So, you want to start a marketplace business? You've been doing your research and are more confused than ever. With so many no-code tools out there, each with slightly different features and promises, it can seem like a lot is at stake when it comes to choosing the right tool.

I get it. Over the last three years, the no-code space has changed drastically. Tools have gotten better, new tools have been launched, and it’s just hard to keep up. It's been three years since I posted my first YouTube video breaking down what no-code tools I used to build Unicorn Factory, and till this day, I still get tons of emails every month asking me questions like:

• "What tools are you using on Unicorn Factory now?"
• "What do you think about Bubble?"
• "Have you tried [insert latest tool here]?"

In this post, I will answer all of those questions and break down my exact no-code stack for building marketplaces in 2024. You will find out what I am using to power my freelancer marketplace Unicorn Factory today, why I prefer those tools for building marketplaces, and why I think you should choose the same stack to build your marketplaces. Sound good?

Let's get into it.

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Webflow

Webflow is a website building tool that allows you to design, build, and launch fully responsive websites visually. In the context of marketplace businesses, Webflow is powerful for its CMS and its amazing SEO capabilities. This makes it ideal for creating dynamic, SEO-friendly pages that attract both buyers and sellers to your platform.

How do I use it on Unicorn Factory?

Webflow was the first tool I used when starting Unicorn Factory. Today, it serves as the front-end for my marketing site, which includes all my landing pages, profile pages, blog, and more. Here are some ways that I am using it:

• Profile Pages: Each freelancer has a detailed profile page showcasing their work, skills, and portfolio. These pages are dynamically generated using Webflow's CMS, making it easy to manage and update profiles.
• Listing Pages: I create templated pages for different categories of freelance services, such as web design, graphic design, and copywriting. This ensures a consistent look and feel across the site, while also making it easy to add new listings.
• SEO Optimization: Webflow's SEO tools help optimize pages to rank higher on search engines, driving organic traffic to the site. This includes features like customizable meta tags, alt text for images, and clean, semantic code.

Why I like it

• Design Flexibility: The design flexibility is unmatched—you can design pixel-perfect sites.
• Scalable CMS: The Webflow CMS makes it easy to scale your site using templated pages.
• SEO Capabilities: Webflow's SEO is one of the biggest drivers of traffic to my site. They have internal features like image compression and more that make optimizing your site easy.
• Evolving Ecosystem: Webflow's ecosystem has evolved immensely with tools like Relume and Finsweet, allowing us to go beyond the platform to build better websites faster.

Webflow remains a favorite because of its powerful CMS and SEO capabilities. It allows for quick creation and management of templated pages, maintaining consistency and efficiency. The evolving ecosystem around Webflow adds significant value, making it an indispensable tool for building and scaling Unicorn Factory.

Airtable

Airtable is a tool that combines the simplicity of a spreadsheet with the power of a database. For marketplace businesses, Airtable is incredibly useful for organizing and managing large amounts of data efficiently. It allows you to create tables for different types of information and link them together, making it easy to see connections between different pieces of data and keep everything organized. This is crucial for handling user profiles, job listings, transactions, and more.

How do I use it on Unicorn Factory?

Airtable plays a crucial role in managing and organizing data on Unicorn Factory. Here's how I use it:

• Freelancer Profiles: When freelancers apply, all their information is sent to Airtable for review. This includes details like their skills, portfolio links, and availability. Airtable allows me to see everything related to the freelancers, including which messages they have received and the case studies they have submitted.
• Job Board: I use Airtable to manage all job listings posted by clients. It provides an admin view that allows me to manually change listings, update statuses, and more without having to jump into Webflow. This makes it easy to keep track of job postings and ensure everything is up-to-date.
• Transactions: Airtable manages all transactions. Whenever I receive a payment through Stripe, the transaction details are recorded in Airtable and linked back to the customer who made the payment. This integration helps me keep track of financials and ensures that all transaction data is organized and accessible.

Why I like it

• User-Friendly Interface: Airtable's interface is intuitive and easy to use, featuring views like grids, galleries, and calendars that make data management straightforward and visually appealing.
• Powerful Integrations: I love Airtable automations for setting up basic internal workflows. Airtable Apps allows you to use third-party tools like DataFetcher, and Airtable Scripts provides the flexibility to add custom code when needed.
• Scalability: Airtable supports scalability with plans that allow up to 125k records on the business plan and up to 500k records on the enterprise plan. This ensures that as your marketplace grows, Airtable can grow with you.

Airtable's flexibility, ease of use, and scalability have made it an indispensable part of running Unicorn Factory, helping to keep everything organized and accessible.

Make.com

Make.com is a no-code automation platform that helps you connect different apps and services to automate workflows. For marketplace businesses, Make.com is essential for handling repetitive tasks and complex processes without manual intervention. It allows you to create automated workflows that can manage user onboarding, notifications, and other critical functions, ensuring your marketplace runs smoothly.

How do I use it on Unicorn Factory?

Make.com is integral to automating various workflows on Unicorn Factory. Here's how I use it:

• User Onboarding: When a new user signs up, Make.com automates the entire onboarding process, including sending welcome emails, adding user information to Airtable, and setting up initial tasks for the user.
• Job Board Notifications: When a client posts a new job, Make.com automatically notifies all relevant freelancers via email or other communication channels. This ensures that freelancers are promptly informed about new opportunities without manual effort.
• Client-Freelancer Connection: Make.com facilitates the connection between clients and freelancers by automating the matching process. When a client hires a freelancer, the system sends notifications to both parties and updates the relevant records in Airtable.

