The best Retool alternatives in 2026

Why Teams Look for Retool Alternatives in 2026

Retool is still the default answer when an engineering team needs an admin panel, a support console or an approval queue on top of its own databases and APIs. It is mature, it connects to almost everything, and its builder is fast once you know it. So why do so many teams shop around?

Usually it comes down to four things:

• The bill once the whole company uses the app. Retool charges for builders and for internal (end) users separately. That is fair for a small team, but a back-office tool used by 200 people in operations adds a per-user line that grows with headcount, not with how much you build.
• Security features behind the top tier. On Retool's own pricing page, SAML and OpenID SSO and Git-based source control are Enterprise features. Audit logs and richer permissions start on Business. If your security team says "SSO or nothing", the cheap plans are off the table.
• Self-hosting and licenses. Retool can be self-hosted only on an Enterprise contract, and it is proprietary software. Some teams want an open-source codebase they can read, patch and run with no vendor key at all.
• AI app generation. Every vendor in this space now has an AI builder. They differ a lot in what they generate, what it costs in credits and how much you can edit afterwards.

This guide compares Retool with six alternatives: Appsmith, Budibase, UI Bakery, Superblocks, Softr and ToolJet. All prices below were checked on each vendor's pricing page in October 2026. Prices change often in this category, so confirm the current numbers before you sign anything.

One upfront note: Softr is not a developer tool. It is a no-code builder aimed at operations people and non-developers who want portals and internal apps on top of Softr Databases, Airtable, Google Sheets and similar sources. It is on this list because many teams who look at Retool really need something their ops lead can build without an engineer. If your apps need custom SQL, JavaScript and complex API calls, skip it.

How Pricing Models Differ (and Why It Matters More Than the Sticker Price)

Internal tool pricing has three common shapes, and the cheapest option depends on your ratio of builders to end users.

1. Builders and end users priced separately (Retool, Budibase). Retool's Team plan is $10 per builder and $5 per internal user per month on annual billing ($12 and $7 monthly). Business is $50 per builder and $15 per internal user ($65 and $18 monthly). Retool defines a builder as an enabled user who built or edited an app or workflow during the billing cycle, so someone who tweaks a query once is billed as a builder that month. Budibase cloud charges a base plan that includes one to three creators, then $50 per extra creator and $5 per end user per month on annual billing, with monthly billing 20% higher.

2. Every user at one price (Appsmith). Appsmith Business is $15 per user per month for up to 99 users, and Appsmith's FAQ says anyone added to a workspace counts as a user, with no extra charge for developers. Simple, but a viewer costs the same as a developer.

3. Builders only, end users included or capped (UI Bakery, ToolJet, Superblocks). UI Bakery charges per developer and includes up to 50 workspace viewer seats on Builder and Team. ToolJet charges per builder, with 50 or 100 end users depending on plan and unlimited end users only on Enterprise. Superblocks Teams is a flat team price with unlimited end users, but charges $10/month for each hosted app beyond the first.

Softr is the odd one out: a flat workspace price that includes a set number of builders and app users, split into "team" users (same email domain as a builder) and "client" users.

Example: 5 builders and 50 internal end users, annual billing

Using list prices from each pricing page, before tax and add-ons:

• Retool Team: 5 x $10 + 50 x $5 = $300/month. Retool Business (needed for audit logs and richer permissions): 5 x $50 + 50 x $15 = $1,000/month.
• Appsmith Business: 55 users x $15 = $825/month (billed monthly).
• Budibase Premium: $49 base (1 creator) + 4 extra creators x $50 + 50 end users x $5 = $499/month. Business: $299 (3 creators) + 2 x $50 + 50 x $5 = $649/month.
• UI Bakery Builder: 5 x $20 = $100/month, with 50 viewer seats included (you are at the cap). Team, which adds RBAC and audit logs: 5 x $35 = $175/month.
• Superblocks Teams: $100/month for the team plus $10 for each hosted app after the first.
• ToolJet Pro: 5 x $79 = $395/month (50 end users, 10 apps). Team, needed for SSO and more than 50 end users: 5 x $199 = $995/month.

