What's Driving Interest In No-Code Development Platforms And Drag And Drop App Builders?

Over the past year, there has been an increase in interest in no-code development platforms and drag and drop app builders. 

G2’s No-Code Development Platforms category has seen a 22% increase in new reviews over the past year, while the Drag and Drop App Builder category has seen a 21% increase in that same timeframe.

What’s causing this rise in interest, and what does it say about the current state of application development?

This growth signals a major shift in the market. Developers and non-technical users alike are gravitating to solutions that streamline building applications without intensive coding. Artificial intelligence (AI) sits at the core of this shift, as it aids in automating complex processes to enable accessibility and ease of use.

This article explores what is driving this interest in the no-code and drag and drop market, including the rise of AI and the need for simplification in the development space.

No-code development platforms vs. drag and drop app builders

No-code development platforms allow users to create and develop applications without relying on traditional coding.

These solutions offer a range of features, including templates for workflows, libraries of elements, and customizable interfaces, facilitating the creation of fully functional applications without delving into the intricacies of coding.

Drag and drop app builders provide non-developers with a solution for building do-it-yourself applications. 

AI continues to shape app development

It cannot be overstated just how much AI is changing the game when it comes to application development. As I discussed in my latest blog post, software development teams are increasingly trusting and relying on AI to speed up the development process for new applications.

Source: G2 Buyer Behavior Report

Not only are developers looking to move in this direction, but so are customers. 

In this chart from the G2 Buyer Behavior Report, we can clearly see that users trust and even look forward to AI being incorporated into their applications. 81% of buyers say it is important that the software they purchase has AI. 78% of buyers trust the accuracy and reliability of AI-based solutions. 

Based on this data, it’s not a stretch to say buyers could learn to trust applications primarily built by AI, leading to new models of work in the development space. 

AI is becoming popular, but how does this tie into no-code development platforms and drag and drop app builders?

AI and simplification

Both no-code development platforms and drag and drop app builders tie into the inherent need for simplification. 

These tools are primarily used by non-developers, who are unlikely to have a coding background. With AI, these tools can now further automate complicated technical processes behind the scenes, making it easier to use for non-developers. 

Ease of use is top of mind for users

To better understand why users were more interested in no-code development platforms and drag and drop app builders in the past year, I looked into what capabilities G2 reviewers like to see in these tools. 

In other words, the numbers below represent the features and abilities of these software solutions that are top of mind for users in this space. 

For no-code development platforms, the top four things users like to see are ease of use, support, UX, and special features. Ease of use leads at a strong 43%. 

When diving into drag and drop app builders, the trend remains the same. However, in this case, ease of use is even more important, at 57%. In my opinion, this is likely because non-developers mainly utilize this type of software. 

The prominent preference for ease of use underscores the overarching demand for simplification amongst these tools' users. This ties into the AI theme as well, as much of this simplification comes from automating many of the more technical backend processes in coding. 

Simplifying development

While there will always be multiple factors at play, the need for simplification in the development process does appear to be driving interest in no-code development platforms and drag and drop app builders. 

This simplification, powered by recent developments in AI, helps non-developers pull data and develop applications without the aid of developers. This also benefits developers, as it frees up their schedule to take on the more challenging, complex development tasks organizations need them to solve. 

As AI continues to impact the development space, it would not be surprising to see interest rise even further in these two categories in 2024. 

Learn more about how AI is impacting software development here.

Edited by Sinchana Mistry