As technological advancements speed up, it’s crucial for enterprises, regardless of industry, to create centers of innovation within their companies. This action empowers employees with rapid development capabilities to solve internal issues, build software solutions, and streamline and automate workflows.
Open-source low-code platforms enable ideation without requiring significant upfront costs and time. These platforms put power in the hands of business teams and citizen developers and widen the pool of talent available to build needed applications and make processes efficient.
But what are open-source low-code platforms? Which are the best on the market, and how can you take advantage of their benefits? This article answers these questions. We'll break down and define "open-source low-code" and share a top-10 list of some of today's best options.
What Is an Open-Source Platform?
An open-source platform provides software that is free to download, use, modify, and redistribute under a license. Volunteer developer communities create and manage these platforms unconstrained by any particular vendor. Business teams, coders, and citizen developers can tweak, deploy, and repackage open-source software to solve their unique business cases.
What Is a Low-Code Platform?
A low-code platform packages software and programming environments in an intuitive visual user interface, allowing non-technical users to create software solutions. These platforms provide a quick and accessible alternative to traditional software development. Users can build complete app solutions, generate and integrate APIs, and increase workforce productivity and capacity.
Unlike no-code platforms, low-code platforms may require writing a few lines of code to modify and deploy the software. However, they are simple to implement and integral in developing standard software feature sets and functionalities that many enterprises use today.
Benefits of Using Open-Source Low-Code Platforms
There are many benefits of open-source platforms that require just a little bit of coding. Key among them include:
- Shorter app development time: An open-source low-code platform significantly decreases the time needed to take an app or software solution from conception to production. Users can employ open-source low-code software as it is or tweak specific parts of the app to achieve their goal. Either way, they start from a solid foundation of features and functionalities, speeding up app development time.
- Reduced app development cost: Open-source coding platforms are much cheaper than hiring a software development team or investing in custom software. Most of these platforms are free, but you can often get even more functionality for an affordable price.
- Streamlined business processes: Platforms with little to no coding facilitate the conceptualization and build of software solutions teams need. Employees can enhance collaboration and improve operational efficiency by developing apps and automating repetitive tasks, freeing up more time for high-value work.
10 Best Open-Source Low-Code Platforms for Enterprise Businesses
Below, we have listed 10 of the top platforms on the market today that are open-source with little to no coding required. These platforms have different functionalities and modules to solve various business needs.
1. Convertigo
Convertigo equips enterprises to accelerate digital transformation at a low cost. It’s an excellent solution for helping business teams build apps and develop precise backend business logic and workflows.
In addition to its open-source functionalities, there’s a no-code drag-and-drop user interface to navigate many kinds of application development without any coding skills. Whether it’s for web, Android, or iOS, citizen developers can draw up an app concept and begin building it in real-time using Convertigo.
Convertigo offers three pricing plans: a free-of-charge Community Edition, a Starter Edition at $16 per month, and the Enterprise Edition at $21per month. With its vendor lock-in paradigm, users can quit the platform and continue running their developed applications. Find Convertigo source code on GitHub.
2. Budibase
Budibase simplifies building business applications for non-technical staff. Use cases range from admin panels and dashboards to approval apps and inventory lists.
Users can deploy app solutions using Budibase's internal database or by connecting to their organization’s infrastructure. Budibase supports multiple data sources and provides prebuilt layouts, templates, and user authentication for rapid application development.
The software allows you to use webhooks, access pre-built automations, or set up your own with integrations using JavaScript to increase functionality.
Budibase has two free plans and an Enterprise package with custom pricing. Find Budibase source code on GitHub.
3. Skyve
Skyve is an open-source low-code enterprise platform suited for building business apps quickly. Skyve provides a suite of standard features, functionalities, and behaviors that can be integrated and customized for your solution.
Determine what is unique about your application, then create your solution in minutes. Skyve's approach assumes standard business practices and user actions so that users can develop web and mobile apps without hassle.
In addition to its library of user-friendly tutorials and documentation, Skyve's growing ecosystem of developers and contributors provides customer support. The platform offers three pricing options: a free trial, their Professional package at $100 per month, and an Enterprise package depending on your needs. Find Skyve source code on GitHub.
4. Baserow
Baserow is a web-browser-based no-code platform where users create and manipulate databases without code.
Business teams use Baserow to collaborate on unlimited rows and databases in an intuitive no-code development environment. There's no limit on the number of users, even in its free plan. You can invite and allow role-based permissions for different team members.
