6 Best Low-Code Platforms for Automation

Low-code automation platforms allow users to build applications and automate processes with minimal hand-coding through visual interfaces, drag-and-drop components, and pre-built templates. These tools abstract complex coding tasks, enabling rapid application development cycles.

The primary benefits of low-code automation tools include faster deployment speed, reduced development costs, increased productivity, enhanced business agility, and improved accessibility for non-technical users to contribute to application development. By democratizing coding, these platforms empower organizations to keep pace with evolving demands and drive innovation.

Key Takeaways: Low-code platforms simplify application building and process automation through visual interfaces, accelerating development with minimal coding. Key benefits are faster deployment, cost reduction, and increased productivity. Critical evaluation criteria include integration, usability, functionality, security, scalability, and flexibility. Leading vendors like Latenode cater to various use cases, with adoption rising for mobile apps, process automation, and integration of emerging tech like AI/ML.

Key Features of Low-Code Automation Platforms

Effective low code automation platforms offer a comprehensive set of features tailored for different user roles within an organization. For administrators responsible for managing and governing the platform, these tools provide robust capabilities to ensure proper access controls, enable integration with existing systems, monitor performance, and facilitate collaboration among development teams.

Features for Administrators

• User access control and permission management: Robust security features that allow administrators to control which users or groups have access to specific applications, data, and functionality within the low-code platform. This ensures data integrity and prevents unauthorized access or modifications.
• Workflow designer for building automated processes visually: Intuitive visual designers that enable administrators to model, build, and automate complex business processes and workflows graphically, without writing code. These visual workflow builders often use drag-and-drop interfaces and pre-built connectors.
• Integration capabilities to connect with existing systems: Low-code platforms typically provide out-of-the-box connectors and integration tools that allow administrators to seamlessly integrate the applications built on the platform with existing enterprise systems, databases, cloud services, and third-party APIs.
• Monitoring and analytics dashboards: Comprehensive monitoring and reporting capabilities that provide administrators with real-time insights into application performance, usage statistics, process bottlenecks, and other key metrics. These dashboards help optimize processes and identify areas for improvement.
• Customization and extensibility options: While low-code platforms aim to minimize coding, they often provide options for administrators to extend functionality through custom code, scripts, or plugins when needed. This allows for greater flexibility and the ability to address unique business requirements.
• Version control and collaboration tools: Features that enable version control, change tracking, and collaboration among development teams. Administrators can manage application versions, roll back changes, and facilitate team collaboration during the development and deployment processes.

Features for Users

In addition to the powerful features for administrators, low code automation software offer a wealth of capabilities tailored specifically for end-users, such as citizen developers, business analysts, and subject matter experts. These user-centric tools are designed to democratize application development, making it accessible to those without extensive coding expertise.

• Intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces: Low-code platforms provide visually appealing and user-friendly interfaces that allow users to easily build applications by dragging and dropping pre-built components, such as UI elements, data connectors, and logic modules. This eliminates the need for complex coding and enables rapid application assembly.
• Task automation for repetitive activities: Users can automate repetitive tasks and workflows using low-code business process automation tools. This can include automating data entry, approval processes, document routing, and other routine activities, improving efficiency and reducing manual effort.
• Pre-built templates and modules: Most low-code platforms offer a library of pre-built templates, modules, and building blocks for common application features and processes. Users can simply select and customize these templates rather than building everything from scratch, accelerating development.
• Notifications and alerts: Low code automation tools often include features for setting up notifications and alerts, keeping users informed about important events, task completions, or process updates. This helps users stay on top of their automated workflows.
• Mobile accessibility: Many low-code platforms support mobile development, enabling users to build mobile-responsive applications or access development environments from mobile devices. This improves accessibility and allows for on-the-go development.
• Comprehensive documentation and support: Effective low-code tools provide extensive documentation, tutorials, training materials, and user support resources. This documentation helps users understand the platform's capabilities, best practices, and troubleshoot any issues they may encounter during development.

Criteria for Choosing a Low-Code Automation Tool

When selecting a low-code automation solution, there are several critical criteria that organizations must evaluate to ensure the chosen platform aligns with their specific requirements and facilitates long-term success in their automation initiatives.

Key criteria when evaluating low-code automation platforms include:

Integration - Seamless integration with existing systems, databases, APIs and third-party services for smooth data flow and interaction between tools.

