What is no-code?

Create a no-code company to empower every employee to automate workflows and create business apps in minutes

What is no-code app development?

No-code development is an approach that allows software engineers and non-technical users to build applications and automate workflows through visual modeling tools and configuration. It dramatically speeds up the delivery of new applications compared to traditional development approaches, thus allowing companies to innovate faster and resolve IT bottlenecks. By providing easy-to-use yet powerful tools for end-to-end application development, including tools for UI/UX design, AI/ML modeling, and built-in automated QA, no-code empowers every employee to become a proficient software creator without learning how to code.

Does no-code help eliminate all coding? In many cases, code cannot be fully replaced with no-code, especially when it comes to large-scale enterprise-grade applications with complex business logic. The good news is that users of no-code platforms without deep technical skills, i.e., citizen developers, can still build a broad variety of applications for their daily needs without using code – by using prebuilt drag-and-drop components, visual workflow automation tools, and intuitive configuration wizards. They can also easily reuse previously created applications as composable functional blocks for their new solutions.

Discover the secret power of No-code

No-code platform types

Today there’s a growing variety of no-code platforms that differ by capabilities, use cases, and complexity of automation scenarios. Some of the most widely used types of enterprise-grade no-code platforms include the following:

Platforms for full-scale B2E applications

Allow you to create multipurpose internal apps to support daily enterprise operations. Using these platforms, you can build applications for routine organizational tasks, such as managing requests (vacation, travel, expenses, etc.), sharing and organizing knowledge, or automating approval workflows.

Platforms for DPA and process-based applications

Allow you to build complex digital process automations, BPMN-based processes, case management workflows, etc., involving sophisticated business logic. Whatever industry you work in – FinServ, Manufacturing, High-Tech, Telecom, or Public sector – no-code tools can help you implement digital workflows for your organization to boost productivity and ensure operational excellence.

Platforms for customer-facing applications and CRM

Such as Creatio – allow you to create applications for marketing, sales, and service automation. Unlike traditional CRM platforms with OOTB features and applications, no-code CRM platforms give users complete freedom to customize their CRM applications according to their unique needs and use cases.

All-in-one no-code platform

Creatio – allows you to create applications and automate workflows across internal and customer-facing departments. The no-code platform contains no-code tools for end-to-end enterprise automation, including highly customizable UI/UX and data models, app design and lifecycle management, process and workflow automation, integration and orchestration, governance and access rights management, AI and machine learning, and other capabilities.

Creatio’s unique advantage is that it offers a full range of tools for automating customer-facing and operational business tasks – from automating personalized customer engagements to orchestrating operations across multiple departments to increasing employee productivity.

No-code development platform: 4 reasons to choose no-code

No-code platforms disrupt the traditional software development practices by offering greater flexibility in terms of app design, customization, and integration, and by shortening time-to-market by up to 10 times, according to Creatio’s recent report, “The State of Low-code/No-codee”.
Consider the following key reasons to use a no-code platform:

Increased it innovation capabilities

No-code platforms allow practically any user without IT skills to quickly create new apps and digital workflows. This helps to take some load off the IT department shoulders, allowing professional engineers to focus on more complex projects.

Improved efficiency and faster time-to-market

The traditional software development process is often time-consuming, complex, and expensive. No-code platforms offer a rich set of tools, such as drag-and-drop UI/UX designers, business rule editors, composable applications, and templates, that allow users to build applications in a fraction of the usual time.

Reduced cost and risk

No-code platforms offer a true “what you see is what you get” development experience, which ensures quick feedback cycles with the stakeholders and improves control over the project scope. This leads to better focus on the project goals from early on and minimizes the risk and cost of misalignment between IT and business teams.

Unlimited freedom to own and evolve your automation

Obviously, compared to traditional processes and legacy technologies, digitalization provides organizations with a number of significant benefits, such as end-to-end process automation, cross-departmental alignment, and the ability to quickly adapt to ever-changing work environment. Implementing no-code platforms is an essential part of digital transformation as they help organizations build and automate enterprise-grade workflows of any complexity – without the use of code, deep technical knowledge, and any other restrictions.

Low-code vs no-code

Pro developers
Business users, pro developers
Speed of development, maximum customizability
Speed of development, maximum adoption among users
Coding is needed
No coding is required or can be used as an option
Requirements-driven development process
Use case/business-driven development process

what is the difference

The concepts of “low-code” and “no-code” have much in common, such as offering visual design tools for streamlined application development.

