TY - CHAP

T1 - No-Code Platforms in Startups: Explaining Decisions for Adoption and Abandonment

AU - Laevskaya, Elizaveta

AU - Naqvi, Syed Asad Ali

AU - Drews, Paul

N1 - Track: Digital innovation, transformation. and entrepreneurship (SIG DITE)

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - As digital startups have to deal with limited resources, pressing timelines, and rapid development requirements, no-code platforms are emerging as a promising option to streamline product development and accelerate deployment. We examined why startups choose to adopt or abandon no-code platforms through nine semi-structured interviews and 69 user reviews across 14 forums. Our contributions are two-fold. First, we classify no-code platforms using archival data into four types, namely website, marketplace, application builders, and database back-end services. Second, our findings advance the understanding of no-code adoption and abandonment in startups by identifying fourteen factors. We reveal novel factors such as skill gaps, deceptive cost models, and performance limitations that result in abandonment of no-code platforms. Moreover, we illustrate adoption and abandonment decisions in relation to the startup growth phases. Our work supports startups in deciding if no-code is an appropriate solution for their ventures.

AB - As digital startups have to deal with limited resources, pressing timelines, and rapid development requirements, no-code platforms are emerging as a promising option to streamline product development and accelerate deployment. We examined why startups choose to adopt or abandon no-code platforms through nine semi-structured interviews and 69 user reviews across 14 forums. Our contributions are two-fold. First, we classify no-code platforms using archival data into four types, namely website, marketplace, application builders, and database back-end services. Second, our findings advance the understanding of no-code adoption and abandonment in startups by identifying fourteen factors. We reveal novel factors such as skill gaps, deceptive cost models, and performance limitations that result in abandonment of no-code platforms. Moreover, we illustrate adoption and abandonment decisions in relation to the startup growth phases. Our work supports startups in deciding if no-code is an appropriate solution for their ventures.

KW - Business informatics

KW - No-code adoption and abandonment

KW - Low-code platforms

KW - digital startups

KW - software development productivity

KW - rapid application development

UR - https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2025/sig_dite/

M3 - Article in conference proceedings

T3 - The AMCIS proceedings series

BT - AMCIS 2025 Proceedings

PB - AIS eLibrary

CY - Atlanta

T2 - AMCIS 2025

Y2 - 14 August 2025 through 16 August 2025

ER -