Retool

Build internal tools, remarkably fast

4.8•33 reviews•

3.3K followers

Build internal tools, remarkably fast

4.8•33 reviews•

3.3K followers

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No-code Platforms

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No-Code App Builder

The first enterprise AppGen platform that turns natural language into production-ready internal apps—built on your live data and deployed in your environment. Secure from day one.

Retool Reviews

The community submitted 33 reviews to tell us what they like about Retool, what Retool can do better, and more.

4.8

Based on 33 reviews

Review Retool?

Reviewers largely see Retool as a fast, flexible way to build internal dashboards, admin pages, back-office tools, and data-driven apps, especially through easy API and database connections, low-code UI building, and enough code access for customization. Teams say it saves substantial development time and boosts productivity, with some calling out secure data handling and support for SSO and permissions. The main caveats are a real learning curve for less technical users, uneven documentation, some UX inconsistencies, and occasional lag or bugs in more complex setups.

+30

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Pros

internal tools development (18)

time saving (15)

flexibility (8)

low-code (8)

connect to any data source (5)

admin dashboards (4)

drag-and-drop UI (4)

fast deployment (4)

non-developer friendly (4)

custom code support (2)

Cons

complex setup (2)

undocumented bugs (2)

UX inconsistency (2)

Pros

Cons

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Company Info

retool.com

Retool Info

Y Combinator

Launched in 2018

View 13 launches

Forum

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•26 reviews

A Game-Changer for Building Internal Tools Fast I’ve been using Retool for several months now, and it has genuinely transformed how our team builds internal dashboards and operations apps. What I love: The drag-and-drop UI + built-in data integrations let me prototype in minutes rather than days. You still have full access to code when needed, which means you never lose power or flexibility. It connects seamlessly to all our data sources (Postgres, APIs, etc.), so there’s minimal “glue code.” Security is baked in — SSO, permissions, audit logs — which makes it viable even for regulated environments. The team is responsive and continuously shipping improvements. Impact: We’ve cut our internal tooling time by more than half. Tasks that used to require backend developers and weeks of work can now be handled by a small team in a matter of hours. That agility has let us iterate faster and focus more on product features, not infrastructure. Room to improve: For complete non-technical users, there’s still a bit of a learning curve. On very large, complex apps, performance can occasionally lag. Documentation in some edge cases could be clearer. All that said, Retool strikes a rare balance: approachable yet powerful, fast yet secure. It’s become a cornerstone in our stack, and I highly recommend it to any team that needs internal tooling without reinventing everything from scratch.

What's great

flexibility (8)time saving (15)fast deployment (4)internal tools development (18)connect to any data source (5)drag-and-drop UI (4)custom code support (2)

What needs improvement

slow performance (1)learning curve (1)

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28 views7mo ago

•5 reviews

I will say that what I initially expected to be the biggest issue -- Connecting a database to Retool -- Turned out to be the easiest part of this entire experience. I even found and reported a little bug! One issue I ran into a lot was UX Inconsistency between documentation and the end-user experience. To a lesser extent, instructions were often only written for a certain flavor of SQL -- and it would be foolish to expect documentation based upon the myriad of ways we can connect our data -- but when it came to 1:1 following a guide, it wasn't unusual to run into slight difference in menus that made it frustrating. Customer Support is very busy but also very kind and willing to walk me through some changes; Changes we're still working on. Saving a DB change is turning out to be a herculean task; Unfortunately, not enough people use Retool to get help, (Although there is a community forum!), because we're all confused. Again, to its credit, I can add users through Retool very easily, and was delighted, hopeful that this would be a quick way to build an app. I wonder why it wasn't possible to make it a GUI option; a checkbox that says "Save changes to connected database?". There is both a SQL and a GUI Option, the latter of which is touted as the option that's less prone to error, but I ran into a handful of errors trying to do the option, so it's not simple at the end of the day. If you have more experience building front-facing tools, using APIs, you may find it easier than someone like me, who comes from using back-end cloud services, but still knows enough to teach themselves most things.

•4 reviews

I'm using it to build a small back office tool, using the Free version and it is fantastic. Mainly using it to integrate via API and no issues at all. It offers great flexibility and you can do "whatever you want" in terms of customisation. Great low code tool - highly recommended.

What's great

free tier (1)flexibility (8)low-code (8)internal tools development (18)

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1 view3yr ago