Why only internal tools?
The marketing for Refine, especially Refine AI seems to focus on internal and B2B tools. I’m curious why that is. Can you build B2C and external apps for the public? Are there any constraints, limitations, or challenges?
2 Replies
Hi @wuju. I'm kapa.ai, your friendly support bot. I will try to answer your question by searching through the knowledge base. :wave:
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Refine isn't limited to only internal tools, though it does emphasize this use case in its marketing. According to the knowledge sources, Refine is actually quite versatile and can be used for both B2B and B2C applications.
Refine is described as a "React-based meta-framework for building data-intensive CRUD applications" which includes not just internal tools and admin panels, but also B2B apps, dashboards, and more Blog > Admin Panels.
There are several examples of B2C applications mentioned in the sources:
1. The documentation explicitly states that Refine can be used for "B2C applications" with its headless and SSR-Next.js features Blog > Refine Invoice Generator.
2. There's a specific example of a "Headless + Tailwind CSS Client(B2C) Example" mentioned Blog > Best Internal Tool React Frameworks.
3. Refine can be used to build various types of applications including e-commerce applications Blog > Admin Panels.
The reason for the marketing focus on internal tools and B2B applications is likely because Refine particularly "shines when it comes to data-intensive applications like admin panels, dashboards and internal tools" Documentation > Overview. These types of applications benefit most from Refine's core strengths in handling CRUD operations, data fetching, authentication, and authorization.
There don't appear to be any technical constraints or limitations preventing Refine from being used for B2C or public-facing applications. In fact, with its headless architecture and support for various UI frameworks (Ant Design, Material UI, Chakra UI, Mantine), it offers the flexibility needed for customer-facing applications with custom designs.
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