So, you're probably asking yourself whether you should go with a no-code MVP or traditional coding, or maybe you're just curious about what a no-code MVP is.

I was in your shoes a while ago. I built an MVP for a startup I worked for, and we were deliberating: no-code or not? 

We heavily invested time and effort into researching this question, talking to agencies, and getting proposals from both full-code developers and no-code developers. 

In the end, we chose to go with no-code. 

So, in this blog post, I want to tell you exactly what a no-code MVP is and why it's the better option for building an MVP.
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What is an MVP (Minimum Viable Product)? 

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First of all the basics.

“MVP” is probably one of the most overused terms of all time. Every prototype, every unfinished version, and every idea gets labeled as an MVP, whether in startups or corporations.

And when we talk about MVP, we don't mean the MVP in basketball, but the meaning of MVP in business. So what is it exactly?

In short, “A minimum viable product (MVP) is a version of a product with just enough features to be usable by early customers who can then provide feedback for future product development” (Wikipedia). 

That means, an MVP is not a prototype and not a half-finished product version. 

An MVP is a version of a product that has the core features of your idea to test your hypothesis and see if your future customers are willing to use your product before you fully develop it. 

This concept is well demonstrated in Henrik Kniberg's famous graphic:

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But there is one problem with MVPs: it often takes ages to develop one.

Coding and development take time, future founders often get lost in adding more and more features. Maybe you are already feeling lost with questions like, “How do I find future users?” and so on. 

There could be many reasons why it takes so much time.

When I was in the situation of turning a product idea into an MVP, instead of coding it from scratch, we chose to go down the no-code path.

This approach made things 100 times easier and cheaper for us. It really helped us focus on the feature that was necessary to test our idea and build an MVP super fast.

So, here, I want to give you an overview why you really should also consider no-code for your MVP.

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What is no-code? 

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First of all, let’s answer the question: what is no-code?

It's a term you’ve likely heard before, and you’ve probably used no-code tools yourself. 

“No-code development platforms allow you to create application software through graphical user interfaces and configuration instead of traditional computer programming based on writing code.” (Wikipedia).

In simple terms, no-code platforms are drag-and-drop editors that enable you to build tools and software quickly. 

In general, the cheap website builders you are probably familiar with from when the internet first arrived are also no-code builders. 

But the technology has evolved significantly. Now you can even build complex software using workflows, APIs, databases, and more.

This short video about one of the most popular no-code builders called Bubble shows how no-code tools work and gives you an insight into what you can do with them:

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Benefits of Using No-Code for your MVP

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Now that we’ve clarified what no-code is, the question arises: 

Why should you choose it for your MVP rather than coding it traditionally, as many successful companies have done in the past? 

Let’s jump in. 

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Faster Development and Time-to-Market

In the early days of your product, speed is everything. 

To test, to get paid, to bring a successful product to market. 

Quantifying how much faster you can be with no-code might be challenging, but thanks to drag-and-drop editors, the logic you build with simple clicks, and the databases you set up, it is probably 5-10 times faster than traditional development - which significantly increases your time-to-market. 

To give a real-life example from my time building a no-code MVP: 

We decided to test our idea and launched it two weeks later. We simply built out the core feature and started collecting user feedback in the third week after deciding to test our MVP.

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Lower Development Costs

No-code is much less expensive. 

Lower development costs in no-code usually come from different aspects. Thanks to faster development times, you save resources and money as your time-to-market significantly decreases – which means less time developing.

And the costs for development, whether external or internal, are often very high: 

• In-house developer (full-code) salary per year: €100,000+
• Traditional agencies (full-code) per project: starting at €50,000

When I was looking for an agency for our MVP, I received proposals for around €90,000.

• On the other hand No-code agencies can charge significantly less due to faster development times. 

The only downside here might be that most no-code builders don’t provide you with the underlying code. This means your no-code tool will run on the no-code platform you choose, resulting in a monthly fee to use it. 

But: the no-code stack I used for our MVP was around €30 per month - which is nothing compared to the other options. 

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Easier Iteration and Testing of Ideas‍

No-code gives you the possibility to iterate and test ideas much more easily.

Like we did. We focused on building our core feature to test the idea. As we saw the need to iterate, we could do so in a couple of hours based on user feedback.

This made it easy for us to avoid getting lost in the "more and more feature development" I mentioned at the beginning.

We were fully committed to testing our core hypothesis.

