Admin panels are the gateway between business owners and users—the starship command center through which administrators solve customer problems, analyze data, publish content, and more. If you’re reading this, you’re probably trying to figure out how to create or update your business’s CMS. If that’s not why you’re here, that’s kind of weird, but we appreciate you anyway and we want to talk to you. We love weird.

In the past, internal tools like this were almost always built, well, internally—which seems to make sense. Internal teams understand the specific needs of their administrators and customers, so they can build something unique to those needs.

The issue with building admin panels internally is that teams can spend up to 30% of their time on the backend instead of on the shiny, client-facing app. That’s a lot of time. And, you know, time is money. Everyone wants more money.

Luckily, now you have a few other options to help you build out your admin panel:

• Front-end admin libraries
• Backend admin frameworks
• Database GUI clients
• Third-party solutions
  

You can opt for an open-source front-end framework like React Admin, which is popular with many startups because it’s free to use (again, everyone loves saving $$$). But there’s also a strong case for enlisting the help of a third-party provider like Forest Admin. Here’s how the two stack up.

React Admin Overview

React Admin is a React.js framework that uses an adapter pattern, allowing even incompatible interfaces to collaborate. It can fetch data from any API connected to the data source, like REST, GraphQL, RPC, or even SOAP. It’s powered by React, React Router, Redux, and Redux Saga, while Material UI is responsible for the visual side.

Businesses mainly choose React Admin and other front-end templates for internal tools because of the UI. They’re built with clear and responsive components that make it easy to enter data and edit content. The downside? Working with components requires coding, and front-end templates are much more complex and time-consuming than off-the-shelf solutions like Forest Admin.

Forest Admin Overview

Forest Admin’s architecture is also based on API. When you install Forest Admin, you can generate a Node.js application on your local machine that includes a RESTful API that connects to your database. It also provides the Forest Admin API Server with the information needed to build the user interface.

You can also install Forest Admin using Rails, Express/Sequelize, or Express/Mongoose apps as your data source. That way, you don’t have to compromise on privacy and security in exchange for the convenience of the SaaS solution.

If you’re dying to dig deeper into this stuff, read this article detailing Forest Admin’s architecture.

React Admin vs. Forest Admin: Comparing Features

At a high level, the two solutions seem pretty similar, but admin panels are like onions. They have layers. Here, we’ll peel back the layers of the frameworks to help you decide what’s best for your project.

Technical Features

Architecture

Forest Admin: API-based. The UI fetches the data from an API connected to the data source.

React Admin: Also API-based, the architecture is similar.

Custom Actions

Forest Admin: Gives you the option to create “Smart actions” specific to your business. For instance, we created a Smart action to sync an e-commerce company’s orders with monday.com, a visual workflow management tool.

React Admin: You can create custom actions, but there are many different ways to do it, with benefits and drawbacks to each method. You can try using fetch, the dataProvider, the withDataProvider Decorator,  the <Query> and <Mutation> Components, or a Custom Action Creator for advanced cases.

SaaS/On-premises

Forest Admin: SaaS UI

React Admin: On-premises

Setup

Requirements

Forest Admin: A database (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MicrosoftSQL, MongoDB) + Node.js, or Rails, Express/Sequelize and Express/Mongoose.

React Admin: A data source + Node.js. React Admin uses JSONPlaceholder REST API.

Onboarding

Forest Admin: Five minutes with Lumber.

React Admin: Four hours to run the tutorial before starting implementing a real use case.

Resources

Forest Admin: Documentation, Live Demo, Woodshops.

React Admin: Documentation, Live Demo, HowTos.

Layout

Visual Builder

Forest Admin: Features a robust Layout Editor, a no-code visual builder.

React Admin: No visual builder available. You need to code the UI yourself.

CRUD + Pagination

Forest Admin: Out-of-the-box CRUD operations that don’t need to be built.

React Admin: CRUD operations are available but require UI definition. One basic CRUD takes up to a day to set up.

Search and Filtering

Forest Admin: Out-of-the-box search and filtering.

React Admin: Search & filtering capabilities require UI definition.

Themes

Forest Admin: Dark and light themes are available, if you find background colors as divisive as we do.

React Admin: Dark and light themes are available, along with templates from Material UI. They’re fully customizable with CSS.

