19 ms·

Ask HN: Which NoCode platforms are fine?

221 points by rweissgraeber 5y ago

Which NoCode platforms are producing sensible applications, (assumed the "core logic" can be supplied with serverless "pure code")

AshleysBrain 5y ago
It's for games (not sure if that's what you meant) but our startup makes Construct 3, a NoCode platform for developing games: https://www.construct.net https://www.construct.net
- hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
  Oh thanks I was looking for it recently and I couldn't remember the name. I remember using it a few years ago with my daughter, she was able to create something simple, playable and enjoyable in an hour or so, using cut-out photos of her family. I remember the scrolling was very smooth and the final result was nothing to be ashamed of. Thank you for giving us hours of fun! I'll download it today and see what's changed since. EDIT: OK so it was Construct 2, the next iteration seems so much more powerful. The pricing is reasonable, both for individuals and businesses, thank you also for that.
anotheryou 5y ago
I'd love to build low-code a twitter client (that would need to mirror a bunch of the feed in to a db). Haven't found anything that would let me play with a specific api that easily and build a nice web app. Feels like voice recognition: I tried every 3 years, since a looong time. And now that they are finally usable they still require an effortful pronunciation.
1290cc 5y ago
Trifacta is pretty cool way to do data engineering. Very efficient approach to assessing what is going on in a massive amount of data and then get suggestions on ways to transform it. Once you're done export to python code or just run from their app as a pipeline that is pushed down into spark or within a data warehouse.
moritonal 5y ago
https://nodered.org/ https://nodered.org/
- gerardnico 5y ago
  How do you make an unit test with this platform ?
  - coupdejarnac 5y ago
    I'd be interested to know if anyone uses nodered for anything other than home automation or small deployments.
    - gallexme 5y ago
      Sadly because of that my boss sold it as platform for non dev tech people to monitor production hardware (like weaving machines) using nodered and modbus, it's a shitty idea to do it in node red, it kinda works tho, but it's error prone, slow(to respond) and just writing some simple specific software for it would have solved the use case of the customer in a way better way, but it's great for conferences/workshops/presentations to just link up a node to a SMS /IM Provider to have some kind of wow effect
rcarmo 5y ago
It depends a lot on what you consider “Low Code” and what your target is. Corporate users tend to look at Mendix, OutSystems, etc. because they are typically looking at building end—to-end solutions, and those give you front-end, APIs and ORMs (or, rather, abstract all of those away). Most OSS or IoT folk will immediately point to Node-Red or n8n.io, which look similar but are actually quite different in focus (n8n is geared at hooking up third-party services at a higher level). And then you have all the Web Automation stuff that has been with us forever since Yahoo Pipes went down.
- soco 5y ago
  I tried a bit OutSystems and its learning curve is incredibly steep for what they claim to be. It all starts with a specialized Eclipse based environment to install and to learn and only goes downhill from there. I don't know any business user able to use it, and for a regular programmer it's just another language/environment to learn. Not sure why it's a thing.
  - Raidion 5y ago
    I interviewed as a developer for a company that used outsystems. They said they had a lot of technology challenges, but were going to stick with outsystems. Their flagship app is rated less than 2.5 stars on Google Play, and needless to say, I did not pursue that position.
  - cjmsousa 5y ago
    [Disclaimer: OutSystems employee here] I'm sad you find the experience bad. Eclipse or VSStudio integrations is part of our focus on being able to extend the platform to the max, but the need for it is only required when you are at a very specific use case. I'd advice you to take another look. For example take a look at this tutorial (https://www.outsystems.com/training/courses/124/reactive-ui-development-101/ https://www.outsystems.com/training/courses/124/reactive-ui-...) and see everything you can build with OutSystems.... without Eclipse :)
  - marviio 5y ago
    At least before you had to run Windows to build OutSystems apps.
santa_boy 5y ago
Bubble.io is fantastic for making business applications. We find performance can often be an issue and typically transfer processing activities to external infra (incl. serverless functions)
- soco 5y ago
  If you draw the line and add all efforts up, is it worthy? I mean, it might be great to quickly draw the frontend, but if for the backend you must jump through a bunch of proprietary hoops, can you still feel some advantage to the entire package?
  - santa_boy 5y ago
    yes ... a lot. scaling may be different but very efficient approach to getting to reasonable scale (perhaps 1000s of users)
- lianna-vba 5y ago
  I've been using Bubble for a few years for a side project. I always thought I'd use it just for the MVP phase but haven't had a need to move off it yet. The big downside is speed - the home page takes 2.5 seconds to load even after doing all the recommended optimizations (Cloudflare, fewer plugins, fewer styles, etc).
arcturus17 5y ago
Elementor for Wordpress is a pretty good page-builder. It has a huge number of interface widgets and customization options while remaining very easy to use. You can pull off very distinct design styles with it quite easily. The markup it generates from what I've seen is decent. Don't get me wrong, I'm not into Wordpress, and I'll take custom HTML + CSS + JS pretty much any day, but I've seen Elementor being used in production at scale and I can see it working for many businesses, especially if they're already into Wordpress. As for platforms allowing more complicated logic, I've evaluated a few. I built a prototype in Microsoft PowerApps for a large enterprise, and ditched it in favor of a custom web app. We are now analyzing requirements and potentially building a real production app for that same customer, but the app is infinitely simpler (it's just a permissioned interface to read/write a centralized Excel sheet). I've studied the market a bit (Appian, AppSheet, Bubble, PowerApps, etc.) and my impression is that they are quite complex for what they offer. The original promise was to replace developers and reap huge time savings but I'm skeptical on both counts - specialists need to operate these tools to get good results (so instead of a C# dev, you now have an Appian dev), and from what I've seen only the most boilerplate-y app features can be built significantly faster (and even then, I'm not sure if the difference is massive compared to a batteries-included framework). The main use case I see for them is as small features or business applications within a larger integrated stack. Retool's approach which seems really centered on this use case and offers loads of database integrations out of the box, but while I hear good things here on HN I would still need to see results with my own eyes in production. Despite my skepticism low-code is a topic I always keep an eye on, so I wanted to share my two cents and see what other HNers have to say.
desertraven 5y ago
I'm not sure if it fits the criteria, but Hasura has made backends considerably quicker to build.
- anaganisk 5y ago
  But can we call it no-code?
  - desertraven 5y ago
    I think the platform itself could be considered no-code since there's not requirement to use the "graphiQL" editor.
- cies 5y ago
  No code, or low code. I dont care as long as it is not "any thing you want that is not a straightup feature requires LOTS of ugly code". Hasura allows me to create a schema and then use it in a type safe manner in the front end (through GraphQL). This is a game changer to me: very little code in the model/controller layer.
yoran 5y ago
I'm an experienced web developer but I'm happy that we chose Webflow for the website of our mobile app. It allows my non-technical colleagues to make basic changes to the website, like copy changes or moving blocks around. But Webflow doesn't abstract away the underlying web technologies (just makes it visual) so it's still easy for me to go in and make more "complicated" changes. It's not a panacea but I think they are striking a nice balance between ease-of-use and extensibility.
- ssijak 5y ago
  Their CMS is trash though. Treasure throve of bugs and issues, especially if you sync your stuff to it. Not to mention 10k limit across all projects even on Enterprise plan, non negotiable.
glimmung 5y ago
Saltcorn [1] is worth a look. The back-end is Postgres, so integrations are simple. It seems to work how my mind works, it's fun to use, and I don't feel limited or locked in because the data and model are in Postgres. [1] https://saltcorn.com/ https://saltcorn.com/
