Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/335618 
Year of Publication: 
2026
Citation: 
[Journal:] Electronic Markets [ISSN:] 1422-8890 [Volume:] 36 [Issue:] 1 [Article No.:] 12 [Publisher:] Springer [Place:] Berlin, Heidelberg [Year:] 2026
Publisher: 
Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Abstract: 
Low-code development platforms (LCDPs) such as Mendix, OutSystems, and Microsoft Power Platform are reshaping software development. These platforms enable non-technical users to develop applications by reusing and configuring out-of-the-box components in visual, user-friendly environments. While LCDPs are typically portrayed as new standalone development tools, they also exhibit many characteristics of digital platform ecosystems. For example, similar to traditional app stores, they also offer marketplaces where external developers and business users can contribute what they have developed. Yet, despite these conceptual similarities, the “platform” dimension of LCDPs has received little attention. Accordingly, this Fundamentals paper conceptualizes LCDPs as a distinct type of digital platform ecosystem. We build on research in digital platform ecosystems, boundary resources, packaged software reuse, and platform governance, and explain how LCDPs align with and differ from conventional platforms. Specifically, we show how LCDPs combine infrastructure and reuse, embed design constraints directly into components, and orchestrate ecosystem participation through a logic of “curated enablement” rather than open contribution. We conclude by outlining a research agenda that highlights LCDPs not as marginal tools for end-user development, but as rich, theory-relevant settings for further exploration.
Subjects: 
Low-code development platform
No-code
Citizen development
Software reuse
Digital platform ecosystem
JEL: 
L86
O31
O33
O36
O39
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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