Mobile is increasingly making up a larger percentage of the ecommerce revenue for many businesses, and apps play an integral role in this growth. So wanting a mobile app for your business is only natural, but while shopping for a developer, you quickly realize it is out of the reach of your small business budget.
According to Clutch, hiring a developer to create your mobile app can set you back $37,913 to $171,450, and even go as high as half a million dollars or more. Obviously this is not an option for the vast majority of small business owners, which makes the DIY route the most viable option.
Luckily, the market is full of app builders that are so easy to use, the only experience you need is being able to use a computer. And best of all, you won’t have to pay an arm and a leg because the average cost is only around $61.50/month, with many coming much lower than that.
Here is a list of 20 app builders you can use to create a mobile app on your own. They are easy to use, so don’t let it stop you from trying, and since most of them offer a free trial period, it won’t cost you a penny to see how easy it is to create your own mobile app.
List of App Builders for Coding Novices
GoodBarber
GoodBarber consistently ranks as one of the easiest app builders out there. This user friendly platform, has many themes and features that will let you create an app designed specifically for your particular industry. With 70 themes to choose from, and an app editor interface with many connectors you will be able to plug in content from virtually every imaginable source. This includes, your own photos, videos, and podcasts as well as WordPress, YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook and too many others to mention.
Without writing a single line of code you can create native apps for iOS and Android for $16, $33 and $50 per month depending on the features you are looking for. The company also has a generous 30 day free trial with all the features without asking for your credit card.
BiznessApps
With BiznessApps you get 20 professionally designed templates to develop your apps for industries such as restaurants, real estate, not-for-profits, spas, clubs etc. The free trial lets you create an app, but it will only charge when you decide to publish. The paid version starts at $42 per month for a single app, and $250 if you plan on becoming a reseller.
BiznessApps has a 100 percent white label program so you can create apps for your customers using your own brand. It also has tools to increase your customer’s exposure with CRM and other marketing materials, as well as a great library of video tutorials to further simplify the app creation process. And when it comes to customer support, they are available over the phone from Monday to Friday, 6 AM to 6 PM PST and 24/7 via email.
QuickBase
This solution is designed for companies with teams that want to work together, and it has many features to make that possible. QuickBase has more than 800 customizable application templates to choose from, including ready to use business apps. If you want to improve the day to day operations of your company, QuickBase will have the app for you. And if it doesn’t, you can build one of your own to automate your workflow, drive action and insight, improve customer service and more.
The price is tiered per user on a monthly basis, with Essential, Premier and Platform for $15, $25 and $40 respectively, which also includes a free 30 day trial. There is minimum number of users for each tier, starting at 10, 20 and 40 users.
Oracle Application Builder
With the Oracle Application Builder, all you need is a browser to start creating your app. You don’t have to download or install any software on your device. The visual development platform lets you drag and drop components and set properties on a live design surface. What this means is you will see exactly what will appear on your device.
The platform also has advance capabilities if you are a developer for custom HTML5, JavaScript, and CSS techniques. When you are ready to publish, you can make it available to the public or a particular group.
The Application Builder cloud service is available for $100 per month for five users. There is not a trial period available now, but Oracle said it will make it available in the future.
Como
Como lets you build an app in all of the major mobile devices to improve your business with promotional tools and advanced analytics. The company has been pushing towards a customer loyalty management (CLM) platform for improving customer engagement with loyalty, coupons, push notifications and mobile commerce programs.
It counts some very large brands as its customers, but it is just as useful for your small business. There is a free plan with very limited options, and the pay versions start at $33 per month for the Gold plan and $83 for the platinum when they are billed annually.
AppMachine
This platform uses a block-building system to simplify the process of creating an app with live preview updates. The AppMachine free version offers multiple features, but each succeeding tier has more options, including custom Javascript, iPad support, custom web services, white labeling and more. The Plus and Pro version are available for $49 and $69, while the reseller tiers are available for $99 and $300.
AppMachine provides a free app site to market and promote your app with a QR code for easy download. And once it is up and running, you can analyze how your app is doing in your own dashboard so you can make changes as needed to better serve your customers.