User Interface Usability - An intuitive and visually appealing interface to enhance user productivity and engagement.

Functionality - The tool must provide required capabilities like mobile app development, web UI testing, API testing etc.

Security

• Robust data protection measures
• Compliance with standards and regulations
• Encryption protocols
• Strong access controls

Requirements Assessment - Thoroughly analyze business needs, processes to automate, objectives, user skills, scalability requirements and budgets.

Scalability and Flexibility - Ability to scale seamlessly and provide customization options as business needs evolve.

Carefully assessing these criteria upfront will help organizations make an informed decision and select a low-code business process automation platform that not only meets their current needs but also has the potential to adapt and grow alongside their evolving business landscape. Overlooking any of these critical factors may result in suboptimal adoption, integration challenges, or limitations in the long run.

Comparison of Top Low-Code Platforms

When it comes to evaluating and selecting the best low-code automation solution for your needs, it's crucial to understand the features, strengths, and limitations of the top solutions in the market. While they share some core functionalities, each platform has its own unique offerings tailored to specific use cases and requirements. Let's take a closer look at some of the leading low-code automation tools:

1. Latenode

Latenode is a low-code platform specializing in building backends and integrating them with various frontends. Its key feature is the ability to rapidly develop full-fledged APIs, databases, and business logic without manual coding.

Key Features:

• Visual Interface for API Design: User-friendly drag-and-drop interface for creating API endpoints, data models, and validation rules.
• Pre-built Data Models and Validation: Library of customizable data models and validation rules to accelerate development and ensure data integrity.
• Security Features: Robust authentication, authorization, and encryption to protect data and ensure compliance with industry standards.
• Database Support: Wide range of supported databases for seamless integration.
• Integration with Frontends: Flexible integration with popular frameworks like React, Angular, and Vue.
• Customizable Logic: Ability to embed custom code and create custom connectors for system integration.

Pricing:

Example of Low-Code Automation on Latenode

The following scenario demonstrates how to use the Latenode platform to automate the process of fetching user data from a public API and sending notification emails when new users are added. 

• Data Retrieval: Latenode sends an HTTP GET request to the specified API endpoint to retrieve user data. This request includes the necessary headers to ensure proper content type handling.
• Data Parsing: Upon a successful response, Latenode parses the JSON data received from the API, extracting the necessary user information for further processing.
• Data Storage: The extracted user data is then saved for future comparison. This includes details like user ID, name, and email. Previous user data is also retrieved to identify any new users.
• Data Comparison: Latenode uses a JavaScript script to compare the current user data with previously stored data. It identifies any new users by checking for user IDs that were not present in the previous data.
• Email Notification: If new users are detected, Latenode sends an email notification with the details of these new users. The email includes the names and emails of the new users to keep the relevant parties informed.
• Scheduling: The workflow is scheduled to run daily, ensuring that user data is regularly updated and any new users are promptly identified and communicated.

And this is how the result of this automation looks visually:

Latenode offers a free platform to start automating your workflows. If you need help or advice on how to create your own script or replicate the example provided, join our Discord community where low-code process automation experts are ready to assist you.

2. Tricentis Tosca

Tricentis Tosca is a leading low-code automation platform specializing in test automation. It is designed to accelerate software testing processes and improve test coverage with minimal manual intervention.

Key Features:

• Model-Based Test Automation: Tosca uses a model-based approach, enabling users to create test cases through a visual interface without writing code. This simplifies the test creation process and ensures consistency.
• End-to-End Testing: Supports comprehensive end-to-end testing across multiple platforms, including web, mobile, APIs, and desktop applications.
• Continuous Testing: Integrates with CI/CD pipelines to enable continuous testing, ensuring faster feedback and higher quality software releases.
• Risk-Based Testing: Tosca prioritizes test cases based on risk, focusing on the most critical areas to optimize testing efforts and improve efficiency.
• Test Data Management: Provides robust test data management capabilities, allowing users to create, manage, and reuse test data effectively.
• Automation Engine: Supports various automation technologies, including UI, API, and mobile testing, offering flexibility and broad coverage.
• Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly integrates with popular DevOps tools and frameworks, enhancing its usability in diverse environments.