Why I like it

• Seamless Integration: Make.com integrates with all the tools I use to power Unicorn Factory, creating a cohesive workflow across the entire platform.
• Advanced Automation Tools: It has great internal tools that allow for more complex automations, such as routers, error handlers, and webhooks. These features enable more sophisticated and reliable workflows.
• Manageable Learning Curve: While it is a complex tool, the learning curve is not that steep once you get the hang of it. Investing time in learning Make.com will save you tons of time in the long run, making your operations more efficient and scalable.

Make.com is a crucial tool for ensuring that Unicorn Factory operates efficiently and effectively, automating essential tasks and allowing me to focus on growing the business.

Glide

Glide is a no-code app building platform that allows you to create powerful and visually appealing mobile and web applications directly from a spreadsheet, like Airtable or Google Sheets. For marketplace businesses, Glide is excellent for building user-friendly portals where users can manage their profiles, interact with listings, and communicate with others.

How do I use it on Unicorn Factory?

Glide has transformed how I manage user interactions on Unicorn Factory. Here's how I use it:

• Customer Portal: Customers use the Glide app to post jobs, manage their listings, and message freelancers. This portal provides a seamless experience for clients to handle all their tasks in one place.
• Freelancer Portal: Freelancers use Glide to apply for jobs, review inquiries, and manage their profiles and portfolios. This makes it easy for them to keep their information up-to-date and respond to job opportunities quickly.
• Airtable Integration: Glide syncs directly with Airtable, ensuring that any changes made in the Glide app are automatically updated in Airtable without needing extra automations. This real-time syncing keeps all data consistent across platforms.

Why I like it

• Ease of Use and Speed: Glide is easy to use and fast to build. While you are limited in how you can design your portal, this limitation is made up for by the speed of build.
• Progressive Web App: Glide generates a progressive web app, so your customers can download it on their phones and use it like a mobile app, complete with notifications.
• Constant Feature Updates: The Glide team is constantly shipping new features, allowing you to do more and more cool stuff with it.
• Scalability: Glide scales nicely because you can integrate SQL databases if you want to scale up in the future.

Glide is an essential tool for creating interactive and user-friendly portals on Unicorn Factory, enhancing the overall user experience and making it easier for clients and freelancers to manage their activities.

Stripe

Stripe is a payment processing platform that allows businesses to handle online transactions securely and efficiently. For marketplace businesses, Stripe provides the infrastructure needed to manage payments, subscriptions, invoicing, and more. It supports various payment methods and currencies, making it the best choice for global operations.

How do I use it on Unicorn Factory?

Stripe is crucial for managing transactions on Unicorn Factory. Here's how I use it:

• Paid Upgrades for Job Listings: Clients can opt for paid upgrades to their job listings for increased visibility or additional features. Stripe handles these transactions smoothly, ensuring clients can easily make payments.
• Credit Model for Freelancers: Freelancers can purchase credits to apply for jobs or access premium features. Stripe processes these credit purchases, keeping the transaction process seamless and secure.
• Invoicing for Revenue Shares: Stripe is used to manage invoicing for revenue shares with freelancers. This includes generating invoices for completed jobs and ensuring that freelancers receive their payments promptly.

Why I like it

• Ease of Integration: Stripe integrates seamlessly with the other tools (Make.com or Airtable) I use on Unicorn Factory, ensuring a smooth workflow for handling payments and financial transactions.
• Advanced Features: Stripe offers advanced features like recurring billing, customizable invoicing, and support for various payment methods, providing flexibility for different business models.
• Security: Stripe is known for its robust security measures, ensuring that all transactions are secure and compliant with industry standards.
• Scalability: As Unicorn Factory grows, Stripe scales effortlessly with it, handling an increasing volume of transactions without any issues.

Stripe is an indispensable tool for managing payments on Unicorn Factory, providing a secure and efficient way to handle financial transactions, from job listing upgrades to revenue sharing with freelancers.

Honorable Mentions

While the core tools I've discussed are essential to running Unicorn Factory, there are a few other tools that deserve an honorable mention because of how useful they are:

OpenAI:

• What is it? OpenAI provides advanced artificial intelligence capabilities, including natural language processing and machine learning.
• How I use it: I use OpenAI for my AI Job Builder tool, which helps generate job listings and descriptions automatically. It's also great for SEO purposes, enhancing the quality of content on the site.
• Why I like it: OpenAI significantly improves the quality of content and provides intelligent automation, saving time and increasing efficiency.

Relume:

• What is it? Relume offers tools and components that make building and designing websites on Webflow even faster and more efficient.
• How I use it: I use Relume components to quickly spin up new site features and pages on Webflow.
• Why I like it: Relume saves a lot of time in the design and development process, allowing for quicker iterations and updates to the site.

These tools, while not part of the core stack, have been incredible useful to me when building Unicorn Factory.

TLDR

So, that is it, that is my current stack for Unicorn Factory, and the stack that I recommend to anyone thinking about building a marketplace. Here's a quick recap of the tools that power Unicorn Factory:

• Webflow: For building and managing the front-end of the marketing site, including profile and listing pages.
• Airtable: For organizing and managing large amounts of data related to freelancers, job listings, and transactions.
• Make.com: For automating workflows such as user onboarding, job board notifications, and client-freelancer connections.
• Glide: For creating user-friendly customer and freelancer portals that sync seamlessly with Airtable.
• Stripe: For handling all financial transactions, including paid upgrades, credit purchases, and invoicing.

Please keep in mind that each of these tools has pros and cons, and in some cases, certain tools might be better suited to specific marketplace use cases than others. However, when it comes to building P2P marketplaces, I think this stack is really undisputed.

If you want to dive deeper and learn more about building no-code marketplaces, I recommend checking out my brand-new "How To Build A Marketplace Without Code" workshop, which is now available on my site. In this workshop, I break down everything you need to know about building marketplaces as a non-developer, guiding you step-by-step through the process. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to turn your marketplace idea into reality!

Thanks for reading!

Connor