Oracle Application Express (APEX) Reviews

In the public sector, our clients are primarily using Oracle APEX to update their old systems. We have been working on government projects for over a decade, and many of our clients are moving from outdated tools like Oracle Forms and ADA Oracle to Oracle APEX. This shift lets them benefit from APEX's user-friendly, low-code approach, speeding up app development, and keeping them in line with modern web standards, resulting in better efficiency and user experiences.

The most valuable feature of Oracle APEX is its comprehensive set of features for creating user-friendly and visually appealing applications. This includes local development, remote templates, and graphic capabilities. Additionally, the platform offers tools like smart sheets, search wizards, and easy application creation from various file formats, making it highly adaptable. It also excels in configuring workloads and notifications, implementing reports, and allowing seamless attachment handling. The availability of plugins further enhances its value, making it a go-to choice for application development and use.

In terms of improvement, there should be a greater focus on AI and machine learning tools in Oracle APEX. While the platform is evolving, making these tools more accessible and user-friendly is crucial due to the rapid growth of AI and ML. Providing more pre-built packages and simplifying their usage would facilitate the platform's adoption in AI applications and machine learning, ensuring it stays relevant in these rapidly advancing fields.

I have been using Oracle APEX for three years.

I would rate the stability of the solution as a ten out of ten.

It is a very scalable solution. I would rate the scalability as a nine out of ten. Most of my clients are medium-sized businesses.

I would rate the technical support as a ten out of ten.

Positive

Deployment in Oracle APEX is a smooth and straightforward process, and we haven't had any issues with it. Even when creating different environment clones, we can easily migrate applications without complications. Deployment is quite efficient, and it typically takes less than an hour, often around half an hour, thanks to the support of a dedicated DBA and the use of the WebLogic application server. For deployment, after completing application development, we export the application files, including standard features. Then, these files are sent to the Logical Manager, who is the application server administrator. They handle the deployment on the WebLogic server.

I find the pricing of Oracle APEX to be very reasonable because it is free when you already have a license for Oracle database. This cost-effectiveness is a significant advantage.

My advice for those interested in using Oracle APEX is to start promptly, as there is a learning curve, particularly if you are less familiar with CSS and JavaScript. In the initial stages, you may encounter limitations when creating more complex interfaces and feature-rich applications, which may require additional effort in terms of CSS and workload. However, for straightforward applications, Oracle APEX is user-friendly and easy to use. Overall, I would rate it as a ten out of ten.

The primary use case involves numerous applications throughout the organization, primarily developed and employed through Oracle APEX.

The most valuable applications within the organization are primarily data forms and extended reports.

The main concern we encounter pertains to reporting. It would be highly beneficial if APEX were an all-in-one platform capable of handling all aspects of application development. There's room for improvement, particularly in terms of more prompt and responsive support.

I have been using it for eight years now.

It provides good stability capabilities.

It offers impressive integration capabilities and can handle a variety of tasks. It's worth noting that over a thousand employees in my company use APEX with ease.

My past encounters with Oracle support have sometimes been challenging. Their support system operates through a request-based approach, which can be understandable given their extensive client base. When you encounter technical roadblocks, having immediate assistance is crucial, as it can be difficult to carry on with your daily tasks without it.

Neutral

I have experience with Microsoft products. In my work environment, I often encounter a mix of tools and technologies, so it's important to be versatile and not rely solely on one product. When I compare Oracle APEX with Microsoft BI, especially SSRS, Microsoft seems to have a more advanced edge in the realm of reporting. What sets APEX apart is its seamless integration with the backend and the convenience it offers to developers, particularly when it comes to low-code or rapid application deployment.

It enables a straightforward deployment process – just import and export, and you're good to go. Development is also user-friendly, with a wealth of pre-built components readily available. Regarding forms, templates in APEX are indeed quite useful.

I believe APEX comes bundled with the database, including autonomous database and other related database products, so the pricing is quite reasonable. While the database itself can be costly, the expenses are contingent on your specific needs and requirements.

