This article (The Rapidly Expanding No-Code Landscape) was first published on Nasscom Community
In a time where there’s a major shortage of IT professionals, no-code is taking the world by storm. No-code platforms are bridging the gap between professional developers and consumers, enabling individuals to become citizen developers and achieve technological goals which seemed out of reach before the recent no-code boom.
No-code is not just a term, it’s a movement that is opening up several possibilities for various organizations and individuals. As coding is an integral part of the development of No-code platforms, the work of IT professionals is not being undermined. Instead, no-code and low-code platforms are assisting IT professionals by reducing their burden.
Through their ease of use, no-code platforms can be about 10 times faster than traditional coding. No-code also reduces the financial burden of organizations, as it is a much cheaper alternative to traditional coding. Therefore, it is a great boon to small organizations that would otherwise be unable to afford traditional coding for product development or workflow automation.
Although no-code platforms are revolutionary, they aren’t a “one-size-fits-all” solution. Various no-code tools serve different purposes and have a different target market.
In a very short span of time, several cloud-based platforms have emerged which allow business users without any coding experience to automate their workflows and build enterprise-grade applications. These platforms make this process quick, simple, and inexpensive by removing the need for traditional coding.
Top tools in this category: Quixy, FlowForma, Kintone, Nintex, Zoho Creator, Pipefy, Kissflow, Process.st, Salesforce Lightning, Quick Base, Betty Blocks, Knack, Ninox, Zudy, DronaHQ, Qalcwise, Caspio, TrackVia, Microsoft Power Apps.
Download the Whitepaper: Quixy Vs. The Rest: Choose Wisely
Integration platforms mainly serve two purposes; they allow users to effortlessly connect all their cloud-based applications, and they enable businesses to automate their workflows to scale their growth.
Top tools in this category: Zapier, Make, IFTTT, Tray.io, Workato.
A few no-code app building platforms specialize in developing mobile applications. These applications have empowered citizen developers who have unique ideas for mobile applications, but lack coding experience to execute them.
Top tools in this category: Appypie, Adalo, AppGyver, Glide, Thunkable.
Also read: A Comprehensive Glossary of Digital Transformation Terms
Chatbots are absolutely necessary for many organizations, may they be big or small. These applications are brilliant tools for automating CRM and improving leads on websites. By creating custom AI chatbots for their websites or apps, businesses can save a ginormous amount on unnecessary costs while also providing better services.
Top tools in this category: Botsify, Chatfuel, Engati, Landbot, Voiceflow, MobileMonkey, Wotnot.
Cloud-based online databases and spreadsheet applications have significantly simplified the lives of business users. Using these intuitive no-code platforms users can easily collaborate with each other, and access a vast amount of data in one single place.
Top tools in this category: Google Sheets, Airtable, AppSheet, Stackby, Smartsheet, Rows.
Millions of citizen developers already use no-code design softwares to create professional graphic designs. These softwares offer millions of pre-existing templates, fonts, images, and animations to create designs for several professional processes.
Top tools in this category: PixTeller, Desygner, Snappa, Stencil, Pablo, Befunky, Vectr, Canva, Figma.
It has never been easier to collect and organize data. Online form builders empower users to create professional forms and surveys. These platforms have enormous customization-abilities using which businesses can maintain their distinctive style while creating forms, and also save tons of money which solutions requiring coding would have cost them.
Top tools in this category: Google Forms, SurveyAnyplace, JotForm, Typeform.
A few years ago it seemed unthinkable that normal individuals without any coding experience could build professional websites. Now every individual or small organization can build their own site through websites such as Wix and Shopify.
Using these websites individuals can take their professional profiles or businesses online.
Top tools in this category: Wix, Bubble, Squarespace, Shopify, Sheet2Site, Webflow, Carrd, Weebly.
No-code newsletters are an amazing way for businesses to market their products or services through processes such as email marketing. By using these intelligent marketing tools, businesses can reach the right audiences, at the right times, and on the right channels.
Top tools in this category: MailChimp, MailerLite, ConvertKit, Sendinblue, TinyLetter, Upscribe.
Online course builders are very versatile and comprehensive platforms. From empowering their users to creating and selling top-notch online courses, to managing payouts and filing taxes, these platforms can do it all.
Top tools in this category: Teachable, Udemy, Spayee, Podia, Thinkific.
No-code platforms such as anchor and transistor have made it possible for their users to create, edit, publish and monetize their podcasts from one single interface. Not only do these applications assist podcasters in maintaining quality standards, but they also provide them with valuable insights for growing their audience.
Top tools in this category: Anchor, Transistor.
Also read: The Top No-Code Podcasts for Citizen Developers!
No-code Productivity tools are a perfect fit for individuals or teams that are unable to sort through the vast amounts of data and tasks they have. These apps are the perfects toolkits that assist users in organizing their data, collaborating on projects, and dividing and monitoring the tasks.
Top tools in this category: Notion, Trello, Basecamp.
These ingenious no-code platforms have made it obvious that no-code is ready to take on the world, and the lack of coding does not mean that these platforms are compromising on quality. Even big businesses who don’t mind paying hefty sums for traditional coding are realizing the transformational power of no-code and low-code platforms. No-code is all set to be a 59-billion-dollar industry by 2024, and there seems to be nothing stopping the expansion of the no-code landscape.
This list is by no means a conclusive judgement on the best no-code platforms, it solely aims to serve as an indicator for exceptional platforms that are consistently striving to perform above customer expectations.