Build With... No-Code Tools 🛠️
How I’m building SOMOS 🤝🏾 with no-code tools like Zite, Airtable, Make & Unicorn Platform.
Hey everyone - Khawar here 👋🏽
First off, I know it’s been a while since my last update so I’ll quickly rattle through the headlines before we take a look at how I’m building SOMOS…
→ After a few years of living on the move, I’ll be settling in Kuala Lumpur 🇲🇾 for the foreseeable future.
→ I’ve got a 5 year visa and my folks will also be moving over in 2026 so big changes (and lots of admin 🙀) for everyone.
As much as I’ve enjoyed visiting everywhere, KL really feels like home and I’m excited about being in one place (with great food!) and focussing on the business.
Rebuilding SOMOS for freelancers & fractional leaders working in social impact 💚
Aside from big life changes(!), I’ve also been re-building SOMOS as the business pivots out of the online language teaching space into software designed to help freelancers and fractional leaders working in social impact manage their work day-to-day.
In case you missed it, I wrote a short post about why I made the shift here.
I’ll be taking a more build in public approach to SOMOS 2.0, starting with a look at some of the no-code tools I’m using to get an MVP up and running.
Core goals for the rebuild 🎯
Having spoken with a few potential users (and taking some lessons from the previous version!), I wanted to make sure of two things:
1️⃣ Inbound marketing was solid from day one: I’m looking to attract the right kind of users early without relying on paid ads or too much cold outreach.
2️⃣ The product could be flexible and fast to build: a simple, easily updated web app that can evolve as user feedback comes in.
Marketing Site, Helpful Directories + Blog 📣
The marketing website is the foundation for our inbound strategy: combining tailored landing pages, directories and a blog to attract the right audience over time.
I’ve built this using a no-code tool called Unicorn Platform - it’s quick to set up, easy to update and very well structured for SEO.
Core functionality built:
Each of these is designed to help support long-term SEO visibility and AI discoverability, while providing genuine value for potential SOMOS users.
✅ Landing pages:
Explain what we do, the problem we solve & how the product works.
There are several tailored versions for our different audiences — fractional workers, freelancers, social entrepreneurs, social impact leaders and DEI professionals.
✅ Blog:
Designed to be a genuinely useful resource for fractional professionals.
A mix of guides, insights and free tools (like our rate calculator for freelancers) to help people build flexible, values-led careers.
✅ SOMOS Selects:
A growing directory of helpful communities, service providers and even city guides for nomadic or remote workers.
Not yet built:
🤷🏽♂️ Compare pages + listicles:
Planned as future SEO assets — these typically rank well and will help SOMOS reach people earlier in their search journey.
Here’s a quick scroll-through of the new marketing site in action! 🎥
You can also take a look at somos.work and let me know what you think so far - feedback always welcome!
Next up, let’s look at the other side of the build: how I’ve been using Zite, Airtable, Fillout, Zapier and Make to prototype the actual SOMOS web app. 🚀
Building the new SOMOS Web App 🙀
The first iteration of SOMOS (originally a platform for online language teachers) was built using no code tools like Softr (interface), Airtable (database), Heartbeat (community + teaching), Stripe (payments) and Tally (forms) alongside automation software (Make & Zapier) and HEAPS of custom code and “hacks” to pull together a comprehensive solution.
✅ It worked - we had paying customers who could create and sell different types of products directly through the platform.
✅ The Softr community was incredibly generous with sharing ideas, templates and creative workarounds to help build customisations where needed.
🤯 It was a NIGHTMARE to maintain. Softr has evolved a lot as a product over the last few years (mostly for the better) but each update came with a lot of manual fixes and time-consuming rebuilds.
🤯 For more complex products, Softr eventually gets quite limiting so for the new version of SOMOS, I wanted to explore other avenues.
Why I Chose Zite (vs. Softr) 🧩
Vibe-Coding
I’m sure by now, you’ve probably heard of (or even tried) “vibe-coding”.
If not, imagine you’re to trying to build a piece of wooden furniture:
→ Coding is like hiring a skilled carpenter: total freedom to design whatever you want, but it can get time-consuming and expensive fast.
→ No-code is like heading to Ikea - easy to assemble, affordable and (mostly!) reliable but difficult to customise if you want more than what the VOXLÖV has to offer.
→ Vibe-coding (in theory!) sits somewhere inbetween - you still get the flexibility to build something custom but instead of hiring a carpenter, you use conversational prompts to bring your design to life.
Challenges of Vibe-Coding
Although there are some big brand (and very well capitalised) vibe coding platforms like Lovable and Bolt.New out there already, it’s still very early days.
There’s also a lot more to building a functional platform than making it look good.
Developers think deeply about things like database structure, data relationships and secure connections — all the invisible layers that make a product stable and scalable.
In my opinion, that’s where vibe-coding still has some gaps! These tools are impressive in what they promise, but they don’t yet replace the thoughtful backend design and data security practices you’d expect from a production-grade build.
Enter Zite
Zite is a relatively new vibe-coding platform built by the same team behind Fillout Forms (which I’ve used a lot in the past).
I was intrigued by the offering because Fillout is incredibly solid software. The team ship updates regularly (and they do it with care and consistency - something I found a bit more chaotic with Softr).
That said (and like most new platforms), Zite still has gaps — especially around databases and some of the deeper automation logic.
To get around this, I’ve:
Integrated Fillout + Airtable instead of relying on Zite’s native database
Used Make and Zapier for more advanced workflows
Fillout is SOC2 compliant so gives me a secure way to handle data input and transfer.
This mix gives me the flexibility of a “vibe-coding” stack (modern design and visuals, API-ready and secure) but without the overhead or security concerns of custom code.
Where Things Are Now 🚀
The waitlist is live on the marketing site (created using Fillout + Zapier), and I’ve already built out most of the early user interfaces (sneak peak below 👀).
Over the next 7 - 10 days, I’ll be connecting Airtable with automation layers — finalising the onboarding flow and getting us ready to take on users!
It’s still early days, but I’ve been really impressed with what’s possible on Zite.
Every page of version 1.0 includes built-in ways for users to give feedback and report bugs, so we can refine the experience quickly as more people come on board.
That’s it for now! I’ll follow up on Sunday with a short intro into two communities I’ve been a part of - Startups For All and Entrepreneurs For Palestine.
Thanks for being here 🙏🏽
See you Sunday!
Khawar | Founder @ SOMOS 👋🏽
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📬 Reach out on LinkedIn if you’re building something similar, I’d love to connect.
💚 Check out our Blog for tips on how to build a fractional career in social impact.
Note: As a long-term user of both platforms, SOMOS recently joined Fillout and Unicorn Platform’s affiliate programmes and may receive commissions for referring new customers.