Visual DB

What it is

Visual DB is a low-code platform for building professional database applications visually: forms, sheets, reports, and master-detail views without custom code. Rather than spending weeks writing CRUD applications, you design forms, sheets, and reports with drag-and-drop tools and deploy in minutes. The forms page puts the claim this way: "Visual DB lets you build great looking forms that work better than hand-coded forms." An AI-powered form builder creates professional data entry forms in minutes with no coding required: AI accelerates form layout by automatically placing fields, grouping related ones, and adding section titles, though you can fine-tune it manually. As a Google Cloud Partner, Visual DB integrates with cloud-hosted databases like Google Cloud SQL and AlloyDB.

What you build and how

Forms are the primary building block. Visual DB offers fully functional forms with complete CRUD support: you query, create, update, and delete records directly in a relational database without writing code. Users can pull up specific records for updating by entering identifiers like ID, last name, or product name using parameterized queries. When multiple matches are found, navigation controls make it easy to browse and select the right record. The form builder is highly interactive with advanced layout capabilities. Fields can be placed multiple per row and resized freely. Smart layout guides appear dynamically as you move objects, showing alignment and spacing cues relative to other objects.

Data validation, input type selection, and conditional logic to show or hide fields based on user input are all point-and-click. When a foreign key must be filled in, Visual DB assists by helping you find the foreign record to link to. By default all records from the foreign table are displayed, but you can specify a query for large foreign tables. Master-detail forms handle one-to-many and many-to-many relationships: track customers and their orders, projects and their tasks, or invoices and their line items. The main master record appears at the top with related detail records in a grid below. Master and detail rows commit as a single transaction to ensure data integrity: you cannot save an order without its corresponding order items. The page suggests checking whether other tools support this layout.

Sheets let you view and edit records in a grid. Columns can be sorted, records grouped together, and filtered. You can quickly search for a specific record. You provide available values for dropdowns, and color-code values in the grid. Reports are built-in so business users can find answers and insights without leaving the platform or needing separate tools. Reports can be customized on the fly by grouping, filtering, and sorting without IT help. Users can apply query parameters like project, region, or date range to focus on exactly what they need.

The documentation outline shows how the rest fits together. Connections come first, with a step for whitelisting Visual DB so it can reach your database. A Query Builder and custom queries define what each form, sheet or report shows, and the docs list "Applications & Roles" as a basics topic. Attachment fields let users upload, download and delete files. Sharing Forms is its own topic, with advantages and security restrictions. Automation is done with webhooks. Row-level security has a tutorial built on database policies, including giving managers access to their team's data. A REST API lists, creates and deletes users, connections, queries, forms, sheets and reports. Hosting options include self-hosting with a Docker start script, plus cloud-hosted artifact and AI services.

Self-hosting is a first-class path. The self-host page says your data stays within your infrastructure, which helps with stringent data security and privacy requirements, and that it lets you reach databases on your intranet without exposing them to the internet. You can run it on a laptop for personal projects or deploy it on an intranet or in the cloud.

The evidence

Visual DB is offered as a Software-as-a-Service solution and can also be self-hosted. The hosted free plan has a 1,000 record limit (no limit when self-hosted). The hosted Business plan costs $5 per user per month with a 5 user minimum, and includes all features of the free version, 100,000 records displayed at a time, no limit to the number of records in the database, and priority support. It comes with a 14-day free trial. The page also says small teams can self-host Visual DB for free.

The self-host page prices that route separately. The Free self-hosted plan costs $0 and is described as perfect for small teams, with unlimited forms, sheets and reports, 100,000 records displayed at a time, no limit to the number of records in the database, and a limit of 10 users. The Business self-hosted plan costs $50 per server per month, with all features of the free version, an unlimited number of users and priority support, and also has a 14-day free trial. Visual DB server runs on Windows, Linux and macOS, on x64 (Intel/AMD) and ARM64 processors, including Apple Silicon.

On the product side, the pages describe fully functional forms with CRUD support, parameterized queries to pull up a record by ID, last name or product name, and navigation controls when several records match. The company says its forms should not be confused with survey tools like Microsoft Forms and Google Forms, which are for collecting survey responses, not for entering and updating records in a relational database. It also claims competing products are geared almost entirely toward record creation, with updates possible only through workarounds such as URL prefilling or API integrations. Treat that as the vendor's comparison. Overwrite protection means Visual DB will not overwrite changes made to a record by another user. The homepage notes that as a Google Cloud Partner, Visual DB integrates with cloud-hosted databases like Google Cloud SQL and AlloyDB, and says "thousands of teams" use it.

Who it suits and who it does not

Visual DB suits an operations or finance team that already has a relational database and needs data entry screens for it: orders with line items, projects with tasks, inventory, customer records. Master-detail forms with transactional commits, update and delete forms rather than create-only ones, and reports with parameters are its strengths. It suits IT groups whose databases sit on an intranet, since self-hosting avoids exposing them. Small teams can start on the free self-hosted plan, which allows 10 users, and pay $50 per server per month when they need more.

It is narrower than a general app builder. The pages describe forms, sheets and reports on top of a database, not a canvas for arbitrary interfaces, a built-in public site or a mobile app. It is not a survey tool, so a team that wants to collect responses from outside people should look elsewhere. The hosted free plan stops at 1,000 records, and the Business plan has a 5-user minimum, so a solo builder with a larger table would need to self-host or take on a team-sized minimum.