adalo Actions limit and don’t mind a more technical approach? You can use single actions in Adalo to trigger stacks of actions and functions in Xano to help save on your Adalo plan’s action limit.

Are you a natural tinkerer who’s curious about technical setups and want to learn how to develop robust app backends? Definitely check out Xano!

Are you needing to eventually move your app’s database to a different service, provide servers in multiple countries, or meet database compliance regulations? Xano is the route to take.

Are you building an app that requires Javascript libraries, Amazon Lambda functions, or other traditional development needs? You’ll want to check out Xano for their ever-expanding suite of integrations and product features.

Do you need to sign-up and log-in users using Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Github? Adalo provides Google and Apple sign-in options, but for the others you might want to give Xano a look.

Do you need to create relationships between your users and external collections or APIs? You can do this with Xano!

Conclusion

Overall, Xano is a powerful and versatile platform that can be used to create a wide variety of backends for your Adalo apps quickly and efficiently. Its simple interface, built-in support for a wide variety of data sources, and ability to integrate with other tools and services make it an ideal choice for Adalo makers of all skill levels. Whether you're a seasoned developer looking to automate repetitive tasks or a non-technical user looking to create a robust and scalable database for your app, Adalo and Xano have you covered with our new integration!