The key difference is that low-code platforms stand on the premise that coding should remain a necessary part of the development process. While a basic solution prototype the developer can quickly create via visual design tools, further work with a low-code platform typically requires some coding, debugging, and other traditional software development practices.

True to their name, no-code platforms tend to eliminate the use of code altogether by offering more flexible and comprehensive visual design tools, configuration wizards, libraries of prebuilt components and templates. Some advanced no-code platform like Creatio also allow using code as an extra option – but in no way mandatory or essential for building a typical app – to cater to the needs of professional developers and give them all the freedom they might require.

Try a leading low-code/no-code platform to build applications and automate workflows with a maximum degree of freedom

Users Love Creatio

Creatio named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for B2B Marketing Automation Platforms (2022)
Creatio has been included in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms (2022)
Сreatio named a Challenger in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation (2022)
Creatio has been included in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for the CRM Customer Engagement Center (2021)
Creatio named a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: Core CRM Solutions, Q3 (2022)
Creatio named a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: CRM Suites, Q3 (2022)
Creatio Has Been Recognized in The Forrester Wave™: Low-Code Platforms for Business Developers, Q4 (2021)
Creatio named a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: Sales Force Automation Solutions, Q2 (2021)
Creatio Has Been Recognized in The Forrester Wave™: Healthcare CRM Providers Evaluation, Q1 (2020)

No-code features

Visual app design tools

No-code platforms allow you to simplify and speed up the process of creating applications with drag-and-drop tools for UI and business logic design, as well as with extendable libraries of ready-to-use UI components, templates, widgets, and views. Instead of coding, no-code developers can create apps by placing necessary visual elements onto the workspace and configuring them in several clicks.

Workflow automation

Enterprise-grade no-code platforms offer tools for end-to-end digital process automation – from simple business processes within a single department to complex cross-departmental workflows containing multiple stages, tasks, and participants. Such workflow automation capabilities enable organizations to digitize not only their internal back-office processes, but also their customer-centric workflows, such as marketing or customer service, and offer a hyper-personalized customer experience.

Out-of-the-box apps and components

Leading no-code platforms provide OOTB (out-of-the-box) functionality, which eliminates the need to build apps from scratch. For example, some no-code platforms include modules for data management or ready-to-go components for customer-facing apps, such as service management or sales processes management.

Application lifecycle management

No-code platforms streamline the entire software development lifecycle by automating such processes as debugging, testing, deployment, version management, etc. Users can also easily organize their application libraries, including third-party integrations and OOTB applications from the vendor’s marketplace.

Integrations and ecosystem

In addition to their no-code platform solutions, vendors typically also provide ready-made connectors to third-party apps and OOTB applications through their app stores and marketplaces. Users are also empowered to create their custom integrations via no-code capabilities of the platform, which provide more intuitive visual interfaces to work with API protocols like REST or SOAP.

Ai and machine learning

The best no-code platforms offer extensive AI/ML tools that empower users to build machine learning models for automated predictions, data classification, natural language processing, next best action recommendations, data-driven decision making, and context-aware personalization – all without writing code or hiring a data scientist.

No-code industry solutions

Banking
Banking
Empower your front office and middle office specialists to create their own applications with visual no-code tools to speed up daily business processes and streamline customer journeys.
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Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Accelerate end-to-end manufacturing processes, including warehousing, purchasing, shipping, and distribution, with a flexible and highly consistent solution ecosystem made up of no-code applications.
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Logistics & Transportation
Logistics & Transportation
Streamline your daily operational activities, including delivery requests, order taking, vehicle monitoring, payment and more thanks to highly automated and flexible workflows built with no-code tools.
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Telecom
Telecom
Deliver on the most ambitious projects and launch new services faster by automating key marketing, sales, order fulfillment, infrastructure management, and customer service processes via no-code-driven workflows and apps.
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High tech
High tech
Provide employees of an IT organization with an advanced no-code platform to speed up and simplify product prototyping, improve time-to-market for new solutions, and allow them to free up more time for more complex features and solutions.
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Business Services
Business Services
Ensure the highest quality of customer service and streamline project management as well as optimize internal operations and improve employee productivity with user-friendly no-code solutions.
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Advantages of no-code

No-code use cases

Customer engagement

Create omnichannel customer-facing apps to address any types and complexity of customer engagements. Improve customer acquisition, retention, and loyalty with more reliable and more personalized digital experiences. Create powerful apps to automate sales, marketing, and service workflows without coding.

