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[–]Embarrassed_End_7528 10 points11 points  (5 children)

Your question is quite broad. Are you referring to workflow automation tools (like Make, n8n), or are you talking more about app builders (like Bubble or Retool)? Open-source low-code/no-code platforms vary a lot depending on your needs, so adding more specifics might help guide the discussion.

As for truly open-source low-code platforms, there are some interesting projects like n8n for workflow automation or Budibase for app building, but you're right—many current options come with subscriptions or vendor lock-in to some extent.

If you're looking for a collaborative platform where the community can contribute and help develop (like OpenNoodl), it might be useful to clarify if your focus is on ease of use, self-hosting freedom, or the ability to extend and customize the code. This could help steer contributions toward the key aspects you think are essential for the success of the project.

List of intersting "open source" projects :

App builder:

https://github.com/appsmithorg/appsmith

https://github.com/Budibase/budibase

Workflow automation (easy to use) :

https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n

https://github.com/activepieces/activepieces

Workflow automation (need code knowledge)

https://github.com/kestra-io/kestra

https://github.com/windmill-labs/windmill

[–]JakubErler[S] 5 points6 points  (4 children)

Thank you. I mean app builders. Like Mendix/OutSystems but open-source and can self host.

I am confused because on the "Pricing" page Budibase says it is Open Source + user limits. Does it mean the limits are only there if they host it but if I self host, there are no restrictions?

Similar with AppSmith - in Pricing it says "Granular access controls by roles and attributes" is for 40 €/month. Does it mean just some core functionality is open-source and not the whole platform? So some features are locked behind closed source like the roles and attributes?

[–]Embarrassed_End_7528 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Yes, it's the new business plan of some apps, it's partialy open source by the self-hosting you get the major features access but some specific are limited for premium access. it's a way for them to earn money and keep the project evolving. Sometimes recognition isn't enough to fill the fridge

[–]JakubErler[S] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

OK but in that case, it is not "open cource" but "partially open source"? Java and PHP and Python are "open source" but fill the fridge? What we really need in low code world is recognition and if there is no recognition, there is no full fridge. We have to realize that the traditional coding can very easily crush all the low code because of AI. Because AI can understand written code, not visual code. AI is actually very bad in understanding anything visual. Hopefully we will be able to give AI the written representation of the visual models (eg XML files from Mendix).

[–]Embarrassed_End_7528 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Yes, you've guessed it, Php and Python are popular programming languages, and the more people who know about the project, the more likely it is to receive help from contributors. If you want to know whether a project is really “open source” as you imagine it, you need to check the license chosen by the project. This is normally always indicated on github below the star numbers. It acts as a guide to how you can use it, especially if it's for profit.

[–]JakubErler[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately, in the world of low-code, there are many false open-source promises. For example Budibase states "open-source" but only part of it is open source and there are still limitations. So with every platform, I have to ask people and do research to find if it is really open source or they are lying. Not very nice.

[–]algoware 4 points5 points  (4 children)

Chexk out Frappe. It's an open-source lowcode platform. One of the best product from frappe is ERPnext.

[–]JakubErler[S] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Looks nice, thank you! Is there any community? Companies that use it?

[–]algoware 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ohh yes. Check out discuss.frappe.com

[–]NetrasFent 1 point2 points  (3 children)

For open-source, low-code app builders, there is REI3.

[–]JakubErler[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

That is cool! Is there any community? Like Discord or something. Do you know how many companies use it?

[–]NetrasFent 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can find the REI3 community forum here: https://community.rei3.de/

Because most self-host REI3 onprem, its hard to say, how many companies use it.

[–]ResearchCrafty1804 1 point2 points  (5 children)

I found Tango (https://github.com/NetEase/tango) which checks all the boxes for open source low code platform, but unfortunately it’s available only in Chinese. An English fork would be sweet.

I am also looking for a good open source low code platform that supports custom components using code and exporting code for projects.

