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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
4th
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
59
Ranking in other categories
Development Platforms (2nd)
OutSystems
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
3rd
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
51
Ranking in other categories
Mobile Development Platforms (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Low-Code Development Platforms category, the mindshare of Oracle Application Express (APEX) is 10.1%, down from 11.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OutSystems is 10.4%, up from 9.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Low-Code Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Rodrigo-Mesquita - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Bireswar Das - PeerSpot reviewer
A low-code platform for the development of mobile and web enterprise applications
To illustrate a case, the customer initially had a private cloud, essentially a data center hosted within it. They needed a disaster recovery solution, which would involve using a public cloud. This situation led to some deployment challenges due to the hybrid nature of their setup. However, once we implemented the solution for them, they were extremely satisfied. The process was not only effective but also quite speedy. To be more precise, we completed it in around 100 days, even though they initially requested it to be done in four months. They were very pleased with the efficiency of the implementation.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has a well-designed architecture and is a simple 3rd party application."
"The solution can build functionalities in a very short time."
"It provides attractive GUIs allowing professionally-styled applications without the need to know HTML, CSS, or JavaScript."
"The autonomous database is valuable and provides the main structure for code development."
"It's fairly easy to make a user-friendly interface."
"Oracle APEX is very easy to use and comes with a lot of ready-made components that speed up the process of creating reports and dashboards."
"It's stable and reliable for the most part."
"One of the most valuable features is the ability to build very fast data-driven UIs."
"Reduces the manual labor in compiling and deploying applications and generating procedural code (by reducing development bureaucracy/processes, resulting in real gains). The LifeTime Server approach, requiring just a few steps to publish applications in production environments, is fantastic."
"It is a stable solution, and the initial setup is straightforward."
"Let's assume a project in .NET, native .NET, or Java takes around 12 months. In OutSystems, we can build that application in four to five months."
"The most valuable features of OutSystems are the user-friendly platform. The drag-and-drop feature is great. I have used other rapid application development tools before, but they were not as advanced as OutSystems. With the previous tools, I had to manually build certain features, but OutSystems does it automatically."
"The most valuable feature of OutSystems is the drag and drop and toolchains in the small AI developing environment. Additionally, the documentation is helpful."
"It provides for faster development and better software releases."
"The tool makes the development process easier."
"The scratch coding is useful. The solution is easy to understand."
 

Cons

"The solution does not include a default or custom template like other products."
"The migration process is difficult in Oracle Application Express."
"The grid reports contain a lot of bugs."
"Oracle should implement vertical and horizontal data segmentation in APEX's security framework, so Dev teams don't need to do any heavy lifting in the APEX screens. This is a common issue in enterprise apps. It would be nice to seamlessly integrate Git repositories into the development process since the current solution can result in overlapping work or an eventual overwrite. The provided example apps are great, but they could benefit from some added documentation in the "explanation screens"."
"It can be modern and more user-friendly."
"I would like to see easier integration into active directory authentication. Also, maybe integration of JavaScript frameworks would resolve some issues."
"Maybe there are other technologies that offer what APEX cannot."
"Apex has effectively incorporated new market trends into its features. The platform's user-friendly nature is notable, guiding developers through the development process. While advanced customization of the user interface with HTML and CSS is possible, the out-of-the-box options often suffice, providing 80-90% of the required functionality. The IDE is commendable, yet an enhancement in the Page Designer to allow a real-time preview of layout changes would be beneficial. Currently, running the page is necessary to visualize layout adjustments, but an immediate preview during the design phase would be a valuable improvement."
"When shared extensions are updated, all the applications are redeployed."
"Since we first started using OutSystems, they switched their language support from Java and .NET to .NET only, which was a bit of a surprise. Their language support could be better in this sense, although on our resource side it is now a bit more flexible."
"We have performance issues while fetching bulk data."
"The initial setup of OutSystems is not easy. It is a very heavy application that requires a lot of hardware and software resources."
"The dashboards in OutSystems could improve. There are a lot of tabs in the service center that can be confusing."
"The product's high price is an area of concern, where improvements are required."
"The PDD framework can't be used for the behavioral-driven development way of working."
"Mobile apps should have been fully native."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"When you have a licensed database in an Oracle environment, APEX is free."
"The product is completely free of cost."
"I do not think this would be an ideal option for a small sized company or a startup when considering the salary requirements for Oracle DBA'a and developers."
"The pricing is mid-range so is neither expensive nor cheap."
"To my understanding, my organization is using the free version of Oracle Application Express (APEX), but I'm unsure because I haven't checked the pricing or licensing cost for it."
"Pricing is expensive, overall on an enterprise system but we consider that it gives corresponding value in the product."
"APEX itslelf is a free product, but you will need to license peripheral components."
"I believe that the solution's pricing is high."
"The subscription is billed on a yearly basis."
"The tool’s licensing is based on the user’s usage."
"I believe they have two pricing options. One is approximately $4000 USD a year and the other is approximately $10,000 USD a year."
"OutSystems is a good solution, but it's not cheap."
"As for licensing costs, I'm not directly involved in that aspect."
"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."
"There are no additional costs with the standard license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
32%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Educational Organization
32%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
Oracle APEX is part of our on-premises solution included in our agreement with Oracle E Business Suite, though I don't know the cost specifics. Power BI is licensed by the user.
What needs improvement with Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
Using AI to analyze data without needing much code would be better. Also, although the interface is easy to change, it could have more features.
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: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.