Order the development of web and mobile applications from No-code studios: 3 times faster and cheaper than from coders
By: Andrew Ilinskii
Tags: It, Enterpreneurship, Startup, Business, No Code

Order the development of web and mobile applications from No-code studios: 3 times faster and cheaper than from coders Andrew Ilinskii Dec 23, 2021·12 min read

We analyze why it is more profitable for startups to order application development from visual programming studios who use No-code tools, but not from code development studios

According to the 2020 Global Developer Population and Demographic Study by Evans Data Corporation, today an IT developer is one of the most in-demand professions: the number of developers in the world is around 31 million people.

I think you noticed that code development studios and freelancers have become a dime a dozen: contextual advertising and targeting give us thousands of offers for IT development services every single day. “We write in JavaScript, Java, Swift, Python, Kotlin, and so on.”

And the services of code studios are not cheap: on average in the Russian market, the cost of developing, for example, mobile applications ranges from $6000 to $60000, and the implementation period varies from 4 to 10 months.

Because of such high prices and the length of the implementation, many ideas just remain ideas, and many startups are not even born.

And what if I tell you that you can create payback web and mobile applications 3 times faster and cheaper without resorting to the services of code-developers?

No-code tools and Low-code solutions are the keys to such a dramatic reduction in the cost and acceleration of IT development!

Interesting?

So, let’s move on!

Remark

In the comments to similar materials, I noticed a lot of disgruntled exclamations in the spirit: “Nothing is clear, very technical article.” For this reason, my article is aimed not so much at fellow developers as at entrepreneurs who can use this information to solve their business problems.

My name is Andrew Ilinskii — I am the founder of the Sinneo Visual Programming Studio! If you are a startup or entrepreneur looking to launch a new product, this article is for you!

What is No-code / Low-code?

There are two concepts that people often confuse — No-code and Low-code.

No-code tools are constructors for creating IT products that do not require the use of code. Surely you know Wix website builder? However, I should get you up to speed right away: No-code tools are much more than Wix. In today’s article, I draw on my experience in developing tools for creating web and mobile applications — Bubble and Adalo.

Low-code I define as an approach to the implementation of an IT product, when the product base is made on the No-code tool, and everything else that is not implemented on the constructor is added manually with code.

Advantages of Low and No-code Development over Code Development

First of all, developing applications using No-code tools is less laborious. Assembling a product from ready-made blocks is easier than writing dozens of lines of code for each element. To create an IT product using No-code is 3 times faster compared to code development — less labor intensity leads to a decrease in the spent man-hours. To develop an application using No-code is 1.5–2 times cheaper only by reducing the man-hours spent on work. If we also take into account that the man-hour of a middle noucoder costs 25–40% less than a middle coder, No-coding becomes at least 4 times cheaper than traditional coding. With the help of prepared plugins and API keys, No-code constructors are integrated with third-party services, such as: payment modules, Google maps, email platforms, chat bots, third-party databases, CRM systems and others. This simplifies the work and extends the Application. You can create a product not only from ready-made blocks, but also on zero block. On a white sheet, you create various blocks, using not the entire ready-made template, but only specific elements. Some services are Open Source. This means that you can write your own program code based on the No-code platform. This just transforms No-code into Low-code, and takes visual programming beyond block solutions.

Intrigued you? Here you can find out about the best No-code services and what you can create with them.

Where is it applied and to whom is it relevant?

Determining the target audience, we can safely say that Low and No-code development is primarily necessary for startups who are tasked with bringing their MVP (Minimum Viable Product) to the market with little blood.

What is MVP and why are startups bringing it to market?

Let’s say you have an idea. You analyzed the market, studied competitors, came up with your ideal product with a “unique selling proposition.” All is cool!

Then you invested money and time in the IT development of a complex and multifunctional product and brought it to the market. And, suddenly, the project, for some inexplicable reason, does not produce the results that were expected.

Why did it happen? The problem may lie in the overconfidence of aspiring entrepreneurs in their product. They release their web or mobile application to the market without regard to the needs of the target audience, relying only on their intuition.

