Top 9 Retool alternatives in 2024

Retool is a platform for low-code development that is highly efficient in constructing internal tools, resulting in significant time savings. However, if you have come across this post, we presume that you might be searching for viable alternatives to Retool, indicating a level of dissatisfaction with the product.

This guide presents a comprehensive comparison between Retool alternative  low-code tools, covering their features, pricing, and overall functionality, while maintaining objectivity. Although we are convinced that UI Bakery is the ideal alternative to Retool, particularly for SMBs and SMEs, we aimed to provide an unbiased analysis of Retool competitors in 2024.

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retool alternatives
Rank
Company
Headquarters
Product Suite
AI Capabilities
Funding
#1
Retool
🇺🇸 USA
Apps, Workflows, Scheduled Jobs
AI Development Assistant, OpenAI API Connection
VC Backed
#2
UI Bakery
🇪🇺 EU
Apps, Workflows, Scheduled Jobs
AI Development Assistant, OpenAI API Connection
Bootstrapped
#3
Appsmith
🇮🇳 India
Apps
None
VC Backed
#4
Budibase
🇬🇧 UK
Apps
OpenAI API Connection
VC Backed
#5
DronaHQ
🇮🇳 India
Apps, Workflows, Scheduled Jobs
None
VC Backed
#6
Superblocks
🇺🇸 USA
Apps, Workflows, Scheduled Jobs
OpenAI API Connection
VC Backed
#7
ToolJet
🇺🇸 USA
Apps, Workflows, Scheduled Jobs
None
VC Backed
#8
Jet Admin
🇺🇸 USA
Apps, Workflows, Scheduled Jobs
None
VC Backed
#9
Internal.io
Shut down
🇺🇸 USA
Apps, Scheduled Jobs
None
VC Backed
#10
Airplane.dev
Shut down
🇺🇸 USA
Apps, Workflows, Pipelines
AI coding assistant
VC Backed
Retool
UI Bakery
Appsmith
Budibase
DronaHQ
Superblocks
ToolJet
Jet Admin
Business
Headquarters
🇺🇸 USA
🇪🇺 EU
🇮🇳 India
🇬🇧 UK
🇮🇳 India
🇺🇸 USA
🇺🇸 USA
🇺🇸 USA
Product Suite
Apps, Workflows, Scheduled Jobs
Apps, Workflows, Scheduled Jobs
Apps
Apps
Apps, Workflows, Scheduled Jobs
Apps, Workflows, Scheduled Jobs
Apps, Workflows, Scheduled Jobs
Apps, Workflows, Scheduled Jobs
AI Capabilities
AI Development Assistant, OpenAI API Connection
AI Development Assistant, OpenAI API Connection
None
OpenAI API Connection
None
OpenAI API Connection
None
None
Funding
VC Backed
Bootstrapped
VC Backed
VC Backed
VC Backed
VC Backed
VC Backed
VC Backed
Pricing
Pricing
From $10/month/developer
‍From $5/month/user
From $10/month/developer
‍From $5/month/user
From $0.40/hour/user
$50/month/developer
$5/month/user
From $5/month/user
From $49/month/developer
From $15/month/user
From $24/month/developer
From $8/month/user
From $24/month/user
Prycing type
per user
per user
per user
per hour
per user
per user
per user
per user
per user
Free plan
Self-hosted version
General
Usability and quality
Datasources
Databases
22
16
10
12
22
15
19
9
HTTP API
GraphQL
3rd-party services
24
19
9
2
41
36
19
20
Embedded DB
UI building experience
Drag'n'Drop
Absolutely positioned canvas, no overlaps
Absolutely positioned canvas, no overlaps
Absolutely positioned canvas, no overlaps
Nested drop, configurable layout
Absolutely positioned canvas, PowerPoint-like overlaps
Absolutely positioned canvas, no overlaps
Absolutely positioned canvas, PowerPoint-like overlaps
Vertically stacked drag'n'drop
Styling and white labelling
Both
Both
Both
Only styling
Both
Both
Both
Only styling
Components
110+
75+
45+
35+
110+
25+
40+
50+
Custom component
Enterprise features
Custom roles & permissions
Workflows / Automations
Environments
Audit logs
SSO
Git synchronization
Sync only

Retool

With its comprehensive set of features, Retool is an exceptional platform for constructing internal tools, making it a top choice for large businesses seeking a solution. WIth a wide range of features, connected data sources and quality it makes it one of the best choices in the market.

Retool
Pros
  • Large number of features that allow to scale internal tool development for large enterprises.

  • Large number of components and data sources available.

  • Git integration.

  • Embedded DB.

  • Workflows/Automations feature that allows to run scheduled jobs and web hooks.

  • Easy way to install a self-hosted version.

Cons
  • Enterprise self-hosted version base cost is very high.

