Tools
No code software has been going through the roof in recent weeks: platforms and tools that allow you to create integrations, apps and websites with simple, intuitive user interfaces and no programming knowledge required. But it's not just people who know little or nothing about programming who benefit from this trend, but also programmers who simply want to build faster and easier without code. So, used correctly, no code can be a great benefit for you:
Empower yourself and your team to participate in development
Create digital platforms, apps, websites and much more quickly and efficiently without having to rely on developers.
Spend less time on development and more on business development
Create high-performance and scalable processes and apps that you can adapt to your requirements yourself at any time.
These reasons alone would be a strong argument to explain the continued spread of No Code. But that is not all.
But No Code Software does not only have the simple goal of supporting or relieving programmers (although that is a great advantage): rather, the development of digital products should become more democratic, more diverse and accessible to more people. Websites, shops, digital products or integrations should no longer be developed only by professionals, but by everyone.
However, the likelihood that No Code will now make programmers completely superfluous is very low. Just as mobile phone cameras have not replaced photographers or daily tweets have not replaced foreign policy, No Code software will probably become a piece of the puzzle.
Although the trend is so hot right now, some of the no-code software presented here has been around for a while. So we look at the tools that help you build websites, apps or databases.
WordPress is a content management system for creating websites that is truly no longer an insider tip. WordPress has been around for many years and its success is truly overwhelming: according to its own data, 40% of the internet uses WordPress (source: wordpress.org). Quite rightly, in our eyes.
With an overwhelming number of plugins for almost every purpose: SEO, forms, visual page builders, blogs...) and endless templates and themes, WordPress is a great way for a wide range of people to easily and quickly build websites to their own specifications.
WordPress has been around for some time and is unlikely to change in the next few years. It's possible to write a performant and attractive website without a single line of HTML or CSS code, not to mention that the community is so big that you can find a solution for every problem. On top of that, WordPress is fast (your SEO thanks you), easy to set up and reliable.
Anyone who loves (web) design will find what they are looking for with Webflow. Because that is exactly what the No Code software focuses on. No matter what you create in Webflow, in the end it somehow looks highly professional and modern. That's why it's less important that Webflow offers fewer customisation options than WordPress.
Although WordPress is characterised by a huge number of plug-ins, it is precisely this less that is more with Webflow: because Webflow is thus less dependent on third-party providers. Why is this important? We know only too well that WordPress plugins "don't get along" with each other and thus lead to problems in the CMS. With its focus on design and prototyping, Webflow sets itself apart from WordPress and does a pretty good job of it in our eyes.
In addition, Webflow is incredibly fast. Even large websites have an extremely short loading time, everything runs smoothly and is therefore more scalable than WordPress. So if you plan to feed your CMS with a lot of content over the coming weeks and months (e.g. via a blog), it's worth taking a look at Webflow, which copes better with these large amounts of data.
It's no secret: we love Airtable. Airtable links databases with spreadsheets and impresses with its ease of use, flexible functions and views and extensive integrations. Wondering what exactly Airtable is? Read it here.
Tables in Airtable can be very simple, such as a list of holiday destinations or a shopping list. But even highly complex tasks and relational databases that are automatically filled and subsequently used can be implemented with Airtable. Airtable comes with several automation functions out of the box.
This way, an event in Airtable or other apps, such as GSuite or Microsoft365, can be linked to a subsequent action via a trigger and send you notifications, make it easier to maintain your database, and so on. All this without a single line of code. A true no-code software.
Glide is a no-code software that allows you to easily create apps. Using a simple visual interface, you can intuitively create mobile apps, similar to page builders (Elementor) for your website. Glide helps you with several templates to develop apps even faster. The tool is primarily based on Google Sheets (and is even free). The purpose of these apps can be quite different: Interview apps, restaurant and city guides, and Instagram clones. So creating code-free apps with Glide is not only possible, but worth a try.
Sometimes it doesn't have to be a big CMS or a huge website. Sometimes you just need a website for a specific purpose, for example a landing page. Landing pages, another term that is buzzing around at the moment. Specially designed pages, through which your visitors arrive on your website, follow special rules, both in terms of content and design. The goal is to increase the conversion rate of your visitors. Of course, there is also No Code software for this purpose, which has made it its goal to quickly and easily create landing pages that fulfil their purpose and look good at the same time.
