Evaluating Low-Code vs No-Code for Business Users

evaluating low-code vs no-code

More than 500 million digital applications are expected to be developed and deployed by 2023. But due to unprecedented circumstances such as The Great Resignation in IT roles - the number of developers needed to implement these business apps is severely limited. 

With IT teams around the world experiencing massive backlog requests, how are other departments who rely on their traditional development skills for implementation and maintenance getting on? 

Luckily, businesses are finding refuge in low-code no-code platforms that allow programmers to focus on pro-code initiatives, extending more basic customer experience and product development tasks to business users (also called citizen developers).

What is Low-Code?

Low-code tools use a super-friendly, user-facing interface that enables your organization’s development team to speed up their work processes and reduce deployment time. 

How? Providing drag-and-drop functionality that allows users to embed customized code as needed. Because there’s some coding involved with these tools, they are best suited for development teams or business users with coding experience. 

Is low-code technology right for you?

There is no denying it– low-code is a hot trend. In fact, 4 out of 5 businesses are already using low-code tools. They are best used to deploy tools like:

  • Process management
  • Website and mobile app development
  • Cross-department tools
  • Cloud-based software

When deliberating whether it’s right for your business, you will want to consider the following questions: 

1. Do we have a development team to manage the platform?

While still very user-friendly, low-code tools do require some level of programming knowledge in order to achieve the customization you are looking for. It’s best for teams who have this experience and can better understand more technical aspects of the platform. 

2. Do we need to integrate across various platforms?

Low-code tools have excellent integration capabilities because of their custom coding and plugins. So if you need to connect to several technologies at a time, low-code platforms can provide you with that flexibility and scalability. 

3. Do we need to create apps for our unique business needs?

While both low-code and no-code tools can be utilized to create internal company apps, if you need to create organization-specific applications that can enhance your company’s goals, low-code might be the better tool. 

What is No-Code?

No-code platforms allow non-technical business users (citizen developers) to manage and quickly deploy business applications. 

With developers strapped for time and bandwidth, no-code solutions are empowering organizations by streamlining processes and extending the IT department through citizen development programs. These platforms are so easy that almost anyone can start building with them. In fact, only a mere 5% of users find them to be clunky or difficult to use. 

Is no-code technology right for you?

When comparing low-code vs no-code platforms, the main difference boils down to the end user. No-code tools require very little assistance from IT, while low-code relies a bit more on programming expertise. 

No-code tools are best used for quick-to-build standalone apps with straightforward user interfaces (UIs) and simple automations including: 

  • Phone and communications systems
  • Self-service apps for business users
  • Dashboards
  • Content management platforms
  • Data pipeline builders 
  • Calendar planning and project management tools 
  • BI reporting apps 

If you’ve been considering a no-code platform to build out any of these functions within your organization, here are a few questions to consider to ensure it’s the right choice for your organization:

1. Is our IT team strapped for time?

When there are not enough developers to handle all the needs of your organization, no-code platforms are 100% hands-off. Meaning, your business team can easily build applications with intuitive drag-and-drop tools. 

2. Do we want to reduce monotonous administrative tasks?

Reporting is a critical function for most business users. With its integration capabilities and easy interface, no-code programs automate reporting dashboards for business teams so IT teams can put their focus back on heavy coding responsibilities. 

3. Do we need to deploy more in less time?

Being plug-and-play, no-code initiatives are much quicker and easier to deploy than even low-code ones. And because of its codeless requirements, testing applications are much more fluid and accurate as there are no manual coding mistakes. 

What to Expect From Low-Code vs. No-Code

When doing your technology research, you’ll often notice that low-code and no-code tend to be lumped together. While both ultimately streamline business processes, it’s important to compare the two tools so you can select the right functionality for your end users and business success. 

Here is a high-level overview when comparing low-code vs. no-code tools: 

Low-Code No-Code
Best for Companies with existing IT development team Companies with no IT team or backlogged IT team with high requirements
End users Developers Business teams (citizen developers)
Objective Speed up app deployment Ease of use
System type Open system for code-enabled customization Closed system for more set functionality
Architectural Range Extensive platform integrations Limited platform integrations
Shadow IT risk Low High

1. Best for

Both low-code and no-code platforms will enhance your development and deployment process, but in order to achieve this, you need the right team members using the tool you provide them.

  • No-code is best for teams with limited IT oversight or IT teams that are strapped for time and need non-technical team members to streamline initiatives forward.
  • Low-code is best for IT teams that need to streamline more complex development projects. 

2. End users

The biggest difference between low-code vs. no-code is the end-user.

  • No-code is for business users and citizen developers 
  • Low-code is best for your development team

3. Objective

The time to deployment is one of the strongest use cases for implementing a low-code or no-code tool.

  • Low-code still requires training for your development team. And because of its deep ability to apply customizations via coding, testing tends to take longer than a no-code tool. But regardless of these factors, it still drastically improves development time.
  • No-code is plug-and-play. Meaning, once it's set up and configured properly, your non-IT team members are capable of using user-friendly drag-and-drop functions to build out systems ASAP. 

4. System type

System type is just a fancy way of saying whether the tool allows you to add code or not

  • Low-code tools are considered an open system because they do allow its users to apply code. This adds more flexibility, integrations and customization. 
  • No-code tools are closed-systems as they can only be customized through templated features. This restricts user access to integrations and certain use cases but it also reduces potential breaks in others’ systems. 

5. Architectural range

Architectural range is a tool's ability to connect with other tools for scalability and cross-platform compatibility.

  • Low-code tools give coders much more flexibility in terms of integrations and custom plugins via code, providing a much broader architectural range.
  • No-code platforms provide business users more limiting ability to connect external tools, reducing scalability. 

6. Shadow IT risk

Shadow IT is when business users implement tools without IT approval that may cause security or compliance concerns. 

  • Low-code requires IT assistance because of its coding language. Since it’s managed by the IT department, low-code presents a lower shadow IT risk. 
  • No-code requires little IT oversight, resulting in greater shadow IT risk. 

Deploy VoIP Intuitively With the AVOXI Platform

In short, low-code and no-code applications allow you to improve your bottom line through business user empowerment and offloading basic tasks from your organization’s developer and programming teams. 

One area of your business in which you can quickly implement a low-code no-code solution is within your organization’s phone system. With no-code tools like the AVOXI platform, your business users can gain more control of their workflows, better steer callers in the right direction with intuitive navigation and enhance their experience overall. 

Coding Beyond Tradition

Low-code no-code is the future of business communications.
Read our guide to learn how to leverage citizen developers
to lower barriers and accelerate IT objectives.