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By
Aabhas Vijay
Read our article about 7 best Retool alternatives.
With innovations occurring, the way we perceive tech is evolving. There’s no more need to have mature coding skills to develop a web app, a mobile app, or an internal tool due to the existence of low-code platforms.
With a modern low-code app development platform and low-code UI builders, you can create an application integrated with your database via a drag-and-drop graphical user interface (GUI).
As per the study conducted by Gartner in 2019, low-code development will acquire more than 65% of app development by 2024.
Companies use cloud-based low-code platforms to digitize their external and internal processes. When low-code software vendors develop their tools, they keep in mind the requirements of common users who do not have much development experience.
Every low-code development platform has unique functionality and serves particular audiences, hence their propositions at the market differ from one another. The most common low-code use cases are fast UI design, database connection, API integration, ERP workflows integration, digital transformation, and more. The main reason why companies look up to low-code application platforms is that they allow them to advance their software development capabilities without stretching financial, technical, human, and other resources.
With a drag-and-drop editor, the majority of low-code tools have, building your app UI and creating workflows is easy and fast. Most of the low-code solutions offer predefined templates, widgets, prebuilt connectors, and a range of UI components you can use not to start building your low-code interface from scratch. Thanks to the in-built advanced data analytics support, you can optimize your web apps or low-code internal tools as more data pours in.
With API integration, you can connect a low-code app builder to any business system and workflow. You can also make the needed tweaks by adding advanced data filters and information queries.
More and more companies are starting to use visual development platforms to build low-code internal tools. The number of low-code software available today and serving various needs is rising exponentially. Here are some popular low-code application platforms that have already made their mark:
Retool is a low-code application platform allowing you to build a functional internal tool using out-of-the-box building blocks and ready-made templates. A free plan is available. You can connect your app UI to anything that has a REST, GraphQL, or gRPC API. Integration with PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and a number of other databases is possible. This low-code platform also allows you to modify your app with JavaScript code.
Jet admin is a low-code platform with the in-built team collaboration feature. In addition to 50+ predefined UI components, you can create the custom ones via HTML/CSS, Javascript, React, Angular, Vue. The integration with databases, business services, and third-party APIs is available. Stacker eliminates the need to deal with manual app deployment since it offers the automatic app deployment feature.
Internal is a low-code app development platform for creating internal tools on top of your databases, APIs, spreadsheets, business apps. Data connection with such databases and third parties as PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Stripe, Salesforce, and others is available. Just like the competitors, Internal allows you to apply business logic using custom code, and combine the data pulled from several databases.
PowerApps by Microsoft is a low-code development platform for building low-code internal tools and business apps to digitize various internal or external processes. Power Apps allows you to create a web app using predefined templates and a drag-and-drop editor. You can deploy the created app quickly, and extend its functionality with Azure Functions and custom connectors.
UI Bakery is an intuitive internal tool builder with fair pricing per account. It allows you to build internal tools and business apps like admin panels, CRM apps, inventory management software, etc. You can build your internal tool on top of your existing database (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Firebase, Airtable, etc.) and connect other third-party APIs like HubSpot, Stripe, and others. UI Bakery has a number of ready-made templates, out-of-the-box UI components you can use to create a UI. Automatic app deployment takes minutes.
Softr is a no-code application platform allowing you to develop SEO-optimized client portals, internal tools, marketplaces, websites with responsive design based on Airtable. Softr provides you with more than 70 ready-made building blocks and responsive templates and dashboards. You can integrate your app with Airtable, Stripe, PayPal, Zapier, Integromat, and other tools.
Even large IT companies have already realized the potential of low-code development. In the long run, no-code and low-code platforms will impact the role of the IT personnel in businesses: IT persons will be more focused on supervision and monitoring rather than on programing and debugging.
Here are the key benefits low-code development brings:
Many analysts believe that no-code and low-code platforms are analogous to computers before the development of operating systems (OS) – the event that changed the whole IT industry due to the new graphical ways of computing.
Prior to the OS occurrence, the power of tech was concentrated in the hands of coders. Now, any tech enthusiast can taste computing. They say that history is repeating itself with the appearance of low-code platforms.
In the past, programming languages like C, Python, and others eased out the whole programming scenario by hiding all the programming complications. It was really helpful for developers in building apps.
Low-code development platforms now are looked upon as the next step of the IT revolution.
Looking for a low-code platform to start? Watch a demo and get a free full-value training session that will help you understand how to build your admin panel, CRM, user portal, or another internal tool based on your database much faster than with hand-coding.