- Kinrany 5y ago
  Various parts of the website seem broken, but I applaud them for dogfooding everything.
senko 5y ago
If you allow for Low Code as well (what I understood from your parentheses), https://apibakery.com https://apibakery.com produces an API backend with CRUD operations, as an Django or Node server. You can then use it as is (no code) or add business logic (low code).
dexterlagan 5y ago
I can vouch for Odoo and its Builder module. Odoo itself is open source, but there's a paid support model. We implemented an open source version for one of my clients and for business/production/inventory/accounting I'd say it's second to none. The free modules cover maybe 90% of common business cases, and the 10% left can be handled by duplicating one of the free modules and customizing it in Builder. Odoo is actively updated by large team in Belgium if I remember correctly, and their paid support is quite good. Odoo is Python atop Postgres, and uses a simple HTML/CSS/js for the frontend. Quite customizable, and can be a no-code solution if one uses Builder, which covers most use cases.
- sirwitti 5y ago
  Slighlty offtopic: Having shipped an Odoo project this year, how is the developer experience for you? It seems like Odoo forces developers into time consuming and frustrating workflows (for example using xpath + upgrade modules + possibly reload the server) that make developing for it a pain. Or I might be missing something?
  - the_angry_angel 5y ago
    You are missing stuff. In development mode with inotify you get python hot code reloading. In development mode the XML (with a handful of exceptions regarding menus, and ir.actions) will be read from disk on refresh. At work we use Dockerized Odoo based on a [Doodba](https://github.com/Tecnativa/doodba https://github.com/Tecnativa/doodba). We use [click-odoo](https://github.com/acsone/click-odoo https://github.com/acsone/click-odoo) to manage module upgrades (amongst other things). Dev workflow is largely managed through [invoke](https://www.pyinvoke.org/ https://www.pyinvoke.org/) tasks. I do wish there was hot code reloading for the views (xml), but realistically if you’re making an app of any complexity the views in the backend are the small part and likely not where you are spending the majority of your time. Website stuff is absolutely 100% stuck in the past at the moment, imho.
    - sirwitti 5y ago
      Thank you! I will check these out!
tvanbeek 5y ago
Maybe have a look at https://strapi.io/ https://strapi.io/ and https://directus.io/ https://directus.io/. They are really easy to setup so yo can spend an afternoon trying out both and see if you like them.
- RNCTX 5y ago
  It seemed apparent to me when I did that Strapi had contracted development of what they had and we’re not very keen on fixing it themselves. Basic 1st project setup things didn’t work, etc.
itsArtur 5y ago
I have used Retool to create a (well-received) PoC of an internal-facing admin app. I was pretty impressed, even though it had some rough edges. Setting up UIs was relatively painless thanks to many out-of-the-box integrations, and it was surprisingly easy to implement auth/error handling/component dependencies. The thing I liked the most is that it's not really a "no code" - you need to be technical to build good apps in this tool. However, that's where the power comes from - it simplifies the mundane development tasks and lets you focus on something more high level. I wish the team would make it easier to consume your own, custom API however.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- spacemanmatt 5y ago
  Curious what your friction consuming a custom API is. That's my next stop with Retool.
barrettnash 5y ago
I've really fallen for Adalo. Before I could only run tech teams, but now I'm one of the best developers I've met for building mature MVPs. Adalo feels to me like the most 'pure' no code experience, where it's not just a typical dev environment with a graphical visualization, but instead a tool built around functionality. I feel like Bubble, Outsystems, etc, is built with a traditional development environment in mind, and just replaces code with snippets, while Adalo is more about extending the functionality of design software like Adobe XD all the way through to the app store and the first 50K users. I've trained people on Adalo well and it's remarkable the progress a smart, committed person can make in just a few days.
- cjmsousa 5y ago
  [Disclaimer: OutSystems employee here] I think OutSystems as any of the other players in this market do the opposite of thinking in the "traditional development". If we did, non of these players would be here today. Our focus is exactly the opposite: breaking from traditional development: focus on productivity, focus in what matters. Now, OutSystems has a specific way of looking into the problem, others players have different ways. And that's ok. We are probably focusing in different use cases. For OutSystems we are all for building critical apps, that are able to sustain the pace of change of the business
d--b 5y ago
I am making www.jigdev.com It's not NoCode, but it's "little UI" code, meant to create BI applications when Excel is a bit too little. It's based on the observable runtime. The website and onboarding is still pretty crude.
taneq 5y ago
All of them, until you want to do something that's not a good match for whatever the platform is designed for. If you need fine grained control over the presentation and behaviour of a system then you have to specify those things in detail exhaustive detail using a suitably expressive platform which we typically refer to as a "programming language".
- harmonycb 5y ago
  well, you can also write plugins for most, and/or when you reach that stage where a platform like HCB is just not expressive enough - we have an ejection mechanism that will allow you to just export a react app (but then you lose all the collaborative / builder advantages and it'll be a little more expensive as a one-off) - nobody needed yet so not converted our POC to functioning feature.
john61 5y ago
Free Software: https://frappeframework.com/ https://frappeframework.com/
sideproject 5y ago
I've been running Newsy myself to host all of my unused domain names. https://www.newsy.co https://www.newsy.co Newsy takes an unused domain name and turn it into a content-aggregator (i.e. Reddit clone) with lots of features built in including membership, automated newsletters, HTTPS, using GMail for your domain etc. I built Newsy because I had close to 50 unused domain names but had no time to develop them. Newsy lets me quickly build sites for my domains and make use of them while waiting for (hopefully) one day that I turn them into a product.
- corobo 5y ago
  > Newsy takes an unused domain name and turn it into a content-aggregator (i.e. Reddit clone) Who would want this though? I can't picture a reason to want to do this, it just sounds like the spam that shows up in searches sometimes that I instantly back out of > I built Newsy Ah Maybe I'm picturing something more spammy than it is but I don't think I'd ever want to use this, I'd rather the domain didn't resolve e: I felt harsh posting this, but having seen one of the sites you are actually rehosting the content you aggregate too, it's worse than I pictured haha. This is spam.
tjansen 5y ago
I think that LowCode makes more sense than NoCode, because sooner or later you will run into a requirement that requires a bit of code, but the LowCode tools I have used can be used without writing any real code. You only need simple expressions ('a.b.c > 1') in JavaScript. An understanding of either SQL or REST/HTTP/JSON can't be avoided though, if you want to access external data. I have some experience using Retool and UI Bakery. Both are quite similar and get the job done. The resulting UIs are never beautiful, but they are good enough to implement most requirements, and development is super-fast. I think I'd prefer Retool, but maybe that's just because I am more used to it.
- harmonycb 5y ago
  this is what we are attempting with HarmonyCB - retool / UI Bakery but with a figma-level UI designer
yaseer 5y ago
No code is moving into similar territory to programming languages, as each tool provides a DSL suited to particular problem domains and abstractions. Check out makerpad.co for some courses which amount to design patterns.
jamexcb 5y ago
We made https://www.kalipsostudio.com/ https://www.kalipsostudio.com/ a low code app to generate Android/iOS/Win/Win CE/Win Mobile (They are still out there lol). Our focus is with mobile native apps not Web/server/backend apps. It's manly used for logistics, erp interface, shop floor, military, mobile sales, etc... you don't need to learn a new language but we assume that you know your way with SQL.
harmonycb 5y ago
