Low-code platforms (definition, reading, etc)

"A low-code development platform provides a development environment used to create application software through a graphical user interface instead of traditional hand-coded computer programming. A low-coded platform may produce entirely operational applications, or require additional coding for specific situations." --Wikipedia

"Low-code is a software development approach that requires little to no coding in order to build applications and processes. A low-code development platform uses visual interfaces with simple logic and drag-and-drop features instead of extensive coding languages. These intuitive tools allow users with no formal knowledge of coding or software development to create applications for many purposes like mobile apps and business apps.

"These platforms have become increasingly popular as a fast and easy alternative to traditional software development. Both professional developers and “citizen developers” (non-professional developers) can use a low-code platform to create apps of varying complexity to meet business demands for development, automate processes, and accelerate digital transformation." --Creatio

Overview

(partly from The Low-Code/No-Code Ecosystem)

Forrester: “application development platforms that enable rapid application delivery with minimal hand-coding, and quick setup and deployment.”

The term generally refers to any class of software and tools that provide:

Interactive visual programming environment
Drag-and-drop capabilities
Visual modeling tools
Prebuilt templates
(usually) Easy ability to integrate with third-party tools and solutions

Capabilities

User Interface: Ability of LCNC platform to support a variety of user interfaces – web, mobile, tablet, kiosks etc.
Application Types: Ability of LCNC platform to build and support various use cases such as advanced workflow management features such as process and task automation, attended and / or un-attended process automation, event triggers, integration with chatbots and conditional logic to streamline workflows and improve efficiency. Many LCNC platforms also provide the ability to create interactive dashboards and reports.
Integration: Ability of platform to support seamless integration with existing systems, such as databases, APIs, and cloud services, to help streamline workflows and improve efficiency.
LCNC platforms provide a plethora of out of the box connectors. Assess the out of the box connectors that meet your requirements. Custom connectors Assess the ease of creating and using custom connectors when OOB connectors do not exists or meet your requirements.
Development Tools: LCNC platforms should have a simple, intuitive interface that allows users to build applications using a drag-and-drop design model. The platform should come with pre-built templates and modules, allowing users to quickly create applications without having to start from scratch. For those who need more control over their applications, the platform should offer the ability to write custom code and integrate it with the LCNC platform.
Data Layer: Ability of the LCNC platform to integrate with both cloud and on-premises databases, as well as its native database. Integration with cloud and on-premises databases allows organizations to leverage existing data sources, while a robust native database can help to improve application performance and reduce data duplication.
Hosting: Ability to run applications either on the cloud or on a local network. Whether you prefer the flexibility and scalability of the cloud or the control and security of on-premise hosting, a platform that supports both options will help to ensure that your applications can run smoothly and efficiently.
Platform Governance and Management: Application lifecycle management (ALM) is an important feature when evaluating a low code/no code platform. This includes features such as version control, code management, testing and debugging, deployment, and monitoring. A platform that provides robust ALM support will help ensure that your applications remain secure, stable, and up-to-date over time, while also making it easier to identify and resolve any issues that may arise.
Entitlement refers to the platform’s ability to control and manage access to various features and functionalities within the application. Entitlements are critical for ensuring that only authorized users have access to sensitive information and that all actions taken within the application are in compliance with your organization’s security policies.
Environment management refers to the process of managing different environments such as development, testing, and production. A low code/no code platform that offers robust environment management support will enable you to easily create and manage separate environments for each stage of the development lifecycle. This will help to ensure that changes made in one environment do not affect other environments, allowing for a smoother and more efficient development process.
The platform should have robust security and compliance features to protect sensitive data and ensure compliance with industry standards. Different industries and regions have specific compliance regulations that must be followed, such as data privacy laws (e.g. GDPR, HIPAA) and financial regulations (e.g. SOX, PCI-DSS). A low code/no code platform that supports compliance requirements will help ensure that your applications adhere to the regulations and standards that apply to your organization, reducing the risk of potential non-compliance penalties. When evaluating a platform, it is important to look for features such as data encryption, secure access controls, and audit trails to ensure that your applications can meet your compliance requirements.
Instrumentation refers to the ability to monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimizing applications. Logging, monitoring, and analytics will allow you to track and analyse environment’s / application’s performance and user behaviour which can be used to improve application performance, resolve issues, and make data-driven decisions

