Website Planet interviewed Siebrand Dijkstra, CEO of AppMachine, a no-code app building platform for PWA Web apps, iOS and Android native with millions of users and a decade of experience. We will learn what made them the go-to platform for creative no-coders, and what’s in their roadmap of future developments (spoiler: did anyone say ChatGPT?)
Please Introduce AppMachine To Our Audience. What Products and Services Do You Offer?
AppMachine is a no-code app-building platform for creating powerful native apps for iOS and Android applications. You can also publish your app as a PWA (Progressive Web App).
Appmachine makes it possible for agencies, businesses or individual people to build apps without the need of technical skills. We’ve templates available so that an app can be built within minutes for you or your customers.
For example, AppMachine allows you to quickly:
- Connect people – communities in general, like sports clubs or neighborhoods.
- Increase customer loyalty – send push notifications for sharing events, offer discounts, share news, or issue a digital loyalty card.
- Build internal-facing business apps and business apps to connect with employees – share online guidelines, allow remote workers to access customer databases, or facilitate remote data entry.
Our reseller program is a very important part of AppMachine’s business. This program delivers additional revenue to web companies by allowing them to build bespoke or white-labeled apps for customers efficiently.
We see
a huge business opportunity for our resellers to extend their service offering and to build a profitable business model with our no-code platform software – Because our software has several templates and can work on different verticals, it is easy for resellers to gain advantage at scale when reusing their elements on similar businesses in the same vertical.
For example you already service multiple restaurants with your agency. When you have build an app for one restaurant, you can also sell it to all the other restaurants you know. Make a duplicate of the first app and customize the design of the app to adjust the app for their likings.
We noticed that many web, marketing or design agencies still are not aware of the fact that they can offer app development at a reasonable price. Our resellers too often think they need to hire developers who can code for iOS and Android apps. Or that building apps are large IT projects.
But with AppMachine, it is fast and easy to provide this service for customers without the need of hiring app developers or learning a lot of additional skills.. And
web agencies have the assurance that AppMachine will take care of any technical support needed.
What Are The Problems That Your Platform Helps Solve?
The AppMachine platform helps solve several problems faced by individuals and businesses who want to create a mobile app. The platform provides a simple and user-friendly solution for app building without the need for coding skills. Some of the problems the AppMachine platform helps solve include the following:
- Difficulty in building a mobile app
Without a platform like AppMachine, mobile app development can be challenging, as the technology landscape is constantly changing. One of the biggest challenges is the need for more resources and the time it takes to develop and maintain an app. Another challenge is selecting the right development approach, as there are many frameworks and platforms to choose from. It is important for businesses to start the development process on the right foot, with a critical eye on each step.With AppMachine’s drag-and-drop interface and a wide range of templates and building blocks, users can create a custom app without any technical knowledge.
- The expense of app building
AppMachine offers a cost-effective solution for app building, starting from as low as $15 per month. We’ve seen app building companies charging over $25.000 for building apps so we have a very interesting competitive advantage.
- Limited design options
AppMachine helps solve the problem of limited designs by providing users with a wide range of design options, including templates and the ability to style their app and screens to create a visually appealing and custom app. With our extensive styling options you can completely brand the app to match your customers brand
In summary, the AppMachine platform helps solve the challenges faced by individuals and businesses who want to create a mobile app by providing an easy-to-use, cost-effective, and customizable solution.
What’s Your Mission?
Our mission at AppMachine is to empower individuals and businesses to bring their ideas to life by providing a no-code solution for mobile app development. We strive to make app creation accessible and efficient for everyone, regardless of technical ability, so that everyone has the opportunity to turn their ideas into reality.
What Sparked The Idea, And How Has It Evolved So Far?
Back in 2012, we had an agency and built websites for our customers. Our project managers worked with clients in our area to create custom websites for them.
Sometimes customers would ask us to also build apps for them, so we did that too.
We trained our developers and learned a lot about building apps for iPhone and Android. But building an app was basically an IT project. Getting their own app would cost our customers 25,000 to 50,000 euros. And it would cost our customers and us a lot of time.
That’s when we thought: is there a way to make this easier for us? How can we build more apps for customers without hiring more developers? How can we make it possible for more of our customers to have an app without having to invest 25K-50K? Because most of our customers didn’t have that kind of money to spend.
And that’s when we started to build an app-building platform which would make app building accessible to a much larger group of customers. We launched AppMachine at the 2013 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
In 2015 the US-based Endurance International Group invested $15.2 million in AppMachine, allowing us to expand our operation internationally. In 2016 Endurance acquired full ownership of AppMachine. And in the years after that we built a lot of different applications for SMBs, including a logo maker, website builder, Creative Email (a WordPress email plugin to send emails), and the Bluehost website builder hosted on WordPress.
When in 2022 Endurance was acquired by Newfold, we were able to buy back AppMachine.
In the past year we launched a new version of AppMachine built with all new technology. Now we will continue to improve and expand AppMachine’s functionality.
What Makes You Stand Out From The Competition?
In 2013 we basically built a no-code platform before the term “no-code platform” existed.
We now have more than ten years of experience and lots of expertise in native app development to make sure your app runs great on iPhone and Android. With 750K app builders and a support team that has been around for ten years, we are really well qualified to help you.
Most no-code platforms are generic web applications that don’t leverage the opportunities that native app development gives you. That is not the case with AppMachine.
We know branding is very important for companies and that an app needs to comply with the brandbook. That’s why
we offer many more design options than other no-code platforms without getting too complicated, so you don’t need to be a UX designer.
With AppMachine, the design of your app and the content are separate, which makes it possible to change the design of your app without having to adjust all of the content. So choosing a template doesn’t limit you further down the road; you can always make new design choices. You could, for example, select another home screen design or color palette without reworking your app.
Another competitive advantage we have is our
white-label client CMS. With this feature we focus on resellers who can build a scalable and profitable business model with our software.
The reseller program supports freelancers and agencies to extend their current service offering by offering a white-label client CMS where you can build an app. Once the app is put in the app stores by the AppMachine platform, you can give your customer access to the white-label client CMS where they can edit the data in the app. This allows your customers to manage the data within the app themselves, but if they want to add features to the app, they will need to hire you again, and you can increase your revenue. This is a USP of AppMachine’s reseller program.
We also have a Reseller Coaching program to support resellers every step of the way. This means we make sure that our resellers will get the support they need in order to be successful with building and selling apps.
Can You Share Any Recent Success Story From Brands Using AppMachine?
Of course! One of our preferred resellers in the UK, MyArk, has had a lot of success in providing local government organizations with apps. In fact, by going paperless and using mobile apps instead, they have
saved the UK government over £11 million in printing costs over the last couple of years!
Speaking of efficiency!
What Tools And Channels Are You Using To Promote AppMachine?
We use Social Media, Youtube advertising, SEO to increase organic traffic and we organize webinars.
How Do You Think AI Will Impact The Future Of Your Industry, And Do You Plan To Use It?
Well, in actual fact, we have just implemented two AI tools in AppMachine – ChatGPT and DALLE 2!
Our clients now have the option of
using ChatGPT to generate content for their mobile apps. ChatGPT is a real help when it comes to creating headlines, text, and app store descriptions. And
with DALLE 2 you can create unique icons and images for your app.
These AI tools understand natural language input and make creating an app even faster (and more fun)!
