I wish to create an online system to track some things (e.g., a database with children, where each child has 1 or more visits from doctors). I want the users to be able to enter data as well as search for it, especially from mobile devices. So, this is a custom mobile online DB app of modest but non-zero size.
I've looked into DabbleDB and Zoho Creator, looking for an easy solution that will have low-cost maintenance.
Although I feel my app is not too complicated, I find that if I want to do something slightly out of their mainstream, I hit walls. For example, dealing with many-to-many relationships, or with 100K records, or doing an involved mathematical calculation for a field.
What are people's experiences with these online DB apps? Should I keep pushing ahead, or just write a custom app myself?
I also tried building a simple web application with Zoho Creator and got so frustrated that I am now looking for a different solution. I consider Zoho Creator to be at a point right now suitable for educational purposes but I would not consider using it for a functional application.