I would highly recommend it to anyone who prefers rapid application development and it surpasses many other tools in the market. The product is user-friendly, and its intuitiveness makes it a standout choice for such development tasks. I would rate it eight out of ten.

In our company, we primarily use the tool for reporting, business purposes, and to fulfill some custom application user requests.

Since I use it mostly to find the reporting processes, I simply need to plug and play the required data and create the report, which can be shared with others using the CC option in my email.

Personally, I would say that Oracle Application Express (APEX) is a powerful tool. Regarding features, the solution lacks the ability to integrate with different databases. Also, I feel that Oracle Application Express (APEX) is exclusively designed for other Oracle tools. But that does cause any issues for my team or me since we are already familiar with the tool. However, it would be good if one could use the tool on another database.

I have experience with Oracle Application Express (APEX) for around two to three years. Currently, I am using Oracle Application Express (APEX) Version 5.0.

It is a stable product. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

My company has around four or five engineers who use the solution. However, taking a user-wise count, I would say the solution has over 1,000 users.

Even though we are an enterprise-sized company using the solution, I feel that the solution is better suited for small companies.

I can't comment on the solution's technical support team since I don't work as an IT engineer in our company's administrative affairs. It is my superiors who deal with Oracle's support team.

In our company, previously, we were using a .NET solution. We moved to Oracle Application Express (APEX) since it was more useful and convenient to use compared to the previous tool we used.

I believe that the solution's pricing is high. So, the price could be why my company is moving to another solution. Also, I have heard that it is more expensive than the other solutions.

Although we are satisfied with the current solution in our company, our organization has decided to migrate to the cloud, and they have chosen Azure as the cloud platform. We are responsible for following up with the migration process as a team. Though the cloud and on-premises versions are available for Oracle Application Express (APEX), my company chose Azure.

My company's database uses Oracle products along with Oracle Apache and Palo Alto.

The product's interface is intuitive and easy to use. I would tell those planning to use the solution that it is easy to use and learn. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

It's a low-code platform where you can go for any customization or dashboard. You can use the solution to create any application, and then we can connect with the real-time API.

You can customize the solution to create a console where only business users can access and download files if they want to extract the data.

The migration process is difficult in Oracle Application Express. It would be helpful if the solution provided more video tutorials and upfront problem-solving documentation in the future.

I have been using Oracle Application Express (APEX) for one and a half years.

Oracle Application Express is a stable solution.

Our clients for Oracle Application Express are small-scale businesses.

The solution is moderately priced, where it is neither cheap nor expensive. The solution's pricing depends on how it is going to be utilized. Almost 5GB to 20GB of database would be free. Anything more than that needs to be procured, and then it'll be charged monthly. Users have to pay extra to own the license and for its maintenance.

The solution's low-code approach is very good. It improves our productivity and adds a different layer to the existing products, which gives visibility to the customer. It's easy to configure Oracle Application Express.

Maintaining the solution is not very difficult. It will be difficult if you want to change the existing framework and don't know the functionality properly. Only a technical person who has already worked with the platform can upgrade the solution.

Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

Our business applications include healthcare, administrative, and planning tools. The environment consists of on-premise databases with an Oracle ORDS Tomcat stack and other JavaScript utilities on top of Linux Virtual Machines. There are legacy solutions, such as Oracle 11 with APEX 5.1 and Oracle 19 with APEX 20. These solutions have proven to be quite stable, but you need to do proper planning and profiling of heavy database transactions for more significant queries and heavy transaction processing.

Oracle APEX has proven to be a solid "low-code" solution that works quite well for simple and complex scenarios of data-intensive applications. Integrating the tool with the robust underlying Oracle Database allows a team to quickly create and deploy functionality iteratively. Running the tool on top of Linux-based virtual machines can slow things down, but the work gets done, and using the Oracle XE editions for some clients has been an adequate solution for POCs or even small non-critical production apps.

