Gartner forecasts the worldwide low-code development technologies market will reach $44.5 billion in 2026, and expects 75% of new applications to be built with low-code tools by the end of the year (Gartner, via InfoWorld). The market was already worth $26.9 billion in 2023, growing 19.6% year over year (Gartner, December 2022). At the same time, the professional developer population climbed to 36.5 million in early 2025 (SlashData, 2025), even as a global shortfall of roughly 4 million developers pushes work toward non-coders (IDC). Enterprise surveys show 98% of large organizations now use low-code somewhere in development (Mendix/Coleman Parkes, 2024). This analysis consolidates data from Gartner, Grand View Research, MarketsandMarkets, SlashData, Mendix, OutSystems, Microsoft, and 5 other primary sources to separate the durable signal from vendor hype.
TL;DR
- Low-code market forecast to reach $44.5 billion in 2026, up from $26.9 billion in 2023 at roughly 19% growth (Gartner).
- The low-code application platform market is projected to hit $101.7 billion by 2030, a 22.5% CAGR (Grand View Research).
- 75% of new applications will be built with low-code by 2026, up from 40% in 2021 (Gartner, via InfoWorld).
- 98% of large enterprises use low-code somewhere in their development process (Mendix/Coleman Parkes, 2024).
- 47.2 million developers worldwide in early 2025; professional developers up 70% since 2022 to 36.5 million (SlashData, 2025).
- The global developer shortfall is estimated near 4 million in 2025, up from 1.4 million in 2021 (IDC).
- Microsoft Power Platform surpassed 56 million monthly active users and 3 million agents built in FY25 (Microsoft, 2025).
- 81% of enterprises use AI-assisted coding; 85% say AI plus low-code speeds innovation (Mendix, 2024).
- 75% of enterprise software engineers to use AI code assistants by 2028, from under 10% in early 2023 (Gartner).
- Only 40% of IT professionals mostly trust GenAI to write code unaided; 71% of leaders worry about governance (OutSystems, 2025; Mendix, 2024).
- 74% of organizations plan to build 10 or more apps in the next 12 months; 45% plan 25 or more (OutSystems, 2025).
- 86% of CIOs call low-code essential to their technology strategy (Kissflow, 2025).
1. Market Size and Growth Forecasts
The headline number is contested because analysts define the category differently. Gartner tracks “low-code development technologies,” a bundle that includes low-code application platforms (LCAPs), citizen automation, integration platforms, and RPA; that lens produced the widely cited $26.9 billion figure for 2023 and the $44.5 billion forecast for 2026. Market-research firms that measure only development platforms land lower, while those counting the full application-platform stack land far higher. The clearest primary anchor is Gartner’s disclosed $26.9 billion in 2023 at 19.6% annual growth (Gartner, via Gartner’s newsroom). The spread below is a definition problem, not a data conflict.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Worldwide low-code development technologies market, 2023 | $26.9B (+19.6% YoY) | Gartner, Dec 2022 |
| Low-code application platforms (LCAP), largest segment, 2023 | ~$10B (+25%) | Gartner, Dec 2022 |
| Citizen automation development platforms (CADP), fastest segment, 2023 | +30.2% | Gartner, Dec 2022 |
| Low-code development technologies market forecast, 2026 | $44.5B (~19% CAGR) | Gartner, via InfoWorld |
| Low-code development platform market, 2020 to 2025 | $13.2B to $45.5B (28.1% CAGR) | MarketsandMarkets |
| Low-code application platform market, 2023 to 2030 | $24.8B to $101.7B (22.5% CAGR) | Grand View Research |
| Low-code development platform market, by 2030 (narrower scope) | $35.2B (22.9% CAGR) | Grand View Research |
Outliers: North America held a 32.55% revenue share of the low-code application platform market in 2023, and Mordor Intelligence pegs a more aggressive $81.35 billion by 2030 (Grand View Research; Mordor Intelligence). Treat any single “market size” quote skeptically without its scope. For the adjacent subscription economy, see our SaaS statistics roundup.
2. How Much Software Is Going Low-Code
Adoption forecasts have proven directionally right even when the exact percentage floats. Gartner’s projection that 75% of new applications would use low-code by 2026 looked aggressive in 2021 at 40%; it is now the baseline assumption in most enterprise IT roadmaps. The most telling number is that 98% of surveyed large enterprises already use low-code somewhere in development (Mendix/Coleman Parkes, 2024) - the debate has shifted from whether to adopt to how to govern. Note the citizen-developer ratio below is a 2023-dated Gartner projection carried forward, not a fresh 2026 census.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Share of new applications built with low-code by 2026 | 75% (up from 40% in 2021) | Gartner, via InfoWorld |
| Non-IT developers as share of low-code user base by 2026 | at least 80% (up from 60% in 2021) | Gartner, Dec 2022 |
| Citizen developers vs professional developers at large enterprises | ~4x (projection) | Gartner, via VentureBeat |
| Low-code segments integral to hyperautomation in large orgs by 2026 | 4+ segments across 85% | Gartner, Dec 2022 |
| CIOs who call low-code essential to strategy | 86% | Kissflow CIO Pulse, 2025 |
| Large enterprises using low-code in development | 98% | Mendix/Coleman Parkes, 2024 |
Context note: a 70% figure for 2025 circulates alongside the 75%-by-2026 forecast; both trace to Gartner and differ mainly by target year and category scope.