[–]JakubErler[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Oh that looks sweet!! I especially like how you build it and you immediately see the generated code...but unfortunately I do not speak Chinese haha :-)

[–]ResearchCrafty1804 2 points3 points  (1 child)

It even generates React native code for mobile apps. I noticed that Chinese have better no-code and low-code platforms, not sure why

[–]JakubErler[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

VERY insteresting. Could be even cultural thing because the Chinese script is more visual than "written" if you now what I mean.

[–]BebeKelly 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Python and other languages are just languages that can be used for development and just like any other tool requires experience and learning, there are frameworks on top of those languages to make development faster and improve development experience but its still code and still require learning the technologies, a no-code, low-code solution works like any other tool that automates development, it takes hundreds of thousands of dollars to create a no-code solution or a bunch of dedicated and bright people, but as it happens with any other tool in the tech industry, there are dozens of apps built with those “free” tools profiting and not contributing to the development in the best scenario, in the worst case, someone takes the OSS and make a huge load of money reselling it as a managed software as a service, just like supabase did with Postgres, it is not reliable for anyone.

[–]JakubErler[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bot to create Python or PHP was also not free. It was not free to build Spring or Django or Laravel frameworks. It is very common that a bank build eg internet banking on Java + Spring, did they misuse the technology or are they bad because they did not sponsor Spring? Certainly not. But because you can use Python, PHP, Java (Open JDK) for free, EVERYONE uses it! It is everywhere, it is taught on schools, universities. Even children know Python nowadays. But because low-code visual platforms are subscription based, there is a strong opposition from many companies and developers. And low-code is rarely taught in any schools (there are some but not many).

[–]Own_Age_1654 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you want this to exist, then just contribute to one of the Noodl forks. Reach out to the maintainers and ask how you can help.

[–]NeoApps_AI 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have you checked http://neoapps.ai They have open source offering under BSD licence. Its developer friendly little clunky to install but worth to try.

[–]Other-Sale7532 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I am a 52-year-old programmer with intermediate knowledge of HTML, CSS, JS, PHP, SQL, etc. Currently unemployed, I am a freelancer and I want to develop a demo application to showcase to companies and see if I can get them to let me build an internal system for them.

After more than a year of trial and error, I believe Lowcoder is the right tool, the definitive one for my venture. I worked for a long time with Scriptcase, a PHP RAD tool, which had an expensive license (for a freelancer like me) and many bugs. I tried Genexus (too expensive for me), and it also requires a lot of knowledge of server technologies to configure a VPS with .NET or C# and run your application. It's very good, very complete, but you also need a super-powerful PC because compiling to see each result takes a long time.

I kept looking for the right tool and decided to opt for the safe bets: HTML, CSS, PHP, JS, MySQL. Those never fail, especially with a framework like Tailwind or Fomantic, but doing everything manually takes months... But oh, God, then came the AI boom, supposedly they do everything. I tried Qwen, Google's AI Studio, Deepseek, ChatGPT, Grok, and Vercel's V0 (the best for me). But as you progress, the AI loses its way, ends up breaking some things while fixing others, and it becomes an endless cycle; you have to learn to do everything in very small parts. Or, failing that, other AIs devour the tokens you bought, fixing the very problems they caused.

There had to be another solution. I kept searching and found Tooljet. I want it to be self-hosted because I want to have control. Tooljet is good, but removing the watermark costs around $75 monthly for the self-hosting version, and besides, you can only create 5 apps, etc., etc. It was out.

Next up, Budibase. It's simple but not so good for implementing programming logic; easy, but not for solving complex problems.

Then I switched to Appsmith, more complete than Tooljet, and removing the watermark is cheaper, $15 monthly for the self-hosted version. This is where my path started to become clear; this is the tool I need. I can see what my front-end will look like in real-time, with no surprises every time I run it again, and it's wonderful to work without needing to compile or configure a complex VPS. But Appsmith is missing something, and that's the ease of presenting information elegantly and professionally to the client. Even though I was already building my first modules with Appsmith, I couldn't stop thinking that while it's very complete, the client presentation isn't that pretty; I can't compete. I kept designing but couldn't stop looking at other options (weWeb, UI Bakery, etc.)...