Other aspects to consider

Some other aspects that you should also consider while assessing the LCNC platforms are

Scalability: The platform should be scalable to accommodate growth and meet future needs. Assess if LCNC platform meets necessary architectural and technical capabilities to support scalability, including the ability to handle large amounts of data, process transactions efficiently, and support multiple users and tenants.
Resilience: Assess platform’s capability to ensure it can maintain high availability and prevent data loss during downtime. The platform should have robust backup and recovery mechanisms in place, as well as measures to prevent single points of failure.
Training and Documentation: The platform should offer comprehensive support and training resources, including documentation, forums, and dedicated support teams, to help users get the most out of the platform.
Marketplace: A platform with a large and well-stocked marketplace can save time and resources compared to building everything from scratch, while a platform with a limited marketplace may limit the scope of what can be achieved with the platform. Consider factors such as the size and diversity of its offerings, the quality of the components and templates, and the ease of use and integration.

Ecosystem graphic:

Categories:

Business Intelligence: Tools that serve to transform information into knowledge, with the aim of improving the decision-making process in a company. Notable examples of these types of tools are Tableau, Looker, Google Data Studio, and SAP Business Objects — all of which give users the ability to manipulate, analyze, visualize business data.
Customer Service / CRM: Platforms that manage all the communications, opportunities and documentation relating to customers, along with those that help them in all stages of the buying and selling process. Salesforce is the giant in this space, but other tools such as Zoho, Bitrix24, and Creatio are all platforms that enable companies to automate their business processes to create and manage customer relationships.
Enterprise Application Development: These visual development platforms enable developers, of varying skills, to build out entire enterprise wide applications — building and managing custom databases and tools to run entire business processes. This is a large and lucrative space with a number of large players including ServiceNow, Appian, Mendix, and newer entrant Unqork.
IoT / Industrial automation: This category includes both IoT (internet of things) platforms, that serve to connect hardware to the Internet and Industrial automation platforms, that enable automatic operation of industrial processes and machinery without the need for human operators. Akenza.io for example, is a self-service IoT platform that connects, controls, and manages IoT devices allowing users to build IoT products and services.
Machine Learning: With the growth of AI and machine learning there has also been a surge of tools that have sought to make ML models available to non-data scientist users. Amazon, Microsoft, and Google all have powerful such platforms but dedicated no-code companies such as Data Robot are also providing an increasing amount of AutoML-type tools.
Marketing / E-Commerce / Design Tools: Marketing-technology (or martech) has been a category of its own for quite some time — with large companies such as Mailchimp, Hubspot, and Marketo empowering marketers to build powerful management of campaigns and customer relationship management. We have also included e-commerce tools — including giants like Shopify — that enable businesses of all sizes to conduct commerce online while managing their products and services and their entire virtual storefront. Additionally, in this category, we added design platforms such as Canva and Figma where you can create and share designs and templates easily without having the trained skillset for it.
Software Development Tools: These tools are similar to enterprise application development but geared towards technologists. Virtuoso is an example of such tools, it offers QA automation and web application code generators, which allows for faster and easier website creation.
Web App Development: This is a large category that has been evolving over time, it includes long-standing tools such as WordPress and newer entrants such as Bubble, Adalo, Webflow, and even AirTable, which bills itself as an application development environment. These tools often contain a content management system (CMS) and a user-friendly set of capabilities. Individuals with little to no technical knowledge are able to create attractive websites and smaller applications very quickly with no HTML, CSS, Javascript or other esoteric web technology knowledge required.
Workflow Automation: A workflow may be defined as a set of related activities, which are completed in a certain order to achieve a specific organizational goal. Whereas automation enables these activities to be controlled by a system that will ensure their completeness, correctness and repeatability. Zapier, Kissflow, and Pipefy are all examples of tools that provide integration and/or facilitate business processes workflows, enabling LCNC business users to describe and run full end-to-end business processes.