https://www.harmonycb.com/ https://www.harmonycb.com/ - it's currently used to build the whole UI for a number of startups where the backend/business logic is behind restful endpoints
- Aeolun 5y ago
  ‘See what harmonycb can do’ leads me to a bunch of text with stock pictures. Maybe it would be better if it actually shows me what it can do.
- harmonycb 5y ago
  onboarding and help is still somewhat lacking - but if you hit us up on twitter @harmony__cb or @MattTheMrM we can set up an onboarding call / chat about your use case
- harmonycb 5y ago
  it's also not 100% nocode, you can add javascript to do endpoint translation work, and small frontend logic that would be painful in some kind if ITTT system
robador 5y ago
Drupal. I've been a Drupal developer for 15 years and started using it for it's low code abilities. In my opinion it still is an amazing low code platform which is extremely versatile. If you really need to customize, it's all there under the hood to hook into, override and extend.
- netol 5y ago
  If you need to handle translations, users, permissions, revisions... and want to provide a good editor experience for building landing pages, (web)forms, etc. Drupal can be a good CMS. It won't be easy to start though. Is Drupal a generic "no-code" solution? I don't think so. Drupal is a CMS and makes sense to use it if you want a website and manage its content.
- winternett 5y ago
  I was waiting for someone to mention this as I scrolled from the top to bottom... I have been implementing Drupal consistently since v4.0 and despite it's increasing footprint, I haven't seen anything it really can't do as a CMS and web app platform. No code on Drupal isn't exactly pretty, it requires a lot of CSS work to look good, but out of the box it's reliable and quite secure and robust. I've also implemented it in some of the most secure settings without problems over years. The ke to stability is scanning code prior to deployment for outbound requests, not building/adding what isn't needed or used, applying updates on time, and designing and maintaining a secure architecture (zero trust if data value warrants it). I have built a lot of cool and mission critical things and sites with Drupal, and I'm very thankful for finding it years ago. v7.X is still my fave, the modules were so much more thought out and available for it, and still are. One of the best aspects of building with it is that the community never really turned into a money factory for modules like Wordpress did. As far as downsides, the hardest thing is debating other developers on why it should be used over other frameworks or instead of a custom app without burning up valuable project time. As a testament to Drupal's reach, it's implemented on many key web sites to this day, all you have to do is google it.
brunovcosta 5y ago
Abstra, YC S21 (https://abstra.app https://abstra.app) is great for frontends! It allows you to easily integrate with any backend and have a smoother learning curve. Also it is easily extensible by code, so you will never be stuck in feature limitations Full disclosure: I’m the founder ;D
jinen83 5y ago
NoCode platforms can be further divided into sub category of tools. Depending on your need you got to look at using one or multiple tools. 1) BPM tools: build workflows & business processes. Tools like Appian, Pega, kissflow, etc 2) Form builders: jotform, typeform, etc 3) automation: Zapier, integromat, etc 4) Frontend builder - Consumer apps -> bubble, adalo, etc - Internal apps -> Retool, DronaHQ, Appsmith 5) App builder - Build core business apps (including backend, microservices , etc) - Outsystems, Mendix 6) Field force apps -> prontoforms, fulcrum, etc 7) Extension builder -> extension.dev 8) Test automation -> reflect.run Disclaimer: I am part of DronaHQ.
- lysecret 5y ago
  Love retool I used it daily :)
  - 46_palladium 5y ago
    Retool is amazing!
    - smellgood71 5y ago
      I'm looking out for no-code low-code tool for side project that can help me with speed. How did you land at Retool or what should be the general criteria?
  - spacemanmatt 5y ago
    Me too. The context in the PP is pretty handy to me. I am just getting into nocode for my organization.
    - lysecret 5y ago
      if you have some questions hit me up! :)
- joaofiliperocha 5y ago
  Is there any github list with this ?
miki_tyler 5y ago
Kit55, https://stack55.com https://stack55.com is great - It is a low-code alternative to website generators that heavily rely on the command line, like Hugo, Jekyll, Gatsby, etc. The app simply takes HTML files and assembles complete pages in your file system. The app watches for changes in your project and will build your pages accordingly. The pages you write have now access to a templating system, basically Jinja2 so you can reference other HTML files from your pages (to include a common header, menus...), and you can use variables, macros, etc. The app comes also with a small local webserver, so you can easily access your built pages. It also supports hot-reload, so when you make a change in a file, all pages that depend on it will be rebuilt and your browser will be refreshed. Full disclosure: I’m the founder
akudha 5y ago
I like appsmith for internal apps. Tried budibase and retool, but feel appsmith is better. They are also ridiculously responsive on discord - fixing bugs, giving advice etc. Not affiliated with any of them.
- Aeolun 5y ago
  I like that getting appsmith running is just one docker command away. I don’t like their weird syntax around writing code, {{}} everywhere!
  - arey_abhishek 5y ago
    We hear you. We have a new upcoming JS editor that'll enable you to write normal JS.
- arey_abhishek 5y ago
  Thank you for mentioning Appsmith! We do spend a lot of time on support, glad that you noticed it.
  - chris-orgmenta 5y ago
    Out of interest, what makes all of these companies pursue 'internal tools' only (i.e. the tools can't be used for customer facing apps)? Is the current sticking point auth & keeping data segregated?
    - satyrnein 5y ago
      I had assumed it was because people are pickier about look and feel for customer facing stuff than these platforms can support, but the point about auth is interesting.
- budibase 5y ago
  Out of curiosity, why did you feel appsmith was better than budibase and retool - as a no-code platform?
tyleo 5y ago
In Rec Room you can build games, environments, and events using an in-game NoCode tool called circuits: https://recroom.com/ https://recroom.com/ Disclaimer: I work on circuits.
Avalaxy 5y ago
All I hear around here is Mendix. Experiences with it seem to be quite good. I think it's more low-code than no-code as you can write custom things with Java.
- yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
  I think it counts as no-code if you can write many things without any code; having the ability to augment with code shouldn't disqualify unless the no-code part is too limited to actually use without breaking out into code.
febin 5y ago
https://hellotars.com https://hellotars.com , I work here. We have customers from different industries including finance, health, e-commerce, real-estate, etc
saaaaaam 5y ago
I’ve built a significant number of relatively sophisticated applications as internal tools and one public application (which is used daily by ~300 people) using Airtable, Stacker, typeform, carrd, twilio and integromat. I also use MagicBell, Infinity and ApproveIt (a slack approvals tool) By “relatively sophisticated” I mean “would have cost me a significant amount in dev time to do this” and “have useful functionality that I can’t get out of the box elsewhere”.
- smoldesu 5y ago
  Just out of curiosity, how much do you pay for that stack per year?
  - saaaaaam 5y ago
    Stacker is about $3000 a year; Integromat is about $1500; Airtable is $240 per user per year and I think I’ve got six users (but you’d only need one to do what I’m doing); Twilio is pennies - maybe $100 a year; Carrd is insanely cheap - $49 a year I think; Typeform is around $600 a year So I guess I’m laying out somewhere in the region of $5250 a year or $450 a month. That’s split across several projects. The beauty is I can prototype an idea in minutes (ok, there was a learning curve, but now it’s super super fast) and then test and push to “production” in hours. I rebuilt my primary application in about three hours recently, massively improving the user experience. The costs against the business value are trivial.
    - smoldesu 5y ago
      Phew, I'd be deathly afraid of relying on that much proprietary software. Good luck all the same!
      - saaaaaam 5y ago
        Not really sure what you mean here. All the business applications I use are proprietary. That’s the same for most businesses: you buy tools to get the job done! The advantage of these ones is that I can very quickly customise them to do exactly what I need.
arey_abhishek 5y ago