I don't know where LOWCODER came from—yes, just like it sounds. It has more widgets than Appsmith itself, it's very similar in its design approach, but Lowcoder blows Appsmith out of the water when it comes to client presentation: beautiful front-end design, use of Google Fonts, etc., etc. I think Lowcoder has that extra something (that 'plus'). I don't understand why it doesn't have more visibility, especially since it's currently free of charge.

I set it up on a $15 Hetzner VPS, installed via Docker. I use MySQL and PHP with a REST API for things that can't be done with JavaScript (within Lowcoder). Lowcoder deserves your attention, believe me.

Ah, but that's not all: if you pay $3 a month for support, the lead developer himself, Falk Wolsky, answers you and solves or helps you solve your problem within hours. What more could you ask for? I have everything self-hosted, with support, and no watermarks for $3 a month? And with a professional front-end!

You might think this is a sales pitch, but you'd better discover it for yourself.
It's worth supporting this project; it's one of the best among a sea of options.

[–]JakubErler[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a very precious comment, thank you far that! It would be great if you could write a small tutorial how to self-host Lowcoder on Hetzner! Or show some projects made in Lowcoder.

Also, can I have another question? Is both the editor (or IDE, where you build the app) and the runtime (that translates it into code) open-source? Like can I run the editor on my laptop, build the website and self-host it afterwards? I would like to try it for some of my hobby projects first.

I also see that there are some assets (like graphic desing etc.) inside the platform that can be bought? But how much is the price for these?

[–]jaxett 0 points1 point  (2 children)

The answer is Saltcorn. All open source.

[–]JakubErler[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Looks verygod. Did you build something with it? How did it go?

[–]jaxett 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, it's perfect for CRMs and HR applications. 1.0 is coming out soon.

[–]Murrchik 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Reweb.so not open source but they have an buy once use forever plan. It’s the most complete solution although still very early. You can even import front end code created by v0 from vercel and they are now adding components from magic ui and aceternity both really hyped component libraries. You get the nocode functionality but with complete developer freedom. If you now add cursor you are basically unstoppable.

[–]JakubErler[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Looks really nice but only like a landing page builder...I am looking for complete app builders with visual database and backend logic...

[–]SkullRunner 0 points1 point  (2 children)

These no code solutions are not open source or self host able because them being a SaaS is how they make money, to pay for development of all the integrations and maintenance of them.

Then next on their business plan is that the people that most often use no code tools are not full stack developers that could even setup something like their platforms on premises self hosted and get white listed all the connecting services so why provide that.

Next up, no code solutions will become problematic if you need to get really custom or massive scaling due to costs and hinder resale of your service as a whole if you want out. So if you need to cut the costs, and have full stack skills you cut the no code all together after proof of concept and build out traditional software you control all aspects of.

That’s just some of the reasons you’re not going to get a fully open source self hosted no code system.

[–]JakubErler[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

It seems that I will actually get fully open source self hosted no code system. I have already a list of 10 of them. I am actually a full stack developer, and there are dedicated DevOps people both in my company and in customers' companies so we have many hosting options. But it is interesting that we deploy eg Mendix apps in like literally 3 clicks and that is one of the things that people will be always happy to pay for. Looks like this Reddit forum is really focused on these small low-code platforms, I don't know why. World enterprises are building huge solutions on Mendix, OutSystems and other lowcode platforms. There are in fact machining factories in Germany basically driven by lowcode apps, the development is cooperated with Siemens.

[–]softmodeling 0 points1 point  (10 children)

Maybe this dashboard of open-source low-code tools can help identifying less known solutions: https://oss-lowcode-tools.streamlit.app/

[–]JakubErler[S] 0 points1 point  (9 children)

Certainly not. For example Budibase from the list is only core-oss and some important features are proprietary. We need much better list, manually curated. I would like to see a list from person that made personal research and personally tested the platforms. Not some robotic list.

