This is the dream of any designer. Create apps without knowing how to program. You know how to design, you have a good idea, your clients ask you for budgets for creating apps, but … you have to collaborate with a programmer, you have to make yourself understood, your budget will become more expensive. So, we have best app builders for you.
So, you think: why couldn’t I create this app? Why I do not know how to program? You will have even thought about learning to program to be self-sufficient and be able to offer your clients a comprehensive, complete service.
But then you realize that although you could go down this path, it is not really yours. Yours is to design. And you dream the same thing again: why can’t I create apps without programming? Best app builders are solution.
And this is when the programs aimed at creating apps come into play without having to know how to program. Although entering this world you realize that another complicated path begins.
The one to choose the best app builders, the one that does not leave you or your client lying, the one that is more economical but at the same time of more quality. The one with support, documentation, and forums, the one that allows you to trust.
Okay … that is why you got here. My intention in this post is to help you choose the best app builders to create apps without knowing how to program. Maybe there won’t be a “better” one, but depending on the criteria you have and what you’re looking for, you will see that there are some tools that fit more with you than others. Let us start and introduce you best app builders.
Before you start: the basics
Before starting to online app builders, I must tell you some basic principles of creating apps. When you get to know them, you can better identify what type of software interests you.
Native apps: A native app is what you would do with a designer. It is programmed using native code from the operating system itself. These apps are usually very robust because they have been programmed using the same operating system code.
In addition, they can go “very far”, since when created by a programmer they allow to make connections with servers, database updates, etc. Disadvantages: high budgets, require programming. Advantages: you can create without “limits”.
Apps created with app builder: These apps allow a designer to create an app without needing to know how to program. You cannot create any type of app, since if you need the intervention of databases or servers you will be limited, but it is an option that serves for endless simpler projects.
Disadvantages: you cannot create everything you imagine; it has limitations. Advantages: you can create an app without knowing how to program and with a lower budget.
Is it worth creating apps with app builders?
So, is it worth creating apps with app builder? It will depend on the project you are working on. If you work on a very large project that requires connections to databases (for example, the app of a bank), then it won’t do you any good to know how to use this type of program. Well, yes, it will help you to create the prototype of the app in case you are the designer.
If you work on a smaller project, without so many needs, such as creating an app for a conference or creating a recipe book or creating an app to promote an architect’s portfolio, then you can do it without problems and without the need to hire a programmer. The great advantage, too, is that it represents a very significant saving in the costs of developing the app.
Best App Builders List
- APPSTYLO
- AppyPie
- GameSalad
- Mobile Roadie
- Buildfire
- Appery.io
- GoodBarber
- AppMakr
Best app builders to create apps without knowing how to program
We start with the guide and the programs. Attentive! Each program offers its advantages and disadvantages. It is better to focus on one in particular (or two) in order to learn how to use it, not that you know a little about all, since when a client asks you for a quote for an app, you will be ready to create it, without the need for train yourself in the tool you choose.
In addition, this way you can offer prices in a fast way, since if you have chosen a tool for you will already know their rates and you can communicate it to your client.
I want to make it clear that there are many online app builders to create apps. This may sound great, a little competition always goes well, right? But the truth is that many of them leave a lot to be desired.
In this post I have made a filter so that you can see which are the best (although I have “strained” some that are not very worthwhile, but that I have thought convenient for you to see them anyway).
1. APPSTYLO: Best Mobile App Builder
APPSTYLO allows you to scan your website or the website of your client / project to obtain resources such as images, connections to social networks, etc. and so start your app project with material.
It allows you to import product catalogs from your online store, in addition to offering the possibility for users to checkout from the app, thus turning it into a store for mobile devices.
Available platforms: iPhone and Android. iPad is coming. They have a service to upload your app to app stores that I think is very interesting, since uploading an app to stores can be somewhat complicated if you have never done it before. It also offers statistics and push notifications to communicate with our users.
Using APPSTYLO is free for 7 days and you must pay when your trial ends. A price of $39 / month if we want to pay monthly in the Pro version.
