10 Best Low-Code Platforms to Create Applications in 2024

Choosing the right low-code platform is a crucial decision for businesses looking to streamline their application development processes. Given their potential to reduce the development time even up to a staggering 90%, low-code platforms have become indispensable tools to drive digital transformation for modern businesses.

According to Gartner, by 2025, organizations will build 70% of their new applications using low-code or no-code platforms. If you haven't yet experienced the benefits of the low-code platform capabilities, now is the best moment. Let’s go over the best low-code platforms available on the market in 2024 and what to pay attention to when making your choice.

What is a Low-Code Platform?

A low-code platform is software that supports creating business applications with a visual user interface and minimum or no coding required. It’s a faster and more democratized system that helps citizen developers create and customize their apps, regardless of their technical skills, using ready-to-use components. Professionals using low-code platforms can expedite the development process utilizing pre-built modules and further customize the application using code to meet specific business requirements.

Best Low-Code Platforms for 2024

Selecting a low-code platform for your company can pose a challenge as it demands a meticulous examination of your unique business needs, ensuring the chosen platform seamlessly integrates with your objectives and offers a lasting solution for efficient application development. The complexity lies in navigating through various options to identify a platform that not only meets your immediate demands but also adapts to future business growth.

To help you make the best choice for your organization, we prepared this handy guide with 10 vendors that offer the best solutions.

Creatio

Creatio’s platform, Studio Creatio, stands out as the best low-code platform in 2024 thanks to its robust features and unmatched benefits. The platform is built upon the composable no-code architecture that enables users to create powerful business applications and automate workflows with a maximum degree of freedom, in hours and minutes instead of weeks.

The Freedom UI Designer within Studio Creatio provides users with an extensive library of predefined views, widgets, and templates, expediting the design process. With drag-and-drop development tools and an intuitive interface, even users without technical skills can easily create business applications, automated workflows, and AI-powered models for data-driven decision-making. If needed, professional developers can further customize applications with coding to meet specific business requirements.

Creatio has been recognized as the only leader in The Forrester Wave™: Low-Code Platforms For Citizen Developers, Q1 2024, underscoring its exceptional capabilities and commitment to empowering citizen developers in the evolving landscape of low-code platforms.

The platform is designed to scale seamlessly, accommodating the evolving needs of organizations as they grow and expand their operations. Whether it's handling a small-scale project or managing enterprise-level applications, Studio Creatio ensures that businesses can operate smoothly. Another cornerstone of Studio Creatio is governance, providing organizations with the tools and features needed to maintain control and oversight across their whole development environment.

Security is paramount for Creatio, addressing the concerns associated with data protection and privacy. The platform incorporates robust security measures, including data encryption, ensuring that sensitive information is safeguarded, and compliance with industry regulations is maintained.

Creatio goes beyond the one-size-fits-all approach, with vertical solutions for over 20 industries. This ensures that businesses can leverage specialized solutions that cater to their unique challenges and opportunities. Businesses can also benefit from CRM solutions built on top of the Studio Creatio platform to support their marketing, sales, and customer service efforts. The Creatio Marketplace further enriches the user experience, offering a selection of more than 700 applications.

Creatio leads in the low-code environment, offering a versatile and comprehensive solution for businesses seeking tailored, and efficient application development. With its proven track record, industry recognition, and commitment to supporting users with various technical skills, Creatio stands as the go-to choice for businesses wanting to leverage the benefits of low-code application development in 2024 and beyond.

Microsoft Power Apps

Microsoft Power Apps is a dynamic low-code platform that empowers users to create enterprise-grade business applications with minimal coding expertise. With its intuitive, user-friendly interface, both seasoned developers and business users can swiftly design and deploy applications. Integrated with Microsoft's Power Platform, it ensures seamless connectivity with Power BI, Power Automate, and Power Virtual Agents that allows organizations to create comprehensive solutions for data analytics, workflow automation, and chatbot-driven interactions.

Key features

• Seamless integration with Microsoft 365, Azure, and Dataverse
• Drag-and-drop app development with a visual interface
• AI-powered development
• Custom code development
• Enterprise-grade governance capabilities

Pros

• Extensive library of pre-built UI templates
• Robust generative AI capabilities
• Strong data integration capabilities
• Extensive integration capabilities with over 1,000 connectors for common enterprise applications

Cons

• Advanced customization may require extensive coding skills
• Developer tools and options are not available for all types of applications like canvas apps, model-driven apps, and Power Pages
• Steep learning curve
• High costs and complex licensing

Pricing

• Free Developer Plan
• Power Apps Premium for $20/user/month

Salesforce

Salesforce Lightning is a leading low-code platform that enables organizations to develop and deploy cloud applications with minimal coding effort. Designed for a wide range of users, from business analysts to professional developers, Salesforce's low-code capabilities help create powerful applications using a visual interface.