Arrange a free No Code consultation now
Bubble is a visual no-code builder for creating landing pages and web apps. As a flexible no-code tool, Bubble offers the possibility to create web apps from scratch, but also to choose from a number of templates for ultra-fast implementations.
Besides landing pages, this also includes login forms, dashboards, directories, lists, marketplaces or CRM apps. The vision of the tool is not to make technology available to everyone, but to develop it oneself and thus turn consumers into developers. In a working world where programming is (perceived) becoming more and more important, we also believe that digital technologies should be made accessible to more people.
Softr is a no-code software based on Airtable that promises to build websites, web apps or customer portals in just 10 minutes. It extends the previously introduced database tool Airtable and provides your data and information in a visually appealing and easily created view. With a large selection of building blocks, you can choose exactly the template that suits you and your purpose.
Then you link your Airtable Base with Softr and bang - your data is clearly visualised. For example, you can create forms that are automatically transferred to the corresponding Airtable table when filled out. But also lists, payments via Paypal or Stripe, user authentication or appointment bookings become possible and end up directly in the database, where they would have ended up sooner or later anyway.
Stacker also aims to turn boring spreadsheets into engaging apps. So you can create the digital tools you need to engage your business, team and customers - all based on the data in Airtable or Google Sheets. This can create entire platforms where users can see only the data they need to see, share information with you and interact with you.
From onboarding and application forms to real-time comments and collaboration, secure file uploads and dashboards, Stacker makes your data real.
Hach, Shopify. Shopify has taken the e-commerce world by storm and really needs no introduction. Started in Canada, the company has long since achieved unicorn status and aims to become the WordPress of online shops: E-commerce for all - intuitive, simple and usable with countless extensions.
Shopify is the solution for everyone who wants to launch their own webshop quickly and easily: from small business owners to art shops to dropshippers, Shopify is suitable for a huge target group. So if you've been thinking about setting up your own shop for a while without doing a lot of programming, Shopify is the place to go.
GitHub is THE platform for development. And although it seems contradictory to present a platform that calls itself the "most advanced development platform" when it comes to no-code software, GitHub closes the circle: because on the platform you can of course not only document code, but also everything around it: how did you proceed, what must be observed, which data must not be deleted under any circumstances? Documentation is incredibly important if you want to ensure that in the future other people are able to understand what you have built (via No Code).
On the other hand, there is a huge amount of well-documented code that has been developed, tested and made available by other developers. You can use these snippets for your own purposes. The forum and the strong community can also be used to solve individual questions and problems. So if you are in despair at any point, GitHub can help you.
Process.st promises easy process and workflow management
Process Street is a simple way to manage recurring checklists and workflows in a team. The whole thing is based on process templates that can be multiplied to act as a checklist. Your entire team has access to it, gets an overview of projects and tasks and can enter their own progress. You can create the documents for this in a few minutes using the No Code software.
Relative logics can also be implemented with Process.st, so that you can include "if, then..." steps. steps. This way, your checklist adapts to changing requirements. Responsibilities or approvals can also be assigned so that it is always clear who is responsible for what. Process.st thus creates a project documentation in which all participants can participate, experience transparency and recognise responsibilities. Especially for internal project management, the No Code software is really worth a look.
Cloud automation is a concept that aims to run digital processes (in the cloud) completely automatically, to model them and thus to optimise them. This concept is implemented and becomes reality via various technologies, for example iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service). Two no-code software solutions are now well established in this context and are definitely worth a look.
Make is the no-code software that realises the integrations of your favourite cloud apps: tools are connected with each other, automatically exchange data and take a lot of work off your hands. Equipped with a visual builder, the tool wants to make the power of automation accessible to everyone.
The possibilities are almost endless: from small 2-step processes, such as automatically moving invoices from the mails to the accounting software, to highly complex scenarios that map cross-departmental processes, Make is ideally suited.
This no-code software works by means of APIs, i.e. programming interfaces (What is an API?). These are made available by the supported cloud tools and allow us to "tap into" the data processed there and use it elsewhere. Make acts as a translator, letting apps talk to each other that don't normally communicate. What exactly Make is, we have explained here.