  • Unpredictable per user pricing, that scales too quickly as you add more users.

  • Because of a single page app model, large applications can have bad performance.

  • Large applications are also hard to maintain and debug

  • Cloud instance may have performance issues. Mobile responsiveness support for web apps is very basic

What are the limitations of Retool?

Steep learning curve

Some users, especially those without a strong technical background, find the learning curve of Retool to be steep. This may hinder quick adoption and ease of use for non-technical team members.

Occasional bugs and performance issues

Users have been reporting occasional bugs and performance issues, particularly when dealing with complex tools. This could impact the overall reliability and user experience, especially as the complexity of applications increases.

Limited extensibility with сode

Retool's limited extensibility in code, including the lack of language support beyond JavaScript in Retool Apps and the limited support for writing custom components (such as those needing to display overlays), may present challenges for developers seeking more flexibility and customization in their applications.

Lackluster performance

Retool apps may experience poor performance due to one page app architecture, single-step queries, and a lack of global edge caching. This can affect the responsiveness and speed of applications.

Legacy On-Premise deployment

The legacy on-premise deployment of Retool is resource-intensive and complex. This can impede businesses from accessing new features and security fixes promptly, increasing the total cost of ownership for enterprises with stringent data security requirements.

Slow feature rollouts for On-Premise

New features are often not available in Self-hosted Retool for some time, potentially hindering businesses wanting to leverage new technologies in their internal tooling with their preferred deployment model.

Closed source code

Retool's closed source code prevents code audits by security teams and limits extensibility, potentially posing challenges for organizations with specific security and customization requirements.

Flowchart-based workflows UX

Retool employs a flowchart canvas for its Workflow UI. As logical complexity increases, this approach may become unwieldy, making the program’s logic challenging to understand, navigate, and debug.

By addressing these limitations, users can make more informed decisions when evaluating Retool and exploring alternative solutions.

Retool pricing

Retool pricing
Free plan

$0/month per any user (limited features and up to 5 users)

Team plan

$12 / month per standard user (monthly billing)

$7 / month per end user (monthly billing)

Business plan

$65 / month per standard user (monthly billing)

$18 / month per end user (monthly billing)

Enterprise plan

Custom plan for teams & orgs operating at scale

Retool reviews

The rating for Retool is based on 184 reviews on G2.

Retool reviews
Bugs and errors

There is struggle with persistent bugs and errors in Retool, which creates a challenging environment for developing and maintaining applications. These issues significantly hinder workflow and productivity.

Limited customer support

People get a good vibe from Retool when they first hear the sales pitch, but then things go downhill once they're on board. There's talk about the company being pushy, getting folks to sign big contracts that they might not really need.

High price

Retool offers an expensive UI builder for limited features and users, which doesn't allow the companies to scale and grow their internal tools. 

Not scalable 

People find Retool's UI easy to work with and like how they can stack components. But when things get complex, it seems the platform can get a bit glitchy. Also, the editor might slow down your computer because it's a bit of a memory hog.

Conclusion

Retool is an optimal solution for businesses with an extensive budget and a high demand for internal tool creation. However, if your company's needs are limited to just one or two apps that need to be shared among multiple users, Retool may not be the most practical choice for you.

Contact UI Bakery team for any questions

Superblocks

Superblocks is an enterprise ready low-code without limits platform for building custom internal applications, automated workflows, and scheduled jobs. Developers can extend Superblocks infinitely with code and deliver performant apps at scale, all while adopting extensively across their organization.

UI Bakery
Pros
  • Allows complex backend APIs with NodeJS and Python, leverage Javascript on the front-end, and build custom components with React within their own IDE and filesystem.

  • Multi-threaded front-end for smooth UI rendering.

  • Superblocks AI Copilot with support to generate, explain, and debug.

  • Available both as On-Premise Agent a Cloud App Builder.

  • Integrates with observability providers like Datadog, Splunk and New RelicSupports event-driven architectures like Kafka, Confluent, and Kinesis.

  • Offers usage-based pricing.

Cons
  • Components library is quite tiny.

  • No Workflows support for scheduled jobs and webhooks

  • Exists only a couple years, meaning not mature enough.

  • No support for responsive apps.

  • Git integration is only at basic support.

  • Doesn’t support an air-gapped deployment.

Superblocks pricing

UI Bakery pricing
Free plan

$0 per user / monthPro.

Business plan

$70 Monthly Per Creator.
$21 Monthly Per User.

Enterprise plan

Custom Pricing Plan.

Superblocks reviews

The rating for Superblock is based on 58 reviews on G2.

Retool

Conclusion

Superblocks is a viable alternative to Retool but still has some limitations and ways to improve. And being a newcomer gives an additional reason to worry in the current market.

Jet Admin

Jet Admin is another example of a no-code internal tools builder. The platform allows users to easily create internal tools without coding.