Key features

• Several development frameworks for various use cases, including Visualforce for building custom user interfaces, APEX for adding business logic to systems, Heroku for storing and leveraging customer data, etc.
• AI-driven analytics
• Drag-and-drop process builder
• Integration with other Salesforce products like Marketing Cloud and Service Cloud

Pros

• Extensive marketplace with over 70000 apps and components
• Extensive Flow library with over 900 workflows that streamline the app development process
• Vast selection of industry-focused solutions

Cons

• May require additional training for non-technical users
• Confusing and complex interface
• Advanced features available only at extra cost

Pricing

• Starting at $25/user/month for Starter Suite up to even $500/user/month for Unlimited+

Pega

Pega is a robust low-code platform for workflow automation, CRM, and AI decisioning, focused on supporting professional developers. Pega's low-code capabilities enable users to build sophisticated and scalable applications to personalize engagement, automate customer service, and streamline operations.

Key features

• Unified platform for BPM, CRM, and case management
• AI-powered decision-making and automation
• Real-time analytics and reporting
• Advanced capabilities to build chatbots
• Visual case designer for modeling complex processes

Pros

• Intuitive UX design
• Strong co-development capabilities facilitating collaborative app development among both professional developers and business users
• Robust business process management capabilities

Cons

• High licensing costs disproportionate to the benefits
• Steep learning curve for beginners
• Not suitable for non-technical users

Pricing

• Low-code Factory Edition for $35/user/month
• Standard Edition for $90/user/month

Mendix

Mendix is a low-code application development platform that empowers businesses to rapidly create, deploy, and manage applications with minimal manual coding. It provides a visual development environment that allows both professional developers and business users to collaborate seamlessly in building applications.

Key features

• Mendix IDE (integrated development environment) employing model-driven development to craft data models, integrations, and more.
• Drag-and-drop interface with reusable components
• Integration with various data sources and APIs
• AI copilot-based development
• AR- or VR-enabled UX
• Automated software testing and QA monitoring

Pros

• Free plan for small businesses
• Vast marketplace of pre-built components and integrations for app creation
• Possibility to publish mobile apps straight to App Store and Google Play

Cons

• High pricing model
• Small partner delivery network with an insufficient number of skilled developers required for complex, enterprise-grade implementations
• Steep learning curve

Pricing

• Free plan
• Basic plan starting at €52,50/month
• Standard plan starting at €900/month

Caspio

Caspio is a low-code platform, facilitating the development of custom database-driven applications. Positioning itself as a flexible, all-in-one solution, it is designed to support the digital transformation of company operations and workflows, offering a suite of features to meet diverse business needs. Caspio caters to organizations of various sizes and spanning different industries, including hospital and health care and non-profit organizations.

Key features

• Visual application development
• Tools for complex data management
• Enterprise-grade security
• Robust data visualization capabilities

Pros

• Unlimited app users
• User-friendly interface
• Seamless integration with 3rd party databases and cloud services

Cons

• Limited advanced customization options
• Limited data storage
• Inflexible pricing models

Pricing

• Starter plan for new users from €40,50 /month
• Professional plan starting at €486 /month
• Enterprise starting at €1.822,50 /month

OutSystems

OutSystems is a leading low-code application development platform that empowers organizations to build and deploy feature-rich, scalable applications quickly and efficiently. With a strong emphasis on accelerating the software development lifecycle, OutSystems enables both professional developers and business users to collaborate seamlessly in creating custom applications. It caters to various industries and use cases, enabling the creation of web, mobile, and desktop applications.

Key features

• Visual development environment for web and mobile apps
• AI-assisted development tools for data modeling and management
• Library of pre-built UI patterns, screen and app templates and components
• Full-stack development capabilities
• Integration with external databases and APIs

Pros

• User-friendly interface
• Intuitive flow editor
• Support for a broad list of coding languages
• Seamless integration with third-party systems via connectors and custom code

Cons

• High costs of licensing
• Lack of vertical-specific solutions
• Too complicated for non-technical users
• Limited customization caused by predefined patterns and structures

Pricing

• Free plan for single app development
• Multiple apps plan starts at $1,513/month

Appian

Appian is a low-code platform for app development, specializing in dynamic case management and automating business processes. The platform facilitates collaboration between professional and citizen developers, providing tailored workflows, approval processes, and change management features catering to diverse developer personas.

Key features

• BPM and low-code development capabilities in a single platform
• Unified interface for designing, executing, and managing business processes
• Support for business process modeling
• AI-driven automation and decisioning

Pros

• Robust case management capabilities
• Advanced data modeling capabilities
• Robust document management capabilities
• User-friendly interface
• Extensive AppMarket including more than 900 solutions, connectors, etc.
• Seamless integration with third-party systems with a variety of different integration methods

Cons

• Lack of transparent pricing
• Advanced customization may require technical expertise
• Limited custom reporting and data visualization capabilities
• Steep learning curve

Pricing

• Appian does not disclose prices on their website
• There are 3 different plans available - Standard, Advanced, and Premium

Kissflow

Kissflow is an enterprise low-code platform that empowers users to design, deploy, and manage custom workflows without the need for extensive coding skills. With a focus on enhancing productivity, Kissflow offers a visual interface for process design, allowing both technical and non-technical users to streamline and automate various tasks.