I'm a founder of Appsmith, mentioned here a couple of times. It is a good open source project for building anything from simple CRUD apps to complex internal applications quickly. Drag and drop UI to avoid writing HTML/CSS, connect with any datasource, and use JS to write custom logic when you need to.
- cloogshicer 5y ago
  The main problem I had with AppSmith is that its mobile support is abysmal. I opened an issue quite a while ago about a very basic component being completely broken on iOS and it still hasn't been fixed.
  - arey_abhishek 5y ago
    Agreed. We need to improve a lot on the mobile, we've had our hands full with desktop browsers. About the unfixed iOS issue, was it an issue about the tabs widget on Safari? https://github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith/issues/3835 https://github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith/issues/3835 If not, could you tell me more so that I can create an issue.
    - cloogshicer 5y ago
      That was the one, yes. Thanks for looking into it!
davcancas 5y ago
No-code Data Science tool: https://graphext.com https://graphext.com
_sword 5y ago
Unqork
rectang 5y ago
I would say "none of the No Code platforms I've seen are fine", because all the ones I'm familiar with have either inadequate testing or no testing at all. The problem is that apps built without testing don't scale past a certain level of complexity — and so complex projects built with No Code tend to fall apart as they become successful. It's not that it can't be done, but that there's probably very little demand for it. By and large the target market for No Code doesn't value testing. If you know of a No Code platform with good testing support, I'd love to hear about it...
- tmcneal 5y ago
  We're a no-code platform for testing, if that counts. :) Should work pretty well for testing applications built with no-code tools since the same person who builds the app can also write tests for it. Would love to get your feedback if you do try us: https://reflect.run/ https://reflect.run/
  - rectang 5y ago
    I just watched your 6-minute intro video and I love it. It's not what I asked for (it won't help me write tests for the Keap campaign builder, oy), but it fills a different, sorely felt need: showing non-technical people how automated tests are constructed. I can point to this video to say, "this is what I'm doing when I'm writing tests", and I think at least some of them will understand the value proposition. The more savvy ones might buy into your platform or even try constructing tests themselves. Bravo!
    - tmcneal 5y ago
      Wow, thank you!
  - Aeolun 5y ago
    15 hours per month for $300? I run a combined 120h/day on AWS for less. Maybe it makes sense for some, and if people pay you for it then that’s great, but to me I cannot see the economics of that ever working out.
dvdsgl 5y ago
Glide (https://www.glideapps.com/ https://www.glideapps.com/) is fine! We allow you to build polished PWAs and now full web apps using data in your Google Sheet (and soon Excel and Airtable). You can build logic and complex actions in Glide, without code or formulas. You can use plugins for more advanced custom features or to run your own code: https://www.glideapps.com/plugins https://www.glideapps.com/plugins Glide is special when compared to other NoCode tools because we handle a lot more of the design for you–your Glide app is built with higher-level components, rather than you deciding where buttons go or how they look. Glide apps also tend to look much better than what you might design yourself.
steveneo 5y ago
For PDF Online Filling -> platoforms.com
omarhaneef 5y ago
For me, the high order bit in this context is: is it open source? The last thing I want from my tool — even my excellent, robust tool — is lock in. If they raise the price, do I have options? If they go out of business, do I have options? If the platform needs debugging, do I have options?
mjclemente 5y ago
Really surprised no one has mentioned https://pipedream.com/ https://pipedream.com/ I’m not affiliated, just a really happy user. More “low code” than “no code”, it’s like Zapier, but with the ability for developers to easily customize and extend integrations. Two thumbs up.
renaudpawlak 5y ago
For the record: dLite.io is a low-code platform I have been working on to build front ends (similarly to bubble.io). It is ongoing work, but it already has many examples (and the website itself is made with dLite.io). It differentiates from others because it comes with a built-in support of the local-first paradigm. (web site: https://www.dlite.io https://www.dlite.io, platform, with examples: https://plaform.dlite.io https://plaform.dlite.io). (local-first paradigm explanation: https://cincheo.com/2021/10/03/when-low-code-meets-local-first-software/ https://cincheo.com/2021/10/03/when-low-code-meets-local-fir...) [disclaimer: I am also the author of JSweet.org, but right now my interests are moving towards low-code!]
yashgandhi 5y ago
The low code - no code space is a wide spectrum. There are platform sitting at different points on the scale. Completely no code to increasing level of coding . Accordingly a user can get the flexibility to build. I have recently started development in the low code space and worked mostly on the internal tools development. I have been using DronaHQ platform to develop internal tools, i feel the platform sits in between the spectrum, offering good no code solutions and also the flexibility to incorporate custom code in baked in.
budibase 5y ago
[Founder of Budibase here] I would like to add Budibase to this list. The platform is open source, makes it incredibly easy to build internal tools, SSO is free, and its apps are responsive. Also, coding is optional (unlike other platforms listed in this thread) Also, Budibase is currently free!
- foxbee 5y ago
  I'd like to highlight Budibase's incredible cloud platform - it's now 100% the easiest and most intuitive way to build business apps and internal tools.
deleted 5y ago
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rnavi 5y ago
NocoDB[1] : is a completely free & open source Airtable alternative - it simply transforms any EXISTING MySQL/Postgres databases into a smart-spreadsheet. It offers webhooks that can invoke any API. Getting started is really simple docker run -d --name nocodb -p 8080:8080 nocodb/nocodb [1] : https://github.com/nocodb/nocodb https://github.com/nocodb/nocodb (Disclaimer: I'm founder of NocoDB )
sheepdog 5y ago
For larger user counts (and budgets), Salesforce.com is a workhorse. Builds tabs, data views, filters, dashboards, great auditing, security, etc. I've used the force.com platform to track everything from dog daycares to coffee shipments to hospital patients. It's an acquired taste, but it's a huge toolbox that gets the job done.
navaneethpk 5y ago
I am one of the maintainers of ToolJet (https://github.com/ToolJet/ToolJet https://github.com/ToolJet/ToolJet). ToolJet is an open source no-code platform that can connect to all of your existing data sources such as databases and APIs to build applications using a drag and drop interface.
alanlammiman 5y ago
I am surprised that at ~100 comments the likes of Notion, Coda, TiddlyWiki haven't come up. Wouldn't you consider Notion and Coda NoCode? TiddlyWiki I see as more experimental so that simply might not be a 'sensible' platform in terms of the question.
alanlammiman 5y ago
Related question - any NoCode platforms good for mobile native apps?
- cnikitiadis 5y ago
  check out https://allcancode.com/ https://allcancode.com/
peresztegi 5y ago
Hey, I'm the co-founder of TrueSource.io, a no code data publishing platform. Basically, we turn datasets to data apps, providing full infrastructure, front-end (filters, formatting, visualization, etc), and added value features for data providers like user and access management, alerts & notifications, API integrations, etc. Feel free to give us a spin and give me feedback: https://www.truesource.io https://www.truesource.io
spirosalvertis 5y ago
Ours! (https://www.allcancode.com https://www.allcancode.com). Kidding aside, I can only tell you how our no-code platform is different and addressing some of the mentioned problems. First of all, there are no technological lock-ins, you can export high-quality, human-readable code and use it outside the platform if you like. We especially made it for professional IT & development teams to accelerate how they build custom web & mobile apps, without the need to know and stay updated with all the frameworks. There are no production limits whatsoever. Its capabilities basically can only compare to traditional development. If you want to try it out, just go ahead, it's completely free to sign up and start using it
- voxelperfect 5y ago
  Let me add that Allcancode is the only platform that supports true hybrid development combining low-code/no-code with full-code in the same project!
hevisko 5y ago
Mendix ?? They are expensive onsite, but I've seen projects build in shorter time than what normal devs expect - that way saving money for clients

