// 7 types of NoCode tools
Having experienced the power of NoCode tools and built the stack at Flexiple, we wanted to share how you can leverage it to build almost every aspect of your startup's requirements.
In the past couple of decades, a majority of startups are on the internet. Inevitably they need tech to run or support them. That's not going to change in the future - if anything, it is only going to increase.
This has made us see developers as magicians. They are the messiahs who can make our entrepreneurial dream a reality. Well, not anymore (not for everything anyway). Enter No-code - the ability to build products and power processes without writing code.
This movement has been in the works for a few years now. We also caught onto this a bit late and ended up building complex tech with code when we had all but ZERO dollars in revenue. Not smart.
$3 million revenue runs on a $60/month NoCode stack
Then we started powering our startup, Flexiple, with NoCode. Our annual revenue has crossed $3 million and our stack is still fully NoCode that costs us $60/month:
- Marketing website: Unicorn Platform ($10)
- Product: Airtable ($0 - on credits) & Bubble ($25)
- Scale & side projects: Webflow ($25)
Building tech has not only become more easy and accessible, it isn't astronomically costly anymore!
7 types of NoCode tools for all your startup needs
Having experienced the power of NoCode tools and built the stack at Flexiple, we wanted to share how you can leverage it to build almost every aspect of your startup's requirements.
So, in this article we cover 7 types of NoCode tools along with:
A. Names of tools
B. Specific use case each solves
C. Real implementation examples
D. Alternatives
1. Marketing websites
A) Tools: Unicorn platform, Umso
B) Use cases
- You can simply drag & drop elements onto a page
- Build a marketing website in less than 60 mins
- Easily edit your marketing copy & communication to customers
C) Example
- We built our entire website of http://flexiple.com containing over 100+ pages on Unicorn platform
D) Alternatives
- Carrd.co
- Webflow
2. Database storage and information websites
A) Tool: Airtable
B) Use cases
- Advanced and more UI-friendly excel
- Easily collect data using an intuitive form
- Neatly present the data on your website in intuitive layouts
C) Example
- To help individuals laid off due to COVID, we built a page listing those who could be hired: flexiple.com/covid-layoff-h…
D) Alternatives
- Tools like Sheet2site, Table2site work well with Airtable to make quick websites
3. Beautiful info & e-commerce websites
B) Use cases
- Build beautiful custom layouts without Code
- Leverage its "CMS" to make numerous automated pages
- Use particularly if you are a designer and want to implement custom design to pixel perfection
C) Examples
- We built both Scale and Founder origin stories on Webflow
D) Alternative
- Bubble: However, if the focus is pixel perfect design, Webflow is much better.
4. Automate workflows
A) Tools: Zapier, Integromat
B) Use cases
- Automate recurring manual effort
- Store data in CRM, send automated mails, integrate tools, etc.
- Zapier is more intuitive but costly, Integromat has a steeper learning curve but handles complex cases
C) Example
- Almost all our dynamic flows were handled by Zapier or Integromat. User signup -> storing their data in our db -> sending them a mail
D) Alternatives:
5. Login & membership systems
A) Tools: Memberstack, MemberSpace
B) Use cases
- To convert your static website to have signups/logins and to also manage SAAS memberships
- Restrict content or pages to only paid users
C) Example
- We built a dashboard for new projects viewing, sharing invoices, etc. using the above set of tools:
D) Alternative:
- Bubble offers an in-built authentication system but doesn't manage subscriptions
6. Any complex web-based product
A) Tool: Bubble
B) Use cases
- Job-boards, marketplaces, internal tools => build varied applications using its "workflows" & database
- Quite self-sufficient and removes the need to depend on other tools
- Responsive design is not the best
C) Example
- Our internal tool is entirely built on top of Bubble and saves ~160 human hours per month (has sensitive data, so can't share video)
D) Alternatives:
- Adalo, Glide: More suited for mobile apps (discussed next)
7. Mobile apps
B) Use cases
- Build complex mobile apps with a simple drag & drop functionality
- Automate user actions with in-built workflows
- Use their own DB or even GoogleSheets to store data
C) Example
- Not used these products myself, but a really cool example is of the apps made to help organize & share COVID resources with people: covidresource.glideapp.io
D) Alternatives
- No credible alternatives that we know of
NoCode has made building a startup more accessible
Is NoCode going to replace code? Our bet - definitely not. Even if the extremely unlikely event happens, it is surely a couple of decades away.
However, the days of making costly MVPs are over for a majority of industries. So, here’s your broad 7-step playbook to launch your startup:
- Choose an idea or space
- Make a landing page on a NoCode builder
- Start writing about it - as a blog and on social media (background process)
- Build a MVP on NoCode
- Make money - only focus
- Earn enough to hire a developer to take the product to the next level
- Make more money
No-Code is definitely worth considering to build your MVP - whether one knows to code or not. After your MVP is done, to scale your product, you might want to hire a developer. In that context, let's try to understand how one of the largest companies made its product.
