What is Retool?
Retool, founded in 2017, is a low-code platform for building internal applications such as admin panels, dashboards and approval workflows. Its documentation describes connecting to databases, REST/GraphQL APIs and SaaS tools, assembling screens from prebuilt components, and scripting logic in JavaScript or SQL. The company says it is building tools for companies to develop better software faster.
Apps can be built with the AI app builder, where you describe what you want and get an app with enterprise security and governance built in, or with the classic drag-and-drop IDE. Teams can also use the Retool MCP server or CLI to build an app with a coding agent and deploy it within the governed Retool environment. Retool Workflows automate jobs, alerts and ETL tasks, and mobile apps can target iOS and Android. Deployed apps ship with auth, access controls and audit logging already in place.
Retool is not open source. The Free, Team, Business and Enterprise plans are billed per builder, meaning a user who created or edited an app or workflow in the billing cycle, per month. Self-hosted deployment is available but is positioned on the pricing page as an Enterprise-tier option, listed as Retool Cloud, self-hosted, or air-gapped, rather than something included on the self-serve cloud plans.
Key capabilities
- Data connections Databases, REST/GraphQL APIs and common SaaS tools.
- UI builder Drag-and-drop components for tables, forms and dashboards.
- Logic JavaScript and SQL for transforming data and wiring actions.
- Deployment Cloud plans (Free, Team, Business) plus an Enterprise self-hosted option.
Where Retool fits
- Internal apps on production data
- Workflow automation for jobs and alerts
- Access controls and audit logging
- Deployment on Retool Cloud, or self-hosted and air-gapped on Enterprise
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