221 points by rweissgraeber 5y ago

Which NoCode platforms are producing sensible applications, (assumed the "core logic" can be supplied with serverless "pure code")

AshleysBrain 5y ago

It's for games (not sure if that's what you meant) but our startup makes Construct 3, a NoCode platform for developing games: https://www.construct.net https://www.construct.net

hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
Oh thanks I was looking for it recently and I couldn't remember the name. I remember using it a few years ago with my daughter, she was able to create something simple, playable and enjoyable in an hour or so, using cut-out photos of her family. I remember the scrolling was very smooth and the final result was nothing to be ashamed of. Thank you for giving us hours of fun! I'll download it today and see what's changed since. EDIT: OK so it was Construct 2, the next iteration seems so much more powerful. The pricing is reasonable, both for individuals and businesses, thank you also for that.

anotheryou 5y ago

I'd love to build low-code a twitter client (that would need to mirror a bunch of the feed in to a db). Haven't found anything that would let me play with a specific api that easily and build a nice web app. Feels like voice recognition: I tried every 3 years, since a looong time. And now that they are finally usable they still require an effortful pronunciation.

1290cc 5y ago

Trifacta is pretty cool way to do data engineering. Very efficient approach to assessing what is going on in a massive amount of data and then get suggestions on ways to transform it. Once you're done export to python code or just run from their app as a pipeline that is pushed down into spark or within a data warehouse.

moritonal 5y ago

https://nodered.org/ https://nodered.org/

gerardnico 5y ago
How do you make an unit test with this platform ?
- coupdejarnac 5y ago
  I'd be interested to know if anyone uses nodered for anything other than home automation or small deployments.
  - gallexme 5y ago
    Sadly because of that my boss sold it as platform for non dev tech people to monitor production hardware (like weaving machines) using nodered and modbus, it's a shitty idea to do it in node red, it kinda works tho, but it's error prone, slow(to respond) and just writing some simple specific software for it would have solved the use case of the customer in a way better way, but it's great for conferences/workshops/presentations to just link up a node to a SMS /IM Provider to have some kind of wow effect

rcarmo 5y ago

It depends a lot on what you consider “Low Code” and what your target is. Corporate users tend to look at Mendix, OutSystems, etc. because they are typically looking at building end—to-end solutions, and those give you front-end, APIs and ORMs (or, rather, abstract all of those away). Most OSS or IoT folk will immediately point to Node-Red or n8n.io, which look similar but are actually quite different in focus (n8n is geared at hooking up third-party services at a higher level). And then you have all the Web Automation stuff that has been with us forever since Yahoo Pipes went down.

soco 5y ago
I tried a bit OutSystems and its learning curve is incredibly steep for what they claim to be. It all starts with a specialized Eclipse based environment to install and to learn and only goes downhill from there. I don't know any business user able to use it, and for a regular programmer it's just another language/environment to learn. Not sure why it's a thing.
- Raidion 5y ago
  I interviewed as a developer for a company that used outsystems. They said they had a lot of technology challenges, but were going to stick with outsystems. Their flagship app is rated less than 2.5 stars on Google Play, and needless to say, I did not pursue that position.
- cjmsousa 5y ago
  [Disclaimer: OutSystems employee here] I'm sad you find the experience bad. Eclipse or VSStudio integrations is part of our focus on being able to extend the platform to the max, but the need for it is only required when you are at a very specific use case. I'd advice you to take another look. For example take a look at this tutorial (https://www.outsystems.com/training/courses/124/reactive-ui-development-101/ https://www.outsystems.com/training/courses/124/reactive-ui-...) and see everything you can build with OutSystems.... without Eclipse :)
- marviio 5y ago
  At least before you had to run Windows to build OutSystems apps.

santa_boy 5y ago

Bubble.io is fantastic for making business applications. We find performance can often be an issue and typically transfer processing activities to external infra (incl. serverless functions)

soco 5y ago
If you draw the line and add all efforts up, is it worthy? I mean, it might be great to quickly draw the frontend, but if for the backend you must jump through a bunch of proprietary hoops, can you still feel some advantage to the entire package?
- santa_boy 5y ago
  yes ... a lot. scaling may be different but very efficient approach to getting to reasonable scale (perhaps 1000s of users)
lianna-vba 5y ago
I've been using Bubble for a few years for a side project. I always thought I'd use it just for the MVP phase but haven't had a need to move off it yet. The big downside is speed - the home page takes 2.5 seconds to load even after doing all the recommended optimizations (Cloudflare, fewer plugins, fewer styles, etc).

arcturus17 5y ago

Elementor for Wordpress is a pretty good page-builder. It has a huge number of interface widgets and customization options while remaining very easy to use. You can pull off very distinct design styles with it quite easily. The markup it generates from what I've seen is decent. Don't get me wrong, I'm not into Wordpress, and I'll take custom HTML + CSS + JS pretty much any day, but I've seen Elementor being used in production at scale and I can see it working for many businesses, especially if they're already into Wordpress. As for platforms allowing more complicated logic, I've evaluated a few. I built a prototype in Microsoft PowerApps for a large enterprise, and ditched it in favor of a custom web app. We are now analyzing requirements and potentially building a real production app for that same customer, but the app is infinitely simpler (it's just a permissioned interface to read/write a centralized Excel sheet). I've studied the market a bit (Appian, AppSheet, Bubble, PowerApps, etc.) and my impression is that they are quite complex for what they offer. The original promise was to replace developers and reap huge time savings but I'm skeptical on both counts - specialists need to operate these tools to get good results (so instead of a C# dev, you now have an Appian dev), and from what I've seen only the most boilerplate-y app features can be built significantly faster (and even then, I'm not sure if the difference is massive compared to a batteries-included framework). The main use case I see for them is as small features or business applications within a larger integrated stack. Retool's approach which seems really centered on this use case and offers loads of database integrations out of the box, but while I hear good things here on HN I would still need to see results with my own eyes in production. Despite my skepticism low-code is a topic I always keep an eye on, so I wanted to share my two cents and see what other HNers have to say.

desertraven 5y ago

I'm not sure if it fits the criteria, but Hasura has made backends considerably quicker to build.

anaganisk 5y ago
But can we call it no-code?
- desertraven 5y ago
  I think the platform itself could be considered no-code since there's not requirement to use the "graphiQL" editor.
cies 5y ago
No code, or low code. I dont care as long as it is not "any thing you want that is not a straightup feature requires LOTS of ugly code". Hasura allows me to create a schema and then use it in a type safe manner in the front end (through GraphQL). This is a game changer to me: very little code in the model/controller layer.

yoran 5y ago

I'm an experienced web developer but I'm happy that we chose Webflow for the website of our mobile app. It allows my non-technical colleagues to make basic changes to the website, like copy changes or moving blocks around. But Webflow doesn't abstract away the underlying web technologies (just makes it visual) so it's still easy for me to go in and make more "complicated" changes. It's not a panacea but I think they are striking a nice balance between ease-of-use and extensibility.

ssijak 5y ago
Their CMS is trash though. Treasure throve of bugs and issues, especially if you sync your stuff to it. Not to mention 10k limit across all projects even on Enterprise plan, non negotiable.

glimmung 5y ago

Saltcorn [1] is worth a look. The back-end is Postgres, so integrations are simple. It seems to work how my mind works, it's fun to use, and I don't feel limited or locked in because the data and model are in Postgres. [1] https://saltcorn.com/ https://saltcorn.com/

