Businesses need to evolve and pace up with the ongoing dawn of the digital era. While all businesses — big and small — now understand the need to digitize their businesses, it can be quite challenging for those who can’t find solutions through traditional methods.
For businesses that are in the initial phases of incorporating machine learning can leverage low-code options. Not only are they easy to use but they also accelerate the development process given that you don’t have to write the entire code manually. Low-code platforms are the best solution for less experienced data science teams.
With the help of enterprise low code development platforms, you can escape all the tiring hassle and produce better and more efficient data and AI solutions in much less time.
Table of Content
- What is Low Code Development?
- Why Should Enterprises Choose Low Code Over Traditional Development
- What is Low Code Development Platforms
- 10 Best Low Code Development Platforms for Citizen Developers
- What Can You Build With Gramex Low Code Platform
- Benefits of Low Code Development Platforms
- Frequently Asked Questions on Low Code
What is Low Code Development?
Low code is basically a software development method to build applications without the need for deep coding. This method allows you to customize an application as per your unique needs in the form of something similar to flowcharts, using a visual interface.
Gartner’s latest statistics, leading global research and advisory firm, predict a 23% growth in the worldwide low code development market in 2021.
Addressing the growth of low code development, Fabrizio Biscotti, Research Vice President at Gartner, said, “While low-code application development is not new, a confluence of digital disruptions, hyper-automation and the rise of compassable business has led to an influx of tools and rising demand.”
Why Should Enterprises Choose Low Code Over Traditional Development?
Every enterprise faces a unique set of custom problems that need custom solutions.
Traditional development is capable of producing custom applications but at the cost of a high budget, more time to develop, higher go-to-market time, and timely maintenance. Hence it is not a desirable scenario for most companies/organizations.
On the other hand, low-code development platforms help enterprises with the correct tools for application development. It improves overall efficiency, overall morale, and productivity within an organization.
The difference between low code and traditional development can be classified based on certain parameters. The infographic below gives a glimpse of it.
What are Low Code Development Platforms?
Low code development platforms help you to avoid the usual long coding processes and provide you with a place to “draw” your application. This means that you don’t need to be bothered with line-to-line coding and rather focus on designing your application like a flowchart.
While you might be stuck to either go with the available applications in the market or manage tons of documents and spreadsheets, low code has risen to fill in that gap and be the third option.
Here’s how low code development is different from traditional software development.
Maintaining applications using traditional methods can be quite tedious, considering that a company’s requirements and goals are constantly changing. For example, you might need to add another option in an application to help a company run more efficiently. However, to do so, you’ll have to write a new code for that section.
Furthermore, once you’re done testing and troubleshooting the app, you might need to revisit and configure things that are out of sync.
Again, with low code development platforms, you can manage graphic interfaces easily on the development platform. You don’t need to be worried about upgrading your applications over time, as the platform creator is constantly updating and improving the saved interfaces and, therefore, improving your website without even troubling you for the same.
10 Best Low Code Development Platforms for Citizen Developers
There are several paid and open source low code platforms available for you to choose from. Here’s the list of some of the best.
Gramex
Gramex is a low code data science platform, which holds the ability to build data and AI applications in weeks and not months. The platform is developed specifically for developers to build custom applications with the help of pre-built templates, microservices, and RESTful APIs.
Apart from being a low-code platform, Gramex comes with attractive features for developers.
- 200+ Pre-built components with 15 connectors, 25 processors, 40 visuals, and over 70 libraries.
- UI-driven configuration that requires no coding background and is suitable for citizen developers.
- Generates business insights in real-time
- Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to provide a simple interface to configure and add microservices and REST APIs to your application.
- Capable of building data and AI/ML applications with a significantly lesser go-to-market time.
Gramex Pricing Plans
Gramex comes in three versions — Community edition, Lite edition, and Enterprise edition.
- The community edition is available for free.
- The Lite edition would cost you $ 3,999 / app with an unlimited number of users, IDE to build applications, and shared support.
- The community edition would cost you $ 8,999 and is best for teams building 2+ apps.
Gramex Resources
Gramex is a unique low code platform to build data and AI applications that help businesses and non-profits tackle enterprise and sustainable challenges.
Download the Gramex Feature Sheet to find out about its architecture, how it works, its feasibility with your in-house ecosystem, and more.
Mendix
Mendix is an American low code development platform that offers both low code and no-code development options to its users. It was designed to accelerate app delivery across the application development process.
Some amazing features offered by Mendix are:
- Customized IDE for every developer.
- Only low code platform with a built-in React Native framework.
- Use pre-defined templates simply by dragging and dropping them in your app design.
- Use APIs or pre-built connectors to extend solutions built on Mendix.
- Enhance user experience with an Atlas UI Framework to build a flawless design.
Majorly loved benefits of Mendix are its enterprise security and integration, single-click deployment, and central application management.
