Hey there!
If you’ve started building an app on Bubble, it’s likely you’ve taken a look at the plugin store.
One of the huge benefits of building on the Bubble platform is the rich ecosystem of unbelievably powerful plugins.
And while it might take a while for them all to load (👀) there is usually a plugin to do what you’re looking for.
In this issue I’m going to cover some of the most powerful plugins I’ve found which I rely on for my own #nocodesaas app,
UserLoop.
Before we dive in, a word of caution on plugins.
Plugins are very powerful but there are a few things you should bare in mind before starting to install plugins to your app.
Performance Impact
Each plugin will affect your app’s performance in different ways. Some add a header to every page which loads in a ton of external Javascript which could slow your page down.
I recommend only using plugins where you absolutely need one - try to avoid the temptation of installing a ton of fun plugins which actually don’t deliver customer value.
Unless the plugin is critical to your users - skip it and keep your app as lean as possible!
Plugin Support
There is a huge range in the support levels provided for different Bubble plugins. Some are amazingly well maintained and supported, others are never touched, buggy and out of date.
When you install a plugin to your app you are accepting a certain element of risk - if a plugin developer chooses to stop supporting a plugin and even remove it from the store, you’re left with an unsupported component of your app which is likely to break in future.
I’ve learned this the hard way, it’s a nightmare having to replace a plugin in your app when a developer abandons the project so act with caution.
Plugins for critical API services.
Your app might want to interact with external API services, perhaps something like Slack, Postmark or in my case Shopify.
I strongly recommend against relying on plugins for these connections.
Having a plugin which you don’t fully control or understand operate critical parts of your app is pretty risky.
Use the API Connector for these services whenever you can.
You’re then fully in control and can update and control all the API calls your app needs independently.
You’re not relying on a plugin developer to update a plugin every time a new API call is released or you need something specific to your use case.
I’m going to cover this topic in much more detail in a future issue. Mastering the API connector is one of the things you can do to give yourself Bubble superpowers!
That said, let’s cover some of the incredible plugins available on the Bubble Plugin store that I rely on for my app!