What can you do to avoid failure? In order to minimize your potential losses, it makes sense to moderate your starting appetites and start with two steps:

1. Carry out CustDev (Customer development), or as it is commonly called in the English-speaking environment, User Research.

In short, CustDev / User Research / User Research is a complex of works to identify the target audience’s need for a future product, as well as their preferences for functionality, design, interface and other components of the product.

If you are interested in reading about “User Research”, write in the comments, I will definitely make a special article.

2. Create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

I will also be brief about MVP. A Minimum Viable Product is one that:

is done not so much for making money as for “testing the hypothesis”;

reaches the market 3–4 times faster than the “final product”;

contains the functionality necessary to meet the main needs of the target audience;

has a minimum number of optional “tricks”;

demonstrates the relevance and relevance among the target audience;

brings you the first money;

forms the first permanent audience.

If you are interested in learning more about MVP, then this article is for you!

Why is it better to do MVP based on Low-code rather than code? And how to scale the product then?

As mentioned above, No-code and Low-code have a number of economic and functional advantages when you are working on a tight budget and time frame.

But there are also strategic advantages that allow you to smoothly and progressively develop your product from MVP on No-code to Application on code.

The product development strategy will depend on the functions of the intended “final” product and the No-code tool used at the start.

The diagram below shows the most common development strategies.

In the case of the Bubble tool, you can leave the product on the platform and grow it there — fortunately, the broad technical capabilities of this Open Source constructor allow you to do this both using templates, plagins and coding.

But you can also transfer the product to a code base if you understand that the Bubble database does not attract your multimillion-dollar audience, and you do not want to spend money on buying additional memory in the same Bubble or, conditionally, Airtable.

If we are talking about Adalo, then it is better there, right after the first positive MVP results, to transform the application into code. Adalo stands out for its high-quality UX / UI design templates, and is quite easy to use — the development cost on it is lower than on Bubble. But Adalo does not have wide functionality — therefore, you will not be able to carry out significant updates and improve the financial result. Adalo is the most “hypothesis testing platform”.

In general, Low-coding is a very flexible approach, providing a lot of maneuvers to optimize performance.

The main advantage of MVP, as well as No-code tools and Low-code solutions, is that they speed up the “time to market” of the product. This means that while your competitors write their application in code for a long time and tediously, you can already enter the market, receive feedback from users, upgrade the product, and even earn the first money.

Why traditional coding isn’t profitable today

Over time, any “complex” and “hard-to-reach” product follows one of two paths: either it “simplifies” and becomes “generally available”, or disappears into oblivion. There are examples of the typewriter and the first computers, computers before and after Steve Jobs, etc.

Here’s a more recent example of how know-how became cheaper and more useful than its predecessor: today’s mobile smartphones.

Yes, an old analog phone is much cheaper in monetary terms than a new smartphone. But at the same time, this phone severely limits you in the options for its use. You can only call and write SMS on it.

But people’s desires are not limited to the telephone only. In a market economy, consumption and demand are always on the rise. People want to have a phone, a camera, a computer, a GPS navigator and much more.

What supply can satisfy this demand? Create something that will cover several needs at once, and that will be cheaper than all these benefits in the aggregate.

Indeed, a smartphone is cheaper. Calculate the cost of an analog phone, camera, computer, GPS navigator, and you will see that all these joys of life in total cost more than one small phone that fits in your pocket.

It’s the same with IT development. Code developers cost a lot of money. In a sense, their services are “overwhelming”. That is why many people do not even think about their IT business, because there is no investment to develop an IT product. And most importantly, the money paid does not give you guarantees of future earnings of even more money.

Does the mass consumer need these expensive services of coders, if today Low/No-code developers can close several business tasks at once:

make the product 4 times cheaper,

make the product 3 times faster,

speed up the “time to market” of the product

test the hypothesis,

to reduce the potential losses of the customer if his idea does not work out?

I suppose — do not need.

The same applies, by the way, not only to startups, but also to large businesses. Large companies also release beta products that require hypothesis testing. Do you think big companies don’t count money? Yes, even they do it!

In other words, traditional coding becomes economically disadvantageous. No and Low-code are able to satisfy more development demand.

