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Let’s travel back to 2017, a year that brought us fidget spinners, Cryptomania, and the viral floss dance. More significantly, 2017 was also the year that Chris Wanstrath, co-founder and former CEO of GitHub said, “We think the future of coding is no coding at all.”
Since then, no-code and low-code development has been continuously breaking the technical barriers with leading enterprises quick to capitalise – pushing the boundaries of innovation and rapidly adapting to changing markets. Fast forward to 2022, and there simply aren’t enough experienced developers to meet the ever-increasing demand for software. It would appear Wanstrath’s prediction is fast becoming a reality.
Simply put, no-code and low-code tools allow users, even those with limited technical or coding skills, to build websites, web, and mobile applications. They provide visual drag-and-drop controls like Lego blocks that builders can use to put together their end product. The goal of these platforms is to decrease development time of websites and apps, producing a cost-effective end product of comparable quality to a coded one.
WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database with supported HTTPS. Features include a plugin architecture and a template system, referred to within WordPress as Themes.
Category: No-code and low-code
Features:
Custom themes and functionality
Easily manage website content
Unlimited pages, posts, and products
Integrated news and blog posting
Flexible post scheduling
Restore deleted pages and rollback versioning
Website portability and vendor lock-in avoidance
Easily add additional website editors
Managed website security
Core upgrades and plugin updates
Pricing: Free
Code customisation and extendibility: Yes
Pros:
Build custom themes
Extensive plugin sets for advanced builds
Dynamic websites
Cons:
Some functionality may be limited without custom development
Aimed at designers and marketing people, Webflow is a no-code web design tool invented for visual web design. It can be used for designing responsive websites, landing pages, ecommerce sites, blogs, and more. Beyond its use as a web design tool, it also has a content management system (CMS), as well as being a hosting platform.
Category: No-code and low-code
Features:
Build CSS grid–powered layouts visually
Add CSS filters to anything
CSS style preview
Add any code you need
Detects repetitive IDs within the elements of your website
CSS flexbox
Total creative control
100+ responsive website templates
3D transforms and animations
Design interactions without code
CMS API
Create CMS items with Zapier
Export CMS content as a CSV
Customisable forms. HTML/CSS sliders and carousels
Interactive Google Maps
Pricing: Free starter plan available | Paid plans up to $49 per month billed annually.
Code customisation and extendibility: Yes
Pros:
Advanced design functionality
Dynamic content and collections for scalability
Advanced interactions and animations
Creative freedom
Easy to use and customise CMS
Engaging CSS interactions and JavaScript animations visually
Code can be exported to be used with other CMS platforms such as WordPress, or ecommerce platforms such as Shopify
Cons:
SEO control is severely lacking
Sometimes limited by not allowing you to tweak code (e.g., HTML of a blog post)
Steep learning curve
Have to use a third-party form vendor if you want to export and host yourself
Limit of 100 static pages
Ecommerce is very basic and limited in scalability
Advanced functionality can be a challenge – even for experienced users
Wix.com Ltd. is an Israeli software company, publicly listed in the US, that provides cloud-based web development services. It allows users to create HTML5 websites and mobile sites through the use of online drag-and-drop tools.
Category: No-code and low-code
Features:
“Design freedom”
Template library
Advanced SEO tools
Mobile optimised
App market
Velo (open development platform for building advanced web applications)
Analytics
Free hosting
Wix Chat, eCommerce, Bookings, and Blog
Social tools
SSL certified
Pricing: US$4.50 to US$35 per month.
Code customisation and extendibility: Yes
Pros:
Drag-and-drop tools
Big template library
All-inclusive platform to launch a site
Cons:
Wix is a closed platform so you’re stuck with using its proprietary tools, which can be limiting if your site outgrows the selection of features
Can’t add forms to blog posts
Can’t switch templates once the site is live
Can’t access or change the HTML of your site*
* Velo by Wix lets you add a few more features, e.g., database collection, to the Wix editor if you choose.
Bravo Studio is an app builder for designers. It makes it possible to turn Figma prototypes into native iOS and Android apps instantly without writing any code. Bravo Studio uses native mobile actions/components to make your app a native app through Bravo Tags.
Category: No-code
Features:
Design and style – menu, sliders, top bar, modal pages, pop-ups, intro pages, transitions, reveal animations and sticky layer items
Components – video backgrounds, GIFs, LottieFiles, WebView, flexible text, charts, maps and location share, forms, audio, and video
Actions – remote actions, open phone dialog, download files, scan QR, search and filter, open URL, share dialog, and email dialog
Advanced – login (Firebase), payments (Stripe), OAuth, push notifications (One Signal), custom loading page, APIs, and external data sources
Pricing: Free to US$21 per month.