List of LCNC platforms and funding (not sure as of when)

Features

Visual modeling tools: form builders, GUI builders, etc. Use built-in components to represent information in a form that is readable; data entry/input; validate that input
Flow/workflow: ((Definition))
Automation: ((Definition))
Drag-and-drop functionality:
Database/storage:
Reusability: Use of pre-configured modules/components/plug-ins
Cross-platform/multi-device:
Security
Scalability
Reporting and monitoring
App lifecyle management (debugging, testing, deployment, etc)

Vendors/projects/platforms/etc

Accern: Accelerate AI Workflows for Financial Services.
ActionDesk: The spreadsheet that lets you gather and control all your data in one place.
Adalo: Create an app without code.
Airtable: Part spreadsheet, part database, and entirely flexible, teams use Airtable to organize their work, their way.
AND CO: Invoicing, Proposals & Expense Tracking
Angel Point NX: AgilePoint NX is the leading Low-to-no-code Application Development platform that empowers businesses to easily build responsive business applications.
APIFY: Extract data from any website
Appbase.io: Elasticsearch supercharged.
Appery: a cloud program that makes it simple to build hybrid and mobile web applications. It is one of the Low-code development platforms that enables you to design apps for Android and iOS devices.
AppFlow: Securely integrate apps and automate data flows at any scale, without code.
Appian: Discover the power of low-code automation.
AppMaker (Google): a low-code solution for RAD. Google App Maker is a recent entry into the top low-code solutions. It came out of beta in 2018, and offers access to 40 additional Google services.
AppOnboard Studio: Where app ideas come to life. No code required.
AppSheet: The intelligent no-code app development platform.
appsmith_: Frontend as a Service to build internal apps
Appspotr: Create epic apps without coding
Appstylo: Mobile App builder maker
AppSumo: Discover, buy, & sell the products you need to grow your business.
Autocode: New user notifications. Purchase alerts. Scheduled jobs. SQL queries.
Automate.io: Put your business on autopilot. Connect 100+ business apps.
Axiom: Browser automation. Quickly, without code.
Bannerbear: Auto-generate social media visuals, ecommerce banners, dynamic email images and more with our API and integrations.
Betty Blocks: The only no-code platform for full empowerment, innovation and agility. Create mobile, business and web applications at lightning speed with Betty Blocks.
Big Cartel: Easy online stores for artists & makers
Blockspring: Supercharge your list building, reporting, and landing pages.
Bloggi: A simple blogging platform
Bookmark: Create a Website with AI
Botnation: Create chatbots, landbots, voicebots, callbots on Messenger, Web, Google Home, Phone device.
Botsify: Create your own automated chatbots online.
Boundless: Create dynamic, multisided web applications without code.
Boundlesslabs: Boundless lets you build the web site of your dreams. No code required.
Bplogix: a no-code software that helps develop quick application solutions. It helps you to manage business workflow. You can use this tool to design a product without writing code.
Bravo Studio: Where your designs become real native apps
Chatamo: Create intelligent voice and chat bots for marketing, sales and support in minutes.
Chatfuel: Create chatbots to engage with your audience on messengers
Clay: Build tools & workflows to supercharge your team
Cloud Canal: Static Sites -> Web Apps
Coda: All-in-one doc.
Community.lawyer: No-code App Builder designed specifically for legal service professionals
Construct: Game Making Software
Contractbook: Efficient Contract Management
Convertigo: a mix between low-code and no-code, aiming for citizen developers and professional developers. Mobile builder tool, visual drag-and-drop UI, low-code backend, REST/XML converter, REST/JSON converter, admin console.
Corvid: Build advanced web applications, hassle-free.
Creatio: BPM CRM system for marketing, sales and service to manage business processes across the entire customer journey on a single low code platform.
Destack: Visual page builder for developers
Diagram: Nocode backend API builder with MongoDB and Firestore.
