No-Code Startups — Companies That Started without Coding

No-code tools have helped entrepreneurs without programming resources test their ideas and launch products quickly. Wanting to validate solutions fast, companies can use no-code platforms to speed up app development or ease their product into the market for feedback. Here’s an overview of no-code startups and companies that started without code.

No-Code Startups and Companies Built with Best No-Code Tools

Comet — The “OG” no-code success story 

Launched in 2016 by three roommates, Comet is probably the most successful no-code startup out there. Comet is a freelancing marketplace that attributes its early success to no-code platforms for building software solutions.

Being a non-technical founder, Charles Thomas built and launched the core set of landing pages quickly. Built entirely in Bubble.io, Comet scaled fast, helping freelancers deliver 300+ projects and register an average MRR of $800k. 

Comet's early success is attributed to the founder’s manually vetting every freelancer profile.

The platform attracted venture capital upward of €14 million within three years of inception. Investors like Kima and Otium Ventures gave seed capital. Over the last five years, Comet helped 1000+ companies hire tech talent. 

• Founders: Charles Thomas, Joseph, and Valentin 
• Website: comet.co 
• Tool used: Bubble
• Prominent clients: Renault, LVMH, Société Générale, BNP, Payfit, and Allianz
• Funds raised: €14 million raised in Series A in 2018

Teal — Job search made easy 

Founded by David Fano, Teal helps people get better outcomes from a job search. The platform lets people organize their job hunt activities and find better jobs. 

Teal's founder admits that no-code was in their DNA from the beginning. They used Bubble to launch the platform.

Choosing a no-code platform gave Teal better control over design and helped it iterate faster. Teal started with Bubble for the main product, then used Typeform for surveys and Airtable for database management — connecting everything using Zapier. Webflow was used for the website.

The founder says that traditional mockups are a great solution, but they don't help validate if there’s demand for a product. A no-code MVP lets companies speed up development, test rapidly, and iterate quickly to find a product-market fit. 

Teal has raised over $11 million from investors and continues to improve the platform with a small team. No-code helped the company refine the product and focus on better helping people achieve the most out of their career journey. 

• Founder: David Fano 
• Website: tealhq.com
• Tool used: Bubble.io, Webflow, Airtable, Zapier, HubSpot. 
• Funds raised: $11 million from City Light Capital, Flybridge Capital, Oceans, Human Ventures, and many more.

Scribly.io — A no-code content service

Good content can drive demand galore to a business. Scribly helps companies with content needs through a service facilitated by a no-code website.

Started by Dani Bell, a British freelancer, Scribly was built entirely using no-code tools. Interestingly, Scribly started out because of her need to productize her content marketing services.

Scribly was built in 6-8 weeks and registered an MRR of $30K within a year.

When asked about her journey, the founder stated that she was amazed at how quickly and affordably one can build something using no-code technologies. She also revealed that she didn't want a no-code business but was looking to patch some solutions to improve her productivity.

Scribly's success with no-code stems from the founder's understanding of the market's pain points. A clear goal is essential to building a useful solution. Indeed, no-code startups that are successful first focus on the problem and then try to solve it with technology.

Dani Bell used Webflow for the website, Airtable for database management, and Zapier to connect different systems. The workflow is pretty simple but highly effective.

• Founder: Dani Bell 
• Website: scribly.io
• Tool used: Webflow, Airtable, Zapier 
• Notable achievements: Functional product in 6-8 weeks and $30K MRR within a year.

Qoins — A financial app for getting out of debt 

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

Qoins app was built in Bubble. According to the founders, Bubble let them build a seamless product quickly that would otherwise need a big team to launch and maintain.

Over the last four years, Qoins has helped people pay over $30 million in debt. They also won the Fintech Innovation Award Challenge — the biggest award for fintech companies in the United States. The company has raised a total of $2.3 million since it started.

• Founders: Nate Washington Jr. and Christian Zimmerman
• Website: qoins.com/ 
• Tool used: Bubble.io 
• Funds Raised: Raised $2.3m funding in total to date
• Notable achievements: Won Fintech Innovation Award Challenge

Flexiple — A freelance hiring platform

Flexiple is a popular Toptal alternative that helps companies hire pre-vetted freelancers. Flexiple generates $3 million in revenue, and the company is built using a no-code stack that costs them just $60 per month.

In a theoretically competitive space of freelance hiring platforms, the key to success was a simple business model, core focus on organic growth, and frugal innovation.

It took Flexiple four years to reach $1 million in annual revenue, during which they tested various models. Since then, Flexiple’s been growing at 25% month-on-month.

Flexiple’s no-code tech stack is Unicorn Platform, Airtable, Bubble, and Webflow. According to the blog on one of Flexiple’s side projects, Buildd, the company:

• Built 100+ subpages on Unicorn Platform
• Launched side projects like Scale and Founder Origin Stories on Webflow
• Manage dynamic flows using Zapier or Integromat
• Built internal tools for business management using Bubble, which helps them save 160 hours every month

Flexiple's founder, Karthik Sridharan, regularly shares nuggets about the power of no-code in building a startup on his Twitter.

• Founder: Karthik Sridharan
• Website: flexiple.com 
• Tool used: Bubble, Webflow, Airtable, Unicorn Platform, Zapier 
• Annual Revenue: $3 million+ as of Nov 2021

Bloom Institute of Technology — Accessible education for everyone 

Bloom Institute of Technology, formerly known as Lambda School, fixes broken education systems.

The platform lets students attend college-level programs, learn a new skill, and land a job without paying any upfront tuition fee. Bloom relies on the Income Share Agreement model, where a student can pay back tuition after securing a job.

