Rating: 2
Author: richard884

I was really excited by the prospect of Flatlogic and purchased a Tier 4 license as soon as I saw it. The idea seemed really interesting, being able to generate a full application, with hosting included. But since using it, there are a few big drawbacks that have left me with less confidence in the product.

1) The "generated" applications appear to be simply auto deployments of templates with the AI just generating the database structure. Every application I've generated looks, feels, and works exactly the same, no matter what I ask for. The database is generated and can be regenerated, which is nice, but the actual software itself just appears to be a basic CRM template - no matter what I ask for. I appreciate that AI cannot realistically generate a full application, but the fact there aren't any differences in the design or functionality of the applications makes it unlikely to solve any real world problems - unless you're in need of a basic CRM.

2) There are bugs in the software when it's generated, despite it appearing to come directly from the template. In every single generated application there appears to be a page with check boxes, ticking any of these checkboxes throws a client side error. And now the API documentation that's generated has all of the POST API's listed as performing delete functionality, with no real POST API included. The fact this appears in every application makes me even more certain that this is just generating from one template which has built in errors.

My initial aim was to use this to be able to quickly create an admin dashboard with an API to act as a backend for web apps and mobile applications. The fact it spins up a databse instantly with pre-written documentation was ideal for this purpose. But it simply doesn't work for that purpose, unfortunately, the API documentation is incorrect and the documentation only tells you that you can edit the name and description in the PUT endpoint - and, as detailed earlier, the POST endpoint documentation seems to be broken.

3) And this is the biggest one. The questionaire that the AI asks before "generating" the application asks questions about features that cannot be included in the generated appliacation. This isn't just the AI going off script because it's AI, the same questions are asked every time but with slightly different wording, so there is a structure to the questions. Within a couple of days of the application being generated a quote is always sent by email for custom development, with these features being included in the quote. This leaves a bit of a sour taste in the mouth for a few reasons, but the main one being that this feels like it's being used as a prospecting tool for Flatlogic. And, as the main source of income for Flatlogic will be custom development, it feels like there won't be an incentive to continue developing these extra features, otherwise less people would need to purchase custom development. For me, this is the biggest reason why I am refunding the product.

Finally, I did reach out to Flatlogic support about the issues in the generated applications and the lack of anywhere in the backend to see how many deployments have been used each month. I received an email response saying they'd look into it, but nothing else afterwards.

I have given this two stars as if you project fits directly into the templates they provide, this could be a really good piece of software for you. Especially if you don't mind the lack of customization in the design and the lack of advanced features built in. For developers who build in the set stack for generated projects, I'm torn, I can see ways this could speed development up. But only if the main features fit into their preset template.

On the whole, it is the lack of trust that is leading to me consider a refund at this stage. Trust is vital when purchasing a product at an early stage with the expectation of further development. I think that the emails offering custom development are a real misstep (although I understand the reason behind it) as it erodes that trust very early on. Especially when combined with the other points I've detailed in this review.