Informat Platform FAQ 2026: AI Low-Code Complete Guide
The year 2026 has become a defining moment for enterprise software development. Organizations across every industry are modernizing their technology stacks, and the Informat platform has emerged as a leading AI-powered low-code solution for building mission-critical business applications. This comprehensive Informat platform FAQ covers everything decision-makers and developers need to know — from core capabilities and AI features to pricing, security, integrations, and how Informat compares to global alternatives like OutSystems and Mendix. Whether you are an IT leader evaluating enterprise low-code platforms or a business user exploring citizen development for the first time, this guide delivers the answers you need to make an informed decision.
What Is the Informat Platform?
The Informat platform is an enterprise-grade AI-powered low-code development platform developed by Shenzhen Jishi Collaborative Technology Co., Ltd. Unlike lightweight form builders or simple workflow tools, Informat provides a full-stack development environment that combines visual drag-and-drop design with AI-driven automation, deep customization capabilities, and enterprise-grade performance. The platform is purpose-built for organizations that need to build complex business systems — including ERP, MES, CRM, and BPM applications — without sacrificing quality, security, or scalability.
Informat was created by a team of former enterprise software delivery professionals from Ping An Insurance Group, one of China's largest financial conglomerates. This pedigree is reflected in the platform's robust architecture, which supports mission-critical deployments for organizations including State Grid Corporation of China, China Communications Construction Company, Geely Automobile, and the Aviation Industry Corporation of China. As of 2026, Informat has served over 50,000 enterprises and powered more than 100,000 applications, with 50 percent of those built by business users with no formal coding background.
Key takeaway: Informat is not a generic low-code tool — it is an enterprise platform designed for complex, high-stakes business applications, backed by a team with deep experience in enterprise software delivery.
Platform Architecture
At its core, the Informat platform runs on a proprietary dynamic domain model engine built on a Spring Cloud microservices architecture. The frontend is powered by Vue.js, providing responsive interfaces across desktop and mobile devices. In benchmark tests simulating financial trading scenarios, Informat demonstrated support for over 200,000 concurrent requests per second with 99.99 percent availability. The platform supports both SaaS cloud hosting and private deployment on customer-controlled infrastructure, with the latter being the preferred choice for enterprises in regulated industries with strict data sovereignty requirements.
| Architecture Component | Specification |
|---|---|
| Backend Framework | Spring Cloud Microservices (Java) |
| Frontend Framework | Vue.js |
| Database Support | MySQL and domestic databases (Dameng, etc.) |
| Deployment Options | SaaS cloud, private cloud, on-premises, Kubernetes containers |
| Concurrency Benchmark | 200,000+ requests/second at 99.99% availability |
| Dynamic Model Engine | Proprietary self-developed engine for flexible data modeling |
What Kind of Applications Can You Build With Informat?
The Informat platform supports a remarkably broad spectrum of application types, ranging from simple departmental tools to enterprise-wide core business systems. This versatility is one of the platform's strongest differentiators in the low-code market, as most competing platforms excel in only narrow categories.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems
Informat's data model engine can handle the complex relational schemas required for ERP systems, including multi-entity financial management, inventory tracking, procurement workflows, and supply chain coordination. The platform supports both field-level and row-level permissions, which are essential for ERP deployments where different departments and roles need granular access to specific data. Organizations have successfully deployed complete ERP modules for finance, human resources, procurement, and fixed asset management on the Informat platform, often replacing legacy systems that were decades old.
Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
For manufacturing organizations, Informat provides native connectivity to industrial equipment through OPC UA protocol support, enabling real-time data collection from shop-floor machinery, sensors, and programmable logic controllers. The platform's automation blueprint engine can trigger intelligent workflows based on equipment telemetry — for example, automatically generating maintenance tickets when vibration sensors detect abnormal patterns. In a well-documented case, Geely Automobile used Informat to build a production scheduling platform spanning three factories and over 200 pieces of equipment, compressing the project timeline from four months to just three weeks — a 500 percent improvement in delivery speed.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Informat's flexible form designer and dashboard tools make it straightforward to build CRM applications with pipeline tracking, customer activity logs, automated follow-up reminders, and analytics dashboards. The platform integrates with major communication tools including WeCom, DingTalk, and Feishu, allowing sales teams to manage customer relationships without switching between applications.
