Design Converter
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Last updated on Apr 1, 2025
•12 mins read
Last updated on Apr 1, 2025
•12 mins read
Software developers constantly face the challenge of delivering high-quality web and mobile applications at an accelerated pace. Tight deadlines, evolving market demands, and the pressure to create seamless user experiences make development a complex and often overwhelming process. Balancing speed, scalability, and maintainability while managing collaboration, testing, and deployment adds another layer of difficulty.
To meet these challenges, many developers turn to low-code platforms—a development approach that simplifies app creation by minimizing the need for manual coding. These platforms provide visual development environments, prebuilt components, and automation tools, allowing developers to focus on business logic rather than repetitive coding tasks.
But low-code isn’t just about speed. Modern platforms also enhance collaboration, testing, and scalability, making them an attractive option for both solo developers and large teams. In this blog, we’ll explore what low-code development is, its key benefits, and the best platforms available today.
Low-code is the simplified software development method that enables developers to build apps faster. The low code app builder provides the software development environment through the graphical user interface.
It may partially or completely eliminate the need for deep coding and reduce the time spent on grunt tasks. It enables developers to build apps from blocks of code while having the flexibility for customization as per the business's unique needs. However, this flexibility for customization varies from platform to platform.
Time is a critical aspect of software development. The quick launch of apps has benefits such as early feedback, customer acquisition, early understanding of the market, and so on.
It reduces repetitive tasks in app development and saves time. So the developers can utilize this time to solve more complex problems.
With the elimination of repetitive tasks, developers can build more apps in less time and resources. This eventually decreases the cost of application development. So even if you have a small team of developers, Low-code platforms can help you to achieve more.
Low-code development allows developers to customize code and meet the changing requirements without going into complex coding. This capability is highly useful if the app requires frequent changes.
There are several Low-code app builders for faster application development. Here is the list with their unique functionalities.
DhiWise is the SaaS-based, developer-centric app development platform that has the capabilities of both procode and lowcode, along with AI. The platform speeds up web and mobile application development by automating the tasks such as requirement generation, project planning, design to code conversion, API documentation, and so on.
What is Unique?
Aims to simplify the entire application development cycle with Agentic AI capabilities with ease. Also, provides code ownership and gives full flexibility to code customization, with the courtesy of the best developer and collaboration tool integrations like GitHub, GitLab, and ClickUp.
DhiWise Top Features
Appian is a Low-code app development and workflow builder platform equipped with native deployment tools and software integration options with DevOps tools like Jenkins.
What is unique?
Helps developers and business owners to build business process management (BPM) applications with offline capabilities efficiently.
Appian features:
Kissflow is the Digital workspace that provides various LowCode/NoCode platforms to perform mainly four functions.
What is unique?
Kissflow is the digital workspace that provides workflow as a service for automating business processes. It allows you to create unlimited automated business applications using a drag-and-drop interface.
Kissflow Digital workspace features:
It is a suite of apps, services and connectors, and data platforms that provide the rapid app development environment for building custom applications. These applications can be connected to the data stored either in the underlying data platform or the on-premise data sources.
What is unique?
Transform manual business operations into automated processes and improve apps by integrating them with the solutions offered by the Microsoft platform. With Microsoft power apps, developers can mainly create three types of apps: Canvas, Model-driven, and portal.
Microsoft power app features:
It is a LowCode application development platform that helps developers to design, develop and run any business software.
What is unique?
Provides an excellent collection of application templates such as online catalog maker, school management, lead management, restaurant management, etc., to meet unique business requirements.
Zoho Creator features:
It is a LowCode development platform for building complex web and mobile enterprise applications that can run in the cloud, on-premise, or in a hybrid environment using the visual development environment.
What is unique?
It is a rapid application development platform. One can build, edit, and debug your app in the Outsystem service studio and publish it as a web app, progressive web app, or a native mobile application.
Outsystems features:
Besides the above features, it also proves application management features such as access control and permission management.
Mendix is the open source NoCode and LowCode app development platform for building web and mobile applications. It is designed to accelerate the enterprise app delivery across the entire application development lifecycle, from ideation to deployment and operations.
What is unique?
The platform offers both LowCode and NoCode IDEs to rapidly build enterprise-level web and mobile applications.
Mendix features:
App development through the visual interface: Enables web and mobile app development using common visual language and dedicated IDEs to meet business needs.
Cloud-based: It empowers developers to build scalable and resilient applications that can be deployed anywhere with a single click.
Artificial intelligence and automation: Seamlessly connect with the AI and the cognitive services. Automates business processes that bring data, people, and systems together.
Data Integration: Integrate data and logic from any data source, system, or service.
VisionX is the open LowCode, NoCode, and ProCode app development platform for citizen developers and business users.
What is Unique?
It is one among the few open-source low-code application development platforms that easily integrates the existing system and enables developers to add custom code when needed.
VisionX Features:
Well, let's compare all the platforms discussed above based on business size, deployment, types of app build, and flexibility for customization.
LowCode platforms (Launch year) | Business Size | Free trial | Deployment | Type of app build | Flexibility to customization |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DhiWise (2021) | Small, medium, and large businesses | Yes | Cloud | Any web and mobile | Code level customization flexibility |
Appian (1999) | Small, medium, and large businesses | Yes | Cloud | BPM applications | Limited flexibility |
Kissflow (2012) | Small, medium, and large businesses | Yes | Cloud | Business workflow automation apps | Limited flexibility |
Microsoft power apps (2018) | Small, medium,m and Large businesses | Yes | Cloud | Canvas apps(Forms and UI design), Model driven(Complex apps based on data), and portal apps(Websites) | Limited flexibility |
Zoho creator (2016) | Small, medium, and large | Yes | Cloud | BPM app that runs on all devices | Limited flexibility |
Outsystem (2001) | Small, medium, and large businesses | Yes | Cloud, on-premise, and hybrid | Web and mobile apps | Limited flexibility |
Mendix (2005) | Small, medium, and large businesses | It is open source | Cloud, On-premise | Web and mobile apps | Limited flexibility |
VisionX (2008) | Freelancers developers, Small, medium, and large businesses | It is open source | On-premise | We,b mobile, and desktop apps | Code level customization flexibility |
After looking into these platforms we can conclude that the LowCode platforms have the capability to bring down the development cost and coding efforts. Moreover, it helps organizations in rapid application development, faster launch, app customization, and maintenance.
Recently, LowCode platforms have started supporting the entire application development life cycle, maintenance, and monitoring to empower developers to create better apps and improve customer engagement.
However, every low-code platform provides a visual language for app development that limits customization flexibility. DhiWise goes one step further and offers code-level customization along with a visual interface for app building.
Tired of manually designing screens, coding on weekends, and technical debt? Let DhiWise handle it for you!
You can build an e-commerce store, healthcare app, portfolio, blogging website, social media or admin panel right away. Use our library of 40+ pre-built free templates to create your first application using DhiWise.