
Show HN: 8base – Generate working React app with GraphQL back end in minutes - andr111
https://www.8base.com/generate
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jamesmcintyre
8base looks really interesting and I'm glad you're filling a space which the
Prisma folks left by reducing focus on graph.cool.

One question, is your underlying platform currently (or to be) open source? I
ask because it was reassuring when graph.cool put their entire graph.cool
backend framework open source so that it felt even less like potential lock-
in.

I know the fact that it's standard graphql means there's already a certain
level of portability but if you build-up all this functionality in your BaaS
there's potentially a lot of lock-in there.

Lastly, your pricing seems high for, say, a dev who's want to build a SaaS
that'd sell to potentially many enterprise users. Maybe you do not want to
target that demographic?

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andr111
Thanks for the interest! The questions you are asking are very valid. Let me
address them one by one:

1\. We are evaluating an open source strategy, but currently don't have plans
to open source it. There are couple ways we're addressing this. First, in an
event of a closure of the platform we commit to open sourcing it, just like
Parse did. Second, which is a more immediate one, is that we will be adding
features that make 8base fit well into developer workflows as a tool rather
than a platform. That way developers don't have to commit to building on 8base
right away and can use it as an integration layer that accelerates access to
business data and workflows. By focusing on enterprise use cases we believe we
can achieve a good value proposition without forcing people to build entire
application on 8base. Also, as serverless architecture becomes more pervasive
porting business logic comprised of cloud functions should become easier than
before (this is a somewhat weaker point).

2\. We're still working on the pricing and gathering feedback. If you don't
mind, could you share which aspects of pricing concern you specifically?
Indeed a SaaS, especially one in the enterprise space, is definitely our
target. As a matter of fact, we already have an enterprise SaaS built on 8base
that's launching in a few months.

~~~
jamesmcintyre
Thanks for answering!

As far as pricing if I'm comparing against, say, Firebase your pricing seems
higher for less infrastructure but I understand that Firebase wouldn't be an
apples-to-apples comparison given your enterprise-data-integrations value-
adds.

I guess it's just hard to swallow the idea of building an entire app with your
platform then potential having high cost of scaling- but again, I understand
why some may not see it that way and be happy with that pricing.

If you had lower monthly base plans and then pay-as-you-go for each
functionality like the serverless functions, no. of end-users, etc. then it'd
seem more attractive.

Anyway I'm sure your guys have put a lot of thought into the pricing so this
is just from a web dev's perspective!

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asantalo
Thanks so much for your comments. As Andrei mentioned, open source is
something we are constantly considering but it's one of those decisions that
is irreversible and must, therefore, be very carefully considered. Our belief
is we must focus on a sustainable business model given the history with
products like Parse, Graph.cool and Scaphold.

8base was founded after having spent decades in enterprise software and
feeling the tremendous pain associated with designing, hosting and supporting
multi-tenant SaaS. Our product is significantly differentiated from Firebase
today but we expect that over the rest of 2019 we will diverge further and
address some of the major pain points that exist in the market.

We will be coming out Beta in the next few months but we already have some
great logos building on the product and paying us real revenues. We are also
well funded.

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andr111
A new experimental feature in 8base CLI generates a working React app from
your data model. This is great for getting started with GraphQL and React or
for quickly generating an admin UI for your app. Similar to scaffolding in
Ruby on Rails.

~~~
nailer
So it's a DBaaS with a neat UI and GraphQL?
[https://www.prisma.io](https://www.prisma.io) (formerly GraphCool) is
similar.

~~~
andr111
I'd say at the current stage 8base is closer to Graph.cool than Prisma. But
that's more of a function of our development timeline rather than the ultimate
goal. Our ultimate goal is to become a tool for businesses to build
externally-facing applications on top of data in business systems, such as
Salesforce, SAP and other, as well as data in 8base. We'll be releasing
Salesforce integration in the next month or so.

With 8base front-end developers will be able to access data across legacy
business systems through a unified GraphQL API. They can build business apps
quicker and without developing custom server-side middlewares. Unlike a
traditional BaaS, we have heavier focus on front-end tools (e.g. we have a UI
kit for React) and enterprise features (identity, role-based permissions,
document management, etc). We're not trying to be a BaaS for everything like
Firebase or AppSync.

If you're interested in seeing more on Salesforce integration, there's video
on our ProductHunt upcoming page: [https://www.producthunt.com/upcoming/8base-
bolt](https://www.producthunt.com/upcoming/8base-bolt) .

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paste0x78
The header and footer of top two tiers of pricing (scale / pro) don't match on
the pricing page. Off by $33 and $66

~~~
andr111
Good catch! Thanks for pointing out. Fixed.

