Website & Development · Developer & Technical

Retool

Low-code platform for building internal apps, workflows and AI agents on your own databases and APIs, for engineering and operations teams.

Our take: Retool is built for teams whose bottleneck is internal software: admin screens, review queues, dashboards.

Best forInternal tools on live data

ReviewedOct 2026Freemium

7.75 criteria · see breakdown

Try RetoolFree; Team from $10/builder/mo (billed yearly)

Retool is a platform for building internal apps, workflows and AI agents on top of your own databases and APIs, in its cloud or self-hosted. The Free plan covers up to 5 users. Team costs $10 per builder and $5 per internal user a month, and Business $50 and $15, both billed yearly.

The bottom line

A top choice for internal tools on real company data. Count your builders and users before you pick a plan.

Our score

Reviewed by the Conversion Gems editorial team. Hover a facet to focus it; click to pin.Tap a facet to focus it.

Community ratings

Shown for context only. Our score is independent.

4.6

360+ reviews

Capterra

4.5

30+ reviews

4.6 / 5 aggregate · across 2 sources

Third-party ratings shown verbatim; aggregate weighted by review volume.

What it is, and why we rate it

One line each. Open a row for detail.

What it really isA platform for building internal apps, workflows and agents on your own databases and APIs, in the cloud or self-hosted.

Our takeRetool is built for teams whose bottleneck is internal software: admin screens, review queues, dashboards.

It connects to live data under existing permissions and adds workflows, agents and mobile apps in the same place. The pricing needs a careful read: seats are split into builders, internal users and external users, and workflow runs and AI credits have monthly caps.

Why we rate itIt covers apps, workflows, agents and mobile on live company data, with a real free plan and self-hosting.

The catchSeat-based pricing grows with every builder and user, and quotas on workflow runs and AI credits can add charges.

Best / not good for

Best for

Engineering teams with an internal tools backlog
Ops teams working on production databases
Companies that must self-host

Not good for

Customer-facing consumer apps
Non-technical solo users wanting a template site

Trade-offs

Friction report

Trade-offs to know before signing up.

Time to value
Moderate: connecting data sources and permissions takes setup, but the AI builder gives a starting app quickly.
Scale breakpoint
5 users on Free; external users and audit logs need Business; air-gapped hosting needs Enterprise.
Walled garden
Low to moderate: apps run on your own data sources and can be self-hosted, but app logic lives in Retool.

Still a fit?

If none of these block you, start on the free plan.

Try Retool

Retool pricing

Plan	Per builder	Per internal user	Workflow runs	AI credits
Free	$0	$0 (up to 5 users)	500/month	250/month
Team	$10/mo	$5/mo	5,000/month	1,000/month
Business	$50/mo	$15/mo	5,000/month	3,000/month
Enterprise	Custom	Custom	Custom	10,000/month

From Retool's pricing page, checked 3 October 2026. Paid prices are billed annually; annual billing saves 20% versus monthly. Extra workflow runs cost $75 per 5,000 a month. AI credits do not roll over.

Retool external user pricing (Business)

External users	Price per user
0 to 50	Free
51 to 250	$8/month
251 to 500	$6/month
Over 500	$4/month

From Retool's pricing page, checked 3 October 2026. External users are partners or clients outside your organization.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Retool free?

Yes, for small teams. The Free plan covers up to 5 users, 500 workflow runs and 250 AI credits a month on Retool Cloud, in a production environment only (checked 3 October 2026).

How much does Retool cost?

Team costs $10 per builder and $5 per internal user a month, and Business $50 per builder and $15 per internal user, both billed yearly; monthly billing costs more, as annual billing saves 20%. Enterprise is custom-priced (checked 3 October 2026).

What does Retool do?

Retool is a platform for building internal software, such as admin panels, dashboards and approval tools, on top of your own databases and APIs. It also runs workflows and AI agents and builds mobile apps.

Is Retool AI free?

Every plan includes a monthly pool of AI credits: 250 on Free, 1,000 on Team, 3,000 on Business and 10,000 on Enterprise. Credits do not roll over, and agents are billed separately by the hour after 20 free hours (checked 3 October 2026).

Can I self-host Retool?

Yes. Retool runs in its cloud or self-hosted in your own VPC, and the vendor says Docker setup takes about 15 minutes. Enterprise plans add air-gapped deployments.

What is a builder in Retool pricing?

A builder is anyone who created or edited an app or workflow during the billing cycle. Internal users are employees who only use apps, and external users are partners or clients outside your organization.

Retool alternatives

Other app builders from our reviews:

Showing 1–3 of 4See all 8 reviewed Retool alternatives, compared side by side

Sources checked October 3, 2026: Retool pricing, Retool homepage, Retool apps on Slack use case.

Conversion Gems independently reviews every tool.