What would be a better setup for migrating our copywriter app from Bubble to Webflow, considering our requirements for saving user-generated content and potential limitations with Airtable's number of records?

Migrating a copywriter app from Bubble to Webflow involves optimizing for scalability, especially when storing user-generated content. Given Airtable’s record limitations (typically 100,000 records per base and slower querying at scale), a more robust backend is recommended.

1. Clearly Define Your Requirements

Before choosing the right setup, assess:

• Volume of user content (daily/weekly/monthly data creation)
• Access frequency (read/write operations)
• User authentication and account-specific content
• Workflow automation needs (e.g., approvals, moderation)
• Performance and scalability

2. Avoid Airtable for Long-Term Scaling

While Airtable is easy to integrate with Webflow and great for MVPs:

• It has a 100,000 record limit per base, which is quickly reached in a content-heavy app.
• API rate limits are restrictive for high-traffic apps.
• Editing performance degrades as data volume grows.

Airtable is best for early prototyping but not long-term production.

3. Use Webflow for Front-end, External Backend for Data

A better setup uses Webflow for front-end UI and a scalable backend for content management.

Recommended options:

• Xano: Scalable no-code/low-code backend. Offers authentication, relational databases, APIs, and good performance. Ideal Airtable replacement.
• Supabase: Open-source Firebase alternative. Provides database (PostgreSQL), auth, real-time subscriptions. Requires more dev knowledge.
• Firebase: Real-time database with strong auth and storage, but more technical to implement cleanly.
• Make or Zapier for automation between Webflow front-end and backend as needed.

Use your backend’s REST API or generated endpoints to:

• Create and fetch user content
• Authenticate users
• Update or delete data

4. Set Up User Authentication and Roles

Webflow has no native user auth (as of 2024). For user login/signup:

• Use Memberstack, Outseta, or Auth0 for user authentication.
• Connect authenticated users to backend resources (via tokens or session IDs) when submitting or editing content.
• Assign user roles if needed (e.g., editors, subscribers).

5. Collection Integration and Display

To display dynamic content from external sources:

• Use Webflow CMS for light integrations (limit: 10,000 CMS items per project).

• For more content-heavy apps, render content via:

• Custom JavaScript with API calls and dynamic rendering in Webflow elements

• AttributesJS (by Finsweet) or Jetboost for filtering/sorting functionality with external data

Avoid using Webflow CMS as the primary database when expecting massive scale.

Summary

Migrate your Bubble-based app to Webflow by using Webflow front-end + Xano or Supabase backend + Memberstack or Outseta for auth. Avoid Airtable if you expect significant data or usage volume. This stack ensures scalability, performance, and control over user-generated content.