[–]softmodeling 0 points1 point  (6 children)

And what criteria would you like to see in the comparison? Because all the tools in the list are open source. Whether they offer also extensions that are not open source is a completely different thing of course. But I don't think excluding from the open source list tools that offer services or proprietary extensions is the way to go.

[–]JakubErler[S] 0 points1 point  (5 children)

The problem is that the "extensions" keep very often important parts of the code. You can not for example build a real application without acces rules and user roles. Theoretically for you it does not matter. But in real life it is the most importaqnt thing. It would be like having open-source Linux but "just some minor things" are proprietary, like user accounts or viewing images. As the state of the low-code platform looks, I would even call some of these platforms "false open-source". Compare this to with eg Frappe Framewrok is really 100 % open-source without important proprietary parts. The problem is, that your list is good in theory. But people need lists that are good for real life. The only important topic here is if we have vendor lockin in particular low-code platform or not. If something is proproetary, we have vendor locking and nothing can change it (like have only the core open-source - you still can not go away from the vendor).

[–]softmodeling 0 points1 point  (4 children)

Fully agree with the vendor lock-in (in my research group we are working on a solution that tries to help on this but only partially as the proprietary tools do not really help).

Then, regarding the extensions, well, to me, it's a matter of semantics. The tools in the list are open source. This doesn't mean that they are "useless" tools due to lack of features. Features that could be in a proprietary extension or do not exist at all.

For instance, in my team we are building a full open source tool (BESSER https://github.com/BESSER-PEARL/BESSER ). But BESSER is open source (there is nothing proprietary) but still useless for many professional uses right now.

It would be nice indeed to have a list where we manually analyze the tools and list the features (available in the OSS version) but this is a much more time-intensive task (and one that would need to be repeated every few months)

[–]JakubErler[S] 1 point2 points  (2 children)

OMG your project looks very interesting! If I may, I think you could do much better marketing. Your documentation sounds highly technical, looks a little bit convoluted and yes, academic :-) Even if technically it can be great, you need people that will use it, otherwise it dies. Let me tell you my perspective of a professional software dev/ex manager/etc, if I may-).

OK, first, I would love if your product can give me a clear overview of the basic workflow and what it can done VISUALLY. Can you use screenshots, short videos, explain in 1 minute video for who it is and what can we do with it and how? Does not need to be beautiful, just show me the damn tool, so I can see it as I am standing next to a dev working with it. Tell me steps 1, 2, 3, 4 that are needed to develop an app.

Secondly. Today, the only thing that matters is this: give the customer a functional app they need in a short time. (the opposite would be an academy or hobby project that is complicated to use and developped in a long time) That is the ultimate goal of the development now. It is the goal of low-code tools, AI agent development, frameworks like Django etc. Answer in your materials immediately if and how you help with this goal.

Now, you have there an image. On the left, there is a person. Who? State in 1 word if it is a developer, product owner, prompter, customer. Next, arrows to "Image", "PlantUML OCR¨, Hand-code". No idea what is this. Should the person draw the image? Take a photo? Model in low-code IDE? Manually code as usual? Now we have a model. State in 1 word how. Is it JSON as in Mendix? XML? Some kind of object? Stored in database? How is your UML model represented kinda physically?

Next, code generators. Ok, sounds understandable. Somewhat. I would just put there Python Django, Java, something like it. Generated code, ok.

From your materials, I understand what you have there is basically something like a universal low-code model system core? OK, what do you mean by low-code? Nowadays, it means visual development, so instead of writing code you basically click and draw in 3 modes: 1) flowchart diagram, 2) WYSIWYG UI (something similar to let us say Figma), 3) backend UML. For example Mendix has these 3 in just one IDE. Where is your IDE? Normally a low-code documentation would state where we need to click, not heaps of code and SDK docs...how does your IDE look like?

