Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Anvil: full stack web apps built only with Python

anvil.works

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 207 posts

Re: Anvil: full stack web apps built only with Python

#141

Post by johnyseeslately »

meredydd wrote: post #53
foolinaround wrote: post #50

Can the data be replicated to our own pg database from the built-in database? Close to real-time?

Absolutely - please ask about our Enterprise plans ;) That said, even with the standard plans you can plug into your own Postgres database from server code (just `import psycopg` - it's only Python, after all). And using the Uplink, you can access Anvil's database from your code anywhere on the internet, with the same API as Anvil server code.

What you should really do is also sell anvil in a form that makes it possible to host on premise or in AWS or somewhere else. Even if you charge a 1000$for that people would pay up. You don’t need to open source everything but you can sell the compiled c files instead with installations and support guidelines. I would love to use it but if I cannot control the infrastructure I feel my hands are tied.

Re: Anvil: full stack web apps built only with Python

#142

Post by linsomniac »

This looks really nice, reminds me of what you could do with Visual Basic for creating GUIs, and I really liked that experience (though I did very little of it).

One thing I really don't like about it is how the free pricing level doesn't have authentication. Seems like I can't really build a toy project that I then "graduate" to a real app. Or maybe the plan is that you build it as a private app as a toy and then start paying $45/mo when you want to make it public and have auth?

I feel like if the free level was limited by something else, like database size or something?

I can understand why they want to drive people to revenue-generation. Just seems like a feature that hurts more than it helps, by keeping people from even trying it?

Re: Anvil: full stack web apps built only with Python

#143

Post by cies »

Like many I'd be afraid for to much tie-in with this system. If I could export my code is a way that it's usable and based on open source libs, I have the liberty to extend it beyond what Anvil's limitations.

But now I'd probably still take the upfront cost to get a bigger app started without tie-ing in with a service. For rapid prototyping it seems awesome!

Re: Anvil: full stack web apps built only with Python

#144

Post by [deleted] »

linsomniac wrote: post #142

This looks really nice, reminds me of what you could do with Visual Basic for creating GUIs, and I really liked that experience (though I did very little of it). One thing I really don't like about it is how the free pricing level doesn't have authentication. Seems like I can't really build a toy project that I then "graduate" to a real app. Or maybe the plan is that you build it as a private app as a toy and then st…

[deleted]

Re: Anvil: full stack web apps built only with Python

#145

Post by _red »

amenod wrote: post #136
sametmax wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's ok, you are probably no the target for the service. If you want control, you don't use a closed source saas RAD. I would not use the product for myself. I would hate been locked down. But I can see the value for others. For some, having one easy but clear solution is the important value.

I don't think being locked down to a service is that important in this case. I see Anvil as a potentially valuable tool to create prototypes, to quickly iterate on an idea... then when it is validated, you can build it with more conventional (and safer in terms of future) tools.

Yes, its funny but I think of python itself as an exceptional good "prototyping" language. Thats not to say it can't be used in production, but I think the real power of python comes from its ability to go from 0-100 in a very short amount of time (powered by all the great python libs).

So in a sense, Anvil is valuable at its price point for just as a web prototyping service. Most new developers obsess on things like "scalability" and "MVC separation", etc and in 95% of cases their creations never ever generate enough traffic to warrant any of that. I see Anvil as a tool that would allow developers to sketch out an idea, quickly iterate features based on feedback, and when warranted, move to a full production stack.

Re: Anvil: full stack web apps built only with Python

#146

Post by infinite8s »

icebraining wrote: post #133
sametmax wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's ok, you are probably no the target for the service. If you want control, you don't use a closed source saas RAD. I would not use the product for myself. I would hate been locked down. But I can see the value for others. For some, having one easy but clear solution is the important value.

Customers aren't that black and white. I used to work for a SaaS company, and having the option of requesting the source and copy of the database was crucial to land quite a few of our contracts. That said, I agree with you that it's probably not their best approach right now. Even if it pains me to say so :)

There are definitely companies that provide an escrowing service for their platform (in case they go out of business, etc).

Re: Anvil: full stack web apps built only with Python

#147

Post by neil_s »

leerob wrote: post #101

Looks promising but my biggest gripe is the visuals. Maybe in the future, you could support different themes or skins? It's great to be able to bootstrap a website quickly, but if this is going to be customer facing the design needs some love :)

+1. I know that enterprise might be your main focus and internal web apps don't need a lot of styling love, but just the ability to add Bootstrap or Semantic UI components would make this beautiful. Of course, hiring a designer to work on the Anvil website itself as well as the default styling couldn't hurt.

Re: Anvil: full stack web apps built only with Python

#148

Post by meredydd »

johnyseeslately wrote: post #141
meredydd wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely - please ask about our Enterprise plans ;) That said, even with the standard plans you can plug into your own Postgres database from server code (just `import psycopg` - it's only Python, after all). And using the Uplink, you can access Anvil's database from your code anywhere on the internet, with the same API as Anvil server code.

What you should really do is also sell anvil in a form that makes it possible to host on premise or in AWS or somewhere else. Even if you charge a 1000$for that people would pay up. You don’t need to open source everything but you can sell the compiled c files instead with installations and support guidelines. I would love to use it but if I cannot control the infrastructure I feel my hands are tied.

We do exactly that! (https://anvil.works/blog/anvil-on-site)

Installing and running it is typically a single 'docker-compose' command. If you're interested in this option, please do drop us an email at sales@anvil.works.

Re: Anvil: full stack web apps built only with Python

#149

Post by infinite8s »

metalliqaz wrote: post #92
rahoulb wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well - two areas. One, if you're using it commercially, it's going to pay for itself pretty quickly. I rarely do client projects for less than several thousand pounds; I reckon I could probably churn a lot of them out using this in half the time. Two if you're not using it commercially, it's still a very low cost; maybe more than pure hosting but it does a lot more than just hosting.

Is it supposed to be an either/or? I don't see how I could give up my Amazon services.

Is your time worth 0?

Re: Anvil: full stack web apps built only with Python

#150

Post by webreac »

meredydd wrote: post #38
esistgut wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any plan to open source the platform?

Honestly, we would absolutely love to open-source it! The issue is that we're a bootstrapped start-up, and it's rather difficult to make open source pay the bills, even if it becomes huge (see, eg, Docker's troubles). By charging for the product, we can claim some of the value we create, and be sustainable so the platform stays around.

At my entreprise, they are paying per seat to use gnat compiler. Even if it is open source and free to use for non commercial use, you can sell it and expect that your potential clients will generally not cheat.
Post reply on HN