Disadvantages of Using No-Code for Your MVP

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When there is light, there is, of course, darkness. 

Even though I would recommend using no-code for building your MVP and testing your business idea, I want to highlight some disadvantages.

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Too Many Tools

This is a common issue. 

There are far too many tools available for building a no-code MVP nowadays. If you want to find the best one to start with, you could spend hours and hours doing research. 

The no-code landscape is vast and constantly changing.

Source: Vivekxgoel

The problem here is that choosing the right tool stack from the beginning will help you in the long term to make your MVP successful and scalable.

So, it’s definitely a topic you should invest time in or seek consultancy on.

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No-Code Complexity

Even if every tool advertises the ease of no-code, it’s not always that simple. 

If you want to seriously build an MVP designed for many users with seamless features, then it’s worth investing time to really learn a no-code tool.

There are topics like APIs, databases, user roles, and security to consider, especially since many store user data. It’s important to pay extra attention to these. 

The bottom line is, yes, no-code makes many things easier, but don’t underestimate it if you are serious about building your MVP with no-code.

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Scalability

I mention this last as I want to cover it thoroughly and because you will encounter this in many other no-code discussions. 

And in my opinion, it is not really a disadvantage in the context of your MVP.

Yes, at some point, if you have enough traction (and by enough, I mean thousands of users every day on your app), you might face scalability issues. 

But why is this not a real disadvantage?

Just imagine this: You build an MVP, test your hypothesis, iterate on it, and it becomes hugely successful. Now you onboard paying users and reach the point where your no-code MVP hits its limit.

At this point, you are in the advantageous position of already having a battle-tested product and earning revenue, making it 100 times easier to rebuild your MVP in a scalable way using full-code.

This saves you a lot of money because A) you have customers bringing in revenue, and B) you can rebuild your tested no-code product 1:1 in full-code without having the expensive design and planning phase upfront.

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So, why is it worth building your MVP with no-code?

Of course, I’m biased in answering this question. But when looking at the advantages versus disadvantages, the benefits in terms of speed and cost far outweigh any drawbacks.

And as the number one goal of your MVP is to test your hypothesis and to ship and iterate quickly - no-code is unbeatable.

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How to Build a No-Code MVP?

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So, let’s get real here: how do you actually build your no-code MVP? 

Well, building a no-code MVP isn't much different from building an MVP with full-code.

In the beginning, there's a lot of planning involved but there are some steps you can follow to build a successful MVP.

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Define Your Target Audience and Their Needs

This step is crucial as it defines the problem your MVP should solve. 

When we planned our MVP, we initially had just an idea based on conversations with our potential customers. 

We defined our target audience broadly, enough to know who we wanted to talk to and where to find them, like: 

• Companies from industry [XYZ] 
• 20-50 employees 
• People with job descriptions [XYZ] in charge
• … 

After talking to these customers and to validate the idea, we delved deeper into our target audience's problem by conducting interviews, researching in communities like Reddit, Quora, Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, and even attending events to talk to our target group in person. 

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Identify the Core Functionalities of Your MVP

With the insights in hand and the problem clearly mapped out, we knew what kind of product we wanted to build. 

We went through every conversation and interview we had, noting down all the problems and potential features to solve them. 

We ranked each feature by importance, focusing on the problem mentioned most frequently and most urgently. 

Until we find the feature we need to build which would validate our hypothesis. 

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Choose the Right (No-Code) Platform for Your Needs

Next, it was time to choose the right platform to build our MVP. 

With many platforms available, ask yourself questions like: 

• How complex is my MVP? 
• Do I need AI? 
• Do I need calculations? 
• What should my product do? 
• Are there any workflows? 
• How many users will there be initially? 

Depending on your answers, different solutions like databases and tools may be suitable. 

I'll delve into different tools later.

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Design and Build Your MVP Using the No-Code Platform

Once you have answers to these questions and have chosen the right platform, it's advisable to start designing your MVP upfront. 

Tools like Figma are great for mapping out wireframes. Defining clickflows upfront helps you visualize how your product should work, preventing unpleasant surprises during the build phase. 

Once your design is finished and your MVP is built, you can start testing it in the market.

To sum up MVP building with no-code isn’t much different than with traditional coding, it just makes things easier and more cost-efficient. 

This video gives you a good summary of how to build your MVP using no-code. 