Oracle APEX's reporting features are simple yet powerful. The ability to quickly create CRUD screens has simplified many RAD discovery processes, while the APEX environment allows the product owners and dev teams to quickly understand the complex solutions and employ usage statistics to identify areas requiring improvement. The option to add external JavaScript tools in screen development enables the development of complicated mobile or web usage scenarios in rare cases where the APEX UX  is not enough.

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".

I've been using Oracle APEX since 2006.

Oracle Apex is stable.

Oracle Apex scales well, but you need a good admin who knows how to work with DBA and Linux.

Oracle support has room for improvement.

Neutral

Setting up APEX requires Oracle and Linux admin experience.

We implemented APEX with an in-house team.

APEX is free, but Oracle Database is not.

I rate Oracle APEX eight out of 10. It's a good tool that needs more promotion, particularly the cloud solution.

I use Oracle APEX to build forms and pages for end users to easily manage customer complaints and perform quick fixes. By providing a user-friendly interface with proper validation, we empower end users to address issues themselves, reducing the need for backend database intervention. APEX has been a highly efficient tool for facilitating user transactions and resolving customer complaints swiftly.

One standout feature of Oracle APEX is its seamless integration with backend procedures, allowing for quick updates without changing the front-end interface. Additionally, dynamic actions streamline user interactions, enabling complex behaviors like button interactions and API calls with ease. These features drastically improve development efficiency by simplifying backend-to-frontend changes and providing extensive customization options through dynamic actions.

One area for improvement in Oracle APEX is its workflow orchestration capabilities. While it excels in forms and reports, handling complex workflows with waiting states and asynchronous responses needs enhancement. Simplifying workflow management to align with modern architecture standards, like in Fusion, would make APEX more robust and user-friendly.

I have been using Oracle APEX for two years.

Comparing Oracle Form Builder to Oracle APEX, the major advantage of APEX is its ease of layout customization and built-in features, making it more user-friendly than Form Builder. In APEX, layout adjustments are simple with pre-built options and HTML functions, while Form Builder requires meticulous coding and often relies on custom PLL files for advanced customization. Additionally, APEX allows seamless execution of PLC code from the backend, unlike Form Builder, where syntax differences complicate the process. Overall, APEX offers a more streamlined and efficient development experience compared to Form Builder.

Setting up Oracle APEX is straightforward and usually requires just a one-time installation. It is often included for free with Oracle Database versions starting from 11c. Despite its availability, many users may not be aware of it. APEX serves as both a development and reporting tool, addressing users' dynamic and regular data needs efficiently. With APEX, we can quickly develop custom reports or interactive grids within minutes, automating processes and saving significant time in development cycles, typically taking just two to three months from requirement gathering to deployment.

I use Oracle APEX for rapid prototyping and deployment. It is the most efficient tool I have used, significantly reducing development time compared to older platforms. With its low-code interface and abundance of features like dynamic actions, APEX simplifies development, especially for those familiar with traditional forms. Its web-based nature and minimal need for customization further enhance its usability. Overall, APEX streamlines the development process and enables quick deployment of applications with minimal coding effort.

The integration capabilities of Oracle APEX are impressive. We have leveraged backend database connections via DB links to interact with multiple databases seamlessly. This allows us to consolidate data from different sources and generate comprehensive reports within a single APEX application. While we haven't fully explored all integration possibilities, APEX supports various functions like JSON files, web services, and REST APIs, offering potential for future integrations, such as with customer compliance systems. 

Overall, I would rate Oracle APEX as an eight out of ten.

Oracle Application Express (APEX) works on data automation. For example. We are building a web application that can auto audit or auto perform examinations for different data and just the user doesn't need to do the examination by itself or do the examination manually. This is exactly how the software works.

I particularly enjoy the web builder capabilities, especially the Page Designer.

It offers so many elements or components to choose from, which is a major plus for me. 

