Retool
Shares rank 2 of 4 low-code app builders by recommenders
People recommend it for quickly building internal tools with ready data connections and AI-generated apps; critics say it is rigid, clunky, and replaced by AI coding.
People recommend it for quickly building internal tools with ready data connections and AI-generated apps; critics say it is rigid, clunky, and replaced by AI coding.
21 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 13
- approval share
- 38%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Builds internal tools from text prompts
“You describe your app in a text box and the AI builds it, with all the enterprise goodies like RBAC baked in.”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Launch HN: Prized (YC S26) – Let non-engineer staff build secure internal tools” “I am in the process of switching my company's use of retool for an Ai generated backoffice.”
Comment from 24 Feb 2026 in “Looks like it is happening” Ready data connections and backends
“That's basically solved with Retool, because all the resources and data connections are already provisioned”
Comment from 18 Jun 2026 in “Retool Launches React AI App Builder” “AI app builders—such as Adalo, FlutterFlow, Base44, and Retool—configure Supabase backends”
Comment from 21 Sep 2026 on Hacker News
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
AI coding now replaces it
“the calculus just wasn't there when I could spin up internal dashboard tools in less time with better functionality”
Comment from 26 Jan 2026 in “RIP Low-Code 2014-2025” “no differentiation and how easy it is to build internal CRUD tools”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “Retool Launches React AI App Builder” “I feel like they completely missed the vibe code train.”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Launch HN: Prized (YC S26) – Let non-engineer staff build secure internal tools” - Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “AI agents are starting to eat SaaS”
Rigid and clunky versus coding
“Retool has become more clunky to use vs. writing code with AI to solve the problems we used Retool for.”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “AI agents are starting to eat SaaS” “while Retool added an MCP and now supports custom code they're still a reasonably rigid platform”
Comment from 7 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: Railcode – Secure cloud for internal software” “the AI integration within retool is messy compared to just letting Claude create the web app”
Comment from 5 Aug 2026 in “Flowise Is Shutting Down” Slow to set up, gets in way
“you could spend minutes to hours plugging together "programming-lite" concepts”
Comment from 19 Jan 2026 in “Show HN: I quit coding years ago. AI brought me back” “Retool would just get in the way.”
Comment from 18 Jun 2026 in “Retool Launches React AI App Builder”
Other low-code app builders people recommend
The three most recommended other low-code app builders, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Power Apps | 11 | 8 | 58% | 4 | — | — |
| RetoolThis page | 8 | 13 | 38% | 7 | — | — |
| FileMaker Pro | 8 | 4 | 67% | 5 | — | — |
| Breadboard | 7 | 2 | 78% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
21 of the 22 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Retool with a bunch of salesreps who try to justify their existence by selling you stuffs you never want”
“maintaining the stack and the tools is not worth the effort”
“while Retool added an MCP and now supports custom code they're still a reasonably rigid platform”
“AI app builders—such as Adalo, FlutterFlow, Base44, and Retool—configure Supabase backends”
“the AI integration within retool is messy compared to just letting Claude create the web app”
“Retool still basically trusts whoever (or whatever) is building the app”
“You describe your app in a text box and the AI builds it, with all the enterprise goodies like RBAC baked in.”
“I feel like they completely missed the vibe code train.”
“we removed the retool and appsmith licenses, another $2k savings”
“Retool would just get in the way.”
“That's basically solved with Retool, because all the resources and data connections are already provisioned”
“no differentiation and how easy it is to build internal CRUD tools”
“I like the fact that somebody else is looking after the hosting”
“I am in the process of switching my company's use of retool for an Ai generated backoffice.”
“It's great, but their mobile layouts kind of suck”
“the calculus just wasn't there when I could spin up internal dashboard tools in less time with better functionality”
“you could spend minutes to hours plugging together "programming-lite" concepts”
“Retool use to sponsor a number of open source libs which greatly helped them with exposure to devs”
“Retool has become more clunky to use vs. writing code with AI to solve the problems we used Retool for.”
“neither Retool nor LLM fix that”
“a product that's been fundamentally deprecated”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.