Business Process Management (BPM)
The platform includes a full BPMN 2.0-compliant process engine supporting drag-and-drop workflow modeling, conditional routing, parallel approvals, sub-process nesting, and real-time process monitoring dashboards. Organizations can model complex approval chains that span multiple departments, automate document routing, and gain visibility into process bottlenecks using heat maps and cycle-time analytics. Informat's AI extends to process design as well — describing a workflow in natural language generates a complete BPMN 2.0 process diagram in under two minutes, a task that traditionally takes experienced analysts 40 minutes or more.
| Application Type | Key Informat Features | Real-World Deployment Example |
|---|---|---|
| ERP Systems | Data model engine, field/row-level permissions, approval workflows | Finance, procurement, HR, asset management |
| MES / Factory Systems | OPC UA connector, automation blueprints, real-time dashboards | Automotive manufacturing (Geely) |
| CRM Platforms | Form designer, workflow automation, dashboard analytics, communication integrations | Sales pipeline and customer service management |
| BPM Workflows | BPMN 2.0 engine, process monitoring, AI workflow generation | Multi-department approval routing and compliance |
| IoT Monitoring Systems | OPC UA, event triggers, real-time dashboards, automation blueprints | Predictive maintenance and equipment monitoring |
How Does Informat's AI Capabilities Work?
Artificial intelligence is not a bolted-on feature of the Informat platform — it is embedded into the core development experience at every level. The 2026 release of Informat represents a fundamental paradigm shift from "building applications" to "generating applications" through natural language interaction and autonomous AI agents.
Natural Language Application Generation
Users can describe their application requirements in natural language, and Informat's AI engine generates complete data models, form layouts, validation rules, and business logic automatically. For example, typing "create a supplier management system with vendor scoring, contract management, and purchase order tracking" prompts the AI to generate the corresponding database schema, form fields, cross-table relationships, and data validation rules in roughly 10 to 15 seconds. Independent testing has shown that Informat's AI achieves approximately 95 percent accuracy on data model generation, with the remaining refinements easily handled through the visual designer.
The AI also supports multi-modal input — users can upload Excel spreadsheets, images of form layouts, or PDF specification documents, and the platform will extract the data structure automatically. This capability dramatically reduces the time required for the initial setup phase of application development, which traditionally accounts for 30 to 40 percent of total project time.
AI Agents and Digital Employees
Informat's agentic AI capabilities enable the creation of digital employees — autonomous AI agents that can perform CRUD operations on data tables, participate in approval workflows, make decisions within defined parameters, and collaborate with other agents to complete complex tasks. This multi-agent architecture represents a significant advancement over traditional robotic process automation (RPA), which can only follow rigid, pre-defined scripts.
- Automation agents — execute preset workflows triggered by events, time schedules, or data changes, handling routine tasks without human intervention
- Script agents — generate, review, and optimize JavaScript code for custom business logic, reducing debugging time significantly
- Analysis agents — answer natural language questions about business data, generate charts and reports, and provide predictive insights
- Team agents — support collaborative AI across organizational units, sharing knowledge bases and coordinating multi-step processes
- In-platform assistant (Zhixiaoxin) — a conversational AI helper that answers platform-related questions and guides users through feature discovery
AI-Driven Workflow and Form Design
Beyond application generation, Informat's AI assists with the ongoing design and optimization of workflows and forms. The AI can suggest process improvements based on historical execution data, recommend form field placements for better user experience, and automatically generate validation rules that prevent data entry errors. According to testing data from the Tencent Cloud Developer Community, Informat's AI capabilities can handle approximately 60 percent of the total application building workload, with the remaining 40 percent requiring human judgment for refinement and customization.
How Does Informat Pricing Work?
Informat offers a transparent, tiered pricing model designed to accommodate organizations of all sizes — from small teams evaluating the platform to large enterprises with thousands of users requiring private deployment. The platform's pricing structure is notably more transparent and affordable than many enterprise low-code alternatives, particularly when AI features are factored into the total cost.
Free Tier for Evaluation
Informat provides a permanent free tier for up to five users. This tier includes unlimited data table records, unlimited file storage, unlimited knowledge base pages, and the ability to create up to 10 applications. The free tier is ideal for small teams evaluating the platform or for individual projects with limited scope. There is no time limit and no credit card required — users can explore all core platform features indefinitely at no cost.
Professional Plan for Growing Teams
The professional plan costs approximately 300 RMB per user per month (roughly 3,650 RMB per user per year), with a minimum of 10 users. This plan unlocks unlimited applications, custom site branding, Web API access for external system integration, and priority support. The professional plan represents the most common entry point for small to medium-sized organizations and covers the majority of real-world use cases.