Key features

• Robust workflow automation capabilities
• Embedded app, process, and form builders
• Built-in collaboration features for team development
• Decision tables for managing complex decision-making

Pros

• Intuitive IDE
• Robust process automation capabilities
• Flexible and easy-to-use platform
• Cloud-based accessibility

Cons

• Limited customization options compared to other vendors
• Lack of on-premises solutions
• Insufficient data modeling capabilities

Pricing

• Basic plan pricing starts at $1,500/month
• Enterprise plan available at custom pricing

Zoho Creator

Zoho Creator is a user-friendly, cloud-based development platform for managing marketing, sales, and support processes. With Zoho Creator, users can create applications for various purposes, including project management, data tracking, customer relationship management, and more. As part of the broader Zoho ecosystem, Zoho Creator seamlessly integrates with other Zoho applications and third-party services.

Key features

• Drag-and-drop interface for building applications
• Integration with other Zoho Suite apps
• Advanced scripting for customization
• AI-assisted development

Pros

• Affordable for SMB
• Robust analytics capabilities
• Flexibility to transition seamlessly between low-code and high-code environments
• Extensive integration capabilities with more than 850 connectors
• Wide selection of pre-built app templates and fields

Cons

• Limited scalability for complex enterprise applications
• Lack of advanced enterprise-grade features for governance
• Not suitable for larger enterprises

Pricing

• Standard plan price starts at €8/user/month
• Professional plan price starts at €20/user/month
• Enterprise plan price starts at €25/user/month

Key Features Robust Low-Code Platforms Need

Low-code platform simplifies and expedites the application development process, allowing users to create functional applications with minimal manual coding. Here are a few features that highlight the capabilities of a low-code platform, that you should pay attention to when comparing available platforms:

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)

AML is a critical functionality of low-code platforms, including the entire development of an application from planning to building, testing, and deployment. ALM streamlines the development process and offers a collaborative approach, ensuring efficiency and quality throughout the application's lifecycle.

Workflow automation

Workflow automation is a cornerstone of low-code platforms. Users can design, automate, and optimize workflows that guide business processes from start to finish, reducing manual work and improving efficiency. This includes the ability to define rules, triggers, and actions to streamline complex workflows.

Database management

Low-code platforms often include integrated database functionality, enabling users to create, modify, and manage databases without in-depth knowledge of database programming.

Reporting and analytics

Low-code platforms typically offer reporting tools to analyze and visualize data. Users can generate reports and analytics to gain insights from the data collected by their applications.

Communication and notifications

Low-code platforms often integrate communication tools to streamline collaboration among teammates and facilitate notification sending. This helps keep users informed about important events or updates within the application. Additionally, users can easily communicate with external parties like partners and contractors, streamlining project coordination and updates.

Security

Robust security features, including data encryption, role-based access control, and compliance certifications, are paramount. These features ensure the protection of sensitive data and compliance with industry regulations.

How to Choose the Right Low Code Platform?

When evaluating low-code platforms, it's essential to consider a range of criteria that can significantly impact applications' development, deployment, and scalability. Here are several key aspects you should consider.

Intuitive visual interface

A top-notch low-code platform is distinguished by its user-friendly, drag-and-drop visual interface. This functionality empowers users with different levels of technical expertise to swiftly create and design applications.

Pre-built templates and components

Look for a platform that offers a library of pre-built templates and components. These ready-made elements can expedite development, allowing users to jumpstart their projects.

Integration capabilities

The ability to seamlessly integrate with external systems, databases, and APIs is crucial. A robust low-code platform should facilitate easy connectivity, enabling organizations to use existing data and services.

Customization and extensibility

Look for a low-code platform that allows for extensive customization. The ability to extend the platform's capabilities through custom code when needed ensures flexibility for more complex scenarios.

Scalability

Look for a solution that can handle increased process complexity, a growing amount of data, and support an increasing number of users. This ensures that the low-code platform that you choose grows alongside your business, providing the flexibility and infrastructure needed to support your increasing demands.

Pricing

Pricing is a crucial consideration when choosing a low-code platform. Start by examining whether the low-code platform operates on a subscription-based model. Understand the various tiers offered and the features encompassed in each tier. Consider the scalability of the subscription model and how it aligns with your organization's growth.

Some platforms offer additional features as separate add-ons to the base packages. Make sure the core functionalities essential to your needs are part of the base pricing or if there are extra costs associated with specific advanced features. Examine the pricing details for potential hidden costs, such as charges for exceeding usage limits or additional storage requirements.

Summary

In today’s market, using a low-code platform is no longer an option, but a must for businesses that want to stay competitive. The low-code marketplace offers many solutions, each catering to different organizational needs, so choosing the best one is not easy. By carefully evaluating the features, functionalities, and prices of each platform, you can make sure that your organization adopts a low-code solution that aligns seamlessly with its goals and requirements.

The right low-code platform not only accelerates application development but also empowers your team to innovate and adapt swiftly to changing business landscapes. The solution that stands out from the crowd is Studio Creatio. With its commitment to agility, scalability, and a rich set of features, Studio Creatio will help your organization thrive in the ever-evolving market landscape.