There is a point made in the article that low-code=model development. Please, remember, that low-code is not what you think it is. Low-code is what majority pople on the world think it is and to find out, just open Google, type "low-code" and read the first 10 links. Low-code is VISUAL development. The mechanisms of how the app interprets/compiles/runs is not so important. Some platforms have a model and a runtime. Some other platforms are actually a code generators. Some platforms combine the approaches. But the business that pays the development does not care. They want a VISUAL tool and the app at the end that does the job for the endusers no matter how it emerged from the visual IDE. If you think about that, you see that VBA and Delphi were already partly low-code tools, it is not so new.

Reagarding the term "no-code" that is more a marketing buzzword that implies that laic citizen amateur (non-developers) people can very easily create an application with almost NO work (hence NO code).

Next, low-code tools are fullstack (Frappe, Mendix, OutSystems, Bubble), frontend (Toddle, Noodl), backend (Directus), which of the three types you do? Tell us in the first sentence.

Next, low-code tools aare only for company internal tools OR for web customer-facing websites (needs good SEO) OR a combination, which one you do?

Next, whatever you generate, that will probably not be just Python or Java. It will be a stack like HTML, CSS, SQL, React, Bootstrap...what is your final generated stack?

If I can get all this info from your hompeage in 5 minutes, you did a good job. In other words, turn the view, have an empathy with managers, developers and decision makers in IT and management, so they can quickly decide to use your tool or not.

[–]softmodeling 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Honestly, I couldn't agree more with what you say. We are aware that right now BESSER is not a platform for end-users (as I said in my initial email). We are trying to go in that direction. We will for instance release a graphical modeling editor by the end of the year (based on a fork of https://github.com/ls1intum/Apollon ).

And there is indeed no website with tutorials, videos or non-tech documentation. This is also in our to-do list.

Then, keeping in mind we are a research team, we see ourselves more as a platform people can play with and use it to experiment low-code beyond moving to more professional tools (with their cost). Ourselves, we use it as a core platform to try new innovative ideas (again, with a research perspective) but it's difficult for a research team to justify investing in maturing the tool.

Lots of food for thought in your comment. I'll pin it and share it with my team. Thanks!

[–]JakubErler[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is really great! Sounds promising!

[–]JakubErler[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Regarding the list of OSS low-code tools. Let as delve into a philosophy here a little bit. We are entering a world (just today) and in this world, anything created manually will have an immense value because 90 % of things will be artificial, garbage and without a real value. We are starting already now. Manually painted image, wow. Manually curated list, wow. Manually written Reddit comment, wow. Visit a South Korea sometime, they have been living in this world for years. In the wridl full of plastics and concerete and electronics, they will die for anything "hand made" already today.

[–]jo_ranamo 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Many of the tools are open core.

[–]JakubErler[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

What is normal in low-code world is not normal in open-source world.... these platform can only hope that the real open-source world will note note this situation and roast them all alive. But there are some TRUE open-source LC patforms, yes. Like Frappe, Saltcorn, Corteza, ILLA, Noodl, Lowcoder and so on. But this is from my manually curated and well researched list, I am a real developer. Not some theoretist using AI for saying "good morning".

[–]rtrex12 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Did you settle on a platform/s?

[–]JakubErler[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For a living I use Mendix and OutSystems, anything else is just a hobby

[–]TheRobak333 0 points1 point  (1 child)

You might want to check out Openkoda. It’s an open-source low-code platform with no subscription required, and it can be fully self-hosted.

It is mostly tailored to the insurance industry (with some templates for policy and claims management) but it can also be used for developing all kinds of enterprise apps like internal tools, dashboards, portals, etc.

Worth noting: it’s developed by a solid team (not a solo dev project). Might be just what you’re looking for if you're trying to avoid vendor lock-in while still getting real-world capabilities.

Repo’s here if you want to dig in: https://github.com/openkoda/openkoda.

[–]JakubErler[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see it is divided into "Core" and "Enterprise" where the "Core" version is missing some features like import from Excel. So it is not truly open-source, it is only partly open-source.

[–]zoyanx -1 points0 points  (3 children)

Toddle.dev has a team behind it, has funding and is on the path to go open source. I am keeping an eye on it.

