No-Code vs. Custom — how do I decide? 🤔

So, you’ve got an idea and you’re ready to build but… how should you build it? Should you build on a no-code/low-code platform (like Softr, Bubble, etc) or build it custom with a developer? Here’s three question to help you get to your answer.

Question 1: How complex is your solution? ⚙️

Are you building and simple application or solution? Don’t need any fancy animations, smarts, or hosting configuration? Then no-code/low-code may be the best option for you. If your solution/application can be built on basic elements such as tables, simple search, tags, then most no-code/low-code technologies available probably have these solution out of box. If you’re looking to leverage technologies such as machine learning and complex analytics, you may find yourself technically limited if you don’t go through the custom route.

Question 2: How much money are you willing to spend? 💵

Custom solutions are expensive. Even some of the simplest solutions will cost you tens of thousands just to build (you also have to pay for ongoing maintenance and support). If you’re building out an minimal viable product that you want to test the market with, try your best to use low cost no-code/low-code platforms. Once you’ve built traction or generated revenue, you’ll likely have outgrown the features available in no-code solutions. At the point, you can make the shift to custom solutions.

Question 3: How many solutions are you connecting? 🔗

The last consideration is how many application are you planning to integrate? Make sure that the no-code/low-code platform can integrate with multiple other solution, or you’ll end up paying for custom integrations anyway. If you’ve built your custom solution with integrations in mind, it simple to add new systems and extend function to your solution through APIs provided by other popular applications.

Deciding to go no-code/low-code might lock your solution into a platform but a custom solution could mean spending all your capital — its a tough decision. If you can’t decide, feel free to contact us at hello@kinetics.dev and we can help you with our 10 years experience in development and solutioning.