Code customisation and extendibility: None
Pros:
Pixel-perfect design
Seamless integration with Figma and Adobe XD
Connect via REST API
Easy binding of external data sources to the app design
Add Lotties, GIFs, and transitions to your app
Bravo Vision app allows testing and review
Deep links
Multi-language apps
Swipe pages
Scalable applications
Easy backend creation with Xano, Backendless and Airtable
Firebase integration
Dynamic user notifications
Stripe integration for payments
Conditional visibility
Great for developing proof of concept
Cons:
No design features – have to use Bravo Tag system (design must be done and then imported from Figma/Adobe XD)
FlutterFlow is an online app builder that lets users easily build native cross-platform applications. FlutterFlow brings a visual builder on top of Google's Flutter, which is the most popular cross-platform developer framework. Building and iterating on cross-platform mobile apps today is expensive and slow, but with FlutterFlow, teams and individuals can use the intuitive interface and higher level abstractions to build apps 10 times faster. The company is led by former software engineers at Google who applied machine learning (ML) to improve Google Maps data.
Category: Low-code and no-code
Features:
API
Third-party integrations
Drag-and-drop collaboration tools
Graphical user interface,
Deployment management
Web/mobile app development
Alerts and notifications
Pricing: Free to US$42 per month.
Code customisation and extendibility: Using the custom widget editor, you can write/modify widget code or upload it directly in the UI editor.
Pros:
Rapid development and features getting added
Easy learning curve in comparison to competitor tools
Integrates with Firebase and APIs
Facilitates user authentication.
Code can be exported to Visual Studio
50+ pre-built templates, 40+ widgets, and several third-party integrations to help you save time on your app development
Cons:
No access to boilerplate functions and utilities
Lack of local payment integration for ecommerce and subscription platforms
Adalo is an app-building software that makes the process fast, seamless and cost-effective for the creators. It allows users to create visually stunning apps by just dragging and dropping specialist design components.
Category: No-code
Features:
Component marketplace
Application templates
Integrations management
App integrations
Drag-and-drop builder
Workflow management
Web development
Version control
Testing management
Mobile development
Debugging
Access control
Pricing: Free to US$250 per month.
Code customisation and extendibility: Yes
Pros:
Drag-and-drop components
Spreadsheet-style database
API integration capabilities
Easy learning curve
Installable components are available on its marketplace
Google Cloud AppSheet is a no-code, intent-driven app development platform. Its web-based design environment runs in the Google Cloud, and it generates apps for web, iOS, and Android.
Category: No-code and low-code
Features:
API
Access controls/permissions
Activity tracking
Alerts/notifications
Application management
Authentication
Calendar management
Change management
Collaboration tools
Compatibility testing
Custom development – customisable branding, fields, forms, reports, and templates
Data – import/export, modelling, synchronisation, visualisation
Database support
Debugging
Deployment management
Design templates
Drag and drop
Feature library
Forms management
Graphical user interface
Integrated development environment
Integrations management
Lifecycle management
Mobile development
Offline access
Pre-built templates,
Prototype creation
Real-time data and reporting
Role-based permissions
Rules-based workflow,
Search/filter
Secure data storage
Source control
Task management,
Testing management,
Third-party integrations
Visual modelling
Web app development
Web forms
Web/mobile app development
Workflow management
Pricing: Free (or dependent on requirements).
Code customisation and extendibility: Yes
Pros:
Works on multiple platforms on the go
Easy to use
Great documentation and support
Integration with Google Sheets
Cons:
No ability to undo
Limited UI options
Formulas can be hard to grasp
App syncing is slow
First page load is time consuming
More formatting options needed to control overall theme of the app
Power Apps is an application creator that enables users to build mobile- and web-based forms and apps with low or no code. The apps it enables can interact with data sources and services within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
Category: Low-code
Feature list:
Common Data Service (CDS) to store data
200+ connectors to integrate data and systems
Pre-built templates
Drag-and-drop designer
Power App canvas
AI builder and pre-built AI components
Portals (for no-code-responsive websites)
Role-based user experience customisation
Pixel-perfect website development
Several app scenarios
Wide variety of controls, such as camera and location
Logins via authentication providers like LinkedIn and Facebook
Code customisation and extendibility: You add code components by including them in a solution and then import it into CDS. Once the components are in CDS, system administrators and system customisers can configure fields, subgrids, views, and dashboard subgrids to use in place of default components. You can add these code components to both model-driven and canvas apps. Before you start creating code components, ensure you’ve installed all the prerequisites for developing components using the Power Apps component framework.
Pros:
Committed no- and low-code
Pre-built formats
Vast integration capabilities
Connect to any data source
Training and peer based feedback and support via forums and communities
JavaScript for additional functionality
Cons:
Steep learning curve
Situational formulas are complex to figure out
Very limited sample set of templates and pre-built components
Everyone can use technology to accomplish extraordinary things for their organisations, but only if they have the knowledge and expertise to optimally utilise the available tools. Swipe iX combines extensive experience, talent, and project management to deliver the transformational impact of low- and no-code tools. Check out our range of low-code and no-code development services and let’s help you reach your business goals.
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