nowfound

AI · alternatives · 2026

24 alternatives to Retool – build internal tools faster

Build, deploy, and manage internal tools with Retool's unified engine. Connect to any database, API, or LLM. Leverage AI throughout your business.

Retool is a platform for building internal tools quickly. It allows developers and non-technical users to create custom applications by connecting to databases and APIs without writing code from scratch. The product… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Retool – build internal tools faster launched in 2018; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

  1. 1
    Retool▲640

    Hi all, founder @ Retool here. We initially launched Retool on HN five years ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14515494. The feedback was extraordinarily helpful then (e.g. we launched source control, on-prem, etc. based on HN comments), and we’re grateful for all of it. Today, we’re excited to get HN’s thoughts on one of our new products: Retool Mobile. It lets you build and deploy mobile apps in minutes, not days. The idea is there is a large class of line-of-business mobile apps, and the process of getting a simple form + button on a mobile device, in a native app,…

    2018 · retool.com · its alternatives →

  2. 2

    A low code platform to build internal tools

    2021 · retool.com · its alternatives →

  3. 3

    Open-source foundation of ToolJet AI - the enterprise app generation platform for internal tools, dashboards, business applications, workflows and AI agents. Build visually, from a prompt, or from Claude Code, Codex and Cursor over MCP 🚀 - ToolJet/ToolJet

    2021 · github.com · its alternatives →

  4. 4

    Import CSV to PostgreSQL, generate a mock API, and 20+ more

    2021 · retool.com · its alternatives →

  5. 5

    🔥 🔥 🔥 The Open Source Retool Alternative. Contribute to openblocks-dev/openblocks development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

  6. 6

    Build custom forms on top of a SQL database 10x faster

    2024 · formtodb.com · its alternatives →

  7. 7RE
  8. 8

    Open-source foundation of ToolJet AI - the enterprise app generation platform for internal tools, dashboards, business applications, workflows and AI agents. Build visually, from a prompt, or from Claude Code, Codex and Cursor over MCP 🚀 - Release v1.21.0 · ToolJet/ToolJet

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

  9. 9

    Open-source foundation of ToolJet AI - the enterprise app generation platform for internal tools, dashboards, business applications, workflows and AI agents. Build visually, from a prompt, or from Claude Code, Codex and Cursor over MCP 🚀 - Release v2.0.0 · ToolJet/ToolJet

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

  10. 10
    Build0▲349

    Build custom internal apps in minutes, no coding required

    Nov 2025 · build0.ai · its alternatives →

  11. 11

    Hey HNs: This is Vincent from the ILLA team. I'm sure you guys see tons of "Open-source" and "Alternative to Retool" these days. I won't deny Retool is a great product, and so are many open-source competitors such as Appsmith, Budibase, Tooljet etc. However, what makes ILLA so special? What advantages does ILLA have that allow users to choose ILLA instead of others? Well, I would like to answer those questions to all folks at HN one by one. First, we are similar to Retool, or Appsmith but we have many different our own features. We are a true open-source project all the folks here can check…

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

  12. 12

    Hi there, Mike here from Budibase. We’ve recently launched AI Agents into Beta, alongside our existing open-source app-building and automation tools. We built Budibase Agents for teams that want to leverage AI within real-world workflows, using their own LLMs, data, and APIs. Because of this, our Agents can be powered by any LLM with an OpenAI-compatible API, including open-source and locally-hosted models. This means you can build Agents that connect to your existing toolstack, within your own environment. Some more details: - Agents' behavior is configured using natural language…

    2022 · budibase.com · its alternatives →

  13. 13

    ToolJet helps you build enterprise apps, AI agents and workflows in minutes, not months. Create secure internal apps that are enterprise ready and SOC2, GDPR and ISO compliant.

    2024 · tooljet.com · its alternatives →

  14. 14

    Open-source foundation of ToolJet AI - the enterprise app generation platform for internal tools, dashboards, business applications, workflows and AI agents. Build visually, from a prompt, or from Claude Code, Codex and Cursor over MCP 🚀 - Release v1.11.0 · ToolJet/ToolJet

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

  15. 15

    Augment any software with Retool Embed and Retool Portals.

    2023 · retool.com · its alternatives →

  16. 16OS

    Hey HN, This is Adrian and David, and we're excited (and nervous) to show you basetool (https://basetool.io). Basetool helps companies view and manage all their data in one place. Companies have data in tons of places like BI tools, data warehouses, 3rd party services, and their databases. However, because the tools are not connected, it's a hassle to have visibility across the whole organization and even more difficult to safely share that data with the team or external collaborators. The vision is to give basetool access to your data source and get a tool that way above a…

    2021 · its alternatives →

  17. 17
    Internal▲247

    Free your engineers from internal tools.

    2020 · its alternatives →

  18. 18
    TopTool▲275

    Explore the best tools

    2024 · toptool.app · its alternatives →

  19. 19

    Open-source foundation of ToolJet AI - the enterprise app generation platform for internal tools, dashboards, business applications, workflows and AI agents. Build visually, from a prompt, or from Claude Code, Codex and Cursor over MCP 🚀 - Release v1.0 · ToolJet/ToolJet

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

  20. 20
    Vellum▲413

    Build AI agents using plain English to do your boring tasks

    Jan 2026 · vellum.ai · its alternatives →

  21. 21

    Discover the best AI tools, all in one spot

    2023 · therundown.ai · its alternatives →

  22. 22

    I’m excited to share ToolJet 3.0, a major update to our open-core low-code platform for building internal tools. This release is all about speed, scalability, and better support for complex use cases. Backstory When I first launched ToolJet (https://github.com/ToolJet/ToolJet) here on HN (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27421408](https://news.... 2021, it started as a tool for building frontends connected to data sources via a secure backend proxy, with integrations like Google Sheets. The initial post hit #1 on HN, bringing in a wave of…

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

  23. 23

    The fastest way to design & build a website with AI

    2023 · relume.ai · its alternatives →

  24. 24

    1930+ generative AI tools & 30000+ models & AI tutorial

    2023 · aitool.ai · its alternatives →

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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →