# FileMaker Pro

8 Hacker News commenters recommended FileMaker Pro and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend FileMaker for building simple, low-traffic database apps without code, and it helped some start development careers. Critics say it needs many workarounds and costs around $500 per seat.

## Why people recommend it

- Advanced for its era (2 comments): "Access / FileMaker / 4D were all great solutions for low-contention, low-user count low / no code CRUD apps." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46062324)) "MS Access, FileMaker and HyperCard were more advanced in some ways than anything today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46621089))

## What people warn about

- Results feel janky and messy (2 comments): "Can’t wait for a world full of apps as janky as most spreadsheets (or Access or FileMaker databases)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49575022)) "data coupled with code brings up awful memories of MacOS FileMaker" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50035731))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Microsoft Power Apps](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-power-apps.md): 11 recommend
- [Retool](https://hackerapproved.com/p/retool.md): 8 recommend
- [Breadboard](https://hackerapproved.com/p/breadboard.md): 7 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.claris.com/filemaker/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "FileMaker Pro", https://hackerapproved.com/p/filemaker/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).