Kinrany 5y ago
Various parts of the website seem broken, but I applaud them for dogfooding everything.

senko 5y ago

If you allow for Low Code as well (what I understood from your parentheses), https://apibakery.com https://apibakery.com produces an API backend with CRUD operations, as an Django or Node server. You can then use it as is (no code) or add business logic (low code).

dexterlagan 5y ago

I can vouch for Odoo and its Builder module. Odoo itself is open source, but there's a paid support model. We implemented an open source version for one of my clients and for business/production/inventory/accounting I'd say it's second to none. The free modules cover maybe 90% of common business cases, and the 10% left can be handled by duplicating one of the free modules and customizing it in Builder. Odoo is actively updated by large team in Belgium if I remember correctly, and their paid support is quite good. Odoo is Python atop Postgres, and uses a simple HTML/CSS/js for the frontend. Quite customizable, and can be a no-code solution if one uses Builder, which covers most use cases.

sirwitti 5y ago
Slighlty offtopic: Having shipped an Odoo project this year, how is the developer experience for you? It seems like Odoo forces developers into time consuming and frustrating workflows (for example using xpath + upgrade modules + possibly reload the server) that make developing for it a pain. Or I might be missing something?
- the_angry_angel 5y ago
  You are missing stuff. In development mode with inotify you get python hot code reloading. In development mode the XML (with a handful of exceptions regarding menus, and ir.actions) will be read from disk on refresh. At work we use Dockerized Odoo based on a [Doodba](https://github.com/Tecnativa/doodba https://github.com/Tecnativa/doodba). We use [click-odoo](https://github.com/acsone/click-odoo https://github.com/acsone/click-odoo) to manage module upgrades (amongst other things). Dev workflow is largely managed through [invoke](https://www.pyinvoke.org/ https://www.pyinvoke.org/) tasks. I do wish there was hot code reloading for the views (xml), but realistically if you’re making an app of any complexity the views in the backend are the small part and likely not where you are spending the majority of your time. Website stuff is absolutely 100% stuck in the past at the moment, imho.
  - sirwitti 5y ago
    Thank you! I will check these out!

tvanbeek 5y ago

Maybe have a look at https://strapi.io/ https://strapi.io/ and https://directus.io/ https://directus.io/. They are really easy to setup so yo can spend an afternoon trying out both and see if you like them.

RNCTX 5y ago
It seemed apparent to me when I did that Strapi had contracted development of what they had and we’re not very keen on fixing it themselves. Basic 1st project setup things didn’t work, etc.

itsArtur 5y ago

I have used Retool to create a (well-received) PoC of an internal-facing admin app. I was pretty impressed, even though it had some rough edges. Setting up UIs was relatively painless thanks to many out-of-the-box integrations, and it was surprisingly easy to implement auth/error handling/component dependencies. The thing I liked the most is that it's not really a "no code" - you need to be technical to build good apps in this tool. However, that's where the power comes from - it simplifies the mundane development tasks and lets you focus on something more high level. I wish the team would make it easier to consume your own, custom API however.

deleted 5y ago
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spacemanmatt 5y ago
Curious what your friction consuming a custom API is. That's my next stop with Retool.

barrettnash 5y ago

I've really fallen for Adalo. Before I could only run tech teams, but now I'm one of the best developers I've met for building mature MVPs. Adalo feels to me like the most 'pure' no code experience, where it's not just a typical dev environment with a graphical visualization, but instead a tool built around functionality. I feel like Bubble, Outsystems, etc, is built with a traditional development environment in mind, and just replaces code with snippets, while Adalo is more about extending the functionality of design software like Adobe XD all the way through to the app store and the first 50K users. I've trained people on Adalo well and it's remarkable the progress a smart, committed person can make in just a few days.

cjmsousa 5y ago
[Disclaimer: OutSystems employee here] I think OutSystems as any of the other players in this market do the opposite of thinking in the "traditional development". If we did, non of these players would be here today. Our focus is exactly the opposite: breaking from traditional development: focus on productivity, focus in what matters. Now, OutSystems has a specific way of looking into the problem, others players have different ways. And that's ok. We are probably focusing in different use cases. For OutSystems we are all for building critical apps, that are able to sustain the pace of change of the business

d--b 5y ago

I am making www.jigdev.com It's not NoCode, but it's "little UI" code, meant to create BI applications when Excel is a bit too little. It's based on the observable runtime. The website and onboarding is still pretty crude.

taneq 5y ago

All of them, until you want to do something that's not a good match for whatever the platform is designed for. If you need fine grained control over the presentation and behaviour of a system then you have to specify those things in detail exhaustive detail using a suitably expressive platform which we typically refer to as a "programming language".

harmonycb 5y ago
well, you can also write plugins for most, and/or when you reach that stage where a platform like HCB is just not expressive enough - we have an ejection mechanism that will allow you to just export a react app (but then you lose all the collaborative / builder advantages and it'll be a little more expensive as a one-off) - nobody needed yet so not converted our POC to functioning feature.

john61 5y ago

Free Software: https://frappeframework.com/ https://frappeframework.com/

sideproject 5y ago

I've been running Newsy myself to host all of my unused domain names. https://www.newsy.co https://www.newsy.co Newsy takes an unused domain name and turn it into a content-aggregator (i.e. Reddit clone) with lots of features built in including membership, automated newsletters, HTTPS, using GMail for your domain etc. I built Newsy because I had close to 50 unused domain names but had no time to develop them. Newsy lets me quickly build sites for my domains and make use of them while waiting for (hopefully) one day that I turn them into a product.

corobo 5y ago
> Newsy takes an unused domain name and turn it into a content-aggregator (i.e. Reddit clone) Who would want this though? I can't picture a reason to want to do this, it just sounds like the spam that shows up in searches sometimes that I instantly back out of > I built Newsy Ah Maybe I'm picturing something more spammy than it is but I don't think I'd ever want to use this, I'd rather the domain didn't resolve e: I felt harsh posting this, but having seen one of the sites you are actually rehosting the content you aggregate too, it's worse than I pictured haha. This is spam.

tjansen 5y ago

I think that LowCode makes more sense than NoCode, because sooner or later you will run into a requirement that requires a bit of code, but the LowCode tools I have used can be used without writing any real code. You only need simple expressions ('a.b.c > 1') in JavaScript. An understanding of either SQL or REST/HTTP/JSON can't be avoided though, if you want to access external data. I have some experience using Retool and UI Bakery. Both are quite similar and get the job done. The resulting UIs are never beautiful, but they are good enough to implement most requirements, and development is super-fast. I think I'd prefer Retool, but maybe that's just because I am more used to it.

harmonycb 5y ago
this is what we are attempting with HarmonyCB - retool / UI Bakery but with a figma-level UI designer

yaseer 5y ago

No code is moving into similar territory to programming languages, as each tool provides a DSL suited to particular problem domains and abstractions. Check out makerpad.co for some courses which amount to design patterns.

jamexcb 5y ago

We made https://www.kalipsostudio.com/ https://www.kalipsostudio.com/ a low code app to generate Android/iOS/Win/Win CE/Win Mobile (They are still out there lol). Our focus is with mobile native apps not Web/server/backend apps. It's manly used for logistics, erp interface, shop floor, military, mobile sales, etc... you don't need to learn a new language but we assume that you know your way with SQL.

harmonycb 5y ago

https://www.harmonycb.com/ https://www.harmonycb.com/ - it's currently used to build the whole UI for a number of startups where the backend/business logic is behind restful endpoints

