It can take years to become proficient in a programming language. You can spend a few months learning the basics, but you won’t have the level of proficiency needed to write original scripts. You certainly won’t have the skills needed to develop applications for your business or customers.
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Benefits of Adopting No-Code Platforms
No-code platforms make it possible for you to perform highly technical tasks without learning how to write scripts.
When you adopt a no-code platform, you get benefits like:
- Democratic software development that draws from everyone’s ideas instead of the technical skills of a few coders
- Greater business agility that helps you respond to customer demands and evolving trends at a moment’s notice
- Lower IT costs because you don’t have to dedicate as much money to hire a team of full-time developers that expect high salaries and great benefits packages
Features to Look for When Choosing No-Code Platforms
Some no-code platforms work better than others. That’s one of the reasons that we’ve compiled the following list of our favorite options.
If you choose a platform other than the ones listed below, make sure that you look for crucial features like:
- A drag-and-drop interface that lets you design applications quickly without making mistakes
- AI and machine learning that can streamline the development process by predicting what your application needs
- The ability to connect with a wide range of data formats and databases
- Security and privacy tools that keep your apps compliant with regulatory guidelines, protect your data, and prevent hackers from stealing your customer’s personal information
- Mobile capabilities that let you work on projects from any location, even when you’re commuting on the train or waiting for a meeting to start
As you explore no-code platforms, you will probably run into some low-code options. No-code and low-code platforms have a lot of similarities. They also have differences that will affect who can use the platforms.
If you don’t want to use any custom code, then make sure you choose a no-code option. No-code will make it easier for you to reach your goals without learning a programming language.
If you’re willing to learn the basics of coding, then you might consider low-code platforms. Knowing a little code can give you better flexibility, scalability, and control. You will, however, need to practice a language before you can reap the benefits.
Appian for App Development
Price: $60 per user per month for a Standard membership
Experience required: None
Drag-and-Drop? Yes
Low-code option? Yes (for customization and fixing errors)
Appian makes a no-code and low-code version of its platform. For a truly no-code option, you need Appian Quick Apps.
Appian Quick Apps comes with all of the tools that you need to build straightforward mobile apps. You don’t need any development experience to start using Appian. You just need to know what features you want your app to include.
With Appian, you benefit from:
- Built-in features that make it easy for teams to collaborate on app development
- A drag-and-drop interface that lets you map out everything in your app
- A step-by-step building process that doesn’t feel overwhelming
Appian lets you add custom code if you want. If you have a coder on your team, you may want to use the platform to design the app’s basics. Then, you can hand the project over to your expert for fine-tuning and fixing errors.
Power Apps for App Development
Price: $10 per user per app per month. That’s a lot of pers!
Experience required: None
Drag-and-Drop? Yes
Low-code option? Yes (but not necessary for most apps)
Microsoft Power Apps uses visual tools and a drag-and-drop environment that make it possible for anyone to build an app from scratch. If you need an app to fulfill a common business task, then you’ll likely find existing models that you can adapt to meet your specifications.
One of the best things about Power Apps is that it uses a canvas to help you design a beautiful user interface. You can easily add features like expense reporting, GPS locations, and toggles to your app. It’s intuitive for the developer and the user.
Power Apps integrates with most of your existing data formats, so you shouldn’t have any compatibility options. It also works well with the rest of the applications in Microsoft’s suite of products. If your company already relies on Microsoft software, it makes sense to add Power Apps.
You do have low-code options for more customizations and integrations. As long as you stay with the basics, though, you’ll never have to learn a single line of code.
ONEtechnology for Enterprise Applications
Price: Contact for pricing
Experience required: None!
Drag-and-Drop? Yes!
Low-code option? Not needed
ONEtechnology says that it can slash your enterprise application development costs by 95% and accelerate app delivery by 90%. The company has plenty of clients and case studies showing that they can reach those goals, at least in many situations. For example, a two-person team at ONEtechnology replicated Twitter’s mobile app in 14 days without writing any code. As a result, Twitter Lite reported:
- A 20% decrease in bounce rates
- A 75% increase in tweets
- A 30% reduction in load times
It’s pretty remarkable to think that the company got all of those benefits without any code. And it only took two weeks of work.
You probably don’t need an app as robust as Twitter Lite, so it’s possible that you could build and test your product within a few hours.
ONEtechnology excels at connecting to multiple data sources, helping you design an intuitive UI, and get the app out quickly.
Betty Blocks for Web Apps
Price: Starting at $1,400 per month
Experience required: None
Drag-and-Drop? Yes
Low-code option? Not needed
Betty Blocks stands out as the most popular no-code platform for building web apps. The company has ambitious goals. It believes that it can eliminate most coding needs by 2023. Within a few years, literally anyone can build a complex app without writing code.
So far, Betty Blocks is on the right path to reach its goal. Organizations using the platform include:
- EDGE Technologies, which saw a 20% increase in productivity after adopting Betty Blocks
- Unive, which reduced its time-to-market from one year to 2.5 months
- CleanAir by Baker, which used Betty Blocks to makes its customer portal twice as fast
You can’t ignore results like that!
Integrate.io for ETL
Price: Contact for custom pricing
Experience required: None
Drag-and-Drop? Yes
Low-code option? Yes
No matter what app development platform you choose, you can always run into problems connecting your product to diverse data formats and databases. Integrate.io takes care of that with a no-code ETL solution that can extract, transform, and load data quickly. After building a data pipeline with Integrate.io’s drag-and-drop feature, all of your data starts to make sense.
Integrate.io can help you build ETL pipelines within minutes. If you want to add custom code, you have the option. For most people, though, it’s unnecessary.
Integrate.io also integrates with 160+ BI tools, analytics apps, cloud services, and databases. Coding becomes irrelevant when you have so many built-in integration options.
You'll be amazed at how much more useful your data becomes when you have a no-code ETL platform that helps you build pipelines in a visual environment. Get in touch with us to discuss your needs and experience the Integrate.io platform for yourself.