Private Deployment for Enterprise Requirements
For large enterprises with specific security, compliance, or performance requirements, Informat offers private deployment options with custom pricing. This model is available for organizations with 50 or more users (100-user minimum purchase) and includes full data sovereignty, access to all platform features, dedicated support with defined SLAs, and the ability to customize the platform at the source-code level through Java extension packs. Organizations with existing infrastructure can deploy Informat on their own servers or in their private cloud environment, ensuring data never leaves their network boundary.
| Plan | Price | Minimum Users | Key Features Included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free (no time limit) | Up to 5 | 10 apps, unlimited records, unlimited storage, all core features |
| Professional | ~300 RMB/user/month | 10+ | Unlimited apps, Web API, custom branding, priority support |
| Private Deployment | Custom quote | 50+ | Full features, source-code access, private cloud/on-premises, dedicated support |
What Factors Influence the Total Cost?
Several factors affect the final cost of an Informat deployment. The number of active users is the primary cost driver, though per-user pricing typically decreases at higher volumes through volume discounts. Organizations requiring private deployment will incur their own infrastructure costs for servers, storage, and networking. Advanced integration needs — such as SAP RFC connectors, custom OPC UA configurations, or deep legacy system integration — may require professional services engagements. Critically, unlike many competitors, Informat does not charge extra for AI features — all AI capabilities are included in every plan tier at no additional cost, which can represent substantial savings compared to platforms like OutSystems that impose a 15 to 20 percent surcharge for AI functionality.
For a more detailed breakdown of costs and plan comparisons, see the dedicated Informat Pricing Plans FAQ article covering all available options and recommendations for different organization sizes.
Is the Informat Platform Secure?
Security is a foundational concern for any enterprise platform, and Informat addresses it through multiple layers of protection. Given that many Informat customers operate in regulated industries — including finance, energy, defense, and government — the platform's security architecture has been designed from the ground up to meet rigorous enterprise standards.
Data Encryption and Access Control
Informat implements encryption for data both at rest and in transit, using industry-standard protocols. The platform's Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) model extends down to the field level and row level, meaning administrators can control not just which screens users can access, but which specific data fields and individual records each user or role can see or modify. This granularity is essential for organizations handling sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, financial records, or trade secrets.
- Field-level permissions — control visibility of individual data fields on a per-role basis
- Row-level permissions — restrict record access based on user attributes or organizational hierarchy
- Menu and page permissions — govern which screens, modules, and navigation elements each role can access
- Button-level permissions — control whether specific actions such as create, edit, delete, or export are available
- Full audit logging — complete traceability of all data access, modification, and administrative events
- Session management — configurable session timeouts, concurrent session controls, and IP-based restrictions
Compliance and Certification Readiness
For organizations operating in China, Informat supports compliance with the Cybersecurity Law, Data Security Law, and Personal Information Protection Law. The platform is compatible with China's Multi-Level Protection Scheme (MLPS / classified protection) standards at the enhanced Level 3, which is the minimum requirement for government and financial sector systems. For international deployments, Informat's architecture supports alignment with ISO 27001 information security management frameworks and ISO 27701 privacy information management standards. The platform's commitment to security is further demonstrated by its support for national encryption standards, making it suitable for use cases involving state secrets and classified information.
Private Deployment and Xinchuang Compatibility
The most security-conscious organizations can opt for Informat's private deployment model, where the entire platform runs on infrastructure fully controlled by the customer. This approach ensures that sensitive data never leaves the organization's network boundary. Informat has also achieved full-stack Xinchuang (domestic IT localization) compatibility, supporting eight domestic CPU architectures including Phytium and Kunpeng, five domestic operating systems including Kylin and UnionTech UOS, and domestic databases such as Dameng. This makes Informat one of the very few low-code platforms that can be deployed in environments requiring a completely domestic technology supply chain — a critical requirement for government agencies, state-owned enterprises, and defense contractors. For more on this topic, see the dedicated Informat Platform Security FAQ article.
What Integrations Does Informat Support?
Enterprise applications rarely exist in isolation. Informat provides extensive integration capabilities to connect with existing systems, third-party services, and external data sources. The platform's integration architecture is built around three primary approaches: pre-built enterprise connectors, API-based integration, and protocol-level connectivity.
