Is No-Code Just a Buzzword?
Yesterday I read a lengthy discussion on YC HackerHews that no-code is just "a buzzword". So here are my two cents 👇
I've been working in the development space for a pretty long time and founded a fast-growth no-code startup, welovenocode.com. We just raised $1M and achieved $150K MRR (shared it on IH as well). Happy to share my opinion based on my experience leading a "no-code" startup.
- Gartner estimates that "by 2024, low-code application development will be responsible for more than 65% of application development activity". So no-code is something we should take very seriously because as a trend and as an industry it will only grow. The capabilities for product development are huge, while no code & low code tools will only improve in functions.
So what is no-code and so many people are skeptical?
No-code is the art of creating solutions (native apps, websites, web apps), which could have been written with code but instead using visual methods (without coding). Most no-code tools use a visual drag-and-drop interface. In addition, a lot of them have pre-built templates that you can customize. There is also a slight difference between "low-code" and "no-code." With "low-code," you can do many things with a drag-and-drop interface; however, some coding is required for a finished product. So you ANYWAY need some background in coding. Low-code is typically great for people with intermediate technical skills. No code is a new way of building products, very different products. It's not magic.
What can be built with no-code?
Mobile apps, web apps, websites, workflow and automation, marketing tools, payment systems, and the list goes on. Basically, "typical" products & MVPs benefit the most from no code. So the founder can build something in weeks, really fast. For example, WeLoveNoCode connects founders with the best no-code developers to create their software and apps without a single line of code in like ten days. You can do all of these on a monthly subscription plan.
- No code has proven its place already and it has A LOT of the advantages:
- will save you money
- you can build and test your ideas quickly
- anyone can use it > Designers, product managers, marketing managers now can make their ideas tangible products.
Just like a new thing, tools have to be learned, and they all have their learning curves. However, it will take you much less time and resources to learn how to use no-code tools. Unlike low-code tools, no-code tools have a limit to how much you can customize them. So if you want to change every aspect of your product or build very complex products, no-code tools may bring some limitations. However, there's so much innovation and growth with these tools, so I expect fewer barriers in a few months.
I should add that there's no limitation with scalability. No-code tools have the capacity for server increase to allow as many users as possible without breaking. These tools are also very secure.
So is No-code just a buzzword?
🔥 No, it's not. It is, in fact, the future of software development. Many people just get it wrong.
Your thoughts?
One thing worth adding for enterprise users: tools like SAP Build and Mendix are great options, especially for companies that already have licenses with SAP or Siemens. They offer deep integration with business systems and are often available through existing contracts, which makes adoption smoother and cost-effective.
These platforms aren’t as visible in indie maker circles but are quite powerful for internal tools or process automation in larger organizations.
It is just that, a buzzword. No-code has been around for decades in some form or another (COBOL). Same with Docker (mainframes had these since the '70). It's nothing new or fancy, just reinventing the way of solving problems.
it's getting a buzzword in marketing campaigns but in practice, it's very useful. Agree?
Yes, it's both a buzzword for something that's existed, and no-code are useful. As far as buzzwords go, it's a very pithy way to sum up what it is.
I can also understand why some "real programmers" would treat it with disdain. There was similar condescension toward Arduino programming back when it first came out.
Wix, Tilda are on the market for a long time btw
I see the benefits of lowcode. I am still on the fence on nocode. It is a tool after all and like any other tool it has limitations.
For example, Machine Learning(ML) is amazing and can do amazing things. But the challenge is not ML in a lot of cases, it is the lack of great labeled data to train the model.
I would really like to know what those limitations are for nocode.
Limitations:
Interesting, thanks for the information.
I am curious. Any idea what the cost difference is in terms of hosting for customs apps vs nocode apps?
Plus how good is the logging/debugging experience in case something goes wrong once your app is in production?
Well, in my case, using low code or no-code solutions, I see how the costs start to add up to develop an MVP. Probably if you are a programmer (with code) you can start with a hosting provider and can build from there.
For most no-code solutions you start paying up several monthly subscriptions, that increase your fixed costs (x3 or x4).
I have tried myself to hire programmers to develop the solutions that I need but it comes at a high price (even if in the long run I would end up saving costs).
No doubt that for a customized solution I will need something else.
Thanks for that. That makes sense. Nocode does make a lot of sense if you are not a developer.
No-code apps are usually marketed as "anyone can use it even if they've can't build logic, read code or understand complex documentation" but I feel the truth is:
As you get into more complexity, no-code tools become complicated eventually reaching a point where some tech expertise is always required. Non-tech people would at that point have to hire some expert to get the job done else it takes almost same amount of time as if writing an app using code.