Aeolun 5y ago
‘See what harmonycb can do’ leads me to a bunch of text with stock pictures. Maybe it would be better if it actually shows me what it can do.
harmonycb 5y ago
onboarding and help is still somewhat lacking - but if you hit us up on twitter @harmony__cb or @MattTheMrM we can set up an onboarding call / chat about your use case
harmonycb 5y ago
it's also not 100% nocode, you can add javascript to do endpoint translation work, and small frontend logic that would be painful in some kind if ITTT system

robador 5y ago

Drupal. I've been a Drupal developer for 15 years and started using it for it's low code abilities. In my opinion it still is an amazing low code platform which is extremely versatile. If you really need to customize, it's all there under the hood to hook into, override and extend.

netol 5y ago
If you need to handle translations, users, permissions, revisions... and want to provide a good editor experience for building landing pages, (web)forms, etc. Drupal can be a good CMS. It won't be easy to start though. Is Drupal a generic "no-code" solution? I don't think so. Drupal is a CMS and makes sense to use it if you want a website and manage its content.
winternett 5y ago
I was waiting for someone to mention this as I scrolled from the top to bottom... I have been implementing Drupal consistently since v4.0 and despite it's increasing footprint, I haven't seen anything it really can't do as a CMS and web app platform. No code on Drupal isn't exactly pretty, it requires a lot of CSS work to look good, but out of the box it's reliable and quite secure and robust. I've also implemented it in some of the most secure settings without problems over years. The ke to stability is scanning code prior to deployment for outbound requests, not building/adding what isn't needed or used, applying updates on time, and designing and maintaining a secure architecture (zero trust if data value warrants it). I have built a lot of cool and mission critical things and sites with Drupal, and I'm very thankful for finding it years ago. v7.X is still my fave, the modules were so much more thought out and available for it, and still are. One of the best aspects of building with it is that the community never really turned into a money factory for modules like Wordpress did. As far as downsides, the hardest thing is debating other developers on why it should be used over other frameworks or instead of a custom app without burning up valuable project time. As a testament to Drupal's reach, it's implemented on many key web sites to this day, all you have to do is google it.

brunovcosta 5y ago

Abstra, YC S21 (https://abstra.app https://abstra.app) is great for frontends! It allows you to easily integrate with any backend and have a smoother learning curve. Also it is easily extensible by code, so you will never be stuck in feature limitations Full disclosure: I’m the founder ;D

jinen83 5y ago

NoCode platforms can be further divided into sub category of tools. Depending on your need you got to look at using one or multiple tools. 1) BPM tools: build workflows & business processes. Tools like Appian, Pega, kissflow, etc 2) Form builders: jotform, typeform, etc 3) automation: Zapier, integromat, etc 4) Frontend builder - Consumer apps -> bubble, adalo, etc - Internal apps -> Retool, DronaHQ, Appsmith 5) App builder - Build core business apps (including backend, microservices , etc) - Outsystems, Mendix 6) Field force apps -> prontoforms, fulcrum, etc 7) Extension builder -> extension.dev 8) Test automation -> reflect.run Disclaimer: I am part of DronaHQ.

lysecret 5y ago
Love retool I used it daily :)
- 46_palladium 5y ago
  Retool is amazing!
  - smellgood71 5y ago
    I'm looking out for no-code low-code tool for side project that can help me with speed. How did you land at Retool or what should be the general criteria?
- spacemanmatt 5y ago
  Me too. The context in the PP is pretty handy to me. I am just getting into nocode for my organization.
  - lysecret 5y ago
    if you have some questions hit me up! :)
joaofiliperocha 5y ago
Is there any github list with this ?

miki_tyler 5y ago

Kit55, https://stack55.com https://stack55.com is great - It is a low-code alternative to website generators that heavily rely on the command line, like Hugo, Jekyll, Gatsby, etc. The app simply takes HTML files and assembles complete pages in your file system. The app watches for changes in your project and will build your pages accordingly. The pages you write have now access to a templating system, basically Jinja2 so you can reference other HTML files from your pages (to include a common header, menus...), and you can use variables, macros, etc. The app comes also with a small local webserver, so you can easily access your built pages. It also supports hot-reload, so when you make a change in a file, all pages that depend on it will be rebuilt and your browser will be refreshed. Full disclosure: I’m the founder

akudha 5y ago

I like appsmith for internal apps. Tried budibase and retool, but feel appsmith is better. They are also ridiculously responsive on discord - fixing bugs, giving advice etc. Not affiliated with any of them.

Aeolun 5y ago
I like that getting appsmith running is just one docker command away. I don’t like their weird syntax around writing code, {{}} everywhere!
- arey_abhishek 5y ago
  We hear you. We have a new upcoming JS editor that'll enable you to write normal JS.
arey_abhishek 5y ago
Thank you for mentioning Appsmith! We do spend a lot of time on support, glad that you noticed it.
- chris-orgmenta 5y ago
  Out of interest, what makes all of these companies pursue 'internal tools' only (i.e. the tools can't be used for customer facing apps)? Is the current sticking point auth & keeping data segregated?
  - satyrnein 5y ago
    I had assumed it was because people are pickier about look and feel for customer facing stuff than these platforms can support, but the point about auth is interesting.
budibase 5y ago
Out of curiosity, why did you feel appsmith was better than budibase and retool - as a no-code platform?

tyleo 5y ago

In Rec Room you can build games, environments, and events using an in-game NoCode tool called circuits: https://recroom.com/ https://recroom.com/ Disclaimer: I work on circuits.

Avalaxy 5y ago

All I hear around here is Mendix. Experiences with it seem to be quite good. I think it's more low-code than no-code as you can write custom things with Java.

yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
I think it counts as no-code if you can write many things without any code; having the ability to augment with code shouldn't disqualify unless the no-code part is too limited to actually use without breaking out into code.

febin 5y ago

https://hellotars.com https://hellotars.com , I work here. We have customers from different industries including finance, health, e-commerce, real-estate, etc

saaaaaam 5y ago

I’ve built a significant number of relatively sophisticated applications as internal tools and one public application (which is used daily by ~300 people) using Airtable, Stacker, typeform, carrd, twilio and integromat. I also use MagicBell, Infinity and ApproveIt (a slack approvals tool) By “relatively sophisticated” I mean “would have cost me a significant amount in dev time to do this” and “have useful functionality that I can’t get out of the box elsewhere”.

smoldesu 5y ago
Just out of curiosity, how much do you pay for that stack per year?
- saaaaaam 5y ago
  Stacker is about $3000 a year; Integromat is about $1500; Airtable is $240 per user per year and I think I’ve got six users (but you’d only need one to do what I’m doing); Twilio is pennies - maybe $100 a year; Carrd is insanely cheap - $49 a year I think; Typeform is around $600 a year So I guess I’m laying out somewhere in the region of $5250 a year or $450 a month. That’s split across several projects. The beauty is I can prototype an idea in minutes (ok, there was a learning curve, but now it’s super super fast) and then test and push to “production” in hours. I rebuilt my primary application in about three hours recently, massively improving the user experience. The costs against the business value are trivial.
  - smoldesu 5y ago
    Phew, I'd be deathly afraid of relying on that much proprietary software. Good luck all the same!
    - saaaaaam 5y ago
      Not really sure what you mean here. All the business applications I use are proprietary. That’s the same for most businesses: you buy tools to get the job done! The advantage of these ones is that I can very quickly customise them to do exactly what I need.

arey_abhishek 5y ago

I'm a founder of Appsmith, mentioned here a couple of times. It is a good open source project for building anything from simple CRUD apps to complex internal applications quickly. Drag and drop UI to avoid writing HTML/CSS, connect with any datasource, and use JS to write custom logic when you need to.