3. Developers, Citizen Makers, and the Talent Gap
The demand-side story explains the whole category. Enterprises want more software than professional developers can produce, so the work spills over to business users. SlashData counted 47.2 million developers worldwide in early 2025, but growth slowed to 10% year over year - down from 21% the prior year (SlashData, 2025), while the amateur segment actually shrank. That deceleration, set against a multimillion-role shortfall, is the structural pressure behind citizen development. This is the same maker-economy dynamic reshaping independent work in our freelance economy statistics.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Developers worldwide, early 2025 | 47.2 million | SlashData, 2025 |
| Developer population growth since Q1 2022 | +50% | SlashData, 2025 |
| Developer population growth, last 12 months | 10% (down from 21%) | SlashData, 2025 |
| Professional developers, early 2025 | 36.5 million (up 70% from 21.8M in 2022) | SlashData, 2025 |
| Amateur/hobbyist developer population change, last year | declined by 1M+ | SlashData, 2025 |
| Estimated global developer shortfall | 1.4M (2021) to 4.0M (2025) | IDC |
| US software developer/QA/tester employment growth, 2022 to 2032 | +25% (fastest-growing occupational group) | US Bureau of Labor Statistics |
Outlier: professional headcount grew even as hobbyist numbers fell, which argues low-code is redistributing who builds routine apps rather than shrinking the profession.
4. Platforms and Enterprise Build Demand
Consolidated usage data is scarce because most vendors report selectively, but the numbers that are disclosed are large. Microsoft Power Platform surpassed 56 million monthly active users and reported more than 3 million agents built in FY25 (Microsoft, 2025), a scale that puts low-code tooling in the same tier as mainstream productivity suites. On the demand side, the pipeline of apps waiting to be built is what keeps the category growing.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Power Platform monthly active users | 56 million+ | Microsoft, 2025 |
| Agents built on Power Platform in FY25 | 3 million+ | Microsoft, 2025 |
| Higher success rate building apps with Copilot in Power Apps | 60% | Microsoft, 2025 |
| Organizations planning 10+ apps in next 12 months | 74% | OutSystems, 2025 |
| Organizations planning 25+ apps in next 12 months | 45% | OutSystems, 2025 |
| Organizations planning external, customer-facing apps | 74% | OutSystems, 2025 |
Context: OutSystems surveyed 1,666 global IT professionals in September 2024 across companies from under $10M to over $2.5B in revenue (OutSystems, 2025).
5. AI Meets Low-Code and No-Code
AI is the biggest change to the category since citizen development itself, collapsing the line between low-code and generative coding. Gartner forecasts that 75% of enterprise software engineers will use AI code assistants by 2028, up from under 10% in early 2023 (Gartner) - and low-code vendors are folding those assistants directly into visual builders. The result is that “low-code” increasingly means “AI-drafted, human-refined.” For the developer-tool side of this shift, see our AI coding tools statistics and AI agents statistics.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprises using AI-assisted coding to some extent | 81% | Mendix/Coleman Parkes, 2024 |
| Enterprises saying AI plus low-code accelerates innovation | 85% | Mendix, 2024 |
| Enterprise software engineers to use AI code assistants by 2028 | 75% (from <10% in early 2023) | Gartner, Apr 2024 |
| Organizations piloting or deploying AI code assistants (Q3 2023) | 63% | Gartner, Apr 2024 |
| Teams using GenAI to assist traditional coding | 81% | OutSystems, 2025 |
| Teams exploring building GenAI-powered applications | 88% | OutSystems, 2025 |
| Enterprises reporting low-code improves technical-team productivity | 80% | Mendix, 2024 |
| Enterprises reporting low-code reduces time-to-market | 73% | Mendix, 2024 |
Outlier: Gartner’s 2023 survey of 598 organizations found 63% already piloting or running AI code assistants, so the 2028 forecast reflects a curve that was already steep (Gartner, 2024).
