Oracle APEX and Visual Builder Cloud Service (VBCS) are robust and fast application development platforms. Oracle offers these, and both have unique strengths and capabilities. Developers choose one of these as per their requirements. We will discuss both in detail to compare these two front-end technologies. We will also explore the difference between apex and vbcs and compare their features and benefits. Just like we previously did shared hosting vs cloud hosting Whether you are considering an application development platform like Oracle VBCS or a low-code solution using Oracle APEX, knowing the limitations and strengths of both platforms is essential for making informed decisions. Let’s start the comparison of Oracle Apex and Oracle VBCS.

What is Oracle APEX?

What is Oracle APEX? It is one of the most commonly used low-code application development platforms. Since 2004, it has been a no-cost feature with the Oracle Database for building and deploying modern cloud, data-centric web, and mobile web applications 20 times faster than traditional development techniques. Oracle APEX is Oracle’s strategic low-code application development platform. Let’s discuss the pros and cons of Oracle Apex to tell you what the difference is between apex and visual builder cloud service

What is the advantage of Oracle APEX?

The following are the pros of using Oracle APEX to develop applications. These will tell you the major difference between application express and visual builder cloud.

• No Cost Feature With the Oracle Autonomous Database

Oracle APEX is a wholly supported no-cost feature of Oracle Autonomous Database. Plus, all Oracle Database Distributions and Editions enable you to leverage the advantages of a managed database environment without extra costs.

• Enables Quick Creation of Data-driven Responsive Web Apps with Rich Features

It includes Forms, different types of Reports, an Interactive Grid with an excel feel of accessing data multiple rows at a time, all securely getting saved in the Oracle database in one click. Also, they have widely used Chart types that serve common visualization needs. Trees, calendars, maps, timeline elements, wizards, dashboards, and built-in professional UI themes that you can customize to your standards with no knowledge of CSS. With Oracle APEX, you can develop a broad range of data visualizations and applications directly on top of your database in no time, increasing productivity and speeding up the development process.

• Low-Code Application development Platform (LCAP)

Oracle APEX empowers developers of all skill levels to build scalable, robust, and safe enterprise apps with little coding, at least 20X faster than traditional full-stack application development techniques.

• Facilitates Easy Upload of Large Files

APEX simplifies uploading and managing large files and makes managing documents, images, and multimedia content apps.

• Security

Apps developed using Oracle APEX are safe and out-of-the-box, with authorization and authentication schemes and secure session management. It also prevents cross-site scripting and uses checksums to prevent users from manipulating URL parameters.

• Gives Cost-effective Solutions

APEX provides a budget friendly solution for application deployment and development, leveraging current Oracle technologies and resources without extra licensing costs for various features that otherwise would be more costly.

• Makes Disaster Recovery Setup Simple

Oracle APEX supports disaster recovery methodologies by simplifying the setup and replication of data and applications from primary to secondary regions or environments. It ensures business continuity and data resilience.

Disadvantages of Using Oracle APEX

Now, we will move on to the cons of using Oracle APEX.

• Capability to Build ‘Native’ Mobile Apps

Oracle APEX does not possess the native capability to build APK (Android Application Package) files. Developers use these files for distributing Android applications. APEX compensates with an out-of-the-box Progressive web app (PWA) feature.

• Single Sign-On (SSO) Complexity with Fusion

Integrating APEX applications with Oracle Fusion apps for single sign-on (SSO) purposes are to be made from scratch.

What is Oracle VBCS?

Oracle Visual Builder Cloud Service (VBCS) is another application development platform designed for building and deploying mobile and web applications. It provides a visual development environment that enables developers to build applications using drag-and-drop elements, built-in business logic capabilities, and pre-built templates. VBCS is used to simplify application development processes, speed up time-to-market, and boost agility by giving a low-code development method. It allows firms to make responsive web applications and native mobile applications, leveraging Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) for reliability, scalability, and security. Let us move on to the pros and cons of Oracle VBCS so that you’ll know what are the main differences between vbcs vs apex.

What are the Advantages of VBCS?

The following are the benefits of using VBCS. After reading these, you will get to know the main difference between shared vbcs vs apex

• Integrated with Oracle Fusion API’s

Oracle VBCS combines with Oracle Fusion APIs, giving access to the Oracle SaaS catalog with just one click. It also boosts data access capabilities and connectivity.

• Integration with Oracle Process Cloud Service and Oracle Integration Cloud Service

VBCS combines Oracle Process Cloud Service and Oracle Integration Cloud Service, allowing streamlined business processes and application data integration.

• Consumption of ORDS API’s

VBCS enables the consumption of ORDS (Oracle REST Data Services) APIs and facilitates data retrieval and manipulation operations with external services and databases.

• Auto-save and Recover Options

VBCS includes a recover and auto-save option which ensures data integrity and decreases the risk of loss of data during development or user interactions.

• Built-in Data Storage And Scalability

VBCS provides around 5 GB of data storage within the built-in database. Plus, it also gives the option to increase storage capacity by connecting to Oracle Database. Plus, it ensures data management capabilities and scalability.

Disadvantages of Using Oracle VBCS

Now, let’s discuss the cons of using Oracle VBCS.

• Limit of Uploading Documents up to 50 MB

VBCS has a limit on uploading documents. It restricts file sizes to 50 MB due to API timeout limitations dependent on the browser. Generally, it allows around 4 to 5 minutes for file uploads.

• IDCS Domain Limitations

The default IDCS domain for VBCS enables only five secured VBCS applications where groups can be assigned, and single sign-on (SSO) can be enabled. Beyond this limit, introducing a new IDCS domain would be essential. This adds complexity to security configurations and application management.

• Manual Intervention for Disaster Recovery

VBCS’ disaster recovery procedure may need manual intervention, potentially enhancing the effort and time required to restore operations in case of data loss incidents and system failures.

Conclusion

If you ask, ‘Are apex and vbcs low-code platforms,’ we would say yes. However, Oracle VBCS is favorable for building visually appealing and complex mobile and web applications with extensive integration capabilities. Meanwhile, Oracle APEX excels in the development of database-centric applications. It also excels in developing reports focusing on data analysis and management. The choice between VBCS and APEX relies on the business’s particular requirements, preferences, and skill sets. Hopefully we helped you know the difference between oracle application express and visual builder cloud. If you are still not about selecting the development platform type, you can contact any professional developers for consultation.