The ingenious model helped the company raise $4 million in seed funding (and $122 million overall), all for a solution built using a no-code platform. Bloom used Typeform, Airtable, Retool, and Webflow to develop and launch an MVP for 3,000 users.

No-code helped it launch a functional platform without writing code or programming skills. The team at Bloom introduced automation, got their idea off the ground, and caught the attention of investors and students.

• Founders: Austen Allred and Ben Nelson
• Website: bloomtech.com 
• No-code tools used: Webflow, Typeform, Airtable, and Zapier 
• Funds raised: $122 million

Dividend Finance — A renewable energy and home improvement financing platform

Dividend Finance is another no-code success story that has transformed an entire industry. Dividend Finance helps homeowners secure financing for home improvements and add renewable energy solutions to their homes.

Dividend Finance provides a simple onboarding experience for loan applications that removes obstacles and red-tapism, especially for individual customers.

The platform used Bubble to launch the no-code MVP and managed to process more than $1 billion in sales over the years. Dividend Finance attracted investments of over $384 million from Credit Suisse and LL funds, and also the company won several awards in the fintech industry.

• Founders: Eric White, Steve Michella
• Website: dividendfinance.com
• Tool used: Bubble
• Funds Raised: $384 million

LetterHunt — A newsletter directory 

If you are looking to build a directory app using no-code, LetterHunt can be a great inspiration. LetterHunt helps marketers, readers, and founders discover niche newsletters. Built using Softr, LetterHunt hosts information about 10,000+ newsletters across 20+ categories.

LetterHunt received a great response from the online community and became the #1 Product of the Day and Week on ProductHunt.

• Founders: Akhil BVS and Madan Rawtani 
• Website: letterhunt.co
• Tool used: Softr
• Revenue: $4,000 in just 2 months
• Notable achievements: #1 Product of the Week on ProductHunt

Princeton Concession — A stadium food delivery app 

Princeton Concession is a limited-area food delivery app lets users order refreshments and snacks at Princeton Stadium, New Jersey. The app, built using Glide, helps avoid long wait times and queues at food stalls in the stadium.

Crowd management is a serious issue at concerts and sporting events. A food delivery app built on a simple no-code architecture for a limited geographical area is a great solution to modernize the food ordering experience.

• Made for: Princeton Stadium, New Jersey
• No-code platform used: Glide Apps
• App link: Princeton Concession

Chara — An on-demand healthcare app 

Chara is a holistic health with intuitive user experience and a wellness company that helps achieve a balance between mind, body, and soul. The Chara app that lets you book sessions with expert therapists, health coaches, and alternative health specialists.

Built by Dylan Terrill using Adalo, the app connects you to top-rated practitioners for sleep, skin, gut health, mental health, nutrition, and general health issues. You can use the app to book a physical session or video chat with an expert.

The user-friendly interface and minimalist design crafted using a no-code app builder help users find answers to their healthcare issues faster. 

• Maker: Dylan Terrill 
• Website: charahealth.com
• Tool used: Adalo
• Available on: iOS and Android

Aqarat — A real-estate listing app

Aqarat is a real-estate listing app designed for the Middle East and African markets. Available in English and Arabic, the mobile app was built using Adalo.

The app helps users find residential and commercial properties for sale or rent in a region. With features like location filter, search, and customizable listing, the mobile app is great for people looking for a property to buy, sell, or rent.

According to the maker, no-code eased the development process and helped quickly launch the MVP.

• Founder: Mohamed Mudathir
• Tool used: Adalo

More Examples of No-Code Startups and Companies

• Swapstack — Built using Bubble. Crossed $500k in GMV as a marketplace.  
• Read Something Great — A viral Twitter product built using Bubble. 
• Aware Health — A skeletal and muscular health app. Reached $30,000 MRR. Built using Bubble.
• Tiny Acquisitions — A micro-acquisition platform built using Bubble. Picked as the Golden Kitty Award Finalist by ProductHunt.
• Factle — A popular trivia game based on the Wordle concept. Crossed 7.5 million sessions to date.

Is a No-Code Tool the Future of Startups and Development?

Experts believe that 60% of all app development will happen using no-code platforms by 2024. Looking that the current economic landscape is unfavorable for startup development, a no-code MVP can be a more cost-efficient way to launch a product. A whopping 90% of users surveyed by Zapier think that no-code helps their company grow faster. A growing number of departments use no-code platforms to automate functions, refine business processes, and build apps.

The no-code community and ecosystem are steadily growing, decreasing the entry barrier for software development. Non-technical founders and employees can venture into no-code development without technical expertise or technical knowledge. However, building a no-code product does require a basic level of familiarity with software development — more information can be found in the documentation for no-code platforms.

Because developing without code is faster, companies with innovative ideas can gain a competitive advantage by getting into the market sooner. Many no-code tools can also be used to build web apps and mobile apps, giving companies an opportunity to reach a broader audience.

Use No-Code to Test, Pivot, and Launch Mobile Apps Faster in 2024

As the startup ecosystem is reeling from recession, a no-code startup helps small teams test their business ideas without much investment. No-code platforms help you:

• Test out a product idea
• Build and iterate faster
• Save time
• Achieve more with small teams
• Launch quickly

So, if you want to validate your business idea or launch an MVP, look into no-code startup development. Not only will it help you save time and costs, but it will let you achieve more with a smaller team.

A word of caution, though — no-code tools aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Most no-code tools give you limited customization options and aren’t suitable for every product idea. Pick a no-code tool when you have a clearly defined problem, and you suspect that technology could solve it. Also, consider the need for any internal business infrastructure such as team size, runway, location, supply chain, and all other elements that are key to getting your service or product to the end user.