6. Governance, Trust, and Where Low-Code Stalls
The friction is no longer technical capability; it is trust and control. When non-developers ship apps that touch production data, security and governance become the binding constraint. Only 40% of IT professionals say they mostly trust GenAI to write code without human help, and 62% report security and governance concerns (OutSystems, 2025). Mendix’s enterprise panel echoes the pattern: governance worry is nearly universal even among heavy adopters, which is why training and guardrails now dominate low-code roadmaps.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise leaders concerned about AI-assisted coding governance | 71% | Mendix/Coleman Parkes, 2024 |
| Technical leaders who worry about governance | 75% | Mendix, 2024 |
| Enterprises saying developers need more AI-assisted coding training | 80% | Mendix, 2024 |
| IT teams reporting GenAI security and governance concerns | 62% | OutSystems, 2025 |
| IT teams reporting significant complexity integrating AI into workflows | 50% | OutSystems, 2025 |
| IT professionals who mostly trust GenAI to write code unaided | 40% | OutSystems, 2025 |
| Low-code users able to consistently predict budget (vs 52% traditional) | 62% | OutSystems, 2025 |
Context: the budget-predictability gap (62% low-code vs 52% traditional) suggests governed low-code is more forecastable than ad hoc coding, not less (OutSystems, 2025).
Summary: No-Code And Low-Code by the Numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Low-code development technologies market, 2023 | $26.9B (+19.6%) | Gartner, Dec 2022 |
| Low-code development technologies market forecast, 2026 | $44.5B | Gartner, via InfoWorld |
| Low-code application platform market by 2030 | $101.7B (22.5% CAGR) | Grand View Research |
| Low-code development platform market, 2020 to 2025 | $13.2B to $45.5B (28.1% CAGR) | MarketsandMarkets |
| Share of new apps built with low-code by 2026 | 75% (from 40% in 2021) | Gartner, via InfoWorld |
| Low-code users able to predict budget (vs 52% traditional) | 62% | OutSystems, 2025 |
| Large enterprises using low-code in development | 98% | Mendix/Coleman Parkes, 2024 |
| CIOs calling low-code essential to strategy | 86% | Kissflow, 2025 |
| Developers worldwide, early 2025 | 47.2 million | SlashData, 2025 |
| Professional developers, early 2025 | 36.5 million (+70% since 2022) | SlashData, 2025 |
| Global developer shortfall, 2025 | ~4.0 million (from 1.4M in 2021) | IDC |
| Microsoft Power Platform monthly active users | 56 million+ | Microsoft, 2025 |
| Agents built on Power Platform in FY25 | 3 million+ | Microsoft, 2025 |
| Organizations planning 10+ apps in 12 months | 74% | OutSystems, 2025 |
| Enterprises using AI-assisted coding | 81% | Mendix, 2024 |
| Enterprise engineers using AI code assistants by 2028 | 75% (from <10% in 2023) | Gartner, Apr 2024 |
| Teams exploring GenAI-powered apps | 88% | OutSystems, 2025 |
| IT pros who mostly trust GenAI to write code unaided | 40% | OutSystems, 2025 |
| Enterprise leaders worried about AI-coding governance | 71% | Mendix, 2024 |
Methodology and Sources
Data was gathered by aggregating figures from primary reports, vendor surveys with disclosed methodology, and analyst press releases published between December 2022 and 2026, prioritizing the most recent editions and tracing every trade-press number back to its originating organization.
Sources cited:
- Gartner, “Worldwide Low-Code Development Technologies Market to Grow 20% in 2023” (press release, December 2022)
- Gartner, “75% of Enterprise Software Engineers Will Use AI Code Assistants by 2028” (press release, April 2024)
- InfoWorld, “Low-code development technologies market forecast to hit $44.5 billion by 2026” (2022, reporting Gartner)
- VentureBeat, “Gartner: Citizen developers will soon outnumber professional coders 4 to 1” (reporting Gartner)
- MarketsandMarkets, “Low-Code Development Platform Market” report
- Grand View Research, “Low-code Application Development Platform Market Report, 2024-2030”
- Grand View Research, “Low-Code Development Platform Market Worth $35.2 Billion By 2030” (press release)
- SlashData, “Global developer population trends 2025” (2025)
- Mendix (Coleman Parkes survey of 2,000 senior tech decision-makers, June-July 2024), “The Low-Code Perspective”
- OutSystems, “2025 State of Application Development” (survey of 1,666 IT professionals, September 2024)
- Microsoft Power Platform, “Leader in the 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms” (2025)
- Kissflow, “Low-Code Trends & Statistics” / 2025 CIO Low-Code Strategy Pulse Report
- IDC, worldwide developer shortage estimates (via industry reporting)
- US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Software Developers, QA Analysts, and Testers
- Mordor Intelligence, Low-Code Development Platform Market (market-size range)
Data watch: SlashData refreshes its global developer population trends roughly twice a year, so a mid-2026 update is expected next; OutSystems and Mendix run their state-of-development surveys annually, with new editions typically landing in Q4 to Q1; Gartner reissues its low-code forecast and Magic Quadrant on an annual cycle; Grand View Research and MarketsandMarkets update their market models yearly. We will fold newer editions in as they publish.
Last updated: July 16, 2026.
We review and update this page quarterly as new data is published.