Digdag: an open-source tool that helps you to build, run, schedule, and monitor complex pipelines of tasks. It handles dependency resolution so that tasks run in series or in parallel. Digdag replaces cron, facilitates IT operations automation, orchestrates data engineering tasks, coordinates machine learning pipelines, and more.
Dislack: Form creation for the modern maker.
draftbit: Create, customize, and launch mobile apps all from your browser. Source code included.
Dronahq: Build business apps without coding.
DWKit: a BPM software that also functions as a low-code app development platform. It is relatively new and little-known, but it offers a number of use cases.
Eyelet: Create interactive guidance for your product without code
Fibery: Build your own workspace.
Figma: The first interface design tool with real-time collaboration
flatfile: The elegant import button for your web app
FlexyForm: Contact Forms Backend as Service
Fliplet: The smart way to create custom apps
Flow XO: Create a chatbot with zero coding skills required
Fomo: Social Proof Marketing Platform
Forest Admin: The admin panel framework
FORTVISION: Create interactive experiences that lead to higher conversions.
Frappe: Low Code Open Source Framework in Python and JS.
Funnel: All your marketing and advertising data where you want it.
Generative Objects: low-code platform focusing on better control of the application life-cycle, collaboration among developers.
Genexus: A unique platform that captures the needs of users and generates applications for present and future technologies, without the need to learn new technology. Allows pragmatic developers to evolve quickly, responding to market and technological changes in an agile way.
Glide: Create an app from a Google Sheet in five minutes, for free.
Go: Low-Code for Enterprise Databases
Grapedrop: Free and custom websites and landing pages
graphqleditor: A Better Way to GraphQL
Gumroad: Sell anything directly to anyone.
Hasura: Get realtime GraphQL APIs instantly
Heyflow: Build interactive flows.
Hingeto: Start your own Amazon-style marketplace.
Honeycode: Build a better way to work.
Hotjar: See how your visitors are really using your site.
Hubspot: A full platform of marketing, sales, customer service, and CRM software.
Hunter: Find email addresses in seconds.
IFTTT ("If This, Then That"): Helps your apps and devices work together in new ways.
IM Creator: Free Website Builder
Instabot: A Conversion Chatbot for Your Website
Instapage: Landing pages, up to 6x more conversions.
Instavr: Make your VR apps in minutes
Integromat: The most advanced online automation platform.
InteractiveCalculator: Make calculators with no code and add them on your site
Internal: Console-as-a-service, better tools for customer-facing teams
Involve.Me: Build customizable widgets like quizzes, forms & calculators
It's Alive: Create a Facebook bot in minutes
Jimdo: Your Website Builder
JMix (formerly known as CUBA Platform): An open-source RAD system for enterprise. Comes with dozens of tools and extensible infrastructure.
Jotform: Online Form Builder & Form Creator.
JUDO: low-code platform aiming for enterprise use. Offers more flexibility in terms of data modeling, UI design and development.
K2: K2's process automation platform helps your company grow and take automation to a new level. Tackle any business problem—large or small—and create an app to solve it, without writing lines of code.
Kartra: Online Business Made Easy
Kingtone: Kintone is an all-in-one workplace platform that allows highly collaborative teams to build, share, and automate custom workflows and processes for data-driven results
Kissflow: a visually-pleasing drag-and-drop interface for RAD.
Knack: Online database
Kony Quantum: Quantum is the industry leading application development platform for building unified digital experiences across all channels with consumer grade UX for mission critical applications. It combines the speed and ease of low-code development with a comprehensive set of enterprise backend services and integration capabilities.
Landbot: Lead generation landing page as chatbot.
Landen: The website builder for startups.
LANSA:
Launchaco: Simple landing pages for your startup
Leadpages: Landing page builder & lead gen software.
Linx: a development tool for the rapid development and deployment of back-end applications like APIs, integrations and automations.
Logic Apps: Connect your business-critical apps and services with Azure Logic Apps, automating your workflows without writing a single line of code.
