Building app with only custom code

Hi

I’m working on building an app for my college campus as part of my senior capstone. I have no code or web/app design experience so I’m learning as I go along.

I’m using Airtable as my database but a lot of the page load times are slow and laggy. I’m worried if the app is not super responsive and speedy it won’t get approved.

I noticed while playing around with custom code blocks that they load almost instantly. So my question is, can I build an app on softr using only custom code blocks and not use any data from a backend database?

Despite my lack of code experience, I’m sort of starting to get the hang of it with the help of chatgpt and online references.

My understanding is that using a backend like xano or supabase might speed things up on the app, but I’m on a bit of a tight timeframe and I’m not sure I have the time to learn to use those backends.

for some context, the app itself is not super complicated - just information on health/safety and medical emergencies. No login user data or anything like that.

Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated.

))

You’re right about datasources - the speed and performance heavily depends on the backend you’re using.

Going full custom-code blocks on Softr is doable, but it turns into basically hand-building an app inside a limited container, so it can get messy fast. If slow Airtable calls are the real pain, switching to a faster backend or caching data usually fixes more than rewiring the whole build. I’ve seen folks use guides like redeagle.tech to get a feel for what a proper custom build would take before going too deep.