Mendix Pricing Plans
- You can avail of a free trial and use the Community Edition for free
- Single App Edition starts at $1,875 per month
- Pro Edition starts at $5,375 per month
- Enterprise Edition starts at $7,825 per month
While Mendix offers excellent and efficient development solutions, its price range often isn’t the most affordable for small-budget businesses.
Appian
Appian Corp. is a cloud computing and enterprise software company that offers excellent low code development platforms to help you develop better apps without wasting your valuable time.
A few Appian features are:
- Easy to configure APIs and Faster integration than ever.
- Customizable templates as per your choice.
- Use predefined interfaces to develop beautiful and smooth applications.
The benefit of Appian is the ability to create an app in 3 minutes, even for those who don’t have any technical knowledge. Top-notch security, the option to launch the apps you develop, and Appian’s amazing case management tools are the various other benefits that attract more to the platform.
Appian Pricing Plans
- Free 30-Day Trial Period
- Application Edition at $75 per month
- Enterprise Edition for $150 per month
The list of cons is quite short for Appian, thanks to its amazing management techniques. However, users often refer to its user interface as basic and have reported a few bugs, which will hopefully be dealt with soon.
Kissflow
Kissflow is a single platform that offers various tools for project management, case management, process control, etc. They have numerous tools available for various tasks to ensure a smooth workflow for users at all times.
For example, tools like Kanban boards, tagging, status tracking, and custom task cards are helpful for project management while they can be supported with features like communication channels, polls, and surveys to increase efficiency as well.
A few key features of Kissflow are:
- Generate custom reports and acquire profitable insights.
- Get a printable or digital trail of steps in the process.
- Create and modify workflow visually.
Kissflow is widely known for its strict security and privacy systems, according to which all of your sensitive data is encrypted and protected by a multi-factor authentication system.
Furthermore, you can use the 5-step wizard to build a workflow within minutes while using pre-built reports to assist you during the app development process.
Pricing: Plans at Kissflow start from $390 per month.
Microsoft PowerApps
Designed to help you build professional-level applications without much effort, Microsoft PowerApps is known for assisting companies in building low code apps.
A few features Microsoft PowerApps are:
- Code plug-ins for advanced business logic in the common data service
- Power query tools and data integrator to bring data in CDS
- Data gateway to integrate with services running on-premise
The biggest benefit of using Microsoft PowerApps is it being a solution provider for all your issues. You don’t need to have any prior coding knowledge to design the perfect application for your business as well.
Microsoft PowerApps Pricing Plans
- Free Trial available.
- Business Users — $7 per month
- App Makers and Admins — $40 per month
Pega Systems
Pega Systems is an American software company that is widely known for its innovative software designs that tend to destroy business complexity.
Key features of Pega Systems include:
- Automatic Generation of application code
- Enterprise-level scalability
- Standards-based User Interface
Pega is known for offering its users a chance to design a comprehensive application even if they don’t know how to code. From excellent tools and user-friendly layout to exceptional lifecycle maintenance, Pega is excelling in all these fields.
Pega Systems Pricing Plans
- Free Trials Available
- Contact the vendor for a quote based on your unique requirements.
Salesforce Lightning
Salesforce is the fastest and easiest way to help businesses develop modern apps that meet their unique expectations.
Some of its key features include:
- Salesforce lightning low code helps you create apps faster than any other platform.
- Modify sections as per your choice. You don’t have to visit IT every time you want to change something on the website.
- Use the skills of your developers to their full potential. Drive value from your IT department.
The major benefits of Salesforce Lighting include the opportunity to avail of Rapid Digital Transformation, Accelerated Deployment, and Stylish applications from a huge collection of visual interfaces and designs.
Pricing — Contact Vendor for Personalized Quotes
Zoho Creator
Zoho Creator is a low code development platform that helps you create and launch customized applications within a few minutes.
Some of the major features include:
- Online inventory and order management
- Effortless Expense reporting
- One time and recurring online payments solution
Zoho Creator is another low code development platform that has high-security standards. It is accessible and easy-to-use software that is available for anyone at quite an affordable price.
Zoho Creator Pricing Plans
- Free Trial
- Basic Plan — $10 per user per month
- Premium Plan — $20 per user per month
- Ultimate Plan — $30 per user per month
OutSystems
OutSystems is a Portuguese low code platform that offers amazing tools for companies to design apps according to their unique needs.
Some key features of the platform include:
- Real-time reporting full access control and permission management
- Complete scalable through APIs
- Native support for quick Development
- Complete DevOps automation
- Quick mobile app deployment and monitoring
The biggest benefit of using OutSystems is that the apps built on this platform are guaranteed to run smoothly on all devices. You can address all of your unique needs and can design a unique app for your own company.
OutSystems Pricing Plan
- Free Trial and Free Plan
- One — Starting at $2,100 per month
- Enterprise — Starting at $4,600 per month
VisionX
VisionX aims to help its users' applications faster than any traditional methods. Apps designed on this low code development platform run smoothly on all devices and can be designed to cater to your unique needs.