Salesforce Lightning App Builder
The Lightning App Builder from Salesforce is designed to make every department in your company more efficient. Whether it is HR, sales, operations or any other department, they can use the Lightning UI framework to drag and drop ready built components.
By selecting a Lightning standard or custom component from Salesforce or one from a third-party component you can design pages and apps for use in the Salesforce1 mobile app or in Lightning Experience.
Microsoft PowerApps
The Microsoft PowerApps platform has a wide range of features to fully integrate the resources of your company to improve operations. You can use pre-built templates, or start from scratch to build the apps and connect them to many of the Office applications that are part of the Microsoft ecosystem. This includes Excel, SharePoint, Dynamics 365, Azure and others, as well as SalesForce, Dropbox and Slack.
You can get PowerApps for free if you have Office 365 Business Essentials and Premium as well as Office 365 Enterprise E1, E3 and E5. If you don’t have Office, you can try the free trial version or opt for the Business User plan for $7 per month per user, or the App Makers and Admins version for $40 per month per user.
App Maker
App Maker is a low code app development tool so you can create custom apps the platform that powers Google’s G Suite. The drag-and-drop UI editor comes with built-in templates to create, import, or store data in your drive or the Google Cloud Platform without any provisioning, servers, or administrators.
The point-and-click data modeling accelerates app development with support for HTML, CSS, Javascript and Google’s material design.
It is only available in beta, so you will have to wait to experience the full capability of Google’s App Maker.
Shoutem
Shoutem is known for the simple UI it provides along with an intuitive editor that takes into account most of its users don’t know anything about coding. All of its plans come with free updates and upgrades, advertising, analytics, push notifications, customization options, location-based features, full monetization and many more.
Shoutem has a noteworthy White Label Reseller Program with your own dashboard and domain so you can give your customers power-user access.
The company offers a generous free plan, so you will be able to see how easy the interface is when it comes to putting the different component together. If you want the premium features, Shoutem has a Basic, Advanced, and Unlimited tiers starting at $19.90, $49.00, $119.90 per month per user. There is also an Enterprise tier if you need more customization, but you will have to get in touch with the company to find out what it will cost you.
Appy Pie
The Appy Pie platform runs all of the most popular mobile operating systems, including iOS, Blackberry, HTML5, Windows, Fire OS or Android. You can start building right from the website, without any downloads or installations.
Once you create the apps, Appy Pie also has a promotional tool that is just as easy to use with three steps. It lets you customize your ads with images, color and destination to target your audience, select the budget, and launch the ads and start measuring the result with real-time access to the app analytics.
Appy Pie start with a free tier that lets you make one fully-functional app, however it does come with ads. The price for the subscriptions is one of the lowest in the market, starting with the Basic for $15, $30 for the Gold and $50 for the Platinum per month per app. Each of these tiers are available in life time memberships, which can save you up to 50 percent.
Zoho Creator
The Zoho Creator platform is a cloud-based business management system that collects and tracks data to make your company more efficient. The drag-and-drop interface lets you build a custom app in the cloud with forms to collect name, email addresses, customer feedback and other data.
You can also access the data from anywhere, automate complex business processes, collaborate with co-workers in real-time, integrate with other cloud services and make informed decision based on the custom reports and charts.
You can start Zoho Creator with a 15 day trial without having to supply your credit card information, which you can upgrade to one of the three pay tiers. The company has one of the lowest prices on this list, and starts with the Standard version for $5 per user per month. It then goes to the Professional for $10 and $15 for the Enterprise.
AppMakr
If there is one company that really wants your business, it is AppMakr. The free version includes all of the same functions as the paid version without any ads. And if you want to pay for the service, there is no contract and you can cancel at any time. It starts at $1 for the Basic, $7 for the Pro and $34 for the Unlimited/Reseller per month.
AppMakr has instant publishing, HTML5 and native OSs, and it even lets you earn money from ads on your app. This is in addition to all of the features you find in the top app builders in the market, including marketing, analytics, monetization and more.
AppInstitute
The AppInstitute has been designed to give small businesses and individuals quality features at an affordable price. You can create an app for many industries with full brand control, CRM functions, and drag-and-drop features. The editing tool lets you manipulate your environment with easy add and delete functions with live preview from the data you pull from your website, social media and other sources.