Loom: Seamless screen, mic, and camera recording for Chrome
Lowdefy
Makerpad: Build tools & automate at work without code.
Manychat: Create a Messenger bot to engage your audience. No coding!
Mendix
Metabase source: data-oriented customizable dashboard, providing a laywer for managing database records, manipulating data, visual approach to manipulated records, supports joins, multiple aggregations, advanced filtering, full-text search.
Microsoft Flow: Automate tasks by integrating your favorite apps.
miniAppMaker: Make mobile apps using Airtable!
Mintdata: Use the full power of a spreadsheet to create application logic.
Monto: Product Reviews for Webflow (and Foxy).
n8n.io: Extendable workflow automation.
Nanonets Airtable Models: Build a no-code AI image organizer with Airtable
Ninox: Create Business Apps for Mac, iPad and iPhone.
Node-RED: A programming tool for wiring together hardware devices, APIs and online services in new and interesting ways.
Notion: The all-in-one workspace: notes, tasks, wikis, & databases.
nuBuilder: Self-hosted RAD low-code with highly-customizable backend.
Nuclino: Part knowledge base, part collaboration space 🧠
Octoparse: Easy Web Scraping for Anyone
Odoo Studio: Become the developer with Odoo Studio and build your own customized applications.
OpenCatapult: low-code DevOps automation platform. Windows-only.
Oplim: Custom Tasks on Your Website with Zero Code
Oracle APEX: Oracle APEX provides you with all the tools you need to build apps in a single, extensible platform, which runs as a part of Oracle Database.
OS.bee: combines both low-code and no-code with a model-driven app development strategy.
PageXL: One-page website and store builder
Paperform: Beautiful Forms That Feel Like Yours
Parabola: Hand off your routine data tasks by describing them in Parabola. Build once, reuse infinitely.
Parsehub: Free web scraping.
Pega Platform: The best-in-class, rapid no-code Pega Platform is unified for building BPM, CRM, case management, and real-time decisioning apps.
Phantombuster: Code free automations and data extraction.
pipedream: The integration platform built for developers
placeid: Generate your social share images automatically.
Plant An App: The Secret Weapon of Software Development
PMG: a low-code development platform that helps you to automate the digital process. It is one of the best free low code platform that enables you to update your product as its requirement change quickly. This tool provides a dashboard to personalized work.
Podia: Easily sell memberships, online courses & digital downloads.
PostGraphile: Extensible high-performance automatic GraphQL API for PostgreSQL
Posthog: Open source product analytics.
Potion: Create custom websitesin minutes. All on Notion.
ProntoForms: ProntoForms offers the leading field-focused low-code development platform for mobile forms for businesses.
Quick Base: The best way to manage data and automate processes, so you can accomplish more.
Quip: One place for all your team’s work.
Refinery: Write a feature in less than the time it takes to have a meeting about it.
Reflect: Automated regression tests without a line of code.
ResponseVault: Use a grid-based form builder in your custom app.
Retool: Build custom internal tools in minutes.
Rewardful: Instant Affiliate & Referral Programs for Stripe
RIVYT: Websites for Video Creators
Rota.rocks: Convert your Wordpress posts to an iOS app.
rulai: AI Chatbot to Deliver Scalable Self Service
SaaS Blocks: Ready-to-use building blocks and APIs to take your SaaS application to the next level
Salesflare: Simple yet powerful CRM for small businesses selling B2B.
Salesforce Platform: The Salesforce Platform empowers developers to quickly build and deploy trusted cloud applications that are rock solid, secure, and scalable without worrying about hardware provisioning or application stacks.
Saltcorn: an open-source platform for building database web applications without writing a single line of code. Use the intuitive point-and-click, drag-and-drop user interface to build the whole application.
Screenshot: Programmatic Screenshots of Any Website in Seconds.
Screenzy: Screenshot beautifier
ServiceNow Platform: Get native platform intelligence, so you can predict, prioritize, and proactively manage the work that matters most with the Now Platform from ServiceNow.
Sheet2Site: Turn your Google Sheets into professional websites
Ship: A toolkit to ship awesome products, by Product Hunt