No-code and Low-code development today and in the near future

Numbers speak better than me.

No-code and Low-code development are already gradually taking market share away from traditional coding. According to the Field technologies sonline resource, as of 2019 in the USA Low-code and No-code development occupied 30% of the IT development market.

It means that every third developed IT-product in the USA was made either on a No-code constructor, or on a combination of code and No-code.

Research and consulting company Gartner predicts the following:

By 2024, application development with low-code solutions will account for over 65% of all application development activities.

By 2024, 75% of large enterprises will use at least four No-code tools.

Amazon and Google already have their own No-code tools. And Apple announced the release of its own platform in time.

By 2030, the global low-code development market will generate $ 187 billion in revenue, up from $ 10 billion in 2019. Growth during the forecast period will be 31% annually.

I believe that in the foreseeable future, a lot of coders will either have to look for a new profession or retrain, since No-code tools will deprive the market of the need for so many developers on the code.

Although those strongest who remain will increase in price many times over, because the fewer specialists, the higher the cost of the services of those who work.

However, this is not a big problem for entrepreneurs who have already successfully launched their No-code project and have earned enough money. There is more than enough for code development, and coders will remain in demand.

Can I make a No-code Application myself?

Of course, No-coding, like everything else, can be learned. Okey Google! But here is a hidden trap, falling into which you can get bogged down in your project for a very long time, and never finish it.

The trap can be called like this: “Don’t fancy yourself a No-code developer!”.

The main misconception that you may have while reading this article is: “There’s nothing difficult, this is a constructor! I’ll sit down and figure it out. ”

This is not entirely true: not everyone will be able to figure it out on their own and start “nukodit”. Rather, “Not only everyone can figure it out, very few people can do it.”

Some services have a very complex interface and feature set. For example, you will definitely not figure it out with Bubble if you are not inclined to delve enthusiastically in a bunch of incomprehensible buttons and are not ready to go through dozens of tutorials and paid courses.

But that’s not the point. The main thing is that you must be a developer by nature. This means that you need to have certain character traits and mindset.

First of all, these are:

perseverance;

persistence;

high level of learning,

willingness to spend hours doing boring and monotonous work to correct your own mistakes;

fanatical dedication (combining programming with an active social life is very difficult).

And last but not least, talent and the level of mastery of the code or know-how matters.

No-code and Low-code are, indeed, simpler than traditional programming, but it’s not trivial.

Therefore, my advice: if you do not have a sincere craving for programming, I do not recommend following the urge to “Make a candy without spending anything”. It is better to turn to professional visual programming studios.

Otherwise, you are guaranteed to stall at some stage and will be forced to turn to professionals for a paid revision of your “art”.

And this revision will cost you 1.5 times more, because the developers, you know, are not happy to delve into other people’s “Augean stables” at their standard rates.

Remember — the miser pays twice.

By ordering a product from scratch from No and Low-code development studios, you will receive it faster and better than sitting down to figure it out yourself. This will allow you to channel your energies into the business processes that you are really good at and will benefit your business.

Summary

So, I will summarize!

What makes No and Low-code more preferable than traditional coding:

Time to market is accelerating — you can launch a project many times faster and make changes, receiving feedback from the market along the way.

Low rates of nocoders and reduced man-hours make No-code development 4 times cheaper than code development.

Potential financial losses in case of not passing the MVP stage are minimized.

Low-code is a flexible approach to the implementation of an IT product that allows you to resort to different product release strategies depending on the current capabilities and planned results.

The American market for No / Low-code development sets the trend for the growth of the sphere.

Even large companies like Google and Amazon have already released their own constructors! Is this not an indicator of the relevance of the topic?

*****

That’s all! Soon I will publish an article with a detailed description of the technical implementation of a functional clone of Skyeng, “Online School of Children’s Speech Therapy”, which we created on Bubble in 3 months, reducing the development cost from $ 23,000 to $ 3,500.

Have you heard about No-code / Low-code before? Have you encountered him in your work? Have you ever had an IT startup crash due to lack of funding for development? Would you order your product development for No-code / Low-code?

Let’s go to the comments!