Stick to Reliable No Code Ideas
Of all the app and SaaS ideas that can be built with no code, only a few are reliably profitable.
By ‘reliably profitable’, we mean different versions of the same thing have achieved success.
If you’re keen on building a no code app but unsure what to build, we recommend starting from these proven solutions, and we’ll share three examples in this post.
A challenge for you: Can you see what all three examples have in common?
Awesome!
We’ll share the answer at the end, but for now, let’s start.
1. Directories
A directory is a platform that compiles and organizes lists of:
- Businesses
- Services
- People
- Resources
It must also organize them in a user-friendly way that allows them to intuitively filter and search for what they want.
When they find an entry they want to learn more about, they can see additional details about it.
Strictly speaking, no transactions are made on the directory itself as it’s just a fancy signboard.
It’s so easy to build that many no code app builders have a template for it.
Directories are all about monetizing traffic, which means two main ways of making money from your app:
- Your niche is narrow but valuable: Revenue comes from businesses paying to be listed.
- Your niche has broad appeal: in addition to sponsored listings, you can offer advertising.
Our favorite example of a successful directory is There’s An AI For That which is a giant, and I mean GIANT directory of AI tools.
Visitors can filter by function to search for specific AI tools, and the app owner makes money by charging developers and founders for several services:
- $347 to submit a new tool
- $49 to update a tool
- $99 to ‘highlight’ a tool
Digital tool directories are always popular and there are tons of other niches besides AI – Digital Tools focuses on B2B tools and NoCode.Tech does no-code tools.
Directories can also be for physical locations – take Sayulita Life.
It’s a directory of everything visitors need or want in Sayulita, a beach town in Mexico, including where to:
- eat
- rent
- take a dump
Even if you need to hide a dead body, if it’s in Sayulita, you go to Sayulita Life.
They don’t disclose fees, but their app monetization strategy is also by charging for listing a profile or property.
You could easily create a location-specific directory of your nearest tourist town.
2. Job Boards
Job boards are online platforms that list job openings from multiple slave owners that slaves can search for and apply to.
OR you can call them employers and employees – you say tomato, we say tomato.
It’s pretty similar to a directory, but a job board lets a job seeker submit additional documents, and recommends jobs catered to their skills.
You charge the employer to advertise a job, and take a cut off of successful hires.
Super simple premise, and again, lots of no code app builders have templates.
In fact, one of the most often used examples of a no code success story is a job board – Comet.
They were first built with Bubble in 2016 and their thing was to be a Fiverr that focused exclusively on IT professionals.
They also screen job seekers to give employers assurance of quality, acting more like a recruitment agency than a typical passive job listing.
The next example is Remote OK – it’s a Fiverr that exclusively caters to remote working positions.
Tons of jobs today can be done without walking into an office.
Some employers aren’t cool with that, but some are, and that’s who Remote OK caters to – so when you’re on their platform, it’s with the automatic understanding it’s for a remote position.
So a job board is both no-codeable and profitable – you just need to think of a specific niche – a specific industry or a specific audience.
Maybe a job board exclusively for stay-at-home mums and dads.
Have you spotted a common pattern across these two examples?
Well, if not, you have one more chance – let’s look at our third reliable no code example.
3. Coaching & Courses
These are apps that provide educational content and personalized guidance for some sort of end goal.
And this end goal can be career or passion-related, or for the lucky ones, a mix of both.
What you expect to see are:
- structured learning modules
- live coaching sessions
- progress tracking, and
- quizzes and tests
There can be more depending on the specific type of coaching or course.
Now let’s look at some examples, because there are a lot of them specifically with no code.
First up is GoodCourse, built with Bubble and offering bite-sized learning on interpersonal topics.
Next up, we have Ab.Money which was built with Flutterflow to offer courses on meditation.
If you can find a niche with demand, you just need to break it down into a series of structured learning modules and then you can deliver it as a course.
Of course, you could probably just use a video streaming site for that.
However, a no code app allows you to add other features like quizzes and achievement badges.
And crucially, it allows you to cross-sell live teaching, which is where real money can be made.
The Ab.Money developers collaborated with a YouTube influencer and leveraged her following to market the app.
In fact, there are lots of examples of YouTubers with coaching apps who use their channel as a sales platform:
- Jeff Nippard is a fitness YouTuber and sells a nutrition app
- Mike Israetel from Renaissance Periodization is a fitness YouTuber and sells a workout tracking app
- And Jeff Cavalier from Athleanx is a fitness YouTuber with a MASSIVE channel and has an app dedicated to building abs which we could definitely use
Tons of YouTubers who are good at YouTube but probably not at no code app development – sounds like an ‘I scratch your back, you scratch mine’ type of deal!
Ok, we asked you at the start to tell us what the common theme was across these examples.
What do they have in common that makes them profitable no code apps?
What Makes These No Code Apps Profitable?
They are all digital middlemen!
All three of them, and by extension, all reliably profitable no code app or SaaS ideas, involve connecting users to external products or services.
- A directory connects visitors to businesses or to other digital tools.
- A job board connects employers and employees.
- A coaching app connects suckers to…whatever this is.
If you want to make money with no code, the best thing you can do is think of something to connect as a digital middleman.
Does that mean you can’t make a traditional SaaS with no code?
Of course you can – but you’ll run into the technical limits of no code software pretty fast.
Meanwhile, products that act as middlemen are less technically complex and – the perfect use case for no code.
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