Hi HN, I’m one of the founders of FlutterFlow (YC W21). We launched Dreamflow earlier this year.
What it is: Dreamflow generates a Flutter app from a prompt, then lets you keep working in a real dev environment with a visual editor, AI agent, and full code (code is the source of truth).
Why we built it:
1) make small changes dead simple: tweak properties, move widgets, add components without editing code or prompting; and
2) give the agent precise context: select a widget to add it to the prompt (screenshot included automatically); the agent has access to read runner logs.
What’s different:
- Bi-directional editing: canvas ↔ code; standard Flutter.
- Runs in the browser: hot reload, preview.
- Agentic edits with diffs; widget-aware context + log access.
How to try:
Prompt: “Fundraising CRM for founders: pipeline (Targeted -> Closed); investors (name/firm/check size/intro source); notes + next steps + due date; goal $X/$Y; tabs Pipeline/Investors/Tasks/Settings”
Then preview, rearrange visually, integrate a backend or keep it local, and export/publish.
Current gaps:
Visual coverage isn’t complete; GitHub integration is in progress; importing existing Flutter projects isn’t supported yet.
We’d love your feedback. Where does the visual editor help or get in your way? Which integrations would you expect first?
I'm loving Dreamflow. Already building a serious app on it and everything looks good so far. The visual editor is a bit tricky to get to work but the agent is so good I haven't needed the visual editor much.
It's not quite an apples-to-apples comparison, but the memory use of FlutterFlow is comparable to WebFlow. Our landing page is built using WebFlow, and I compared memory use of that to a comparably sized project in FF.
Performance could certainly be improved (especially for Web), but it's gotten much better over the last year.
Thanks for the suggestions! Yes, there's definitely room for improvement with the generated code ... I think the padding -> SizedBox conversion at least in some cases (only when main-axis padding is added) can be automated. We can experiment with code improvement features such as that and see how it works.
Expanded + Percentages for widths are possible already
At the risk of seeming a little bit nitpicky here, thing is: the end user shouldnt even use padding in this case. What Im saying is that when I look at a tool like that, what I will look for is how well you embrace the paradigm of the framework. Cause its greater than html5 imo - for the use cases were talking about. It should lead to fewer editor UI, fewer buttons, fewer basic options. Padding in this case should probably be only cross axial (or whatever) and then it becomes rarely used and then leads to better editor UI. Fewer hardcoded values as well - remember its "super cross platform". Should be hard to enter values.
Im only saying this to inspire you - not sure what the solution should ultimately be.
Agreed, making it more natural to create apps in a way that follows Flutter best practices is a desirable end goal. There's so much to improve, it's exciting :-)
The reasons we prioritized Firebase is because it works really well with Flutter and was also what most of our early users preferred. FlutterFlow itself is in fact a Flutter+Firebase app. We take the best ways we know how to build Flutter+Firebase apps and make it easy to do, in a browser.
We definitely want to support more DBs in the future, just a matter of time. Meanwhile, we see some users achieve that goal using API integrations and code export
The reason there are 3 different kinds of custom code is so that it can easily integrate with the visual builder ... for instance a "Custom Action" function will show up when you add an action on a Button Tap, or TextField submit. A "Custom Widget" can be dragged in and passed parameters, and a "Custom Function" can be used to set values. Would love any feedback
I tried using the custom widget, they dont work. I kept getting errors using and there's no helpful tool tips or any messaging why it doesnt work. Providing boilder plate/sample custom widget code would be helpful.
There were a lot of issues with custom widgets when we first launched the feature, we've deployed several fixes since then. But there's still more to do on our end to make it clear what errors you're getting. Thanks for the suggestion!
That's cool. Ill dig in bit further. Sorry I have not read the above links yet. But follwup question may be answered in them. I noticed a github connect feature. Is that for being able to pull the code into your own IDE and develop locally or does all code need to be added inside FlutterFlow?
Yep, you can push the latest changes directly to Github. We always use a specific branch "flutterflow". Users can then merge in changes, as long as the changes on the main branch are not changing the layout visuals significantly, Git handles the merge nicely.
Ofc you can't import code into FF from your main branch, at least at the moment. But it's still been working well for our users
Thanks! We're gonna work hard to get it to a place where the set up you love and are used to is also available in FF (or vice versa), and that you get the best of both worlds.
Integrating with https://education.github.com/pack/ might be easier as GitHub takes care of all the verification processes. (and it allows high-school students too)
Thanks for your feedback! The reason we don't have this yet is only because we're a small team, but we're growing and will definitely have NGO/non-profit discounts!
What it is: Dreamflow generates a Flutter app from a prompt, then lets you keep working in a real dev environment with a visual editor, AI agent, and full code (code is the source of truth).
Why we built it: 1) make small changes dead simple: tweak properties, move widgets, add components without editing code or prompting; and 2) give the agent precise context: select a widget to add it to the prompt (screenshot included automatically); the agent has access to read runner logs.
What’s different:
- Bi-directional editing: canvas ↔ code; standard Flutter. - Runs in the browser: hot reload, preview. - Agentic edits with diffs; widget-aware context + log access.
How to try: Prompt: “Fundraising CRM for founders: pipeline (Targeted -> Closed); investors (name/firm/check size/intro source); notes + next steps + due date; goal $X/$Y; tabs Pipeline/Investors/Tasks/Settings”
Then preview, rearrange visually, integrate a backend or keep it local, and export/publish.
Current gaps: Visual coverage isn’t complete; GitHub integration is in progress; importing existing Flutter projects isn’t supported yet.
We’d love your feedback. Where does the visual editor help or get in your way? Which integrations would you expect first?