Baserow's API-first approach makes connecting with other applications in an enterprise's tech stack easy.
Users can choose between three packages. Hosted version and Self-hosted are free, and the Early premium starts at only $5 per user per month. There's no vendor lock-in, and you can run Baserow's open-source software independently on your server. Find Baserow source code on GitHub.
5. Joget
Joget enables rapid application development (RAD). It combines process automation, workflow management, and app development in one simple, customizable, and accessible platform.
Users, typically non-coders, build and maintain their business applications on Joget. Popular functionalities include simplifying web apps and user experience development, setting up web app log viewers, and extending functionalities through add-on builders and plugins. The platform offers web push notifications, offline support, and built-in application performance management.
Differentiated pricing plans are available for cloud-based versus on-premise hosting. Depending on the number of users, cloud-based customers can pay nothing or up to $6 per user per month. Similarly, for users who choose to host on their own servers, there’s a Community plan (for free), the Professional plan at $80, the Enterprise plan at $3,000, and a Large Enterprise plan for $48,000. Find Joget source code on GitHub.
6. Saltcorn
Saltcorn is an entirely free, open-source no-code platform under the MIT license. This means users can tweak the source code according to their needs as long as they include the original copy in their distribution. Saltcorn uses PostgreSQL to store data so that non-technical users can skip the hurdle of trying to write SQL.
Users build the backend, frontend, and databases of web applications. Like WordPress for more structured data, Saltcorn’s drag-and-drop user interface and customizable plugins make it easy to build, alter, and deploy web applications such as to-do lists, project management, and CRM apps. Find Saltcorn source code on GitHub.
7. Node-RED
Node-RED is an open-source low-code tool for wiring hardware devices and connecting APIs, third-party apps, and services. It’s an excellent solution for developing IoT apps and systems and comes with nodes dedicated to popular platforms and operating systems like Raspberry Pi and Android..
With Node-RED's visual user interface, you can connect nodes and create workflows by dragging and dropping features, functionalities, and triggers. Its runtime is built on Node.js and supports social development and sharing through its accessible online flow library.
The software is free and community-driven. Find Node-RED source code on GitHub.
8. StackStorm
StackStorm is a part of the Linux Foundation, a non-profit technology association. It helps to connect and streamline business apps, services, and workflows with its robust automation features. Users can set up all sorts of workflow automations and business processes without writing a single line of code.
The platform makes it easy to download created workflows, known as packs, by grouping integrations (triggers and actions) and automations (rules and workflows) on the StackStorm Exchange.
The platform integrates existing infrastructure with its application environment so users can seamlessly automate that environment. It’s free to use, although a little complicated for non-technical users. Find StackStorm source code on GitHub.
9. Huginn
Huginn is an open-source low-code automation platform with a very active community of developers and contributors on GitHub. Enterprise users connect work applications, including Jira, RSS, Slack, Twilio, and others.
The software can scrape websites and send updates when the sites change. It can send and receive webhooks and track counts of high-frequency events, alerting users when there’s unusually high traffic. Huginn can help devise any task that needs a trigger and corresponding action, saving business teams many hours of mundane work.
Huginn makes it easy to create and manage automation agents and data flow from multiple data sources with a straightforward admin panel. It’s free and licensed under the MIT license. Find Huginn source code on GitHub.
10. WordPress
WordPress is one of the most popular open-source content management system platforms. WordPress simplifies building and publishing high-ranking and searchable websites and blogs. It’s written in PHP and paired with a MySQL database.
It has a very active community of developers and accompanying software, including WordPress themes, plugins, and support. WordPress is free for download. Find WordPress source code on GitHub.
Improve and Streamline Business Processes With Low-Code Software
Even with the benefits of open-source low-code software, there are some challenges. Usage requires hands-on maintenance with limited support apart from the open user communities. Users with no programming knowledge may struggle to keep their applications updated and secure.
Pulpstream, a new-generation low-code process automation software, offers all the benefits of open-source software without the disadvantages. Pulpstream is a unique white-glove service that enables enterprise teams and citizen developers to streamline processes, automate workflows, and build business apps without code. It doesn’t require hands-on development and provides support to all users.
Whether you're managing claims and expenses, setting up an approval process, or integrating critical tools in your tech stack, Pulpstream provides an intuitive platform for any level of technical expertise. Do you want to empower your employees to contribute to digital transformation across your organization? Request a demo or contact our team for a consultation.