Pricing:

Custom Pricing: Tricentis Tosca offers custom pricing based on specific business needs and scale. For detailed pricing information, it is recommended to visit Tricentis's official website or contact their sales team directly.

Tricentis Tosca is an excellent choice for organizations looking to enhance their software testing processes with a powerful and flexible low-code process automation platform. For the most accurate and up-to-date pricing information, it is recommended to visit Tricentis's official website or contact their sales team directly.

3. Perfecto

Perfecto is a cloud-based low-code workflow automation platform designed for comprehensive testing across mobile and web applications. It excels in providing real device testing and is well-suited for continuous testing environments.

Key Features:

• Cloud-Based Testing: Perfecto offers a scalable cloud infrastructure that allows users to perform testing on real devices without the need for physical hardware. This ensures that tests are conducted in real-world conditions.
• Real Device Testing: Supports testing on a wide range of real mobile devices and web browsers, ensuring high accuracy and reliability of test results.
• Continuous Testing: Perfecto integrates seamlessly with CI/CD pipelines, enabling continuous testing to accelerate software delivery and improve quality.
• Automated Testing: Provides robust automated testing capabilities, including scriptless test creation through a visual interface, reducing the need for extensive coding.
• Cross-Platform Testing: Allows for testing across multiple platforms and operating systems, ensuring comprehensive coverage for mobile and web applications.
• Integration Capabilities: Integrates with popular DevOps tools and frameworks, enhancing its usability in diverse development environments.
• Advanced Reporting: Offers detailed reporting and analytics features to help users understand test results and identify areas for improvement.

Pricing:

Starter Plan: Start your free trial today. Suitable for initial exploration, offering 240 minutes of manual and automated testing. Access popular devices in the public cloud, with dedicated VMs for cross-browser testing. Utilize AI-enhanced dashboards and reporting to optimize your testing process.

Basic Plan: For teams getting started. Starting at $83/month (per parallel test, billed annually). Ideal for small teams, offering unlimited users and testing minutes. Provides access to popular devices, browsers, and operating systems, along with AI-enhanced dashboards and reporting. Includes support from an award-winning team.

Pro Plan: For growing businesses. Starting at $125/month (per parallel test, billed annually). Designed for medium-sized teams, includes everything from the Basic plan plus support for major automation frameworks. Offers out-of-the-box integrations and CI/CD capabilities, remote debugging, and AI-enhanced dashboards. Optional scriptless mobile testing is available.

Enterprise Plan: For large organizations. Contact for Pricing. Tailored for large organizations, includes all features from the Pro plan plus access to all devices, browsers, and operating systems. Supports Cypress and Quantum, premium integrations, and CI/CD capabilities. Offers scriptless mobile testing and accessibility testing as add-ons, with continuous testing capabilities through the Perforce Continuous Testing suite.

Perfecto is an excellent choice for organizations looking to enhance their testing processes with a powerful, flexible, and cloud-based low-code automation platform. For the most accurate and up-to-date pricing information, it is recommended to visit Perfecto's official website or contact their sales team directly.

4. Parasoft

Parasoft is a comprehensive low-code automation platform that specializes in providing solutions for test automation, service virtualization, and API testing. It is designed to improve software quality and accelerate delivery through automated testing and rigorous compliance standards.

Key Features:

• Automated Testing: Parasoft offers a robust suite of automated testing tools that cover functional testing, unit testing, and integration testing, helping teams to ensure software quality throughout the development lifecycle.
• Service Virtualization: Enables the simulation of unavailable or expensive services, allowing teams to test in a complete environment without dependency constraints.
• API Testing: Provides powerful API testing capabilities, including automated API test creation and execution, which ensure the reliability and performance of API endpoints.
• Compliance and Security: Supports rigorous compliance standards, including ISO, FDA, and PCI, and provides security testing features to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities.
• Continuous Testing: Integrates seamlessly with CI/CD pipelines, facilitating continuous testing and rapid feedback, which is essential for Agile and DevOps practices.
• Reporting and Analytics: Offers advanced reporting and analytics to help teams understand test results, track quality metrics, and make data-driven decisions.
• Integration Capabilities: Integrates with popular development and testing tools, enhancing its flexibility and usability across various environments.

Pricing:

Parasoft offers custom pricing based on specific business needs and scale. For detailed pricing information, it is recommended to visit Parasoft's official website or contact their sales team directly.