Two cautions. First, these plans are not equivalent: Retool Team and UI Bakery Builder lack audit logs, and only ToolJet Team and Budibase Premium include SSO below an enterprise contract. Second, AI credits, workflow runs, extra apps and storage can add real cost on top. Price out the plan that has the security features you actually need, not the cheapest tier.

Self-Hosting and Open-Source Licenses

If you want internal tools to run inside your own network, here is where each vendor stands:

• Retool: Free, Team and Business run on Retool's cloud only. Self-hosted and air-gapped deployment is an Enterprise option, and the software is proprietary.
• Appsmith: the Community edition is open source under Apache 2.0, one of the most permissive licenses here. Free and Business can both be self-hosted, and Enterprise adds a managed hosting option. Appsmith documents Docker and Kubernetes deployments and air-gapped setups.
• Budibase: the core is GPLv3 and the paid features in the repository are under the Business Source License (BSL). Budibase states that apps you build do not package GPLv3 code. The free open-source self-hosted plan lists unlimited apps, automations, agents and users in one workspace, with SSO. Enforced SSO, user groups, SCIM, backups and audit logs need the self-hosted Enterprise plan.
• UI Bakery: proprietary, but offers free and Team self-hosted plans and an Enterprise plan with air-gapped and private cloud options. The self-hosted license key is generated from a cloud workspace.
• Superblocks: no self-hosted platform. Enterprise customers can deploy in their own VPC as Hybrid or Cloud-Prem on AWS, GCP or Azure.
• Softr: cloud only.
• ToolJet: the code on GitHub is AGPL-3.0. In practice, ToolJet's own self-hosted builds use license keys: the free tier is capped at 2 builders and 50 end users, and ToolJet's docs also list limits on apps and workflows. The Team and Enterprise self-hosted plans lift those limits, and Enterprise supports air-gapped deployment.

A practical point on AGPL: if you modify ToolJet and offer it over a network, AGPL requires you to make your modified source available to those users. For a purely internal deployment that is rarely an issue, but check with your legal team. Apache 2.0 (Appsmith Community) carries no such obligation.

SSO, RBAC and Audit Logs: Where the Gates Are

This is often the real decision point, because security reviews tend to require SSO and audit logs.

ToolJet and Budibase are the two places where you can get SSO without negotiating an enterprise contract. Retool, Appsmith, UI Bakery, Superblocks and Softr all keep SAML or OIDC SSO on their enterprise plans.

AI App Generation: What Each Tool Actually Offers

Every vendor now markets AI building. The differences that matter are what the AI can see (your schemas or just a prompt), how it is metered, and whether you can keep editing by hand.

• Retool: the new app builder generates a working app from a prompt, connected to your data, and you can keep editing it in the editor. Usage draws on AI credits: 250 per month on Free, 1,000 on Team (750 plus 250 bonus), 3,000 on Business. Retool's pricing page estimates about 12 credits per prompt and 3 to 6 prompts for a typical app. Retool Agents are billed separately by the hour. Enterprise customers can bring their own model keys.
• Appsmith: offers natural-language copilots for custom widgets and workflow logic, and AI datasources for OpenAI, Anthropic and Google AI. Note that Appsmith's own "Appsmith AI" datasource reached end of life on September 30, 2026; existing users need to move to a provider datasource. Appsmith does not list full prompt-to-app generation on its pricing page.
• Budibase: its AI focus is agents (in beta) and AI-driven automations that answer requests and update records. AI credits are included on paid cloud plans (2K on Pro, 10K on Premium, 50K on Business). Prompt-to-app generation is not a headline feature.
• UI Bakery: an AI App Agent that builds apps by chat, with generated code you can edit. Paid plans include AI usage credits ($25 per developer on Builder, $40 on Team), and Enterprise self-hosted lets you bring your own model provider key.
• Superblocks: built around Clark, an AI coding agent that follows your design system, coding standards and integration schemas. Apps can also be imported from Claude, Lovable, Replit or code, and built via the Superblocks MCP. Usage is metered in Governed Agent Units (100 per month on Teams, with add-on packs).
• Softr: an AI co-builder that drafts apps from a description, then you keep editing in the no-code editor. Monthly credits are small (5 on Free up to 100 on Business), but Softr notes you can keep building without AI when credits run out.
• ToolJet: AI app generation on every plan, plus AI query generation, debugging and database table creation. Credits run from 100 per month on Free to 3,000 per builder on Team, with add-ons at $1 per 100 credits. ToolJet also offers a ToolJet MCP plugin to build apps from Claude Code, Codex or Cursor without consuming ToolJet credits.