A few key features of VisionX are:
- Visual Development — easy-to-use for everyone; it offers UI, data model, and business logic. All changes made can be seen in the Live Preview option.
- 100% Java Open Source — No more worrying about being locked in by your vendor. Everything is customizable and available for your needs.
- Web, Desktop, and Mobile Applications — switch between GUI technologies without changing the UI source code.
VisionX users have reviewed the services to be flexible and customizable. It is easy to use and can be used even by individuals that have no coding knowledge as well.
VisionX Pricing Plans
Starts from €249 per month, per user
What Can You Build With Gramex’s Low Code Development Approach
Digital Twins of Business Processes
The concept of digital twins, especially in the manufacturing sector, has been tightening its grasp. Digital twins are the virtual replicas of original business processes. The simulations help business executives predict the outcome of a business operation by analyzing its factors.
For example, the following is a digital twin of a pharma manufacturing operation. The process monitor solution analyzes real-time machine parameters to predict the quality of the batches of tablets. The data from the machine parameters such as stirring speed, cooling rate, and reactor temperature predict the quality of final outcome. Not only this, but this pharma digital twin also allows the operator to choose and try out multiple parameters to get the high-quality batch without wasting even a single piece of raw material.
Data Storytelling Apps
Low code platforms can be used to simplify data analysis and representation. By automating the analysis method into the platform libraries, it’ll be easier for developers to set integrations.
While a researcher will provide you with the results of his research and analysis, you can’t use this information until you simplify it for your on-field working team. Developers can use low code development platforms to change the data representation into visually easy-to-understand data stories.
Thereafter, the researched material will be much easier to understand and, thus, provide accurate goals and better tasks for the company.
For example, consider the following graphical representation that was created for the World Bank, which presents data in a scrolly-telling (scrollable story-telling) method. The visual representation, which is based on the Network Readiness Index data, was created using more than 1800 variables, interactive images, automated narratives, and guided analysis for better understanding.
Visual Representation of Company Process Data
Getting a job done can be quite a time-taking task in a company, considering the specified lengthy process you have to go through to approve and submit the assigned task.
Doing so many tasks for a single vacancy at one time can be quite a time-taking task. However, developers can use low code development platforms to create a visual representation of all the steps involved in the process.
AI/ML Applications
Developers who build AI applications work on very heavy datasets. The constant coding is time-consuming and there is a significant chance of getting bugs, which adds more time to resolve them. The Low-code approach is a sigh of relief for developers as it reduces manual efforts by offering pre-built components and microservices.
We released a beginner’s utility, Compare ImageNet to compare classification results from SotA Convolutional Neural Network architectures. The tool enables beginners and non-programmers to see how off-the-shelf pre-trained deep learning models classify their own real-world images.
The model uses pre-trained (MobileNetV2, ResNet50, VGG19, InceptionV3, Xception) weights from TensorFlow Keras.
Benefits of Low Code Development Platforms
Now that you are familiar with low code, let us now get into a few of the major benefits of using low code development platforms:
Less Expensive
Low code development platforms use pre-designed user interfaces. Therefore, reducing the expenses of coding and designing all the basic things again. Furthermore, you don’t have to deal with heavy maintenance charges. It also eliminates the need to hire more developers, thus reducing expenses again.
Increased Productivity
Low code development platforms help design complex apps much quicker than traditional methods, therefore, increasing productivity by a large margin.
Better Customer Experience
Companies can use low code development platforms to update, modify, or create a completely new section to meet their customers’ unique requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions on Low Code
- What is Low Code?
Low code is a visual approach to create applications using a graphical user interface rather than traditional coding methods. This is a much more efficient method considering you don’t have to do line-by-line coding and can design your app in the form of flowcharts. - How to learn Low Code?
Low code doesn’t require any coding experience or knowledge. Almost anyone can learn how to do low coding and use it to create applications. - What is Low Code Automation?
Low code automation brings together key processes and automates an organization’s various workflows like Robotic Process Automation, Business Process Automation, Case Management, and Artificial Intelligence. - When to use Low Code platforms?
If you want to improve your digital operations, fill in for the lack of IT skills, or boost efficiency, low code development platforms can help you deal with all of these. It can be used to create the most effective applications that cater to your unique needs at a much lesser cost. - What is Low Code vs Traditional Development?
Traditional development methods require you to do line-by-line coding, which was inarguably an excellent method to design applications. However, with the increase in demand for more complex app designs and much bigger companies, development through traditional methods won’t bear fruitful results. Whereas, using low code to create apps using a graphical user interface is a much better option now! With tons of predesigned interfaces to drag and drop, you can design and launch basic apps within a few minutes. - What are Low Code and No Code?
While low code appeals to developers and helps them build applications without the help of too much coding, no code tends to appeal to business users that don’t want to focus on technical aspects but rather improve their user experience.