Parasoft is an ideal solution for organizations looking to enhance their software testing processes with a comprehensive and powerful low-code automation platform. For the most accurate and up-to-date pricing information, it is recommended to visit Parasoft's official website or contact their sales team directly.

5. BrowserStack Low Code Automation

BrowserStack Low Code Automation is a powerful platform designed to simplify and accelerate UI and functional testing for web and mobile applications. It offers an easy-to-use recorder, visual validation, and self-healing tests, making it an excellent choice for teams looking to enhance their testing efficiency without extensive coding.

Key Features:

• Easy-to-Use Recorder: BrowserStack provides an intuitive recorder that allows users to create automated tests by simply interacting with their application. This feature is particularly beneficial for non-technical users, enabling them to build tests without writing any code.
• Visual Validation: The platform includes robust visual validation capabilities, allowing testers to verify that the UI looks and functions correctly across different browsers and devices. This helps ensure a consistent user experience.
• Self-Healing Tests: BrowserStack’s self-healing technology automatically updates tests when there are changes in the application, reducing maintenance efforts and ensuring tests remain reliable over time.
• Comprehensive UI/Functional Testing: Designed for thorough UI and functional testing, BrowserStack supports a wide range of browsers and devices, ensuring that applications perform well in various environments.
• Integration Capabilities: Integrates seamlessly with popular CI/CD tools and development frameworks, enhancing its utility in modern DevOps pipelines.
• Cloud-Based Infrastructure: Leveraging BrowserStack’s cloud infrastructure, users can run tests on real devices and browsers, ensuring accurate and reliable test results without the need for physical hardware.

Pricing:

Desktop Plan: Suitable for individual users. Priced at $29/month (billed annually). Includes access to over 3,000 desktop browsers, unlimited testing minutes, localhost, staging, and private website testing, page performance insights, bulk screenshots testing, and active support.

Desktop & Mobile Plan: Ideal for individual users requiring mobile testing. Priced at $39/month (billed annually). Includes everything in the Desktop Plan plus access to over 20,000 real iOS and Android devices, instant mobile browser access, and proprietary mobile DevTools.

Team Plan: Designed for small teams. Priced at $150/month (billed annually) for up to 5 users. Includes all features from the Desktop & Mobile Plan plus collaborative debugging, productivity tools, geolocation testing, and team test history access.

Enterprise Plan: For large organizations. Contact sales for pricing. Includes advanced access control, single sign-on, IP whitelisting, advanced local testing, usage analytics, and priority support.

Recommendation: BrowserStack is ideal for organizations seeking robust and flexible testing solutions. For accurate pricing, visit BrowserStack's official website or contact their sales team.

BrowserStack Low Code Automation is an excellent choice for organizations looking to enhance their UI and functional testing processes with a user-friendly and powerful low-code platform. For the most accurate and up-to-date pricing information, it is recommended to visit BrowserStack's official website or contact their sales team directly.

6. Katalon Studio

Katalon Studio is a versatile low-code automation platform that caters to the testing needs of both beginners and advanced users. It is designed to streamline the testing process with its comprehensive set of features for web, mobile, API, and desktop application testing.

Key Features:

• Scriptless Test Creation: Katalon Studio offers an intuitive, scriptless interface that allows users to create automated tests with minimal coding knowledge, making it accessible to a wide range of users.
• Multi-platform Testing: Supports testing across various platforms, including web, mobile, API, and desktop applications, providing comprehensive coverage.
• Built-in Keywords: Comes with a rich library of built-in keywords for common testing actions, enabling rapid test development and reducing the need for custom scripting.
• Data-Driven Testing: Facilitates data-driven testing by allowing users to drive tests with multiple sets of data, improving test coverage and robustness.
• Integration Capabilities: Seamlessly integrates with popular CI/CD tools, such as Jenkins, Jira, and Git, enhancing its utility in modern DevOps pipelines.
• Advanced Reporting: Provides detailed test reports and analytics, helping teams to understand test results, track performance metrics, and identify areas for improvement.
• Flexible Test Execution: Supports parallel execution and remote testing, which helps to speed up the testing process and improve efficiency.