Detailed Tool Reviews

1. Retool: The Benchmark

What it is: A developer-focused platform for internal apps, workflows and agents, with a large component library, connectors for most databases and APIs, and JavaScript wherever you need it.

Pricing: Free for up to 5 users with 500 workflow runs a month. Team is $10 per builder and $5 per internal user monthly on annual billing ($12 and $7 monthly). Business is $50 per builder and $15 per internal user ($65 and $18 monthly), and adds audit logging, richer permissions and external user pricing: the first 50 external users are free, then $8 per user (annual) for 51 to 250, falling to $4 above 500. Enterprise is custom and adds SSO, source control and unlimited end users.

Who it is for: Engineering teams building many internal tools who want the most mature option and can justify Business or Enterprise pricing.

Who should skip it: Teams with many casual end users and a tight budget, and anyone who needs SSO or self-hosting but cannot sign an enterprise contract.

2. Appsmith: Permissive Open Source

What it is: An open-source builder with drag-and-drop widgets, JavaScript everywhere, Git integration and connectors for databases, SaaS tools and REST or GraphQL APIs.

Pricing: Free for up to 5 cloud users, with three standard roles and Git for 3 repos. Business is $15 per user per month for up to 99 users, billed monthly, adding granular role and attribute based permissions, audit logs and unlimited repos. Free and Business can both be self-hosted. Enterprise is $2,500 per month for 100 users and adds SAML, OIDC, Okta, Auth0 and Active Directory SSO, plus managed hosting.

Who it is for: Developer teams that want an Apache 2.0 codebase they can self-host and extend, and teams with roughly equal numbers of builders and users.

Who should skip it: Companies that need enterprise SSO for under 100 people, since the jump from Business to Enterprise is steep, and teams that want prompt-to-app generation.

3. Budibase: Free Self-Hosting for Many Users

What it is: An open-source platform for internal apps, automations and AI agents, with a built-in database and 50+ connectors including PostgreSQL, MySQL, MSSQL, MongoDB, Salesforce and ServiceNow.

Pricing: No free cloud plan. Cloud Pro is $19 per month (annual) with 1 creator; Premium is $49 with 1 creator, SSO and backups; Business is $299 with 3 creators, enforced SSO and user groups. Billed monthly, those plans are $23, $59 and $359. These list prices are for the lowest automation allowance (5,000 actions a month on Pro); more actions raise the price. Extra creators are $50 per month and end users are $5 per user per month. Enterprise adds SCIM and audit logs. The self-hosted open-source edition is free with unlimited users.

Who it is for: IT teams that want to self-host at no license cost for a large user base, and teams building form-heavy workflow apps.

Who should skip it: Teams that want cloud hosting for many end users at a low price, and anyone who needs audit logs without an enterprise contract.

4. UI Bakery: Lowest Per-Developer Price

What it is: A low-code builder with 80+ components, 45+ data sources, code access and an AI App Agent, offered in the cloud or self-hosted.

Pricing: Free per developer with unlimited apps and unlimited public app users. Builder is $20 per developer per month annually ($25 monthly) with $25 of AI credits, environments and up to 50 workspace viewer seats. Team is $35 annually ($40 monthly) with $40 of AI credits, RBAC and audit logs. Enterprise adds SSO (SAML, OpenID, OAuth2), SCIM, a dedicated VM and more than 50 viewer seats. Self-hosted Free and Team plans mirror the cloud plans.

Who it is for: Small developer teams that want Retool-style building at a lower cost and may want to self-host.

Who should skip it: Organizations with more than 50 internal viewers or a firm SSO requirement, since both push you to Enterprise.

