Hi,
The scenario is as follows.
I will be working on my own with a standalone opensource server for a couple of small projects.
I want to use Anvil Editor as it is a great tool, and makes the task a lot easier.
Build the apps with the Editor, and then deploy them in the standalone server.
I currently have a Free plan, so the features of the editor are limited.
In this scenario, althougth I’m not going to use resources on Anvil servers like storage, table rows, or background tasks time, etc., if I wanted to use the full featured Anvil Editor I would need to purchase at least a Personal Plan.
Is this correct? (or I got it wrong?)
Thank you very much!
Warm regards
Ricardo
You can use the online editor with the free plan to develop the app, then run the app on your instance with the open source server.
The workflow will be split in two, development online and production on your machine, but you can do it all without a paid plan.
Hi Stefano,
Thank you for your answer!
I believe I was not clear enough. Please let me rephrase:
My question in summary was:
Does the free version of the online editor has all the features, or just a partial set?
For example, does it have access to all the Python libraries or just the small standard set that you can use with the online free server?
Because I’ve seen tutorials done with paid versions and they have more options than the ones I see in the free one I’m using.
I hope the question is a bit more clear now.
Thank you !!
What you can edit online: you can edit whatever you want. You can type import module_that_does_not_exist without problems. You can edit it, it doesn’t mean it will work 
What you can run online: a free plan will allow you to run in the restricted free environment, so you will not be able to create custom environments.
One solution to this would be to pay for the cheapest plan that allows you to test your app online during the development, then, once the app works on the open source server, stop paying and keep using the app without the account.
A second solution would be to create a module to test the UI and develop the UI on the Anvil editor, then use PyCharm (or whatever you like) to develop the real production modules on your computer.
I am using the second approach right now, but, since I have a paid plan, I don’t need a mock simplified module. My reason is not trying to pay as little as possible, but taking advantage of the debugging power of PyCharm. I use PyCharm to create my classes and test that they expose some dictionary-like properties, so they can be used with repeating panels. I test my classes using uplink, so they have access to all the services, including the datatables, available in the Anvil account. The app I’m working on has dozen of classes, thousands of lines of code, a very complex logic and a test suite with hundreds of tests. Working without PyCharm would be a nightmare. The only ugly detail is the import: all the modules have two import blocks, one that works in the Anvil server and one that works locally. Here I describe my workflow.
Hi Stefano,
It is clear that you are far more advanced in this than I am.
I’m just starting with Anvil, and I have just the basics of Python.
However I like the first solution you mentioned, and also I don’t mind keeping the paid plan (I believe it is the Personal Plan) in order to have a proper testing environment.
To go for the second solution, I’ll will probably have to acquire much more experience in developing, and in developing with Anvil, before attempting it.
I really wanted to thank you very much for your help!!! (including the guide on how to be as neat as possible with your applications 
)
I will take it as part of my learning path.
Best regards!!
Ricardo
If you are not an advanced user (yet), then very likely you are not going to use advanced features, so one of the cheaper paid plans should work for you.
It’s a little price to pay to keep it simple and have a chance to learn and become advanced!
1 Like