Zapier is the marketing star in the no-code integration scene: the American iPaaS tool knows how to attract attention and rightly so. Similar to Make, Zapier offers a visual interface on which your favourite apps can be connected easily and intuitively with just a few clicks. And there are quite a few of them: Zapier currently supports over 3000 apps and more are added every day.
Here, too, the underlying principle is APIs. Zapier links different apps with each other in a linear structure and offers a wide variety of triggers and subsequent actions that are executed automatically. In this way, the tool relieves you of tedious copy and paste work, but also more comprehensive processes can be automated. We have written in more detail here about what Zapier is.
No Code Software promises a lot and, in our opinion, delivers a lot. Countless platforms have already been launched and more and more are joining them. There is a no-code software for almost every purpose that wants to make it easy for you to create such a digital product, shop, website or integration.
But we also notice time and again that some tools don't quite manage without programming knowledge. No Code lowers the barriers to entry, but with many tools there quickly comes a point where programming languages are an advantage. However, this does not weaken our enthusiasm for this trend. Because like so many other things, the trend is still so young that there will certainly be some promising further developments in the near future. In any case, we are curious to see what is still to come.
And if you would prefer to work with a team that knows how to combine no-code software such as Zapier or Make with programming skills, experience and process understanding, we look forward to your appointment. Together we will find individual solutions that are flexible and scalable.
Cloud Integration, iPaaS, SaaS, BPA… Ough, hard to keep track of all these terms. They are currently used frequently (and increasingly) in the context of automation, and it is sometimes difficult to make a clear distinction and distinction. We have already written blog posts on the terms iPaaS, SaaS and BPA, but we’ll take them up again here to make the difference.
But let’s start with cloud integration, because that’s the central umbrella term in which we embed all the other technologies in this blog post.
Arrange a free cloud integration consultation now
Arrange a free cloud integration consultation now
To illustrate these advantages, an example is suitable that we know well from our everyday work as an automation agency:
The central data to be used here is the data of a major customer. This can be the simplest information, such as the address. This address is required in numerous but completely different processes in the company: on the one hand, for correct invoicing in accounting. On the other hand, in the CRM system, where all the data of the large customer is also stored. But the address is also important in sales, for example, when employees go to the sales meeting on site.
Now the customer announces that the address of the company has changed after a move. This information will reach you by e-mail. There are now two options:
01. The e-mail is forwarded to all affected departments, accounting, sales, customer service, marketing… All persons open their corresponding program, CRM, accounting software, marketing tools (such as newsletter marketing) and change the data already stored there of the customer. This means that in multiple applications, different people do exactly the same thing: change one address.
02. But there is also an alternative: By connecting your applications, thus by integrizing them, the customer’s e-mail, or rather the information it contains about the address change, is automatically passed on to all affected applications: CRM, accounting, marketing, ERP. This does not require any clicks, because the cloud integration detects a trigger, i.e. address change, and thus automatically starts the process.
What sounds unimpressive in a single process becomes more effective when such a process occurs several times a day or weekly. Because there is a lot of data that is available in different applications and should always be correct. If these applications are cloud applications they are suitable for cloud integration.
But cloud integration doesn’t just happen. There are now a variety of applications that enable and implement this. Such tools usually allow us to link the relevant cloud applications on a central platform and define clear rules on when, how, where, how much data should be passed on and what happens to them.
To realize cloud integration, there are various applications and technologies that are sometimes used interchangeably.
We have made a first distinction between iPaaS and BPA here.
We explain the term SaaS in more detail here.
Cloud integration is rather an umbrella term that includes numerous technologies, such as SaaS, iPaaS and BPA, and this is also absolutely necessary. Cloud integration is a concept that is made possible by appropriate technologies.
However, all terms share the commonality that they are cloud-based and thus offer enormous potential for growth and scaling. In addition, they are often cheaper to implement and maintain because changed requirements are easy to implement.
As an independent automation agency, we implement cloud integration according to your requirements. We use a variety of SaaS tools and iPaas (strictly speaking BPA) software. Together we find individual solutions that are flexible and scalable.