I don't need to know how things truly function with them, and I don't need HTML or have front-end understanding; I can just drag and drop and create or customize a web page by myself.

In my opinion, the UI of the entire program is quite complicated for beginners to understand, especially when it comes to finding a different list or, different kinds of features because the features are not really categorized in the same categories. 

Perhaps it is the name of the categories that are different or not exactly straightforward.

The user needs to think about or do more research on the internet to know where exactly the feature is that they are looking for or where they can find it.

Another issue I used to encounter was with the debugging functions. I believe this is an area where Oracle APEX could improve significantly in terms of displaying error messages or error pages.

It is very difficult to detect bugs or which bugs you are having when it comes to errors or which errors you have.

Oracle displays an error page to demonstrate the issue.

When compared to Arotech, or PowerApps, they show you the root cause of it at the very least, which is more information provided when it comes to debugging.

In terms of new features, I'd want to see any type of new functionality in the future, or at the very least update the tutorial or user interface.

The only thing I can think of that might be improved is additional information regarding the root cause or more troubleshooting suggestions.

I have been working with Oracle Application Express (APEX) for three months.

I believe that we are using version 2021.

It's definitely not the most recent version since I'm using it through the company's licensing. We are using an older version.

In my opinion, I believe it is stable. I haven't encountered any issues, or anything such as letting us have system errors, problems, or anything else.

I would rate the stability an eight or a nine out of ten.

Oracle Application Express (APEX) is a scalable solution.

It has the flexibility to accept more users.

This solution is used by ten employees of the company. Half of the employees are administrators and the others are users.

The scalability is good.

We want to increase our use in the future, but I'm not sure if I'll remain with Oracle Application Express (APEX) or experiment with alternative forms of software and low-code apps.

Overall, I appreciate the approach, and I enjoy the program. It will definitely be one of the options in this approach in the future.

I have not reached out to technical support.

We are also working with Microsoft Power Apps.

Power App is only for my own use. It's also different, and there are clearly various use cases, however, I designed the procedure to synchronize a list. Basically, I have a list containing all of the product information, such as the product number, name, and date the data was generated and distributed.

I used it to create inventory management to view the current state of the product and then the production line. It has several applications, but I believe the directions of data analysis. 

It provides an overview of the list, and this is its purpose. This is how PowerApps is used.

The initial setup is quite straightforward, especially when connecting to the SQL workshop.

It took at least two months to get everything to function and then run certain operations, In general, I would estimate one to two months to create a basic program.

I had some assistance from some colleagues in my workplace, who have prior expertise, and they have been quite helpful. I have also learned a lot on the Internet, including instructions supplied by APEX websites.

At the time that I had started with this company, they had 15 to 20 employees who had been using this solution.

I am not aware of the pricing. I don't deal with this area.

I conducted research. Apex, Microsoft Power Apps, and others are also good.

It is also a useful program for doing data automation time. Unfortunately, I was not given the authority to pick which program to use.

This solution has been used in the company for a while and they wanted to build the information they had. I am fully dedicated to the program.

Oracle Application Express (APEX) excels in data automation and digitization. 

It also supports Dynamics reports and Dynamics Graphical charts, as well as analytical methods. 

I believe it is good, and it is simple to implement.

You will save a lot of time for developers to develop their use cases, or implement their use cases into the software.

It allows many users to users to use it. I would say it is good software with enough information on the Internet for people to learn.

Just maybe it's not really good for a brand new beginner who doesn't have any programming or software knowledge, it will be a little bit more difficult to speak with Apex, but overall, I think this local platform saved a lot of time for developers or companies to build their customized, management system or customized ERP.

I would rate Oracle Application Express (APEX) a seven out of ten.

The three-point loss is because of the debugging issue that they have, as well as the interface, which is not very straightforward and is not completely understood.

In some cases, it is a difficult tool. However, we have found that Oracle is more of a database and not a good tool for application development. As a result, we are currently facing some challenges, and we have not received enough help from the community. We are working hard to find solutions.

We had developed a CRM for the public and companies, and we were facing a few problems. The first problem was encrypting the customer's data so that it could not be seen. The second problem was integration, which was not as easy as Salesforce, even though we are also a partner of Salesforce. Salesforce is much easier to integrate compared to Oracle APEX. And the third challenge we faced was with the UI.

These are some of the challenges I am currently facing. We have been investing a lot of time and money into Oracle Apex. However, we are facing difficulties in integrating it with third-party applications. For example, if we want to integrate a payment gateway or accounting tool like Zero or QuickBooks. We are struggling to find a solution to this. Additionally, we want to integrate AI-based chatbots that can accept and create records through voice commands. We were considering working with Oracle APEX, but we may not be able to test it.

Databases are the most valuable feature in Oracle APEX for me. The database is super easy to use for creating tables.

The most important thing, in my opinion, is that it should allow end-users to create their own custom fields. For example, if you are my customer and you want to create custom fields, you should be able to do that yourself.

Secondly, it should be easy to map fields with other objects like CRM. If you are creating custom fields in the lead and want to create a few custom fields going further on the account contact opportunity, the end customer should be able to do this themselves rather than depending on us every time.

In the next release, we would like to see easy integration with third-party applications. Currently, Oracle is lacking big time in the marketplace. If you look at Salesforce, they have more than four thousand applications that you can easily download and configure with their platform. On the other hand, Oracle Apex has a limited marketplace, with only a few companies offering basic applications. Moreover, the existing marketplace applications are not fancy or AI-based. AI is a big thing, and Oracle is currently working on it.

I have been using this solution for three years. We are using version 22.5.

It is a stable solution. I would rate the stability a seven out of ten.

I would rate the scalability of Oracle APEX a four out of ten. Oracle is more of a database-oriented solution and is not very flexible in app development.

We have only received support from MaxApex people, who have been pretty helpful. Sometimes we get stuck with configuration issues, and they advise us on how to resolve them. They also showed us how to encrypt our data. However, if Oracle APEX has a professional community, it would be great to get more help because no company in the world has a UI like the one we have in our CRM.

We haven't received any support from Oracle. We've only received support from MaxApex.

We used Salesforce before. However, we switched to Oracle Application Express because it's not user-based but rather database-oriented. With it, we can create users and set prices based on our preferences rather than being limited by Salesforce's CRM options. Someone from an Oracle background suggested we try it out during our initial phase, and it was super easy for us to create pages, layouts, and fields. However, we need help as we move forward.

The initial setup was straightforward. However, as we started doing more development work, we faced a lot of challenges. I rate the initial setup at eight on a scale of one to ten.

Down the road, at a later stage, I would rate it a two or three at maximum. The initial setup was easy, but as the complexity of the project increased, we encountered several difficulties. Currently, we only have two people who take care of maintenance and development. We have slowed down our development since we have been doing this for the past three years.

The deployment was done in-house since we have our own team of developers who took care of it. The deployment didn't take much time because MaxApex was really good, and they helped us in different areas. We have deployed it in the cloud version and used MaxApex as our cloud provider. We contacted MaxApex, and they provided us with enough space on the cloud. The rest of the deployment was handled by our technical team. Moreover, we only needed two experienced people who help us deploy on the cloud.

I would rate it around an eight in terms of price, with one being low and ten being high.

We only tried Salesforce. Salesforce has a platform called Force.com, but there was a limitation on the number of objects we could create. If we had to create more than ten objects, Salesforce would start charging twenty-five dollars per user per month. If we wanted to create an unlimited number of objects, Salesforce would charge a hundred dollars per user per month. As we were targeting a market with customers who may not have a big budget, we were trying to find a more cost-effective solution. So we were looking for a more affordable and cost-effective solution for these customers.

I would rate this product as a five out of ten, right in the middle. Number one, it is easy to scale for simple matters. However, when it comes to complex development, it can be challenging and time-consuming.