From my experience building many Adalo apps, a well-structured database is what keeps an app fast, stable, and flexible when new features are added. Good structure also makes visibility rules, list filtering, custom formulas, and relationships much easier to work with. Here’s the approach I personally follow when planning collections for new builds.
Start with the core objects of your app
Before creating any collection, I define the main objects the app revolves around. These become your collections, and everything else you build depends on them.
For example, a booking style app will almost always include:
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Users
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Services
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Bookings
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Sometimes Reviews, Provider Profiles, and Messages.
Each object is separate in the app, so each one becomes a separate collection in your database. This keeps the logic clean when building screens, lists, and conditional visibility.
Keep different concepts in separate collections
A simple rule I rely on: if two things don’t behave the same way inside the app, they shouldn’t live in the same collection.
For example:
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Bookings are not part of Services
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Messages are not part of Users
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Customer, Provider, and Admin all remain in the Users collection using a (Role) field instead of splitting them into three separate collections
This approach keeps custom lists, filters, and visibility rules predictable.
It also avoids breaking the “magic text chain” later.
Use relationships instead of duplicating data
One thing that often causes issues later is copying data into multiple collections.
Instead, I rely on the relationship types:
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One-to-Many (1 → ∞)
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Many-to-Many (∞ → ∞)
This keeps the app consistent and avoids logic errors when something changes.
For example:
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An Order relates to a User (buyer)
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An Order relates to a Listing
If the seller updates the listing’s name, image, or price → it automatically reflects anywhere it’s referenced.
No maintenance needed.
Avoid collections that try to handle too many roles
I often see collections with 40+ properties trying to cover every scenario.
This makes it harder to use:
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visibility conditions
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custom formulas
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custom actions
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screen transitions
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list sorting
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record updates
A better approach is to keep the (Users) collection simple and move (role-specific) properties into additional collections:
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Driver Profile
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Vendor Profile
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Service Provider Profile
Each one relates back to Users with a one-to-one relationship.
This pattern scales really well when the app grows.
Marketplace structure example
Here’s a clean structure that works smoothly across most marketplace apps:
Users
Basic info + role (Buyer, Seller, Admin)
Listings
Relates to User (seller)
Supports features like “User’s Listings”, “Seller Page”, “Category Filters”, etc.
Orders
Relates to User (buyer)
Relates to Listing
Supports “My Orders”, payment status, booking status, etc.
Messages
Relates to sender and receiver
Can also relate to Listing or Order if needed
Reviews
Relates to user and listing
This structure keeps logic simple and allows features like favorites, ratings, multi-level filters, and dashboards without complexity.
When I intentionally store duplicated fields
Certain operations run faster when summary values are stored instead of recalculated every time.
This is not “duplicate data”, this is denormalization for performance, a standard practice.
Examples:
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Average rating stored on a Listing
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Total orders stored on a User
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Total earnings stored for dashboards
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Unread message count stored for fast badges
The detailed data still lives in the original collections (Orders, Reviews, Messages), but these summary fields help screens load faster and avoid heavy filters.
My checklist before building screens
Here’s what I review before I start creating screens, lists, and workflows:
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Are the core objects clearly defined?
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Does each object have its own collection?
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Are relationships used instead of unnecessary duplication?
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Can I easily filter all records related to a specific user or item?
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Will this structure still work when the app has thousands of records?
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Are collection names and properties clear enough for long-term maintenance?
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Are visibility rules and list filters straightforward with this design?
Getting the structure right at the beginning saves a lot of rebuilding later.
If you’re planning a specific type of app and want suggestions for an ideal structure, feel free to share the context. I’ve worked on a wide range of Adalo apps, and I’m always happy to help organize the foundations properly.
Ali Bazzi — Adalo Expert
https://www.adalo.com/experts/ali-bazzi