You can launch a digital product or automate business tasks even if you don't know how to code at all. How does this approach work, and what are the advantages and disadvantages? Contact a business-oriented agency to learn all the details and get a product that will help you in your business.
What is No-code
No-code, also known as Zero-code, refers to the creation of websites, programs, integrations and other solutions without programming. The idea is to use special tools - services - that free you from having to write code.
Development in No-code is reduced to making simple actions in the visual interface. You mark the necessary settings, move sliders, drag the blocks with the mouse - all of this is usually helped by the built-in help. And the service you use generates all the code for you and outputs the result.
Examples of No-Code-Tools
Here are some popular services, which allow you to create different digital products without programming.
- Tilda
Tilda is a website builder. It allows you to create web pages, blogs, online shops and other resources. First the user chooses one of the many templates, the most suitable in structure and design. The user then adjusts the appearance and functionality of the selected template in a visual editor.
Immediately afterwards, Tilda makes it possible to publish the website on the Internet. Hosting and a domain in the format "website_name.tilda.ws" is provided by the platform. If you want, you can register any free address and link it to the website. The end result is a fully fledged web resource, with a bespoke design and unique set of features.
- Adalo
The Adalo platform is best described as an app builder. Build products for Android, iOS and the web. Need a task manager? A course shop? Messenger? There's enough power to develop these and many other types of applications.
- Botmother
Botmother service allows you to create simple applications in bot format for Viber, Telegram, WhatsApp and other messengers. Such bot can accept pizza orders, sell tickets to events, collect feedback and much more.
The finished bot can become a full-fledged product or MVP - a simplified version of a future startup, which is convenient to use for quick and cheap hypothesis testing.
- ApiX-Drive
The ApiX-Drive platform is used to quickly create integrations - connections between different services. Such integrations help automate workflows and, as a result, increase business efficiency.
- Notion
The Notion service helps create databases for storing and collaboratively editing various documents: articles, notes, to-do lists, images, and so on. The tool is used for a wide variety of tasks: creating corporate knowledge bases, keeping records of leads, visualizing tasks and projects.
No-code's advantages
Simplicity. No-code greatly simplifies development. You no longer need to study markup languages and programming languages, APIs and other complex technologies to create your own products. It's enough to spend several hours to master the features and capabilities of the available tools. As a rule, No-code also simplifies the support of created products. If an application, integration or website suddenly starts working improperly, you are unlikely to have to dig around in the code looking for possible bugs. The employees of the service you designed your product with are free to handle the problem.
Cheapness. No-code can be seen as an alternative not only to self-programming, but also to hiring developers. Why pay experts, when you can do without them? No-code-services usually work on a subscription basis, which is much more profitable than hired developers' services.
Speed. It is always quicker to create products using No-code tools than to develop them from scratch. For example, the site, which programmer and designer will spend a couple of weeks, can be assembled in just a few minutes in a special constructor.
Disadvantages of No-code
The No-code concept has but one, but significant disadvantage - low flexibility of development. You are always limited by the capabilities of the tools you choose.
When to use No-code
When you need to get your project up and running quickly but have no budget for developers. In this case, No-code will allow you to create a product as quickly as possible using your own resources. Or at least its simplified version. Later, when there will be time and other resources, you can hire professionals to finalize the prototype or create a new version from scratch.
When you are not sure about the product and are afraid of losing the budget. Then No-code will give you the opportunity to quickly build a cheap prototype to test hypotheses. Even if it doesn't justify itself, you'll spend a minimum of money.
If you have a simple task that you can implement entirely with a No-code service. For example, create a standard business website or automate the transmission of leads from Facebook. In that case, there is no point in overpaying by hiring developers.