2. AppyPie
As its motto says: “Making an app is as easy as making a cake” (literal translation of “as easy as pie”). As soon as we enter their website, we see that, according to them, almost 2 million apps have been created with their software. This can give us interesting information about this platform:
- Users like it
- They have competent prices
- There is business continuity (it does not seem that they will close tomorrow)
- It should be minimally easy to use, since there are many apps created with the platform
Let us see what they offer us. If we access the “Tour” section of their website, we will see that they offer us different templates / options to create our app: app for casinos, recipe app, multilanguage app, app to manage clients, app to send messages, app to manage databases (add, modify, delete information) … The problem comes when entering your platform to start designing an app.
A chaotic, unintuitive design, all heavily marked by pre-defined templates … not a tool for designers, it seems more like a tool for “ordinary” users who want to create their own app. In this sense, designers can see here some limitations.
The price is low, but to which we want to add an addon (for example, the one with unlimited asynchronous notifications), we already add € 30 / month to the budget, so it does not end up being so cheap.
3. GameSalad
If what you are interested in is creating a video game, GameSalad is your option. With possibilities to convert your video game into an app for iOS and Android. Personally, I was working with GameSalad 4 years ago and the truth is that at that time it was a super powerful option. I deduce that over time it has improved and that it is now even more a good option.
4. Mobile Roadie
Mobile Roadie seems like a good option to create apps without knowing how to program but offering a great user experience. Just by looking at the web and the features it offers in its apps, we realize that it is a very powerful tool. So where is the problem? In that there are no prices on their website.
Therefore, I deduce that they have a high rate. Anyway, I have sent an email to see if they tell me about their rates.
5. Buildifre
Now let us go to Buildifre. For a price of $ 59 / month they offer us up to 20 thousand downloads of the app, 50 thousand user sessions per month, 50 thousand asynchronous notifications per month, user management, possibility of adding tags to users according to their behaviors and statistics of the use of the app.
I do not like that they limit here … in addition, some options that they offer such as those of e-commerce are presumably false, they simply load the website of the e-commerce in question within the app itself, it is not a total integration so to speak and a priori It seems that they only let you integrate it with Shopify. We would appreciate real integration with Prestashop or Woocommerce.
I also do not like that when registering I am asked if I want them to develop my app, it seems that their objective is to be hired to create apps for their clients.
So, my conclusion is no. Although it has its positive things, obviously. But we are looking for the best app builders and this is not exactly the best.
6. Appery.io
I’m going with all the illusion in the world, but I’m not lucky. I have gone to the appery.io website hoping to find the definitive program, but I have found a totally dysfunctional website, with all the letters like crazy one on top of the other… Come on, no, I don’t trust appery.io .
7. GoodBarber
GoodBarber seems like another tool intended for non-designers and non-programmers. With a multitude of templates already created from which to start, but with limitations, of course. And with prices that go up if you want to create an app for iOS and Android (€ 96 / month for iOS and Android).
Since its main business is to create web apps (apps that are viewed through websites). It offers services that are interesting and that could solve some requests from our clients. For example, it offers the possibility of creating an app as a loyalty card (€ 8 / month) or coupon app (€ 6 / month).
Program to consider in this regard. Of course, if we want the GoodBarber brand to not appear anywhere, they will make us pay € 400 more a year.
In addition, they offer you the service of uploading the app to the App Store, but it seems more an obligation than not a choice (something optional). In other words, they offer you the service of publishing the app, but they do not let you publish it yourself. The price is $ 450. To consider.
8. AppMakr
I am surprised by AppMakr the fact that they have a very well-designed website that invites them to contract their services, but that suddenly you find this:
This image speaks for itself. Super obsolete phones, super obsolete design and I no longer talk about what is on the screens of mobile devices … I have continued to look at the web to give them a chance (and that is that the prices are interesting).
But no. I could not continue. All this gives me to distrust or to think that with AppMakr what we can do is a crappy app. And to do something seedy, we don’t even wear it anymore, right? Outside!
Final conclusions: is the best app builders
After analyzing all the tools, I can say that best app builder on the market depends on your requirements, in my opinion, it is important to see the trajectory of the tools to know if they are solvent or not, if they will be updated or not, if they will be compatible with future versions of Android or iOS and meets all these requirements.
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