Can a non-technical founder really use no code to take an idea -> app -> launch?

As an engineer with a lot of experience, I can say that this will not be scalable, nor will it be possible to implement complex ideas.
For simple ideas - sure.
I've tried a lot of different no-code tools, and you can categorize them as follows:

• we slap CRUD API on top of a DB
• you can visually code something simple like a flow: request - some logic- db. Supporting that becomes difficult very quickly. I would argue you might as well write code.
• stuff like Outsystems (price is high) - you can do complex stuff, but you must be an engineer to become good at it. At that point, you might as well write code.

I would suggest taking the approach of finding a good starter template and building on top of that. A lot of people are using https://shipfa.st/
If you are not a PHP hater, there are a lot of things you can get out of Laravel that are reasonably easy to use (like Spark or Jetstream).
I have yet to try https://flutterflow.io/ to see if that is any different in terms of low/no coding.

You can. There are many examples of founders building app using NoCode. As you are talking about Softr, I am adding Flezr.com here that can help build webpages, directories from Google Sheets without writing any code.

Hey I just added a story about exactly this — check it out (the founder learned and launched a Bubble-based web app in under a year)

https://www.indiehackers.com/post/realistic-timeframe-to-learn-launch-a-bubble-app-with-gpt-integration-61feb09b31

Yes, a non-tech user can use no-code to take an idea to launch.
There will be (perhaps lots of) limitations of course, depending on the no-code tool that you use.

Of course! I’ve built many SaaS website with nocode. For example, tallycal.com was built with Bubble and has thousands of users. I would make sure you understand what each nocode tool is capable of and spend time learning how to best build and optimize with the tool that makes the most sense for your business.

I believe you can. There are lots of already successful startups and makers that built their products wit no code tools.

It's a matter of finding the right one for you.

There are tons of tutorials and courses about this topic nowadays, so it shouldn't be so difficult to find the right tool and give it a try.

Don't get caught up building the perfect tool. Make an MVP, launch it and validate.

Give yourself as much time to do the marketing, and then take decisions based on data.

I think at some point no code solutions will get to this point, but I don't believe we are there yet. Which is a shame, as even as someone technical with experience building technical products, I want to use no code solution where I can to save time and effort.

As other comments have pointed out, and from my experience, no code solutions are great for that initial prototype and getting the idea to life (they can also be easier to iterate and tear down when your idea changes rapidly in the first few months) but they are hard to scale well, maintenance can be a worry, and you'll likely run into a request/feature that's too complex or difficult to do with no code.

Depending on complexity, give it a go and bring that idea to life! But be aware that in the future there may be additional cost and time to change from your no code solution to a different solution, and that running the two in parallel before switching over can be stressful/time sink.

Yes, for early stage startups for absolutely, for startups started to scale maybe depends of the business.

For example webflow is in many cases success for early stage high end e-commerce solutions, and I myself has worked at a startup within (ai and automation) with 10k customers using webflow and zapier to reduce a huge cost on the dev part, but I think they largest benefit was speed…

There will always be strong forces against the nocode tools, but without knowing your needs it no point of arguing why, or why not.

Totally depends on your needs, but after almost a decades as a service designer and tech lead me arguing NOT using nocode to build a simple landing page is hard to win..

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100%

I believe that a codeless approach has the potential to be a game changer for the future.

It’s great for getting basics up maybe pre launch since sites, mvp etc but longer term user improvements are a struggle as these are often specific features that no code falls short of.

I build my prelaunch site with webflow and the majority of my front end with it. I then had to have a developer link up the more technical backend work to using other services.

We have been using Xano so that I can have a no code data base to access.

There are membership systems that are low cost for no code tools, such as Member Stack for Webflow. I'm in a similar position and my philosophy is create it with the least effort and therefore to least time. You can always rebuild later, all you need it the data to move it to a new platform.

Hey Anu, smart to question this before spending time building it. Speaking of that, I'd recommend asking yourself how you can validate your idea before building the app at all. Could you perhaps make a quick version of the database, then put up a checkout page, send it to folks you think would value the info, and see if they buy it? Then, add to the project further.

Hope it helps, and good luck!

Yes. Possible as long as your idea is simple enough. Launch can happen.

But, the real challenges come after Launch. It's about improvement based on user feedback. This needs the deepest control over the code. That's generally not available in no-code.

That's when you see the constraints of no-code solutions.

According to me, no-code is good until MVP or may be getting the first 10-20 customers. Definitely not for growth.

Hiring software developers is not only expensive but it can also be time-consuming. So, I support no-code in early stages when the founder/creator wants to launch a simple MVP. FYI, this is coming from a self-taught coder who developed his parking app from scratch.

Is it possible? Totally.

Really there's only one way to find out if it's going to work for you and your idea(s)!