Take a look at the latest developments of our innovative product, the Unqork Marketplace. Here’s why it is the most efficient way to optimize enterprise no-code application development.
Unqork believes in helping developers work smarter, not harder. Through visual interfaces, intuitive business logic, and drag-and-drop components, no-code helps you do just that. With no-code, you can build high-quality applications in a fraction of the time and for a fraction of the cost, all without writing a single line of code.
We love no-code development at Unqork, but recently we got to thinking—can we do more? Can we make some aspects of web application development even faster and easier? We wanted to provide more tools, more integrations, and ways to boost efficiency and productivity on Unqork for our Creators (those who develop on the Unqork platform). “We know that the best way to offer these capabilities was by supporting a larger ecosystem around the Unqork platform,” says Warren Chen, our Vice President of Marketplace.
And thus, the Unqork Marketplace was born. Nadia Abossein, Lead GTM Product Manager, adds, “It’s one of our top priorities.” Unqork Marketplace now has a robust team of full-time Unqorkers dedicated to its utility, longevity, and development. Here’s the inside scoop on one of our most exciting debuts this year.
How the Unqork Marketplace works
The Unqork Marketplace gives Creators access to a wide array of reliable, easy-to-install tools and capabilities called “assets”. Marketplace assets include applications, templates, integrations, and snippets, all of which can be directly installed into your Unqork environment and used right away. Unqork’s Codeless Architecture enables Creators to browse the Marketplace’s catalog of assets, download the assets they want to use, and seamlessly place them in their application.
“The Unqork Marketplace enables Creators to not have to build applications from scratch,” Warren notes. This makes application development on Unqork even more efficient and cost-effective—using pre-built components allows Creators to build apps that are proven to work, reducing errors and improving time-to-market. Also, modifying a Marketplace asset won’t affect any other modules that currently use that component, helping prevent bugs before they take root.
We have 65 assets currently available for creators and every month we add five or six new ones to the Marketplace! One newer Marketplace asset worth noting is the For Loop snippet, which enables you to perform a looping command. Performing the same action one at a time isn't efficient—with For Loop, Unqork Creators can eliminate this repetitive task and ultimately develop faster. Set up is quick and easy—simply install the snippet into your environment, access it from the Marketplace snippets section, and drop it onto the canvas of your module.
“Snippets are the power behind Marketplace because I know what my clients need me to build. If there are snippets in here that help me build faster, that's the real beauty of Marketplace and that's where the bread and butter is going to be.” — Partner Application Specialist
By allowing creators to easily access useful pre-built capabilities, Unqork Marketplace acts as a “foundation” for creation on Unqork, to use Nadia’s words. She also points to the Marketplace’s hope to further “democratize and expand access throughout the no-code development process,” helping current and future no-coders build better applications. Whether it’s dragging snippets into modules, starting applications from a template, or scrolling through assets for inspiration, the Marketplace has already made a huge impact.
Since its launch this past June, Creators make use of the Unqork Marketplace more than 900 times on a monthly basis! Over a quarter of active Unqork Creators have built within at least one Marketplace listing. Thus far, more than 1,750 modules have been created with a snippet and over 250 applications have been made with the help of templates.
What’s next for the Unqork Marketplace?
Although the Unqork Marketplace is already an essential toolkit used by 25% of Unqorkers and no-code Creators, we’re constantly looking to do more and push boundaries. Our end goal is to maximize the Marketplace’s value for everyone who uses our platform—individual Creators, entire enterprises, and even other popular platforms.
We're focusing heavily on two areas of growth for the marketplace right now—usability and capability. The Unqork Marketplace currently acts as an external hub (and is actually built using Unqork’s no-code platform!), but we’re hoping to integrate it deeper into how builders create on the Unqork platform. This will make it even easier for Creators to leverage assets and add capabilities to their nodes, supporting more seamless builds and modifications throughout the DevOps process.
Along with improving the user’s experience of Unqork Marketplace, we want to support as much creativity as possible within the Marketplace itself. Warren explains that one aspect of this includes creating a “formalized process for picking partnerships” that promotes feedback and identifies key Marketplace features. We hope this will give people who use the Marketplace direct influence over what capabilities it leverages—and help us bring even more assets into the Marketplace every month!
“Marketplace helps our Creators build faster! It builds confidence in our client when they see how fast we can build.” — Raj Palireddy, Sr. Solutions Architect, Persistent Systems
The Unqork team also wants to eventually support third-party publishers, enabling them to create and share their assets on the Marketplace and engage directly with Creators. We hope this capability contributes to our long-term vision of having the Marketplace be an Unqork ecosystem, one that promotes collaboration while ensuring Creators get the features they need. “We’re creating the initial foundation for this flow now,” Nadia reveals, “and we’re hoping to bring on our first third-party publishers in the first quarter of 2022.”
Even though it’s relatively young, the Unqork Marketplace already provides a massive amount of utility and power to Creators. We know that Unqork Marketplace will only continue to grow it's impact for our customers and Creators. By helping it grow into an ecosystem for Creators that truly integrates with other Unqork capabilities, we hope the Marketplace becomes a core aspect of our Codeless Architecture.
Learn more about Unqork Marketplace here and keep checking back for new features, assets, and capabilities!
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