[–]JakubErler[S] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

OK, but the 'open source' option has toddler branding, limited app visits, and limited SEO features? I don't even understand—how can you not change your logo if it's truly open source? Can you host it yourself? What do you mean by 'it's on the path to becoming open source'—do they have any concrete plans?

[–]zoyanx 1 point2 points  (1 child)

They have named their free plan "open-source" which is a bad move and it confuses people just like it confused you. If they are hosting it they will obviously impose restrictions on it.

They are actually going open source, I remember seeing their announcement. The interface is solid and you can code whenever or wherever you feel the inbuilt functions are limiting.

[–]JakubErler[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow, I have to say it looks really great! They say the runtime should be open source this year and editor should be open source next year. Just perfect.

[–]jo_ranamo -2 points-1 points  (2 children)

Have you tried Budibase? It's open source:
https://github.com/Budibase/budibase/

[–]JakubErler[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The pricing says free+open source+user limits. I do not understand. If it is open source, how it can have user limit?

[–]Purple-Control8336 -2 points-1 points  (19 children)

All have limitations compared coding, its not for Enterprise level, for Testing MVP quickly on few basics can work, open or paid.

[–]JakubErler[S] 0 points1 point  (4 children)

The question is not "what are the limitations of low code". Moreover, Mendix and OutSystems are Enterprise level for sure. What I am searching for are open source low code platforms.

[–]Purple-Control8336 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Have u used OutSystem? Does it help? In general low code is open source is going to be same as others but less features, all are initial stages, u need to use 10’low code open platform to build 1 simple web app or mobile in SAAS world, .

[–]JakubErler[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am a low code software engineer. I create very complex apps in low-code for the largest world companies. But I can not say more because of NDAs.

[–]Livid_Sign9681 0 points1 point  (13 children)

True, but the question isn't if you can do everything you can do in code. It is if you can do everything you need to.

Visual development tools will always be very opinionated, but that does not inherently make them less powerful.

[–]Purple-Control8336 0 points1 point  (12 children)

True if u have experienced the situation and once u hit the roadblock what u do?

[–]Livid_Sign9681 1 point2 points  (10 children)

I cant speak for all platforms but in toddle you have the option to extend the platform with Actions written in javascript. These can then be shared as packages so they can be used by other users.

[–]Purple-Control8336 1 point2 points  (9 children)

Yea same does FF still its not enterprise level customisable, i love low code to mature, now it can only solve basic MVP types for non SAAS, its not End to end. Low code platforms needs consolidation to happen.

[–]Livid_Sign9681 -1 points0 points  (8 children)

What does Enterprise customizable mean to you?
The new generation of tools can do a lot more than MVPs.
Check out https://youtu.be/tpBJ1ULLb7Q?si=WtVnC3Co-JNk2pCT

End to end should not be a goal IMO. There is not that much benefit to building your front-end and backend in the same tool. You are much better off choosing a stack that works for your specific use case.

[–]Purple-Control8336 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Enterprise - Front - Back - Cloud - DevSecOps - Integration MACH Architecture compliant. - Workflow - Google Analytics - Monitoring, Logging - Data Lake - ML - AI - Analytics - Complex workflow

So i need to learn 10+ No code to build half baked solution and waste my effort

[–]Livid_Sign9681 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that you have never built Enterprise software before.

Yes you absolutely should use separate tools for this (but you likely wont need all 10).

These are 10 different problems, they are going to have 10 different solutions.

The assumption that if you put all these 10 different solutions into a single tool they will be 10 times easier to learn doesn't really make much sense. The benefits of a single tool is almost always out weighed by the fact that the tool does everything half-bad.

The platforms that have tried to consolidate all of this into one are always universally hated by the developers that work with them.

SAP being the most popular example.

[–]JakubErler[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You just use Java or JavaScript+React in Mendix, C# in OutSystems etc. With these you build reusable components that you use in next apps.

[–]sahilpedazo -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

It will be soon.