cloogshicer 5y ago
The main problem I had with AppSmith is that its mobile support is abysmal. I opened an issue quite a while ago about a very basic component being completely broken on iOS and it still hasn't been fixed.
- arey_abhishek 5y ago
  Agreed. We need to improve a lot on the mobile, we've had our hands full with desktop browsers. About the unfixed iOS issue, was it an issue about the tabs widget on Safari? https://github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith/issues/3835 https://github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith/issues/3835 If not, could you tell me more so that I can create an issue.
  - cloogshicer 5y ago
    That was the one, yes. Thanks for looking into it!

davcancas 5y ago

No-code Data Science tool: https://graphext.com https://graphext.com

_sword 5y ago

Unqork

rectang 5y ago

I would say "none of the No Code platforms I've seen are fine", because all the ones I'm familiar with have either inadequate testing or no testing at all. The problem is that apps built without testing don't scale past a certain level of complexity — and so complex projects built with No Code tend to fall apart as they become successful. It's not that it can't be done, but that there's probably very little demand for it. By and large the target market for No Code doesn't value testing. If you know of a No Code platform with good testing support, I'd love to hear about it...

tmcneal 5y ago
We're a no-code platform for testing, if that counts. :) Should work pretty well for testing applications built with no-code tools since the same person who builds the app can also write tests for it. Would love to get your feedback if you do try us: https://reflect.run/ https://reflect.run/
- rectang 5y ago
  I just watched your 6-minute intro video and I love it. It's not what I asked for (it won't help me write tests for the Keap campaign builder, oy), but it fills a different, sorely felt need: showing non-technical people how automated tests are constructed. I can point to this video to say, "this is what I'm doing when I'm writing tests", and I think at least some of them will understand the value proposition. The more savvy ones might buy into your platform or even try constructing tests themselves. Bravo!
  - tmcneal 5y ago
    Wow, thank you!
- Aeolun 5y ago
  15 hours per month for $300? I run a combined 120h/day on AWS for less. Maybe it makes sense for some, and if people pay you for it then that’s great, but to me I cannot see the economics of that ever working out.

dvdsgl 5y ago

Glide (https://www.glideapps.com/ https://www.glideapps.com/) is fine! We allow you to build polished PWAs and now full web apps using data in your Google Sheet (and soon Excel and Airtable). You can build logic and complex actions in Glide, without code or formulas. You can use plugins for more advanced custom features or to run your own code: https://www.glideapps.com/plugins https://www.glideapps.com/plugins Glide is special when compared to other NoCode tools because we handle a lot more of the design for you–your Glide app is built with higher-level components, rather than you deciding where buttons go or how they look. Glide apps also tend to look much better than what you might design yourself.

steveneo 5y ago

For PDF Online Filling -> platoforms.com

omarhaneef 5y ago

For me, the high order bit in this context is: is it open source? The last thing I want from my tool — even my excellent, robust tool — is lock in. If they raise the price, do I have options? If they go out of business, do I have options? If the platform needs debugging, do I have options?

mjclemente 5y ago

Really surprised no one has mentioned https://pipedream.com/ https://pipedream.com/ I’m not affiliated, just a really happy user. More “low code” than “no code”, it’s like Zapier, but with the ability for developers to easily customize and extend integrations. Two thumbs up.

renaudpawlak 5y ago

For the record: dLite.io is a low-code platform I have been working on to build front ends (similarly to bubble.io). It is ongoing work, but it already has many examples (and the website itself is made with dLite.io). It differentiates from others because it comes with a built-in support of the local-first paradigm. (web site: https://www.dlite.io https://www.dlite.io, platform, with examples: https://plaform.dlite.io https://plaform.dlite.io). (local-first paradigm explanation: https://cincheo.com/2021/10/03/when-low-code-meets-local-first-software/ https://cincheo.com/2021/10/03/when-low-code-meets-local-fir...) [disclaimer: I am also the author of JSweet.org, but right now my interests are moving towards low-code!]

yashgandhi 5y ago

The low code - no code space is a wide spectrum. There are platform sitting at different points on the scale. Completely no code to increasing level of coding . Accordingly a user can get the flexibility to build. I have recently started development in the low code space and worked mostly on the internal tools development. I have been using DronaHQ platform to develop internal tools, i feel the platform sits in between the spectrum, offering good no code solutions and also the flexibility to incorporate custom code in baked in.

budibase 5y ago

[Founder of Budibase here] I would like to add Budibase to this list. The platform is open source, makes it incredibly easy to build internal tools, SSO is free, and its apps are responsive. Also, coding is optional (unlike other platforms listed in this thread) Also, Budibase is currently free!

foxbee 5y ago
I'd like to highlight Budibase's incredible cloud platform - it's now 100% the easiest and most intuitive way to build business apps and internal tools.

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rnavi 5y ago

NocoDB[1] : is a completely free & open source Airtable alternative - it simply transforms any EXISTING MySQL/Postgres databases into a smart-spreadsheet. It offers webhooks that can invoke any API. Getting started is really simple docker run -d --name nocodb -p 8080:8080 nocodb/nocodb [1] : https://github.com/nocodb/nocodb https://github.com/nocodb/nocodb (Disclaimer: I'm founder of NocoDB )

sheepdog 5y ago

For larger user counts (and budgets), Salesforce.com is a workhorse. Builds tabs, data views, filters, dashboards, great auditing, security, etc. I've used the force.com platform to track everything from dog daycares to coffee shipments to hospital patients. It's an acquired taste, but it's a huge toolbox that gets the job done.

navaneethpk 5y ago

I am one of the maintainers of ToolJet (https://github.com/ToolJet/ToolJet https://github.com/ToolJet/ToolJet). ToolJet is an open source no-code platform that can connect to all of your existing data sources such as databases and APIs to build applications using a drag and drop interface.

alanlammiman 5y ago

I am surprised that at ~100 comments the likes of Notion, Coda, TiddlyWiki haven't come up. Wouldn't you consider Notion and Coda NoCode? TiddlyWiki I see as more experimental so that simply might not be a 'sensible' platform in terms of the question.

alanlammiman 5y ago

Related question - any NoCode platforms good for mobile native apps?

cnikitiadis 5y ago
check out https://allcancode.com/ https://allcancode.com/

peresztegi 5y ago

Hey, I'm the co-founder of TrueSource.io, a no code data publishing platform. Basically, we turn datasets to data apps, providing full infrastructure, front-end (filters, formatting, visualization, etc), and added value features for data providers like user and access management, alerts & notifications, API integrations, etc. Feel free to give us a spin and give me feedback: https://www.truesource.io https://www.truesource.io

spirosalvertis 5y ago

Ours! (https://www.allcancode.com https://www.allcancode.com). Kidding aside, I can only tell you how our no-code platform is different and addressing some of the mentioned problems. First of all, there are no technological lock-ins, you can export high-quality, human-readable code and use it outside the platform if you like. We especially made it for professional IT & development teams to accelerate how they build custom web & mobile apps, without the need to know and stay updated with all the frameworks. There are no production limits whatsoever. Its capabilities basically can only compare to traditional development. If you want to try it out, just go ahead, it's completely free to sign up and start using it

voxelperfect 5y ago
Let me add that Allcancode is the only platform that supports true hybrid development combining low-code/no-code with full-code in the same project!

hevisko 5y ago

Mendix ?? They are expensive onsite, but I've seen projects build in shorter time than what normal devs expect - that way saving money for clients