Retool pricing starts at $0 for small teams and can reach $50 per user for advanced plans. We’ll break down these pricing options to help you determine which plan fits your needs.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
- Retool’s pricing tiers
- Whether Retool is the right investment for your business
- Adalo, a popular alternative to consider
Now, it’s time for an introduction to Retool.
What is Retool?
A low-code platform, Retool is aimed at companies of all sizes, from scrappy 1-person startups to behemoth organizations that have been in business since the 1800s. It’s primarily used for creating internal business tools and web apps.
Retool conveniently allows publishing to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, making it possible to create external, client-facing apps. However, to use Retool, you’ll need to have some background in tech, such as understanding the logic behind coding and how database schema works.
How Much Does Retool Cost?
Here’s a quick table that sums up each pricing plan’s main functionalities:
Retool Pricing Fundamentals
Retool bases its pricing plans on your total number of different app users. Here are the following types of app users for every Retool app:
- Standard users (developers): Those who built or edited your apps during a billing cycle. Simply put, standard users are folks on your development team.
- End users (internal team): These are people inside your company or organization who use your app but haven’t taken part in app-building or editing. For instance, end users can be your sales reps who use a CRM app or an operations team leveraging a project management app.
- External users (clients or vendors): External users aren’t part of your organization or business. They can be clients who log into a customer portal to communicate with your team and check up on orders or a vendor management system for communication with your procurement department.
Now that we know the different types of app users, let’s discuss how Retool bills for usage.
Retool bases its billing on workflow automation you created to make your app function. These automations are essential features of your backend logic and database, pulling out information on command.
Retool workflows also play a role in pricing. Every time a user completes a workflow, it triggers a 'workflow run.' Since each pricing tier comes with a set number of monthly workflow runs, it's important to factor this into your plan choice."
Free Plan
Retool’s free plan is ideal for freelancers and small teams, as it allows for only up to 5 total users. However, the free tier also lets you create an unlimited number of web apps and native mobile apps.
You’ll also get up to 500 monthly workflow runs, which means you can test out a robust set of features. Additionally, the free plan allows you to build a database of any size with Retool’s database or connect an external one. You can also plug in your own custom JavaScript components to customize your frontend.
All in all, the free version is perfect for releasing a start-up app and getting familiar with the app-building interface.
Team Plan
After learning Retool and perfecting your start-up app, it’s time to level up to the Team Plan. Costing $10/month per standard user, this tier provides a total of 5,000 monthly workflow runs, a significant boost from the free plan.
You’ll also be charged $5/month per end user. However, external users aren’t allowed, so you might encounter a few issues if you have clients, vendors, or other parties who need to access your app.
Here are a few other functionalities that come in the Team Plan:
- Upgraded database capabilities like the ability to stage your schema to ensure your database is bug-free
- The ability to define your environment values across your app for tighter security
- Testing permissions against an external resource like a database or API
Business Plan
Larger organizations with more complex needs and external users should check out the Business Plan. Offering a total of 5,000 workload runs, it comes with the following costs:
- Standard users: $50/month per user
- End users: $15/month per user
- External users: $8/month per user (with up to 250 users), $6/month per user (with 251 to 500 users), and over 500 users are free
The Business Plan allows you to reuse components and queries across multiple apps, streamlining the development process. You’ll also be permitted to use the same visual themes, so your apps will appear consistent to all users, adding some professional flair to your apps’ user experience.
The following are some of the standout features your team will enjoy:
- Sending push notifications for all native mobile apps
- The ability to edit your app while offline
- Granting specific access permissions to different parts of your app
- Audit logs to track database and API queries
Overall, the Business Plan’s functions, combined with the permission to take external users, provide a secure app, allowing for the safe transfer of sensitive data.
Enterprise Plan
All you mammoth organizations out there — you know who you are — those with a multinational presence with an employee headcount in the 10,000s. This one’s for you.
Because each organization has different needs, Retool’s enterprise pricing isn’t fixed. You’ll need to contact Retool directly and book a demo with their sales team to learn more about how much the Enterprise Plan will cost.
We suggest you try out the free version and familiarize yourself with Retool before booking a demo. This way, you’ll have an idea of how Retools feels.
The Enterprise Plan has everything in the Business Plan and then some. You’ll be able to publish white-label apps without the Retool branding, giving them your unique look and feel.
You’ll even get biometric authentication features to nearly ensure that no one accesses your app, which shouldn’t. Additionally, the Enterprise Plan comes with source control, usage analytics, and the ability to create individual workspaces if you have several teams. You’ll have access to a technical advisor and the engineering team for support.
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Is Retool Worth It?
Overall, Retool is a powerful app builder that allows users to create both web apps and native mobile apps without fuss. If you have technical experience and want to make a powerful app for your internal business operations, put Retool on your shortlist.
While Retool allows for native mobile publishing and enables you to create an app that faces the public (such as a booking app for your salon), you’ll most likely be better served using a simpler no-code platform like Adalo. This is because you’ll find it easier to cobble together the features you need.
Additionally, external user pricing could be an issue for those building client-facing apps — the more users you get, the higher the bill. This could become untenable for smaller to medium-sized businesses.
It’s also important to reiterate that you’ll need some technical skills to learn how to use Retool. You don’t need to be the next coding prodigy, but you will need to know how to structure database schema, how APIs work, and understand coding logic.
Adalo: The Best Retool Alternative
Are you looking for an app builder that allows you to make a client-facing web and native mobile app for the Apple App Store and Google Play Store? Look no further than Adalo.
Adalo offers a much more straightforward no-code platform than Retool. It’s ideal for folks with zero coding skills and no technical knowledge. If you can create a LinkedIn account, you’re skilled enough for Adalo.
While Retool’s pricing can add up with a growing user base, you’ll get fixed pricing tiers to accommodate large numbers of users when you choose Adalo. Try out Adalo’s free version right now, and publish your web app at no extra cost.
