Bubble vs Retool

Bubble is a platform for building web and mobile apps, with support for Android, iOS, and the web. Projects can use a built-in database, authentication, API integrations, and shared workflows and backend across web and mobile apps. Users can build before paying to launch. The Free plan includes one app editor, 50K workload units per month, and six hours of server logs. Native mobile apps can be published to the iOS and Android app stores, and production-ready apps include security scanning. Bubble can connect with services such as Stripe and Google Maps. A 14-day trial is listed; unless canceled, it converts to a paid Starter subscription. Starting that trial involves a temporary $1 card pre-authorization, which expires within 5-10 business days. Starter Web + Mobile costs $59 a month, billed annually; Growth costs $209 a month, billed annually, and Team costs $549 a month, billed annually. The maker is Bubble Group, Inc., headquartered in New York, NY, United States, and founded in 2012.

Retool provides tools for building apps and automations that connect to a business’s own data and can run in its infrastructure or the cloud. Its AI-native app builder generates a working app from a description for users to refine. The product supports web apps, progressive web apps, and native iOS and Android apps; mobile apps can take photos, scan barcodes, capture signatures, and read NFC tags. Workflows support scheduled and webhook triggers, custom error handling, and automatic retry policies. Listed connections include REST API, Google Sheets, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Firebase, GraphQL, Snowflake, Salesforce, and Slack. Retool lists role-based access controls, audit logging, SSO, independent workspaces, and self-hosting among its security capabilities. It says queries run against customers’ own data sources and that it does not store their data. Hosting can be in the cloud or self-hosted in a customer VPC, with Docker setup listed for self-hosting. The free plan supports up to five users. Team costs $10 a month per builder and $5 a month per internal user, with the listed Team features including 5,000 workflow runs and 1,000 AI credits monthly.