"An Afternoon vs. a Week": How BrightLogic Agency is Scaling Faster by Switching from Softr to Crust AI

"An Afternoon vs. a Week": How BrightLogic Agency is Scaling Faster by Switching from Softr to Crust AI

We prototyped a fully interactive client portal in a single afternoon with Crust AI. A project of this complexity would have taken us at least a week of tedious configuration in Softr. This speed doesn't just save us time; it allows us to take on more projects and fundamentally grow our agency. It’s a complete paradigm shift.

Sarah Jenkins

Founder

,

BrightLogic Agency

The Challenge: A Standard Project with a Revolutionary Tool

As the founder of BrightLogic Agency, Sarah Jenkins has built her firm's reputation on delivering smart, efficient no-code solutions for small businesses. Her team are seasoned experts in Airtable, Notion, and Make.com, and for years, their go-to front-end builder has been Softr.

When a local parcel shipment company approached them with a common problem - a support team overwhelmed by "where's my package?" inquiries - it seemed like a standard project. The goal was to build a self-serve tracking portal for parcel recipients. "Our plan was clear," Sarah says. "We'd scope it out and build it in Softr, just like we always did. We estimated a week for the initial build-out."

But a colleague had recently mentioned Crust AI, a new platform that used natural language for app building. Intrigued, Sarah decided to give it a "quick spin" to build a simple prototype. That decision would go on to change the way her agency operates.


The Solution: A Live, Interactive Tracking Experience

In that single afternoon, the BrightLogic team didn't just build a prototype; they built a nearly complete, fully interactive parcel tracking experience that blew their initial Softr plan out of the water.

They connected the client's Airtable base of live shipment data and, using simple text prompts, instructed the Crust AI builder to create a "smart snippet" for each parcel. The final solution is a masterclass in modern customer experience:

  • When a parcel is received at the warehouse, a Make.com automation instantly sends the recipient an SMS with a unique link to their tracking snippet.

  • The mobile-friendly snippet displays the parcel's information and current status (e.g., "In Warehouse," "Out for Delivery"), and the estimated delivery window.

  • Crucially, it’s interactive. The recipient can click buttons to:

    • Confirm they'll be home.

    • Authorize the driver to "Leave at door."

    • Change the delivery address—but this button is cleverly programmed to disappear once the parcel's status changes to "Out for Delivery."

"The moment we built that conditional button, we knew this was different," Sarah explains. "In other tools, that logic would be complex. In Crust AI, we just described it: 'Only show the Change Address button if the Status is not 'Out for Delivery'.' The AI just handled it. We were spending our time on the actual business logic and customer value, not fighting with frontend configurations."

The client was stunned. The BrightLogic team scrapped their plan for a week-long build in Softr and went all-in on the Crust AI snippet.

The Impact: Transforming the Agency, Not Just the Client

The impact on the parcel company was immediate and profound. Their customers were empowered, their support tickets plummeted, and their operation became smoother as customer choices were reflected instantly in their Airtable base.

But the real story is the transformation at BrightLogic Agency.

"For years, we loved Softr. It's a great tool," Sarah clarifies. "But Crust AI operates on a different level. It’s the difference between assembling pre-fabricated parts and having a master craftsman build your exact vision just by describing it."

The business impact on her agency has been multifaceted:

  • Hyper-Speed Delivery: By reducing build times from weeks to days (or hours), her team can now handle a greater volume of projects. "This tool is a direct enabler of agency growth," she says. "More projects means more revenue, without needing to proportionally increase our headcount."

  • A Focus on What Matters: The time saved on tedious UI configuration is now invested in what clients actually pay for: sophisticated automation, solid data architecture, and creative problem-solving.

  • A Killer Pricing Advantage: "Crust AI's pricing is a game-changer," Sarah states. "The lack of per-user pricing means we can offer our clients more affordable, scalable solutions without worrying about their user count growing. It’s a huge competitive advantage."

  • Effortless, High-End Design: The AI's ability to generate beautiful, custom designs on command allows BrightLogic to deliver a premium, polished product that delights their clients and enhances their own brand reputation.

"We fell in love with this tool," Sarah concludes. "The instant live chat support and detailed documentation meant we never felt stuck. We are absolutely using Crust AI for our future frontend projects. When they talk about the 'next generation of business app building,' I now understand what they mean."

How Can You Replicate?

This interactive tracking portal is a powerful example of what’s possible when you combine a database, automation, and a smart UI.

  1. Use a "Single Item Snippet": The core of this solution is a snippet that displays the information for one specific record—in this case, one parcel.

  2. Connect Your Data & Automations: Use an Airtable base (or similar) to store your parcel data. Use Make.com or Zapier to trigger the initial SMS when a new parcel is added, and to receive webhook triggers from the snippet's buttons.

  3. Build Conditional Logic with AI: The power is in the details. Use prompts to define not just the look, but the behavior of your snippet. For example: "Add a button to 'Change Address'. This button should only be visible when the 'Status' field is not equal to 'Out for Delivery'."

  4. Trigger Workflows from the UI: Configure each button to trigger a unique webhook in your automation platform. The "Leave at Door" button can trigger a flow that updates a field in Airtable, which is then seen by the driver in their own snippet.

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