Difference between a code-free web programming language and drag-n-drop website builders

Web development industry has long been dominated by high-priced agencies and freelancers, leaving not a lot of alternatives for anyone just getting started to build their website.

The choice up until very recently was either to hire professionals that would cost you, or to start learning HTML, CSS and Javascript just to get together a decently looking website.

Not to mention the need for 🛠️building and integrating front-end and back-end blocks for anything requiring data processing in any shape and form — from simple calculations all the way to elaborate business logic and storage.

Luckily today a growing number of tools and technologies emerge that are disrupting the status quo by providing easy to use, drag-and-drop web application builders that virtually anyone can start using right away.

Let’s take a closer look at a few of those and elaborate on their use cases.

We’ll cover:

• Wix — widely used template-based drag-and-drop website builder
• Webflow — responsive web design tool, CMS, and hosting platform
• Squarespace — online presence building platform
• Bubble.is — code-free visual programming language for building web applications

Wix, Webflow & Squarespace vs Bubble: What’s the difference?

The market of no-code website builders is growing with new startups in this space popping up weekly.

Three of the largest platforms out there are Wix, Webflow and Squarespace, all of which you have likely stumbled across or seen in ads.

Their benefits are the pixel-perfect design features, automatic mobile responsiveness and ease of use. Usually incorporating a fairly simple drag-and-drop interface, these services allow people with zero technical ability or design skills to create something sufficient for their businesses (although creating a stunning design and structure does require understanding and sense of design).

Key differentiator between these services and Bubble.is are the limitations or lack of data processing features and complexity of configuring advanced workflows with multiple steps and conditions. Not even taking into account the Database management and external platform integrations.

It’s not fair to say that they are completely incapable of that — all of these tools are actively working and getting better and allowing more flexibility in what you can do, but they are still very far away from the tool that was built and designed specifically for allowing you build practically anything without code — like what Bubble.is.

🍒Cherry on top — Bubble has templates too, but instead of offering just landing page templates, the most popular ones on Bubble are templates for advanced online platforms, or otherwise — internet business templates (like — Airbnb, Uber, ProductHunt, to name a few.)

So if you want the best of both worlds — building your internet business application from a template — start the search right here on Zeroqode. We focus on developing powerful and beautiful templates for Bubble as well as other no-code products and services.

Bubble.is: Just another builder, or something truly remarkable?

Why does Bubble stand out from Wix, or any other website builder.

Unlike most of the similar solutions out there — Bubble is not just a tool, Bubble is a development framework for building powerful web and mobile apps. The convenience this platform offers is huge.

You no longer need to hire a developer to build your app of any complexity, be it simple web app or an enterprise SaaS product — you can now develop it over a weekend and manage it yourself. It is a great way for people with limited or no coding experience to build their own web application, without the hassle of getting into complicated backend and front-end code.

The UX Bubble offers is very user-friendly and lets you build web and mobile applications through a simple drag-and-drop interface for design, database and workflow that tell the application what to do when a certain element is clicked, inputs are changed, or any other logical condition is met..

Of course there are many other in-depth features, which is exactly why Bubble is a full visual programming language with virtually unlimited capabilities.

🤷‍♂️ What’s the catch?

It would be too good to be true if there were absolutely no tradeoffs in Bubble’s capabilities as compared to the competition. And there are some, with the biggest one being the time it takes to start building something good looking from scratch.

The average learning curve is very short for website builders, with an estimate of only a few hours to learn how to Wix and between three hours and a day for the rest of the website builders.

Bubble, on the other hand, does have a steeper learning curve. It usually takes between several hours and several days to grasp the styling fundamentals in order to achieve pixel perfect design just like on Wix, Webflow and Squarespace.

On the other hand — learning to build online business flows with Bubble (which is what you want to do if you choose it over alternatives), is tons faster and simpler than it is to learn a traditional web development languages, such as Ruby, Python or any other, for that matter.

To save time ⏳ even more there are online courses that help you fast track your Bubble learning. A great platform that is focused primarily on Bubble tutorials is Zeroqode Lab, where you can find plenty of free and paid courses that would take you from a total beginner to a visual programming expert.

Our final thoughts

So, to sum this all up, it’s not straightforward to compare apples to pears, which is what we are doing comparing Bubble with most of other web builders.

The reason is very simple — Bubble is a programming language and not just a drag-and-drop website builder, although they look very much alike from the first glance.

The functionality and feature set, as well as the possibilities of workflows and plugins 🔌 make it a superb choice for anyone looking for a solution to build an online business application themselves.

In other words — Wix, Webflow, Squarespace or any other similar products are fantastic tools to build a landing page, an ecommerce website, a portfolio page, or any other online storefront to build solid, but simple online presence, usually based on various templates they offer for free or sell. 😔

If this is what you are after — look no further, these tools can get your business online faster and easier than anything else.

But in case your business is SaaS or otherwise a tool you build and serve to people online,or a decent portion of your business workflow depends on flexible user experience you need to be able to change, iterate and experiment with — you will run into roadblocks pretty fast if trying to build a business web application on any of the three platforms, but not with Bubble 🤩

If you are interested in experimenting with Bubble, here is a set of No-Code Courses.

Yet, if time is not on your side, reach out for help to our team of professional No-Code developers.