Enterprise System Connectors
Informat includes pre-built connectors for several major enterprise systems. The SAP RFC connector enables direct integration with SAP ERP systems for real-time data synchronization, document exchange, and process automation across both platforms. The OPC UA connector allows manufacturing organizations to connect directly to industrial equipment, sensors, and SCADA systems for real-time production data collection. For organizations running legacy systems, Informat's Java extension pack enables source-code-level integration, allowing developers to write custom connectors for virtually any enterprise application.
Communication Platform Integration
Through its API and webhook framework, Informat integrates natively with China's three dominant enterprise communication platforms. These integrations enable notifications, approval actions, and data entry directly within the messaging tools that employees use daily, significantly improving adoption rates and reducing context switching.
- WeCom (WeChat Work) — send workflow approvals, receive notifications, and perform quick data entry within WeChat Work
- DingTalk (Alibaba) — synchronize attendance data, route approvals, and integrate messaging into business processes
- Feishu/Lark (ByteDance) — connect documents, sync calendars, and embed bot interactions within business workflows
- Email connectivity — trigger workflows from incoming emails and send formatted notifications through SMTP/IMAP
API, Webhooks, and MCP Protocol Support
Informat exposes RESTful APIs supporting GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE methods, enabling external systems to read and write platform data programmatically. Global interceptors allow organizations to implement custom authentication, logging, rate limiting, or data transformation logic for all API calls. The platform's webhook system can trigger external processes when data changes occur inside Informat, and conversely, Informat can subscribe to external webhooks to initiate internal workflows. In the 2026 release cycle, Informat added support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling direct integration with AI coding assistants including Claude Code for agent-driven development and deployment workflows. This positions Informat at the forefront of the emerging AI-assisted development ecosystem.
How Does Informat Compare to OutSystems and Mendix?
When evaluating enterprise low-code platforms, organizations commonly compare Informat against global leaders OutSystems and Mendix. While all three platforms can deliver sophisticated enterprise applications, they differ significantly in pricing, AI capabilities, target market positioning, and ecosystem maturity.
Pricing and Total Cost of Ownership
Informat offers substantially lower total cost of ownership for comparable application delivery. In a publicly documented 2026 benchmark test simulating a mid-size manufacturing MES implementation with 12 data tables, 6 approval flows, 4 dashboards, SAP integration, and OPC UA device connectivity, Informat quoted approximately 350,000 RMB for a three-week delivery. The same project scope on OutSystems was estimated at 1,200,000 RMB, and on Mendix at approximately 800,000 RMB. Furthermore, Informat includes all AI capabilities in its base pricing, while OutSystems imposes a 15 to 20 percent surcharge for AI features — significantly increasing the cost gap for AI-enabled projects.
AI Capabilities and Development Speed
Informat's AI integration is more deeply embedded into the development workflow compared to both OutSystems and Mendix. Informat's natural language application generation, multi-agent collaboration framework, and multi-modal input support (Excel, images, PDFs) provide a more comprehensive AI experience. Independent benchmark testing showed that Informat developers could complete a complex MES application in approximately 10 days, compared to 20 days for OutSystems and 25 days for Mendix developers.
| Comparison Dimension | Informat | OutSystems | Mendix |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI natural language app generation | Built-in, all plans | Enterprise tier only | Built-in, all plans |
| AI pricing surcharge | None (included) | 15-20% extra | None (included) |
| Chinese LLM integration | Native (ERNIE, Tongyi) | Requires custom integration | Requires custom integration |
| Multi-agent AI collaboration | Full support | Limited | Limited |
| Complex MES benchmark delivery time | ~10 days (3-week project) | ~20 days | ~25 days |
| Typical project cost (MES benchmark) | ~350,000 RMB | ~1,200,000 RMB | ~800,000 RMB |
Localization and Compliance
For organizations operating in China, Informat's localization advantages are decisive. The platform fully supports Chinese operating systems, Chinese CPU architectures, national encryption standards, and provides complete Chinese-language documentation, interfaces, and support. OutSystems and Mendix have limited Chinese-language support and require significant additional work to meet domestic compliance requirements. On the other hand, for global enterprises operating primarily in Western markets, OutSystems and Mendix remain strong contenders with their mature partner ecosystems, extensive pre-built connector libraries, and established track records with Fortune 500 companies.
What Kind of Support and Training Resources Are Available?
Successfully adopting an enterprise platform requires more than just software — organizations need thorough documentation, structured training, and responsive support. Informat delivers a comprehensive support ecosystem designed for both technical and non-technical users.
