A data analysis of how fast no-code and low-code are eating application development, who is actually building the software now, how big the market is, and what the automation payback looks like in real dollars.
Gartner forecast that 70% of new applications developed by organizations would use low-code or no-code technologies by 2025, up from less than 25% in 2020, per Gartner. That is not a niche category anymore — it is how most software gets built. Behind that shift sits a market Gartner sized at $26.9 billion in 2023 and a workforce where 41% of employees now build technology outside the IT department. The numbers below show what no-code, low-code, and workflow automation adoption looks like in 2026, and why the buying decision is narrower than the vendor count suggests.
Key takeaways
- 70% of new applications will use low-code/no-code by 2025, up from under 25% in 2020, per Gartner — a near-tripling in five years
- The low-code development technologies market reached $26.9 billion in 2023, up 19.6% year over year, per Gartner
- Gartner projects low-code tooling to hit $44.5 billion by 2026 and account for 75% of new application development, up from 40% in 2021, per InfoWorld
- 41% of employees are “business technologists” — building technology or analytics capabilities while reporting outside IT, per Gartner
- Developers outside formal IT will make up 80% of low-code users by 2026, up from 60% in 2021 (InfoWorld)
- Generative AI plus existing tech could automate work that absorbs 60-70% of employees’ time, per McKinsey
- A Forrester study commissioned by Microsoft modeled 206% ROI over three years for Power Apps, with payback in under six months (Microsoft/Forrester)
How much of new software is built with no-code or low-code?
The majority, and rising fast. Gartner projected that 70% of new applications would use low-code or no-code technologies by 2025, against less than 25% in 2020, per Gartner. A separate Gartner forecast expects low-code development tools to account for 75% of new application development by 2026, up from 40% in 2021.
The two forecasts measure slightly different things — apps that “use or embed” low-code versus development that runs through low-code tools — but they point the same direction. Hand-coding every internal app is now the exception, not the rule, and the exception is shrinking each year.
How big is the no-code and low-code market?
Gartner sized the worldwide low-code development technologies market at $26.9 billion in 2023, a 19.6% increase over 2022, per Gartner. It expects the market to reach $44.5 billion by 2026. Independent firms land in the same range: MarketsandMarkets put the low-code platform market at $13.2 billion in 2020, growing to $45.5 billion by 2025 at a 28.1% CAGR.
Within Gartner’s total, low-code application platforms (LCAPs) were the largest slice — up 25% to nearly $10 billion in 2023 — while citizen automation development platforms (CADPs) grew fastest, at 30.2%. Looking further out, Grand View Research forecasts the low-code app-development platform market reaching $101.7 billion by 2030 at a 22.5% CAGR. The methodologies and scopes differ; the trajectory does not.
Who is actually building the software now?
Increasingly, people who do not work in IT. Gartner found that 41% of employees are business technologists — staff who build technology or analytics capabilities while reporting to a function outside the IT department, per Gartner. That same survey found 74% of technology purchases are funded, at least partly, by business units outside IT.
Gartner also projects that developers outside formal IT departments will account for at least 80% of the low-code user base by 2026, up from 60% in 2021, per InfoWorld. The center of gravity for software creation is moving toward the business user — a trend that mirrors the broader AI adoption data.
How much time and money does no-code automation save?
The returns are large enough that vendors publish audited case studies. A Forrester Total Economic Impact study commissioned by Microsoft modeled a composite Power Apps customer earning 206% ROI over three years, with a net present value of $31.0 million and payback in under six months. The same study reported roughly 50% faster app development.
The upside is not confined to one platform. McKinsey estimates that generative AI combined with other existing technology could automate work activities that absorb 60 to 70% of employees’ time today — a jump from an earlier estimate of about 50%. Workflow automation is the mechanism that captures much of that time back.
Why is automation adoption accelerating in 2026?
Three forces compound. First, the developer shortage: with business technologists making up 41% of the workforce (Gartner), organizations route work around IT backlogs rather than waiting on them. Second, cost: with modeled ROI north of 200% (Microsoft/Forrester), the business case clears easily.
Third, AI. Citizen automation development platforms were already Gartner’s fastest-growing low-code segment at 30.2% in 2023, per Gartner, and embedded AI has since lowered the skill floor further. The result feeds directly into the productivity software numbers: automation is where a lot of the measured gains now come from.
Frequently asked questions
What share of new apps use no-code or low-code?
By 2025, Gartner projected 70% of new applications would use low-code or no-code technologies, up from under 25% in 2020, per Gartner. A related forecast puts low-code at 75% of new application development by 2026, versus 40% in 2021. Hand-coding every internal application is now the exception.
How big is the low-code / no-code market?
Gartner sized the low-code development technologies market at $26.9 billion in 2023, up 19.6% year over year, and forecasts $44.5 billion by 2026, per Gartner. MarketsandMarkets and Grand View Research land in the same range on different scopes.
What is a citizen developer or business technologist?
A business technologist builds technology or analytics capabilities but reports outside the IT department. Gartner found 41% of employees now fit that description, per Gartner. Gartner also projects developers outside IT will make up 80% of the low-code user base by 2026.
What is the ROI of no-code automation?
A Forrester study commissioned by Microsoft modeled 206% ROI over three years for a composite Power Apps customer, with a $31.0 million net present value and payback in under six months. Vendor-commissioned studies run optimistic, but the direction — fast payback — is consistent across platforms.
How much work can automation actually take over?
McKinsey estimates that generative AI plus existing technology could automate activities absorbing 60 to 70% of employees’ time — up from an earlier estimate near 50%. That is technical potential, not a prediction of jobs eliminated, but it sizes how much routine work automation can absorb.
Which low-code segment is growing fastest?
Citizen automation development platforms (CADPs) grew fastest in Gartner’s forecast, at 30.2% in 2023, though low-code application platforms remained the largest segment at nearly $10 billion, per Gartner. The fastest growth sits squarely in the citizen-developer tooling.
What this means for teams
The automation market rewards the 80/20 approach. Adoption is near-universal — 70% of new apps and 41% of the workforce building outside IT — so the real question is not whether to automate but which two or three tools to standardize on. A sprawl of overlapping no-code apps recreates the shadow-IT problem that low-code was meant to solve; a tight stack captures the 200%-plus ROI without the governance mess.
That is the automation category reduced to its essentials: pick the platform your team already lives in, wire it into the systems you already run, and resist adding a new tool for every workflow. It is the same logic behind our AI adoption statistics and productivity software statistics — fewer, better-chosen tools beat a longer shortlist. See how we score each pick on the about page.
Sources
- Gartner — Cloud Will Be the Centerpiece of New Digital Experiences (70% by 2025)
- Gartner — Worldwide Low-Code Development Technologies Market to Grow 20% in 2023
- Gartner — Rise in Business Technologists Driving Funding for Tech Purchases Outside IT
- InfoWorld — Low-code development technologies market forecast to hit $44.5 billion by 2026
- MarketsandMarkets — Low-Code Development Platform Market worth $45.5 billion by 2025
- Grand View Research — Low-Code Application Development Platform Market Report
- McKinsey — The economic potential of generative AI
- Microsoft / Forrester — Total Economic Impact of Power Apps (206% ROI)