So no-code term fits into rather simple things for non-tech people. For people with tech expertise, it doesn't matter a lot if it's built with a framework or a non-code tool.
I still find it easier to build a website in react/tailwind/gatsby.. rather than using no-code website builders.
You can see this effect if you do a search for popular no code tools on a freelancing marketplace like Upwork.
You'll frequently find folks who had an app built on a no code platform, and now when they need to make a change to it, they need to bring an expert in. As it turns out, for complex applications on no code platforms: you still need a developer or someone who is technically inclined.
agreed
Sounds right. The idea is that with no-code ordinary people with no technical skill are also empowered to take their ideas into products. Most ideas are based on developing very simple solutions for complex problems. Usually, it's just a change of perspective.
Also innovation sometimes come from outside a system, so when you give designers, marketers, etc the tools to build real products, innovation multiplies by 10X. This is really what we're excited about with no-code.
yeah if those people are interested in tackling with hard problem, no-code definitely opens up a window.
In general, imo it'll replace the entry level software jobs and we'll have tons of "word press" type applications. It'll be obvious it's a template no-code, but it does the job, so no one cares type situation.
In the B2C, consumer expectations will increase (realtime, web3, collaborative, animations, etc). Consumers will flock to the better experience, no-code won't keep up, people will keep hiring software developers to keep up.
No-code will definitely capture a lot in B2B software. People working in certain fields will have deep knowledge and be able to automate niches. But then again, business needs will get more complex (close deals faster, be more receptive in support) so they will keep hiring developers.
So I think we'll all just get "promoted". I won't have to do stuff No-code can do. Just like I don't have to do stuff excel can do. However, at the end of the day, some one has to write the No-code tools, so there's always room for developers.
Interesting thoughts!
Highly skeptical of this figure... Looked around to see what they based this figure on, and only found that they had used it as a baseline assumption on a paper on low-code application suggestions for enterprises.
Right. I don't think is far from what will happen. Most products are based on very simple ideas. Why spend hours coding when you can quickly build a mockup? As no-code tools continue to improve and gain popularity, adoption rate will scale very fast.
I don't contest the use cases of low-code solutions. I'm using bubble to build an MVP. It's just that the "estimate" struck me as overambitious. 65% feels rather arbitrary and grossly fails to realize the vastness of the app dev space.
current investments round shows the growth
2021 has seen the creation of something like 250+ unicorns. A $140M round seems like just another day in VC-land. Nothing that would indicate a 65% market share in application development activity in 3 years.
Thank you for sharing this. So apt!
It is definitely getting the benefits of being a buzzword right now. But it doesn't mean it will go away as the typical buzzword. There is always going to be a need to productize dev further and further. I prefer going no-code and low-code for POCs, even though I am a dev. It just provides the best ROI. You can dev it up later. And you will most likely have to at some point. But proving your idea is more important at the start. And you want to be able to do this quickly and easily.
Furthermore, most people just don't have the dev expertise. Give them the tools they need to get something going.
All in all, it's good for the industry.
In my opinion it's not a buzzword, it's a real paradigm shift that leverages new technology to make it easier for creators to build their own products or generate revenue. But I do have the feeling that there are so many platforms out there that brand themselves as no-code, while in reality, they're not.
For me, a no-code solution should allow users to build something that without the tool would actually require coding. For example: Zapier, Bubble, Airtable, etc.. Platforms like Notion, Gumroad or Hubspot are not no-code platforms. They are platforms of their own with features of their own. It's not an infrastructure to build something fully custom for yourself.
Wow. I already read this article in PH. Worth reading.
Honestly, No-code is actually an easier way to build if you have the pre-existing knowledge of code. For example, I have been working in No-code for the past year using Webflow after moving away from coding in Liquid on Shopify and it has grown my business to great heights.
did you like Webflow? We work on Tilda and have a lot of clients on Webflow
Love it, definitely the best CMS tool around. They make everything super simple and super easy to use from both the designer and client POV
I work with Tilda as well :)
I am looking for no-coders now to strengthen my IT department - senior or middle coders are tired and overloaded with simple tasks of automatizations and emails for marketing 🧐
Awesome! Please let's talk https://welovenocode.com/freenocodeconsultation
No Code is also getting A LOT of investments money right now, as well as new tools, almost every month. I guess half of IndieHackers are building something on no code stack.
Absolutely! A couple of startups we worked with raised financing as well.
I recently joined a couple startup companies that are exploring different external financing options (VC's, etc). But I'm fairly new to the software dev space, so I'm a bit behind on technical understanding. As such, I'd love to learn more about how financing groups (like VC's, etc) viewed no-code products vs. the traditionally coded products during financing evaluations.
