@natalie223 Hey,
I'm a bit late to the party, but here's my two cents on this.
For creating a landing page
- Framer (much easier to use)
- Webflow (learning curve is higher, but gives you granular control)
For designing an actual web app
The most common name in this space would be
Bubble, here's a quick rundown of the pros & cons:
- Pros:
- Relatively fast learning curve
- It's been there for a while so there is an ecosystem of plugins
- Lots of resources and videos online to start learning
- Cons:
- Not great if you're focused on how the web app actually looks
- You don't actually own the code, and migration to another tool is impossible
Another option is
Webflow
- Pros:
- You can control the visuals down to the last detail, giving you full control over how the web app looks & feels
- If you're using the same tool for building your website, the time spent on the learning curve won't be wasted
- Gives you hosting as part of its pricing model, so you don't need to worry about hosting your web app elsewhere
- Total access to the source code, so you can migrate to another tool if needed
- Cons:
- It'll take you longer to get started, there is a steeper learning curve
Backend tools to manage data
If you're looking at building a marketplace-type application, you need to get familiar with tools like
Airtable. There are other alternatives, but I've used Airtable for the last 2 years and I can vouch for this one tool.
Your choice of backend tools will depend entirely on your requirements, so you need to start setting those first, before choosing the tool.
No-code marketplace apps
There are some ready-to-go no-code marketplace tools like
Sharetribe that have plenty of inbuilt features that are common across marketplaces like:
- User profiles
- Supplier storefront
- Easy listing with multiple listing types
- Messaging between buyer & seller (two-communication that you mentioned in your question)
- Inventory management
- Custom data fields (so you can enter any type of product/service information)
Integration of AI
I haven't done this myself, but I know that a lot of no-code tools these days have AI integrations baked into them.
Also, if you mean integration of AI as in calling an API, then I'm sure a lot of tools offer that too.
I don't have much info on this, I'm sure the other replies to your question might shed more light on this.
Which tools to use?
No-code tools, like anything else have their limitations. You need to figure out exactly the type of web application you need to make and then work backwards from there.
Tool that helps me build MVP → validate the idea → build the final product
Usually when I'm looking to build something and searching for the tools, I pick something that can help me get my MVP up & running. MVP = low cost + fast deployment.
Once I validate the MVP, I then try to figure out the final tool, this can delay the total process but at least I end up saving a ton of money and effort if things don't work out.
On more than one occasion, I've spent all my time & money building or choosing the 'final tool' and ended up losing money because the idea didn't click.
