How we stack up
Apex vs the alternatives
A side-by-side of what's included out of the box, what you'd build from scratch, and what most premium dashboard kits ship.
| Capability | Apex | Roll your own | Premium templates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation | |||
| Real Django backend | — | Sometimes (often React-only) | |
| Persists to a real database | — | Mock data only | |
| 20+ feature apps shipped end-to-end | Build it | ≤10 typically | |
| Auth + 2FA + email verification | Days of work | Sometimes | |
| Tests included (900+ unit + 20+ E2E) | — | Rare | |
| UI surfaces | |||
| 26 documented UI primitives | Build them | Variable | |
| HTMX-driven datatable on every list view | Days of work | Sometimes | |
| 12 polished form widgets (floating labels, multi-select, dropzone, etc.) | Days of work | Sometimes | |
| 5 dashboard variants + 7 marketing landings | — | 1–3 typically | |
| Integrations | |||
| REST API with OpenAPI/Swagger (Django Ninja) | Days–weeks | Rare | |
| Signed outbound webhooks | Days of work | Rare | |
| Notification center with categories + push scaffold | Days of work | Rare | |
| PDF invoices via WeasyPrint | Hours | Rare | |
| Operations | |||
| Settings depth (sessions, audit log, data export, deletion) | Days of work | Rare | |
| Per-user API tokens with one-time reveal | Hours | Rare | |
| i18n shipped (English + Spanish) | Hours | Sometimes | |
| Dockerfile + WhiteNoise (no nginx required) | Hours | Sometimes | |
Backend included
Most premium kits ship static HTML or React-with-mock-data. Apex persists every list, chart, and form to a real database.
Tests included
900+ unit tests + 20+ end-to-end tests. Premium kits never ship tests; rolling your own means writing them yourself.
No JS framework
Server-rendered with HTMX + Alpine. No build step required for features — just for CSS. Reads like Django, deploys like Django.
Skip the months of plumbing
Apex starts at v1 of a real product, not v0 of an empty repo. Wire in your domain models and ship.