Simple Analytics: Simple, clean, and friendly analytics.
Simple scraper: The web is your API
Simplifier: a web-based configuration framework for the creation of IoT (Internet of Things) application. It is one of the Low-code development platforms which provides a real time update of changes.
Skyve source: an open-source software-building low-code/no-code platform for business.
Smooch: Instantly deploy your bots wherever users are.
Softr: From zero to a website in 5 minutes, using building blocks.
Spider: Turn websites into organized data without code.
SpreadsheetWeb: A NoCode platform for Excel users
Stacker: Turn your spreadsheets into applications.
Stackstorm: (Open-source) StackStorm connects all your apps, services, and workflows. From simple if/then rules to complicated workflows, StackStorm lets you automate DevOps your way. No need to change your existing processes or workflows, StackStorm connects what you already have.
stdlib: An online IDE for connecting APIs together
Steedos Platform: Steedos Platform is an open source management software development tool designed to help enterprises innovate, expand, and integrate business systems through its powerful agility, flexibility, and openness. Based on this platform, you can quickly create intelligent and mobile enterprise applications.
Stream Language: Taking the next step in programming
Storybook: Build component driven UIs faster.
Storyscript Prelaunch: Magical coding notebook for tomorrow’s developer.
Strikingly: Make a website in minutes
STUDIO: Design to live website in one click.
Super: Build websites with the simplicity of Notion.
Tabbli: Manage your business data and automate processes.
Tadabase: No Code Database Web App Builder
Thunkable: The No-Code App Builder
Tilda: Create beautiful websites without any code.
Tiller Money: Your financial life in a spreadsheet, automatically updated each day.
TrackVia: Transform your business by creating the exact app you need to track and automate your work.
Tray: Advanced integration platform for connecting up the tools you use every day.
Trevor: Query your live data, without code.
Trolley: Get paid with no code
Tymly source: a business-first low-code platform for creating a scalable server application. Introduced a blueprint concept that encapsulates business processes, functions, and workflows into a blueprint. Blueprints are saved in JSON schamas, data in Postres.
Typeform: Create forms and surveys that people enjoy answering
Udesly: Use Webflow to create WordPress and Shopify Themes
Uipath: We make robots so people don’t have to be robots.
Unbounce: Landing Pages: More Powerful Customization
unDraw: Free, open-source illustrations for every project.
Universe: Make an awesome website from your phone.
Versoly: The Easiest Way to Build Your SaaS Website
VisualSitemaps: Autogenerate Visual Sitemaps & Screenshots in Seconds
Voiceflow: Design, prototype and build voice apps.
Volusion: Ecommerce Website Store & Shopping Cart Software
Vuix: Design voice apps in minutes.
Wayscript: A rapid scripting platform for developers.
Webcon: a rapid application development software for digital transformation. It is one of the best low code development platforms for free that enables you to create a product without help of a software developer.
Webflow: Break the code barrier, Build better business websites, faster. Without coding.
Webmerge: Document automation software
Webnode: Easy & Free Website Maker
Weebly: Build a Free Website or Online Store
Weld: Be creative without code – Interactive content tool
Without Code: Code Free Website Builder
Widgetic: A marketplace for website building blocks.
Xplenty: a low-code and no-code ETL (extract, transfer and load) data integration platform. It is made for both small, non-technical businesses and for deeply technical developers and engineers.
Xpoda: a low code development tool that helps you to manage backoffice operations. You can integrate this app with all platforms and devices.
Yoyo Games: It has everything you need to take your idea from concept to finished game.
Zapier: Connect your apps and automate workflows.
Zendesk: Build the best customer experiences.
Zoho Creator: Zoho Creator is a low-code app development platform that lets you launch custom, mobile-ready apps in minutes. Create your own applications to automate workflows, internal processes, and manage databases.

Tags: platform reading low-code