Tools and Platforms for Building a No-Code MVP

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As mentioned before it's almost impossible to get an overview of all no-code tools, so I'll give a brief introduction to the tools you can use to build almost any MVP. 

These are the same tools we've used for dozens of customer projects at Naviu.

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Bubble

Bubble is one of the leaders in the field of no-code tools. 

With it, you can build almost anything. 

Imagine Bubble as a drag-and-drop editor with a lot more functionalities. It includes workflows where you define what happens in your app and its own databases where you can store all the data your application uses.

While Bubble may look simple at first, it can become more complex as you delve deeper. You have options like using plugins to enhance your app or using the API to work easily with data from other tools. 

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Airtable

Airtable is a software that helps you organize and manage your data. 

Imagine Airtable as a kind of Excel or Google Sheets on steroids. It's much more user-friendly and simpler to organize your data. 

Use cases for Airtable can include:

• To-do lists, 
• Tracking expenses, 
• Managing projects, 
• Collecting & sorting data

In terms of your MVP, Airtable is a popular database solution where you can store and organize data. 

Thanks to its API and many integrations, you can easily connect it to other tools like Bubble.io and work directly with your Airtable data. 

This is often how we build MVPs: Airtable + Bubble in combination.

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Xano

Xano is a powerful database solution similar to Airtable, but more powerful in terms of scalability. 

It's a database where you can store data without having to deal with SQL or complex coding and interfaces. With Xano, you can easily use the API to integrate it with tools like Bubble to build scalable applications and work directly with your data stored in Xano.

One advantage of Xano is that you can choose the location of your servers. This means you can be GDPR compliant, which is not the case with e.g. Airtable or the integrated Bubble database, unless you're willing to pay for an expensive plan.

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WeWeb

WeWeb is similar to Bubble, a no-code web app builder. 

The main difference here is that WeWeb has no internal databases. So building with WeWeb always requires an external back-end to store your data, like Xano or Airtable.

This might sound like a disadvantage initially, but it can be an advantage, especially for European app builders concerned with GDPR compliance. 

You can choose a back-end solution located in Europe for compliance, and using an external database can make your app often more scalable.

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Webflow

What Wordpress was in the 2000s, Webflow is now. 

Webflow is one of the strongest website builders out there at the moment. It's easy to use, has a built-in CRM to manage your content, and you can build beautiful designs with a bit of knowledge. So if you want to build a landing page for your MVP, a blog, or a simple website, Webflow is the way to go.

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Minimum Viable Product Examples

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To give you an overview and not just talk about it, there are lots of examples from startups that built their MVP with no-code and gathered millions of funding for their no-code MVP: 

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Dividend Finance

Dividend Finance helps homeowners secure financing for home improvements and add renewable energy solutions to their homes. 

Their MVP was built in Bubble.io and attracted investments of over $384 million. Now, the company is making $50 million annually (upstackstuido.com).

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Comet

Comet is a marketplace for IT talent to find freelancing jobs. The project was built in Bubble and attracted venture capital of €12.8 million. 

Comet was generating over $800,000 in Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) (nomtek.com).

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Qoins

Qoins helps people pay off their debt faster. The company provides financial coaching, tips, and round-off payments for automating debt repayment using a mobile app. 

Since its inception, the company has raised a total of $2.3 million (quixy.com).

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Training OS

Training OS is an AI-powered platform that empowers teachers to create, manage, and enhance learning experiences. With tools to generate engaging content and automate tasks.

With the help of Naviu, Training OS was able to onboard over 300 users within the first 3 months and create its MVP in less than 10 weeks with no-code (read the case study here).

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Koncile

Koncile is an AI platform for procurement teams designed to bring spending under control. It features specialized AI agents that analyze every transaction in detail, generating up to 20% in savings. 

Naviu helped them build their MVP with Bubble in less than 10 weeks. After they started onboarding users, they received exceptional feedback, successfully kick-starting their startup (read the case study here).

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Conclusion

When it comes to MVP development, time and speed are paramount. That's why, in my opinion, no-code solutions are invaluable. Not only do they streamline the development process, but they also significantly reduce costs and time to market, making them an attractive option for every company planning to build an MVP.

The success stories mentioned above show that no-code solutions are capable of building real, successful companies. Despite concerns that no-code MVPs may not attract investors, these examples demonstrate that complex solutions can indeed be built using no-code platforms.

Furthermore, the disadvantages mentioned are negligible when compared to the benefits of using no-code for MVP development.

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