5. Superblocks: AI Agent Plus Governance

What it is: A platform where builders use the Clark AI agent to generate internal apps on private data, while admins set integrations, data access, app permissions and audit policies centrally.

Pricing: No free plan, but a 14-day trial. Teams is $100 per month on annual billing ($125 monthly) for up to 15 builders, with unlimited end users, 100 GAUs a month, staging and production environments and one hosted app; extra apps are $10 per month each. Enterprise adds SSO/SAML/OIDC, audit logs, source control, secrets managers and VPC deployment.

Who it is for: IT and platform teams that want business users to build with AI inside guardrails.

Who should skip it: Teams that want to self-host the whole platform, or need SSO and audit logs on a small budget.

6. Softr: No-Code for Non-Developers

What it is: A no-code app builder for portals and internal tools, with Softr Databases, workflows and connections to Airtable, Google Sheets, HubSpot, Notion, Salesforce and SQL databases.

Pricing: Free with up to 3 builders and 5 app users. Basic is $19 per month annually ($25 monthly) with 1 builder; Pro is $99 ($119 monthly) with 2 builders, granular permissions and custom code; Business is $329 ($395 monthly) with 3 builders, 2FA and domain-restricted signup. Extra builders cost $5, $10 or $20 per month depending on plan, and extra app users start at $1 a month on Pro and $2 on Business. Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM and audit logs.

Who it is for: Operations teams, agencies and founders who want client portals and simple internal apps without engineers.

Who should skip it: Developer teams that need custom queries, JavaScript logic and complex API calls. Softr is a different kind of tool from Retool.

7. ToolJet: Builder-Only Pricing and Mid-Tier SSO

What it is: An open-source (AGPL-3.0) platform with an app builder, a PostgreSQL-based ToolJet Database, workflows, an agent builder and 100+ data sources.

Pricing: Free with 2 builders, 50 end users and 10 apps. Basic is $23 per builder per month and Pro $79 per builder per month (annual prices shown); both keep the 50 end user and 10 app limits. Team is $199 per builder per month on annual billing ($249 monthly) with 100 end users, unlimited apps, SSO, custom groups, audit logs and Git sync. Enterprise is custom with unlimited end users and SCIM. Workflows and the agent builder are available on self-hosted deployments only.

Who it is for: Teams that need SSO and audit logs without enterprise negotiations and want an open-source codebase.

Who should skip it: Teams with many builders, since $199 per builder adds up quickly, and anyone who needs more than 100 end users without going to Enterprise.

How to Choose

1. Count builders and end users. Many end users and few builders favors builder-only pricing (UI Bakery, Superblocks, ToolJet) or free self-hosting (Budibase). Many builders and few viewers makes per-user pricing like Appsmith look better.
2. Decide on SSO early. If SSO is a must and you cannot buy an enterprise plan, your shortlist is ToolJet Team, Budibase Premium or the Budibase open-source self-hosted edition.
3. Decide whether you must self-host. Appsmith, Budibase and ToolJet are open source; UI Bakery self-hosts under a license and Retool only on Enterprise; Superblocks offers VPC deployment on Enterprise; Softr is cloud only.
4. Check the license against your plans. Apache 2.0 (Appsmith Community) is the least restrictive. AGPL (ToolJet) and GPLv3 (Budibase core) carry source-sharing obligations if you distribute or serve modified versions.
5. Test the AI builder on your own schema. Look at what it generates for a real table, how many credits a few rounds of edits use, and whether you can edit the output by hand.
6. Be honest about who builds. If the builders are ops staff rather than engineers, Softr will likely get further than any of the developer tools.

Final Thoughts

Retool remains the most complete internal tool platform, and for teams that already pay for Business or Enterprise there is often no strong reason to move. The alternatives win on specific points: Appsmith on license, Budibase on free self-hosting, UI Bakery on price per developer, Superblocks on AI-led building with central control, ToolJet on mid-tier SSO, and Softr on being usable by non-developers. Pick the one whose pricing model matches your builder-to-user ratio and whose security gates match your requirements, then run a short pilot on one real app before committing.