Zero Code Platforms for Web & Mobile App Development

In: Quick Tips

Starting a website or creating a new app can help you grow your business. Yet, most people often back out as it is expensive to create one. To create one yourself might seem daunting because of the complicated coding language. You should know that there is a more accessible and inexpensive way to achieve this feat. Certain websites or service providers will allow you to create your website or app without prior coding experience. These platforms are known as Zero Code platforms.

What is Zero Code?

As the name suggests, the Zero Code eliminates the need for coding know-how. The Zero Code tools allow you to start creating web pages, mobile applications, and simple software without relying on the expertise of IT professionals. You can implement your design ideas without having to worry about coding errors.

What does Zero Code Offer?

The low code platforms heavily inspire the ethos of the zero code. Low code platforms also allow the users to implement their ideas visually. However, they still require a certain amount of coding skills to make them work seamlessly.

On the other hand, zero code eliminates the need for coding altogether. Zero code platforms offer multiple practical and visual functionalities that help you create software just as you conceptualized them. These platforms are designed to make the user or the creator more productive by streamlining their workflow.

What are Zero Code platforms?

The websites that host Zero Code functionality are known as Zero Code platforms. In these platforms, the user gets access to a creative environment to build their software, website, or application from scratch.

Instead of writing thousands of lines of code to do menial tasks, they use visual blocks and widgets. It is as easy as dragging and dropping it at the right place.

Let’s understand with an example.

Back in the day, if you wanted to create a website, you had to be an expert at HTML coding language. You also needed to learn javascript to integrate the design elements and other easy-access functionalities.

Nowadays, some websites will help you create your webpage without the need for the skills mentioned above. This zero-code platform offers a template to make things even simpler. You only have to rearrange the icons, edit the landing page texts and enter your images and video.

Do Zero-Code platforms help with business growth?

Every business are different, therefore finding an off-the-shelf software to suit your needs is a challenge.

Let’s say your company needs software to manage a huge network of agents and their sales data. You know that creating software that allows your agents to recruit more agents under them, will increase your sales.

In order to first validate your idea, you can use a zero-code platform to do a simple software to test and monitor the outcomes.

You can then use the outcomes to improve on it and when the time comes you can engage a software development company to build software from scratch to achieve your goals.

Did you see how you are able to first validate and monitor the outcomes by using zero-code platforms before investing a huge chunk of money into developing software?

Therefore, using a zero-code framework allows you to rapidly create and manage applications and software of any size without the need for backtesting and extensive preparation periods.

Features of Zero Code platforms

Quick development, quick deployment

This is one of the more notable features of the zero code platforms since it allows novice coders to create a quick mock-up of their applications to present to the stakeholders. The newer business owners can easily create their websites which are as easy as assembling building blocks. The websites can also be easily deployed and can be accessed by their customers

2. Zero coding

You can create effective websites and powerful software without writing even a single line of coding language. All the features are available as visual building blocks, widgets, and snippets. The development process essentially involves dragging and dropping them in the required position.

3. Cloud Storage

Some zero coding platforms allow you to build scalable software models due to their almost unlimited storage capacity due to cloud storage systems.

What are the benefits of Zero Code Platforms?

Zero code platforms are alluring for business owners as well as developers. The streamlined workflow and its simplicity are often touted by the platforms to attract new users

Business owners

Usually, a business needs a team of IT professionals or a software development partner to build and run its software. The associated cost with the development and maintenance of the software might be high.

However, while using zero code platforms, the business owner would be eliminating the costs mentioned earlier. Owing to the software bundle feature of the platforms, the owners only have to pay for the functionality that they have used to create their program.

Examples of Zero Code Platforms

Airtable

Airtable is a zero-code collaborative tool that allows you to handle a massive inflow of data. The data is immediately converted and stored in spreadsheets format for easier accessibility and computation. The tool is very flexible and uncompromising when crunching the numbers to represent the data better.

AppyPie

The AppyPie platform provides the essential tools to create mobile applications and websites. The platform focuses on optimizing the business process.

The model of the software built using AppyPie can be easily shared and edited amongst the different departments of your company. The platform can also be used to develop chatbots and for automating workflows.

Nintex

Nintex offers tools to build workflow management software. You can use the platform to visualize the workflow and the date of the business.

The website also provides an option to automate the workflow for better optimisation.

Yola Site

Yola site allows you to build a website in a few minutes by utilizing its website builder tools.

Wix

Wix is a very famous web builder out there which a lot of businesses use to build their website. You can choose your web design from a library of templates offered by Wix.

Weebly

Weebly is a very cheap platform for you to build a website. They have been around in the market for more than a decade now.

Future of Zero Code Platforms

The alternative to developing and maintaining software was to purchase pre-built software from the market. The pre-built software was also costly and often did not cater to the needs of the company.

Meanwhile, the zero code platform offers are built for non-technical individuals. The individuals can now focus more on their imaginative and creative skills to create software that tends to their needs.

Individuals with small businesses can also create their websites and mobile applications with great ease. They will not have to spend a small fortune trying to establish an IT department.

In addition, most of the businesses had to mold their processes according to the software they purchased. With the zero code platforms, they can create a software or workflow management application that accommodates the inherent processes of their business.

Anyhow, there are also limitations to the zero-code platforms where you cannot just develop according to your needs but you might need to first assess what kind of design and functionality are available in the platform before planning out the software.

This might not work for a fast-growing and matured businesses.

Cons of zero code platforms

The zero-code platforms have revolutionized website and app building by eliminating the reliance on coding languages. But this brings its own set of problems.

The platform’s widgets, template, and utility features may not help you create a satisfactory product for yourself and the stakeholders.

Different zero code platforms have distinct features and payment plans. Hence, you will have to spend time researching the available options before committing to a platform.

The products created using the zero code platform are prone to hackers and online attacks. This is because they use a predefined set of codes to create the template, which can be easily accessed and modified by hackers.

4. These platforms focus more on the aesthetics of the websites as compared to the inner functionality. Therefore, in some instances, the computing power might be lower as compared to other software.

5. Low flexibility compared to custom software development. You do not have the freedom in adding any modules or features as you want.

6. Not a long-term solution if you have a long-term plan in your mind. These zero-code platforms are good for starting out but won’t be as helpful for scaling.

Do you need a zero-code platform?

The rise in the digitisation of most business practices has allowed multiple firms to function on a global platform. The security risks and likelihood of a simple bug affecting the user experience are also affected immensely.

The business houses, therefore, need to step up their game to ensure these problems are dealt with haste.

However, tight budgets and constricted flow of money might force you to delay the upgrades. Downloading random software from the internet also carries significant risks. In such cases, the zero code platforms can bridge the gap. You will quickly create and deploy upgrades for your software and create a new application with ease.

Hence, if you are a small business owner or a startup founder wanting to create an online presence with a minimal upfront investment, then a zero-code platform is helpful for you.

Conclusion

The zero-code platforms encourage small business owners and startup founders to create an app that best suits their working styles. At the very least, they should create a dummy version of what the app or software might look like.

The platforms also allow them to materialize their visions into working copies. This can be a baby step into digitization for companies with limited capital for their digitization roadmap.