Pricing:

Free Plan: Simple, easy test automation tools for individuals and small teams with basic testing needs. Includes basic low-code and full-code test creation for web, mobile, and API test automation, and basic execution and reporting features. The Recorder, a browser extension, allows easy recording and playback of tests within Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.

Premium Plan: All-in-one test automation for teams of any size to adopt, accelerate, and scale up test automation. Priced at $175 per user/month (billed annually). Includes advanced test creation (low-code, full-code, AI), built-in execution, debugging, reporting, and access to the Runtime Engine and TestCloud for on-prem and cloud-based test execution.

Runtime Engine: On-prem, CLI-based execution engine for CI/CD, parallel, and scheduled test execution. Priced at $140 per session/month (billed annually).

TestCloud: Instant test execution with on-demand browser, OS, and mobile environments. Priced at $140 per session/month (billed annually).

Ultimate Plan: Centralized, AI-powered test automation platform to standardize and streamline testing at enterprise scale. Contact sales for pricing. Includes everything in the Premium Plan plus unlimited scale with TestOps, advanced reports and analytics, advanced AI-powered testing capabilities, virtual data analyst, AI visual testing, manual test generation, failure analysis, and more. Also offers flexible hosting and security configurations, along with extended support and strategic services.

Katalon Studio is an ideal choice for organizations seeking a robust and user-friendly low-code automation platform that supports a wide range of testing needs. For the most accurate and up-to-date pricing information, it is recommended to visit Katalon Studio's official website or contact their sales team directly.

Future Trends and Predictions

The low-code automation market is rapidly evolving and gaining significant traction across various industries. As organizations continue to recognize the benefits of accelerated application development and process automation, the adoption of low-code platforms is expected to surge in the coming years. Several key trends are emerging in this space:

Increasing Demand for Mobile App Development 

With the proliferation of mobile devices and the growing need for on-the-go access to applications and services, the demand for mobile app development using low-code platforms is anticipated to rise substantially. Low-code tools that enable rapid development of responsive and feature-rich mobile apps across multiple platforms (iOS, Android) will become increasingly sought after.

Expansion of Process Automation Initiatives

Organizations are continuously seeking ways to streamline operations, reduce manual efforts, and improve efficiency. Low-code automation platforms that facilitate the automation of complex business processes, workflows, and integrations across systems will gain significant traction. The ability to visually model and automate processes without extensive coding will be a driving force in this domain.

Rise of Citizen Development 

The democratization of application development is a key value proposition of low-code platforms. As these tools become more user-friendly and accessible, we can expect a surge in citizen development initiatives. Empowering non-technical users, such as business analysts and subject matter experts, to create custom solutions will foster innovation and accelerate digital transformation efforts within organizations.

Integration of Emerging Technologies 

Low-code platforms will increasingly incorporate emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and computer vision. These cutting-edge capabilities will enhance low-code automation by enabling features such as intelligent process automation, conversational interfaces, and advanced data analytics.

Focus on Scalability, Security, and Governance 

As low-code adoption grows, vendors will prioritize addressing enterprise-level concerns related to scalability, security, and governance. Robust security measures, compliance with industry standards, and granular access controls will be essential for organizations handling sensitive data and mission-critical processes.

Enterprise Readiness and Integration 

Low-code platforms will continue to evolve to meet the demands of large enterprises, with a strong emphasis on seamless integration with existing systems, robust reporting and monitoring capabilities, and support for complex, mission-critical applications.

As the low-code automation market matures, we can expect to see increased innovation, enhanced capabilities, and a growing ecosystem of vendors and solutions catering to diverse industry needs. Organizations that embrace low-code automation early will gain a competitive advantage by accelerating their digital transformation initiatives and adapting to rapidly changing business environments with agility.

Conclusion

Low-code automation platforms are transforming how organizations approach application development and process optimization. By abstracting complex coding tasks and providing intuitive visual interfaces, these tools are democratizing software creation, empowering businesses to rapidly build and deploy custom solutions tailored to their unique needs. From mobile apps and workflow automation to citizen development initiatives, low-code platforms are driving innovation across industries.

The integration of technologies such as AI, machine learning, and natural language processing will significantly enhance these platforms' capabilities, enabling intelligent automation, conversational interfaces, and advanced analytics. Organizations that strategically embrace low-code automation early on will gain a significant competitive advantage, fostering innovation, accelerating time-to-market, and optimizing operational efficiencies.