App Builder Survey Report:
2025 Trends in App Development
The software development landscape is undergoing a rapid transformation, driven by the emergence of AI and low-code platforms. As organizations race to improve efficiency, reduce costs and scale their digital capabilities, these technologies are proving to be complimentary tools rather than competing forces. Our 2025 Survey Report dives into the current landscape of app development and the emerging technologies that continue to shape the future.
PART 1: Top Trends in App Development in 2025
The survey aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of current trends, challenges and adoption of low-code tools, AI integration and software development practices, while addressing key pain points in the evolving technological and managerial landscape of 2025.
Nearly All Companies Use Low-Code Tools to Build Software
It’s clear that low-code tools have become an integral part of software development. Companies are continuing to implement these tools into their workflow to accelerate application development.
Ninety-five percent (95%) of companies have used low-code tools in the past 12 months for recent projects or ongoing software development.
Low-Code App Development Leads to Reduced Development Time
One of the biggest reasons we are seeing this shift in app development is that nearly every company using low-code tools is saving development time.
98% of tech leaders whose companies use low-code tools for recent or ongoing software development have reported time savings. Most companies (78%) saved up to 50% of development time.
AI Will Enhance Low-Code App Development
With the rise of AI, many tech leaders are looking to the technology to drive efficiencies in software development. 76% of tech leaders believe that AI will make low-code tools more efficient.
Majority believe AI and low-code will work together rather than replace one another, as only 16% of tech leaders think that AI will replace low-code tools.
More Than Half of Organizations Say That Low-Code Tools Reduce Costs
A major reason companies are moving away from traditional development methods and opting for low-code app development is to improve organizational efficiency and complete projects faster.
We see this as 62% of tech leaders reported that the use of low-code tools reduced software development costs. Companies are able to reduce the need for highly skilled developers for every project and empower every member of the team to effectively contribute.
Companies Using Low-Code Report Cost-Savings
Not only are users reporting time savings, the majority also are realizing cost savings as well, with 62% of companies that use low-code tools reducing their software development costs.
Two-thirds of them (67%) say they’ve reduced costs up to 30% and 10% of them say they’ve reduced costs by more than half.
Companies Are Using Low-Code Tools to Improve Business Productivity
While there are many reasons for adopting low-code app development, improving developer productivity is the primary motivation (38%).
Other important reasons include increasing flexibility to create custom apps that meet specific company needs (29%) and keeping development costs down (27%).
Companies’ Reasons to Use Low-Code Tools Have Evolved
The initial reason for using low-code tools remains the same as the current reason – to improve developer productivity.
Low-code tools are now used more frequently than initially though to allow developers to focus on more strategic work (+3%), increase end-user customer satisfaction (+3%) and reduce manual errors (+4%).
