TL;DR

  • Coding-first web app building fell to 36.02% in 2024, down from 65.97% in 2022
  • AI use in development hit 63%, up from 50% in 2023
  • No/low-code grows: WordPress 29.3%, FlutterFlow 16.5%; 52% favor visual drag-and-drop over 27% text-to-app
  • Survey: 508 respondents from 33 countries; learning shifts online (66%+), 22.6% via AI; 27.4% still prefer offline

Fact Box

  • Coding-first approach dropped from 65.97% (2022) to 36.02% in 2024. Source
  • 63% use AI tools in development, up from 50% in 2023. Source
  • Top no/low-code tools: WordPress 29.3% and FlutterFlow 16.5%. Source
  • 52% prefer visual drag-and-drop builders over 27% for text-to-app generators. Source
  • Over 66% prefer learning web development online. Source

We are thrilled to share the results of our third study on how to start web applications in 2024!

Over the past few years, our studies on web app development in 2022 and 2023 have garnered significant attention and citations. This year, we have continued our research to capture the latest trends and dynamics in web application development.

2024 marked a milestone with the highest number of participants in our research, with 508 unique responses. Our focus in 2024 continues to be on identifying how web applications are started, with an added emphasis on the evolution of AI integration into the development process. This year, we also collected information on respondents’ roles, allowing us to understand web development patterns based on whether the respondent is an engineer, decision maker, or other role.

Below, you’ll find an in-depth exploration of the technologies, frameworks, tools, platforms, and specific patterns respondents follow to build web applications in 2024.

The survey was conducted between April and June 2024. 508 respondents from 33 countries participated.

The results of the previous year’s research:

2022 – https://flatlogic.com/starting-web-app-in-2022-research

2023 – https://flatlogic.com/starting-web-app-in-2023-research 

This year’s results: https://flatlogic.com/starting-web-app-in-2024-research 

Key findings highlighted:

  • The number of users who prefer building web apps by writing code dropped from 65.97% in 2022 to 36.02% in 2024
  • AI has become integral to the web development process, with 63% of respondents already incorporating AI tools like ChatGPT into their workflows, compared to 50% last year.
  • WordPress (29.3%) and FlutterFlow (16.5%) are the most commonly used no-code/low-code solutions.
  • Most respondents prefer visual drag-and-drop builders (52%) over text-to-app generators (27%), though it is the first year we do the measurement.
  • React is an unbeatable leader among a new generation of engineers.
  • More than 66% of respondents prefer to learn code from online resources, especially through talking to AI (22.6%) and online resources. Only 27.4% prefer to learn web development resorting to classical offline methods.

To read the full report, including additional insights and the full methodology of the research, please visit this page.