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Ask HN: Is there a difference between no code and SaaS

1 points by danecjensen 5y ago

Hey HN, I wanted to know the communities thoughts on whether there was any actual difference between no code and SaaS products. Is no code just a new marketing term for more usable SaaS?

shubb 5y ago
Software as a Service includes software with coding in it such as databases. But more importantly, some SaaS products require a lot of customisation and to achive a certain level of customisation you need to code. Think wordpress themes or Salesforce scripting. NoCode promises a highly customised product that does things that traditionally needed code - like talking to APIs - but without any coding. Often this means that in reality, you code visually or through a very complex series of dialogues and property lists that are akin to coding. This may however be more accessible or have a lower learning curve - even for an experienced programmer.
verdverm 5y ago
Yes, for a subset of new ventures. These are more the no code for X, rather than a platform for building an application, if I understand the question you are asking. Of course Kelsey Hightower has the only true no code app out there and anything else will eventually require code if it becomes economically viable
kinj28 5y ago
SaaS platform is more of no-code /low code platform for a particular use-case or solution say - Customer Support, CRM, Marketing automation, Email Marketing, Inventory Management, and so on. whereas No code/low code development tools like https://www.outsystems.com https://www.outsystems.com, https://www.dronahq.com https://www.dronahq.com, https://www.bubble.io https://www.bubble.io, https://www.notion.so https://www.notion.so, https://www.adalo.com https://www.adalo.com can be utilised to build any of these solutions.
vishal_sahu 5y ago
SaaS is for any particular use case with a predefined set of rules and workflow specific to that particular use case or industry. No Code is basically a set of lego blocks to build any use cases without writing any code. So definitely there is a major difference. Examples could be https://bubble.io https://bubble.io, https://drapcode.com https://drapcode.com, https://www.adalo.com https://www.adalo.com, https://webflow.com https://webflow.com etc.

1 points by danecjensen 5y ago

Hey HN, I wanted to know the communities thoughts on whether there was any actual difference between no code and SaaS products. Is no code just a new marketing term for more usable SaaS?

shubb 5y ago

Software as a Service includes software with coding in it such as databases. But more importantly, some SaaS products require a lot of customisation and to achive a certain level of customisation you need to code. Think wordpress themes or Salesforce scripting. NoCode promises a highly customised product that does things that traditionally needed code - like talking to APIs - but without any coding. Often this means that in reality, you code visually or through a very complex series of dialogues and property lists that are akin to coding. This may however be more accessible or have a lower learning curve - even for an experienced programmer.

verdverm 5y ago

Yes, for a subset of new ventures. These are more the no code for X, rather than a platform for building an application, if I understand the question you are asking. Of course Kelsey Hightower has the only true no code app out there and anything else will eventually require code if it becomes economically viable

kinj28 5y ago

SaaS platform is more of no-code /low code platform for a particular use-case or solution say - Customer Support, CRM, Marketing automation, Email Marketing, Inventory Management, and so on. whereas No code/low code development tools like https://www.outsystems.com https://www.outsystems.com, https://www.dronahq.com https://www.dronahq.com, https://www.bubble.io https://www.bubble.io, https://www.notion.so https://www.notion.so, https://www.adalo.com https://www.adalo.com can be utilised to build any of these solutions.

vishal_sahu 5y ago

SaaS is for any particular use case with a predefined set of rules and workflow specific to that particular use case or industry. No Code is basically a set of lego blocks to build any use cases without writing any code. So definitely there is a major difference. Examples could be https://bubble.io https://bubble.io, https://drapcode.com https://drapcode.com, https://www.adalo.com https://www.adalo.com, https://webflow.com https://webflow.com etc.