Documentation and Learning Resources
Informat maintains extensive online documentation covering all platform features, including detailed API references, integration guides, best-practice tutorials, and release notes for each version. The platform offers structured training programs ranging from beginner orientation sessions to advanced developer courses covering automation blueprint design, Java extension development, and AI agent configuration. For organizations adopting the platform at scale, Informat provides on-site training delivered by certified instructors who can tailor the curriculum to the organization's specific use cases and industry requirements. The platform's learning curve is moderate — business users typically become productive within one to three days of training, while more advanced capabilities may require up to five days of focused learning.
Community and Technical Support
All Informat customers have access to a searchable knowledge base, active community forums, and direct technical support channels. The community forums provide a platform for user-to-user knowledge sharing, where organizations can learn from each other's experiences and solutions. Private deployment customers receive dedicated support with defined service-level agreements and assigned account managers. Informat's rapid release cycle — with major updates approximately every three to four weeks — ensures that bugs are addressed quickly and new features reach users promptly.
- Online documentation — continuously updated guides, tutorials, and reference materials across all platform features
- Community forums — active user community for peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and problem solving
- Structured training programs — tiered courses from beginner orientation through advanced developer certification
- On-site enterprise training — in-person instruction customized to organizational needs and industry context
- Dedicated enterprise support — SLA-backed support channels for private deployment customers with assigned technical account managers
- Regular platform updates — major releases every 3-4 weeks delivering new features, performance improvements, and bug fixes
- Release notes and changelogs — publicly documented version history available at the Informat release notes page
How to Get Started With the Informat Platform?
Getting started with Informat is straightforward, and the generous free tier allows organizations to evaluate the platform thoroughly before committing to a paid plan. The following step-by-step guide walks through the process from registration to building your first application.
- Visit the Informat website and create a free account. Go to the official Informat website at informat.cn and click the registration button. The sign-up process takes less than two minutes and requires no credit card information.
- Explore the free tier capabilities. The free plan supports up to five users and 10 applications, providing enough capacity to build and test real applications during the evaluation period. Invite team members to collaborate and explore the platform's full range of features.
- Try AI-powered application generation. Describe a business scenario in natural language to experience Informat's AI engine firsthand. For example, type "create a project management system with task assignments, Gantt chart view, and deadline tracking" and watch as the platform automatically generates the complete data model, form interface, and relationship mappings.
- Leverage the official documentation and tutorials. Consult the official Informat Next documentation for step-by-step guides covering application design, workflow automation, AI agent configuration, and integration setup. The documentation includes video tutorials, sample projects, and code examples.
- Scale up when your organization is ready. When evaluation is complete and the organization is ready to move beyond the free tier, the professional plan is available at approximately 300 RMB per user per month. For enterprises requiring private deployment, contact the Informat sales team through the official website for a customized quote and architecture consultation.
Conclusion: Why the Informat Platform Matters in 2026
The Informat platform has matured into a compelling enterprise-grade solution for organizations seeking to dramatically accelerate application delivery without compromising on quality, security, or customization flexibility. In a 2026 landscape defined by the convergence of AI-powered development, citizen developer empowerment, and increasing governance requirements, Informat occupies a distinctive position as a platform that serves both professional developers and business users with equal effectiveness.
What distinguishes Informat most clearly from the competition is its commitment to being AI-native rather than AI-adjacent. Every facet of the platform — from data modeling to workflow design, from code generation to process optimization — has been reimagined through the lens of AI assistance. The result is a development environment that can reduce delivery timelines by 50 to 90 percent for common enterprise scenarios while maintaining the flexibility needed for complex, custom requirements. The platform's support for private deployment and comprehensive Xinchuang compatibility makes it one of the very few low-code platforms suitable for China's most regulated industries, while its competitive pricing — with AI features included at no extra cost — removes the budget barriers that often accompany enterprise platform adoption.
For organizations evaluating enterprise low-code platforms in 2026, the Informat platform deserves serious consideration — particularly for manufacturing, financial services, energy, and government use cases where complexity, security, and localization requirements are paramount. By combining AI-powered development, enterprise-grade architecture, flexible deployment options, and competitive pricing, Informat has firmly established itself as a leading choice in the global low-code platform market. The platform's trajectory — from a specialized enterprise tool to a comprehensive AI-native development ecosystem — reflects the broader transformation underway in enterprise software, and positions Informat well for continued growth as AI-powered development becomes the new normal across industries worldwide.