Customer supports includes video tutorials for newbies along with email, live chat, unlimited phone and backend support depending on the tier you pay for. The free version lets you create the app you want with all the tools, and you only have to pay when you publish. The Starter version is $8 per month for a single Android app, followed by $30 for the Premium, $45 for the Professional and $150 for the Reseller.
Appery.io
While Apperi.io can be used by professionals, the platform has easy to use feature any novice with basic computer skills can use to create an app. This also comes with the company’s first time reply time with Zendesk that is over 92 percent. This means fast responses to your email queries when you have a problem so you can get your app published as soon as possible.
Apperi.io is a cloud-based platform with advanced customization, a responsive UI framework that works on any device and native iOS, Android and Windows platforms. The pricing for its plans start at $60 for the Pro per month, $135 for Team, and if you want the Enterprise you have to contact the company. The price is based on annual contracts, and if you plan on paying monthly it goes up to $90 and $200 respectively for both plans.
AppsBar
This is an open source platform that lets you build an app for free. AppsBar comes with video tutorials and tech support for creating apps for Android, Apple, Black Berry and Windows formats. Even though it is free, it has many features for creating fully functional apps with HTML, URL links, RSS feeds, and interactive mapping tools.
Additional tools include Event Notifier, Social Interaction Platform to share content across all social networks, background colors, text styles and images from Appsbar’s library or their own source and more.
EachScape
This is a company that has grown quickly, acquiring customers such as The New York Times, NBC, The Oscar Prior, BET, MTV, Fox, and many others. But that doesn’t mean a small business can’t use it.
EachScape supports all of the popular platforms, including HTML5 and native iOS and Android, Roku, Apple TV, and Alexa. And the EachScape integrated CMS lets you connect existing CMS and enterprise databases.
This is one of the more expensive app builders starting at $149 per month with its Get Started tier, and $990 to $1250 per month for Small Business. The Enterprise tier requires you getting in touch with the company.
BuildFire
Keeping up with the theme of the three step process, BuildFire lets you choose tailor-made templates for arts, education, events, not-for-profits, restaurants and small businesses or build something custom from scratch. Once you have the template, you can add the features you want and you can publish and manage it.
You can add a wide range of tools to engage and notify users, schedule events, find locations, serve up multimedia content, boost sales and more. This includes social media, monetization, loyalty programs and other integrations with the likes of Shopify, Instagram, Slack, Google Apps and others.
BuildFire’s plans start at $19 per month and it goes up to $59 and $89 per month.
MobiCart
If you are a retailer, MobiCart is one of the best app builders designed to specifically address this industry. If you want a mobile presence, MobiCart has virtually every feature you will ever need to create a shopping cart, accept payment, product and store setting, content management system, marketing, ecommerce connectors and much more.
MobiCart integrates with Paypal, ZooZ and Stripe as well as most of the shopping carts, including Magento, Shopify, osCommerce, Opencart, Pinnacle Cart and many others.
You can start building an app with the free plan, but it comes limited to only 10 products and it is only available for Android. The firs pay plan starts at $28 per/month with 100 product limit, followed by the Starter Plan for $68 per/month, which will get you 2,000 products and the Pro Plan for $98 per/month for 7,000 product limit.
AppsMoment
This is a comprehensive app builder that will bring in iOS, Android, Windows, Amazon Kindle and HTML5 platforms so you can create apps for devices that use these operating systems. You have access to more than 400 app templates and 120 features to integrate ecommerce, social media, analytics, push notification, marketing and more. AppsMoment provides coaching, which includes an extensive video tutorial library.
The company provides a subscription model with several tiers, including a free version that lets you publish an app with in-app purchase features with submissions to iOS, Android and Amazon. After the free version, there is the Starter for an annual fee of $49, followed by the Publisher, which can be purchased monthly or yearly for $29 or $197.
Price and Plans
The price and plans on this list were correct at the time of posting, however companies always have promotional offers or they might even add or remove some of the tiers.
Construction Workers Photo via Shutterstock
This article, “Need an App? Can’t Code? This List of App Builders Should Help” was first published on Small Business Trends