Data connectivity

ORMs

Forest Admin: Sequelize (ORM), Mongoose (ORM)

React Admin: Sequelize (ORM), Google Firebase, Prisma (ORM)

REST/GraphQL

Forest Admin: REST/GraphQL are possible using the Custom API connector (beta).

React Admin: REST/GraphQL relies on DataProvider implementation. React Admin is compatible with Hasura and few REST Standards, but requires implementation if the API is not supported.

SaaS API

Forest Admin: Forest Admin provides native integrations to Stripe, Mixpanel, Intercom, and Close.io. Plus, it’s easy to add more through Smart Features.

React Admin: Creating a SaaS API requires implementing a "facade" API to aggregate the data access and 3rd party API.

Security

Permissions

Forest Admin: Role-based access control (RBAC) system comes out of the box, configurable in the UI. The API is automatically protected according to the configured permissions. The Operations Manager or Product Manager can have full authorization over these permissions.

React Admin: Basic ACL are available, but you need to code the permissions restrictions on the API and UI level, leading to inconsistency or data leaks.

Authentication

Forest Admin: Google SSO, User/Password.

React Admin: AWS Cognito & Amplify, Google Firebase Auth, User/Password, OpenIDRequires a bit of coding and auth knowledge to set up.

Two-factor authentication

Forest Admin: Enforced 2FA out of the box.

React Admin: Not out of the box, requires custom implementation.

Auto Logout

Forest Admin: Out of the box.

React Admin: Not out of the box, requires custom implementation.

When you need Forest Admin:

• You need to set up an internal tool as fast as possible. With Forest Admin, onboarding only takes a few minutes, so developers can focus on the main app without spending too much time in the back office. Why do something slowly when you can get it done quickly and move on to the next thing?
  
• You need an internal tool designed to scale. Forest Admin grows with your business, so you don’t need to worry about switching internal tools at any point to accommodate a larger team or customer base. Rapidly growing industries like FinTEch, e-commerce, and mobility use Forest Admin for that reason.
  
• You have non-technical staff interacting with the admin panel. Generally, internal tools are meant for employees who solve customer problems, monitor transactions, and analyze data—tasks usually done by non-technical team members. Since Forest Admin provides basic CRUD operations out of the box, with no code required, non-technical team members have autonomy over the tools and dashboards essential to their work. Sweet freedom.
  
• You need custom integrations. React Admin requires coding to create custom integrations, while Forest Admin provides native integration that makes customization easy. Sweet freedom, once again.
  
• You prioritize security. When you use Forest Admin, your data remains entirely invisible to Forest’s servers, so it can never be accessed or stored by anyone other than you. You’ll also get enforced two-factor authentication, IP whitelisting, no third-party tracking, and more ways to protect your data.  
  

“As an architect, I have developed 10+ admin panels with open-source frameworks like React Admin and third-party solutions like Forest Admin. My preference now goes to Forest Admin both when I want to create a quick MVP for personal projects and when I need to build a strong internal tool with high security, audit trails and the ability for operators to customize their tool autonomously.” —Maxime Sraïki, VP TEch at BAM (Theodo Group)

Is React Admin a better fit for your project?

The team at Forest Admin has years of experience building internal tools using various solutions, including open-source frameworks. Through these experiences, they’ve concluded an off-the-shelf solution is the most efficient way to combine the convenience of a SaaS with strict data security.

That said, the right solution is always the one that fits your specific needs. If your team is mainly technical and doesn’t mind spending time coding basic features or learning how to implement them, React Admin might be the ideal choice for you. Don’t let us sway you—we’re just here to spit the facts.  

Forest Admin vs. React Admin: How to Decide

Ok, so you’ve learned about both admin solutions, read our comparisons, and weighed your options. Still not sure what to choose? We get that. Try answering these questions to steer you in the right direction.

• How much time will I need to spend implementing both the basic and advanced features?
• Is it difficult and/or time-consuming to teach new team members how to use the tool?
• Will the solution scale with my product and users?
• Do I have support or documentation to help me solve issues?
  
  

Sold on Forest Admin? We’ll help you implement it. Just send us your deets or schedule a call, and we’ll get in touch. We promise we won’t ghost you.

No one works with an agency just because they have a clever blog. To work with my colleagues, who spend their days developing software that turns your MVP into an IPO, rather than writing blog posts, click here (Then you can spend your time reading our content from your yacht / pied-a-terre). If you can’t afford to build an app, you can always learn how to succeed in tech by reading other essays.