I'd assume a lot of it depends on the type of product. But from an outsiders perspective, it seems like it'd be harder to generate trust/excitement in the product from investors when going with the no-code route.
How did those conversations go with investors of the startups you worked with go when approaching them with a no-code product? Did they have additional concerns about a no-code based product? Or was it a positive since upfront costs were lower? Did they value it differently?
I honestly have so many questions. I'm just really curious how those conversations went.
Would it also make sense for technical developers to go the no-code route?
yes, for several reasons:
It saves you time. In fact, we're seeing a lot more adoption by developers than non-developers these days.
but also a lot of complaints from devs 😂 that no code will take their job
Talking for marketing:
Those are some no-code tools which I love the most and use pretty often:
🔹 Airtable -> campaign management, content, social media planner, product launches, lead management, and even hiring
🔹 Coda -> for organizing information and learnings, which I can share with the community
🔹 Notion -> knowledge database, kanban board, project briefs
🔹 Miro -> user journey, empathy maps, personas
🔹 Carrd and Webflow -> creating high-converting landing pages or a personal portfolio, viral pages fast testing of hypothesis
🔹 Typeform and Google Form -> questionnaires
🔹 Zapier -> all integrations you might ever imagine
No-code is not a new way to build products. Things like NI LabView, Mathworks Simulink - hell even Wordpress - have existed for decades, but suddenly people are getting very excited about drag-and-dropping some business logic and getting locked into a single vendor. Yes, it works for sufficiently simple things, but as complexity grows no-code users will need to learn to think like programmers and will be constrained to a medium that is suboptimal for expressing computational ideas. It's way overhyped for what it is.
What really matters is the use-cases. Many use cases do not require advanced solutions until they scale: marketplaces, blogs, content-management, portfolio websites etc. There is real power in a product that targets the masses with simplicity!
I think the complexity of the needs people were looking to get solved on their own increased, and so did the tools and products that created such solutions.
We had WordPress, SquareSpace and so many other website builders, but then Webflow catered to the new needs of the people. Similar case with Airtable (earlier was Google Sheets) or UnicornPlatform (Webflow too complex), etc.
As needs change, the tools evolve. No-code is a buzzword.
The problem is that magic happens in the little things that the customers expect to see in a good product they want to use, and those little things are the ones that no-code apps fail to deliver right now.
The no-code apps I've used and seen mainly do well are in fact visual development. Zapier, Carrd, for example. Abstract away lines of code into drag and drop and dropdown selections. Which is fun and exciting for anyone, including programmers. There is such a huge amount of stuff to grok to be a "coder" and anything to ease the entry is wonderful for everyone.
But I did tweet that "no-code" is a buzzword which means "other people's code.
no code is fun! almost for everyone - for founders and for youngsters
and it's easy to use, for everyone
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"I mean javascript for example is written like english for the most part." >> Javascript is one of the more expressive languages out there; another is obviously Python. Both are examples of "application programming" languages as opposed to system languages. Limits are imposed by their respective interpreters which are written in the systems language C++.
Your absolutely wrong in that "every programming language is limited because its an abstraction on machine code." Systems languages are compiled down to binary code (i.e. have a direct mapping); you can also inject assembly (which obviously maps directly to instructions on the CPU) when programming with a systems language like C/C++.
So while Javascript is certainly far more expressive than a C/C++ family language, it still requires strong understanding of programming fundamentals and logic-wise has significantly more depth to it than a "no-code" tool.
Examples: [1] different types of variable declarations + memory allocation + understanding of memory leaks and resource usage [2] understanding of key data structures such as, arrays and maps - their respective operators and performance (i.e. big O) . Certainly a lot less complex than C++ world of Array vs Vector vs Map vs Unordered Map with templating though. [3] ..list goes on..but everything from asynchronous programming required to make API calls (i.e. async, await, Promise) to state management. And all the issues that come along such as, race conditions leading to state corruption. And that's not even going into aspects such as functional programming, oop, composition, inheritance etc.
"Instead of drag and drop you just read the documentation where it tells you to type a few words." >> That made me lol...Damn good laugh.
I imagine the idea with "no-code" is to abstract away a lot of this complexity ...
But while programming in C/C++ allows you all the control afforded by assembly and Javascript/Python allows MOST (but not all) of the control afforded by C/C++ , "No Code" are a MUCH bigger leap in terms of abstraction - they attempt to abstract so much away (because they are meant to be used by everyone and anyone) that they will inherently have big limitations somewhere.
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Exactly!