Low-Code vs. No-Code | Why Low-Code Is Losing To No-Code

Low-Code Isn’t Dead Yet, But It’s Not Looking Good


April 30th, 2018 Low Code  

Over the years, there have been attempts to simplify programming for the masses. Not everyone wants to sit down for months, or even years, to learn how to code. This led to the promising trend of low-code apps.

Low-code platforms began when developers started building tools to create applications with a graphical interface, doing away with a lot of traditional hand coding. The actual name, low-code wasn’t coined until 2014, by Gartner, who deemed it a turning point in application development.

But you can trace the roots of low-code application development platforms to fourth-generation programming languages and rapid application development tools, which slowly started changing the development landscape.

What Was So Disruptive About Low-Code Platforms?

When low-code technology hit the scene, it was exciting. Pre-built modules and graphical interfaces ensured that people who weren’t coders, but just regular business users and executives, could code their own programs (to an extent, of course).

This might not seem particularly exciting, but it was a big thing for companies. They didn’t need to send each and every implementation request to their internal IT departments, or rely on third-party vendors to custom-make it for them (which could turn out to be pretty expensive).

low-code application development guide

If you knew the logic of how your application worked, you could make it yourself, provided you had the best low-code platform in your office. You could just drag and drop the modules that you need into your application, work out the logic, and create your own application. The only time you needed actual coding knowledge was when you needed something in your application that wasn’t pre-built into modules already.

But this wasn’t enough. The fact that there was still some coding required for some implementations meant that there was still some friction in using low-code development tools, which meant that some people were still apprehensive about using them.

This is what no-code development promised to solve.

⋙ Want more than what low-code has to offer? Give no-code solutions a try!

Low-Code vs No-Code Platforms

Low-Code No-Code
Primarily Serves Developers Business Users
Primarily Objective Speed of Development Ease of Use
Coding Need Low,but present No Coding Required
Customization Total customization available Pre-built templates can be customised
Platform Lock-in Free to move between platforms Sometimes locked into the same platform
End-to-end Development All platforms provide end-to-end development Some platforms provide only limited capabilities
Purpose Next-gen Rapid Application Development tool for professional developers Self-service application for business users
App Complexity Can create complex apps Can create simple apps
Cost Effectiveness Cost-effective for companies with an existing team of developers Cost-effective for companies with a backlogged IT team and high requirements

Are No-Code Platforms a New Phenomenon?

No-code platforms aren’t entirely that far removed from typical low-code platforms. The name is accurate, no-code platforms have virtually no coding involved. They take the same visual development approach that low-code platforms have, but take it up a notch.

This visual approach allows the app builder to create an application entirely through a drag-and-drop interface, using predefined and pre-built components to get the functionality that he/she needs. This also applies to UI elements. In a no-code platform, even these can be customized, since they are available on the platform itself.

But low-code has some areas where coding is required. How does no-code app development work its way around that?

⋙ Don’t have the time to code? No-code lets you code in hours, not days. Here’s how you can do it too!


Low-code platforms were a great advancement in the world of application development. However, rather than truly solving the problem, they made people much more aware of what was possible. They created awareness of how programming can be simplified for the masses. They let the world know that you don’t need to be a master of programming languages to create simple applications.

That’s what Kissflow has done. It’s created a platform where programming is simple for anyone. As a no-code platform, it’s become a solid addition in helping move the world past low-code and onto the next best thing.

Whether you’re a layman user or experienced developer, you’ll be able to code your own apps with Kissflow, without having to type out endless lines of code.

To see what a no-code platforming looks like, check out Kissflow and try it for yourself!