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Oracle Application Express (APEX) vs OutSystems comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Oracle Application Express ...
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
3rd
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
4th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Development Platforms (2nd)
OutSystems
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
4th
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Mobile Development Platforms (1st), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Low-Code Development Platforms category, the mindshare of Oracle Application Express (APEX) is 5.6%, down from 10.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OutSystems is 5.3%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Low-Code Development Platforms Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
OutSystems5.3%
Oracle Application Express (APEX)5.6%
Other89.1%
Low-Code Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Rodrigo-Mesquita - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software developer at QV Systems
Rapid application development empowers big projects in months
The ability to quickly develop applications without needing to code a lot is very valuable. It is very quick to create a page, and one can use AI to speed up software development. It is easy to learn. In my company, we could develop a very big application in a couple of months.
MA
Software Developer Advisor at NTT DATA Services
OutSystems facilitates rapid application development and effective project management
What I find valuable about OutSystems is that it has a very good learning curve for developers. Within two weeks, we can gain knowledge in OutSystems, and it is very easy to learn. With my background being .NET, OutSystems is straightforward to learn, which is beneficial. Developing applications in OutSystems is good, and the flexibility allowed by OutSystems for application development is excellent compared to my experiences with other low-code technologies, where I've faced some challenges. The clean separation of concerns in the architecture provided by OutSystems is a key benefit compared to other platforms. OutSystems integrates with our existing tech infrastructure and provides flexible integration. If we want to integrate with third-party services, OutSystems has SOAP and RESTful services that allow us to consume external services, integrate with external databases such as SQL or Oracle, and includes integration studio for writing custom .NET code. After developing a .NET component, we can reference it in service studio, creating a reference file that makes integration easy. OutSystems officially supports various integrations and also includes an API discovery tool for consuming and exposing services, providing a lot of information about incoming URLs, similar to how we use Postman.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Efficient software delivery and a solution that works quickly."
"Intuitive with a user-friendly UI."
"The solution is easy to handle. The tool has helped us develop many applications since it supports SQL and NoSQL languages. We are familiar with this language. Also, the solution’s interface design and database design are very easy. It is not so much complex. I have no experience working with other solutions."
"You don't have to know a lot of PL because it's built on PL/SQL. You don't need developers. You only need to design a good application that resolves a problem, or many problems, for companies and you're ready to go."
"With only a browser, it is very easy to develop in a web environment."
"This is a good application for quickly creating public applications."
"A user interface is relatively simple to create."
"It helps us create web pages quickly."
"OutSystems' low-cost approach has positively impacted our productivity, because we were able to develop faster with OutSystems, enabling us to implement many changes during our sprint."
"The integration capabilities have benefited my customers by providing many connectors out of the box, allowing for the integration of external applications or business applications."
"We used almost all of the features, themes, styling guide, and approach components. They are useful in our applications."
"I like the mobile features the most, and there are also various features around the portal we created that I enjoy."
"It is easy to use."
"I really like the one-click publish feature in OutSystems. In other development tools/languages, it's not as easy. I also like how easily I can manage all my projects in one place."
"Refactoring with TrueChange is very simple."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it allows users to easily build applications."
 

Cons

"Source control could be stronger in Oracle Application Express (APEX). It needs some work."
"There is a bit of a learning curve involved when first using the solution."
"You also need an APEX specialist for deployment because not many people use it."
"Being able to only design with HTML and CSS can be limiting as to what can be accomplished."
"I've experienced some difficulties when using Oracle Application Express (APEX), particularly when I'm designing forms. For example, when I design a form, I add buttons and controls, but I'm unable to visualize how it'll look unless I run it. You want to design and do things your way, but if you don't have much experience, then you'll find that designing in Oracle Application Express (APEX) is a little complicated. This won't be a problem with anyone more experienced, though. If I wanted to create my design, for example, a different table format or some background images, it becomes a problem, and this is an area for improvement in Oracle Application Express (APEX). Designing should be easier, even for less experienced users. An additional feature I'd like to see in Oracle Application Express (APEX) is more plugins, particularly a repository that contains a lot of plugins, so you can go to that repository and download whichever you like and use it or add it to your project. Right now, I create my plugins, so it would be helpful if Oracle Application Express (APEX) has a repository of plugins people can use, download from anywhere in the world, and integrate into projects."
"Occasionally when trying to un a page, I would be faced with an error number; however, not much information would be provided on the error itself outside of the programming language. It would be nice if more information could be provided."
"It would be highly beneficial if APEX were an all-in-one platform capable of handling all aspects of application development."
"The solution could provide more AI functionalities or AI assistance."
"I'd like to see AI features integrated into the solution."
"The dashboards in OutSystems could improve. There are a lot of tabs in the service center that can be confusing."
"The installation is a bit tedious."
"The product could benefit from improved connectors to integrate with outside platforms."
"Writing custom code still needs to be done via Integration Studio. This might have been added to the IDE."
"The small-scale businesses may find OutSystems costly because of its high cost and pricing due to the licensing cost."
"There are not enough resources on the market."
"Currently, in mobile applications, we don't have push notifications."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have a full Oracle E-Business Suite license, and we use that license to develop applications. There's no license required for developing Oracle applications."
"I rate the product's price as ten on a scale of one to ten, where one is a high price, and ten is a low price."
"There is a trial version available that can be used free of charge."
"We have an Oracle basic product license, and then we can use Oracle APEX for free. We have many licenses for Oracle for approximately 20 processors."
"The solution is cheap. It's a free solution. I rate the solution's pricing a six or seven out of ten."
"APEX itslelf is a free product, but you will need to license peripheral components."
"When you have a licensed database in an Oracle environment, APEX is free."
"Oracle Application Express (APEX) is free, so this is another magic of the solution. You just get charged for the database license, which I don't need."
"The solution is expensive."
"It is very high price."
"I think the pricing for OutSystems is comparable with similar solutions. I would place it somewhere in the middle. We pay for the bundle and don't pay anything extra in terms of licensing and other fees."
"OutSystems was open to a deal that worked for both sides."
"For one developer to use, the cost is around $5,000."
"As for licensing costs, I'm not directly involved in that aspect."
"The tool’s licensing is based on the user’s usage."
"The subscription is billed on a yearly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise28
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise31
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
I have only tried it with an Oracle database, not with other databases. For beginners, understanding the installation process can be challenging because documentation is limited. It is hard to unde...
Which solution is better for developing non-ITSM applications: OutSystems or Service Now?
The short answer is that OutSystems is far better for 2 main reasons. Firstly, with Service Now you are locked into that platform for good. The business model is to lock in and then keep pumping th...
What industries do you think OutSystems is most useful for?
I cannot really name an industry in which OutSystems cannot be beneficial. Who does not want to make top-notch applications that work in no time? And OutsyStems does exactly that. The low-code plat...
How did you decide which OutSystems edition was the best one for you?
We started using OutSystems fairly recently, so we are still on the free version of it. My company is still testing how we like the platform, but so far, we have been satisfied with it and will li...
 

Also Known As

Oracle APEX
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hepart AG, pharmasol, SATLOG, Collège Bois-de-Boulogne
Randstad, Warner Brothers, HP, Intel, ING, Banco Popular, Thrivent Financial, Bacardi, Kent State University, Bacardi, FICO, ING, Vodafone, AbbVie, Estafeta, Siemens, Vopak
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle Application Express (APEX) vs. OutSystems and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
880,511 professionals have used our research since 2012.