Reporting, dashboards, and analytics

Build highly custom-tailored reports and dashboards that fit your unique business case and display any data in an easy-to-use format. Easily abstract away details to see the big picture or dive into the close-up view of your KPIs by using flexible drill-down capabilities of no-code dashboards.

Corporate lifecycle management

Streamline multiple corporate tasks related to managing employees, finance, requests, audits, internal service and support, and more. Use highly automated workflows with consolidated, up-to-date information about employees, assets, and documents to increase the productivity of HR and administrative teams.

Operations management

Automate enterprise-grade operational processes for a variety of business domains using no-code applications and integrations. Replace lengthy manual processes with automated workflows to increase efficiency, improve cross-departmental alignment, and decrease costs.

Legacy modernization

Replace slow, costly, and inefficient legacy systems with a modern, open, and highly customizable software ecosystem based on no-code. Make the transition to a new IT ecosystem fast and smooth, without disruption to the critical processes of the enterprise.

Team collaboration and coordination

Share one environment across your teams to communicate, collaborate, distribute content, schedule tasks, and manage approvals – as easily and comfortably as possible. Give employees access to consolidated information, content, essential productivity tools, and intelligent workflows to boost their productivity and efficiency.

Vertical-focused automation

Streamline operational and customer-facing processes specific to your industry with no-code. Use highly automated, vertical-specific workflows – be it the financial sector, manufacturing, IT and high-tech, healthcare, etc. – to achieve operational excellence and improve customer experience.

Why use Сreatio for no-code development?

Creatio combines powerful no-code capabilities with ready-to-use SaaS applications, industry-focused workflows, built-in productivity and collaboration tools, and a universe of templates and connectors – all developed on one platform. This approach brings a great level of alignment and accelerates time-to-value.

No-code FAQ

Who uses no-code?

Any employee, even if without IT skills, can use no-code to develop custom applications. Visual modeling tools and intuitive configuration make it possible for almost anyone in an organization to create solutions and digitize their work processes.

What are no-code tools?

No-code tools are application development platforms that allow non-technical users to build and deploy their apps without writing a single line of code. Using no-code tools, employees can streamline and automate various tasks and use cases across their organization, such as project management, critical data handling, routine workflow automation, and many others.

Is no-code the future?

No-code is one of the key technology trends today and it continues to pick up steam. This comes as no surprise since no-code platforms bridge the gap between professional programmers and non-programmers, maximize productivity in the workplace, greatly reduce the time needed to go from an idea to a fully working application, and help to boost digital literacy across the board.

Will no-code replace developers?

Traditional development, which requires coding and deep technical knowledge, will continue to be widely used in many industries that require implementation of complex and large-scale IT ecosystems. The no-code approach was not designed to completely replace traditional development, but rather to allow non-technical users to develop the necessary apps quickly on their own without burdening their IT departments.

Who are citizen developers?

Citizen developers are non-tech professionals who use no-code tools in a company to create new or modify existing business apps without the need to involve IT departments.

How do i get started choosing a no-code platform?

A good no-code platform offers easy-to-use application development tools as well as a rich set of prebuilt components to get started with. Choose the platform that offers a good start for your business use case with a solid library of OOTB components, but also ensure that it provides enough development tools to expand and customize your solution over time.

What are the limitations of no-code platforms?

Even though the capabilities of no-code platforms grow quite rapidly, they are most applicable for building business applications and not complex technical solutions. No-code platforms fit the best for workflow-driven applications, UI/UX-heavy solutions, customer engagement applications, productivity and project management tools, web and mobile apps. In many cases, no-code platforms are used by organizations to more easily create “front-end” solutions for their users, while saving more of their IT team’s energy for “back-end” data processing solutions that cannot do without custom coding.

What does the market for no-code platforms look like?

There are many types of no-code platforms that focus on different types of solutions, such as web applications, BI and analytics, digital process automation, IoT applications, as well as multi-purpose enterprise data management solutions. If you have a narrow use case, it is probably best to look for a platform that is specialized in your niche. For more general use cases, multi-purpose enterprise-grade platform like Creatio will give you both a strong start and a future-proof technology.

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