UI Bakery
Pros
  • No coding skills required for building UI. But it is necessary to be familiar with the general concepts.

  • Easy to build CRUD apps.

  • Workflows/Automation feature.

  • Nice looking UI, but is too large for business apps.

Cons
  • Rather large limitations for creating applications because of the no-code approach.

  • Vertically stacked and container based drag'n'drop - a rather atypical method of constructing an interface that differs from other similar applications.

  • No Git integration.

  • No query/action performance information.

  • The price for a minimum plan is quite high. Besides that with a lot of apps and users, the cost might scale rapidly.

Jet Admin pricing

UI Bakery pricing
Free plan

$0  per user / month.

Starter plan

$24 Monthly Per User.

Pro plan

$48 Monthly Per User.

Enterprise plan

Custom Pricing Plan.

Jet Admin reviews

The rating for Jet Admin is based on 6 reviews on G2.

Retool
Lack of customization

Despite the good basic features, users find that JetAdmin lacks customization for creating internal apps.

Conclusion

The application has the potential to serve as a viable alternative to Retool due to its user-friendly UI and no-code approach. However, it's worth noting that the platform's no-code approach may restrict the customization and extensibility of the created applications. Despite this, it could still be a suitable choice for simple use cases like CRUD applications. Nevertheless, the high cost and unpredictable pricing growth may make it an inconvenient alternative.

Internal.io (shut down)

Unfortunately, Internal.io is shutting down. UI Bakery stands ready to assist with a seamless migration or become a robust alternative for your internal application needs.

Internal.io is an established player in the internal tooling market, having been in the industry for quite some time. Their primary objective is to enable individuals without coding expertise to develop secure internal applications.

UI Bakery
Pros
  • No coding skills required for building UI. But it is necessary to be familiar with the general concepts.

  • Easy to build CRUD apps.

  • More advanced level of Roles Management on the lower-price plans than Retool has.

  • Git integration.

  • Workflows/Automation feature.

  • Auto-triggers for workflows - Pipelines.

Cons
  • Rather large limitations for creating applications because of the no-code approach.

  • Wide range of plans that can be confusing.

  • UI Builder canvas has overlaps.

  • Though it has a decent number of components and data sources (the smallest among all of the competitors), often they lack configuration capabilities.

  • End-user UI is significant in size, and there is limited capacity to customize its appearance.

  • No query/action performance information.

  • The system for creating queries and automations is not very user-friendly.

Internal.io pricing

UI Bakery pricing
Starter plan

$0 per user / month.

Teams plan

$5 per user / month.

Business plan

$19 per user / month.

Growth plan

$50 - per user / month.

Enterprise plan

Pricing is tailored to specific business.

Conclusion

While the extensive variety of plans in the pricing structure can help businesses find the most suitable option for their needs, it is important to note that the platform's no-code approach limits the customization and extensibility of the applications created on it. Nonetheless, for basic use cases such as CRUD applications, it may be worth considering.

Airplane.dev (shut down)

As Airplane.dev has been acquired, UI Bakery extends a helping hand by offering seamless migration assistance or presenting itself as a robust alternative for uninterrupted low code development.

Airplane.dev ballooned in the code-first internal tools arena, offering a streamlined solution for creating UIs and workflow automations. As a newcomer to the internal tooling market, Airplane.dev focuses on empowering developers to effortlessly build workflows and dashboards.

UI Bakery
Pros
  • Custom internal workflows and dashboards with Tasks.

  • User-friendly workflows, executing SQL, JavaScript, Python or Docker with Views.

  • Prebuilt component library and minimal code.

  • Progressive automation of schedules and workflows.

Cons
  • Limited set of prebuilt components.

  • Lack of sufficient number of templates.

  • Expensive price plans.

  • Steep learning curve for beginners.

  • Little to no integration options available.

Airplane.dev pricing

UI Bakery pricing
Free plan

$0 per user / month.

Teams plan

$10 per user / month.

Business plan

$40 per user / month.

Enterprise plan

Tailored pricing for specific business needs.

Conclusion

Airplane.dev's solution options cater to a range of business needs, but users should be mindful of the component scarcity limitations that may impact application customization. For straightforward use cases, particularly admin panel or support ticket dashboard, Airplane.dev stands as a compelling option in the low-code landscape.

🏁 To sum it all up 

In conclusion, exploring Retool alternatives reveals a landscape where each solution boasts unique strengths and weaknesses. The versatility and efficiency of low-code solutions make them a compelling choice for various development needs. Among these alternatives, UI Bakery emerges as the standout winner, combining intuitive functionality with robust features to offer the most comprehensive and user-friendly solution in the market.

The versatility and efficiency of low-code solutions make them a fool-proof choice for various development needs. Figuring which one of Retool competitors to use can be a daunting task, so UI Bakery is always there to help - drop us a line to talk to our tech experts.