Budibase vs Retool

Budibase lets teams build AI agents, web apps, and automations using their data, language models, and APIs. Agents can answer questions, handle requests, and take actions across business systems through connected data and automations. The App Builder creates end-user web apps, and automations run from triggers and action steps for approvals, routing, and notifications. Connections include databases, AI models, business apps, and REST APIs; listed providers and tools include Anthropic, Azure OpenAI, Google, Mistral, OpenAI, Jira, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. Budibase is open source and can be self-hosted, deployed on-premise, or used through its cloud platform, with Kubernetes and Docker deployment also described. The company states that it is ISO 27001 certified and GDPR compliant, and lists role-based access controls, single sign-on, audit logs, SCIM, and Active Directory integration. A free plan is available, and the listed Pro price is $19 a month; a 14-day trial is offered. Cloud plan allowances vary, including workspace and log-retention limits.

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.