{"slug": "filemaker", "name": "FileMaker", "category": "databases", "category_name": "Databases", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 6, "warners": 0, "score": 3.542, "rising": 0.35, "first": "2026-02-19", "latest": "2026-10-27", "why": "Maybe get back to what we used to have with apps like HyperCard, FileMaker and Microsoft Access", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 3, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Maybe get back to what we used to have with apps like HyperCard, FileMaker and Microsoft Access", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "claris.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.claris.com/filemaker/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["FileMaker"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 796946816, "item_id": 49809176, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49809176", "by": "alwillis", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "On the Mac, it's FileMaker", "excerpt": "> Access is so good. I can't believe there's no universal equivalent for Linux and Mac. On the Mac, it's FileMaker,[1] which was released in 1985. Claris is a subsidiary of Apple. [1]: https://www.claris.com/blog/2026/claris-filemaker-2026-is-now-available", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft killed FoxPro in 2007. Anyway, here's FoxPro revived"}, {"id": 758047201, "item_id": 47377950, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47377950", "by": "zackmorris", "date": "2026-03-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Maybe get back to what we used to have with apps like HyperCard, FileMaker and Microsoft Access", "excerpt": "A -> (expletive) -> B I think we're all in denial about how bad software engineering has gotten. When I look at what's required to publish a web page today vs in 1996, I'm appalled. When someone asks me how to get started, all I can do is look at them and say \"I'm so sorry\": https://xkcd.com/1168/ So \"coding was always the hard part\". All AI does is obfuscate how the sausage gets made. I don't see it fixing the under", "context": "", "use_case": "user-controlled app building", "switched_from": "", "story": "AI Didn't Simplify Software Engineering: It Just Made Bad Engineering Easier"}, {"id": 753323184, "item_id": 47082699, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47082699", "by": "wpm", "date": "2026-02-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "He loves it.", "excerpt": "I know a dude who runs his business off of FileMaker and even does work for his customers building them FileMaker stuff. He loves it. I should probably give it a shot.", "context": "", "use_case": "Business apps and custom builds", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Micasa \u2013 track your house from the terminal"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["user-controlled app building", "business apps and custom builds"], "compared": [{"slug": "microsoft-access", "name": "Microsoft Access", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49808023", "title": "Microsoft killed FoxPro in 2007. Anyway, here's FoxPro revived", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50252008", "title": "Is PHP Running on Your ColdFusion Server? How to Check, and Remove It", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47377262", "title": "AI Didn't Simplify Software Engineering: It Just Made Bad Engineering Easier", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47225655", "title": "Nobody ever got fired for using a struct", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47075124", "title": "Show HN: Micasa \u2013 track your house from the terminal", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {"neutral": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 804059584, "item_id": 50253724, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50253724", "by": "bombcar", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "look at Filemaker", "excerpt": "Everything says that - look at Filemaker: https://www.claris.com/filemaker/agentic-development/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Is PHP Running on Your ColdFusion Server? How to Check, and Remove It"}, {"id": 796946816, "item_id": 49809176, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49809176", "by": "alwillis", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "On the Mac, it's FileMaker", "excerpt": "> Access is so good. I can't believe there's no universal equivalent for Linux and Mac. On the Mac, it's FileMaker,[1] which was released in 1985. Claris is a subsidiary of Apple. [1]: https://www.claris.com/blog/2026/claris-filemaker-2026-is-now-available", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft killed FoxPro in 2007. Anyway, here's FoxPro revived"}, {"id": 796940384, "item_id": 49808774, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49808774", "by": "daotoad", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Apple still sells Filemaker.", "excerpt": "Apple still sells Filemaker. https://www.claris.com/filemaker/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft killed FoxPro in 2007. Anyway, here's FoxPro revived"}, {"id": 758047201, "item_id": 47377950, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47377950", "by": "zackmorris", "date": "2026-03-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Maybe get back to what we used to have with apps like HyperCard, FileMaker and Microsoft Access", "excerpt": "A -> (expletive) -> B I think we're all in denial about how bad software engineering has gotten. When I look at what's required to publish a web page today vs in 1996, I'm appalled. When someone asks me how to get started, all I can do is look at them and say \"I'm so sorry\": https://xkcd.com/1168/ So \"coding was always the hard part\". All AI does is obfuscate how the sausage gets made. I don't see it fixing the under", "context": "", "use_case": "user-controlled app building", "switched_from": "", "story": "AI Didn't Simplify Software Engineering: It Just Made Bad Engineering Easier"}, {"id": 756900496, "item_id": 47306281, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47306281", "by": "p_v_doom", "date": "2026-03-09", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "> I saw tables with more than a thousand columns. I used to work in a company that had all the tags in their SCADA system feed into SQL tables. They had multiple tables (as in tens of tables), because they ran out of columns ...", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nobody ever got fired for using a struct"}, {"id": 753323184, "item_id": 47082699, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47082699", "by": "wpm", "date": "2026-02-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "He loves it.", "excerpt": "I know a dude who runs his business off of FileMaker and even does work for his customers building them FileMaker stuff. He loves it. I should probably give it a shot.", "context": "", "use_case": "Business apps and custom builds", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Micasa \u2013 track your house from the terminal"}]}