Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Gio UI VS Retool

Compare Gio UI VS Retool and see what are their differences

Gio UI logo Gio UI

Gio is an open source library for creating portable, immediate mode GUI programs for Android, iOS, Linux, Windows, macOS.

Retool logo Retool

Build custom internal tools in minutes.
  • Gio UI Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-22
  • Retool Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-04

Gio UI

Website
gioui.org
Pricing URL
-
$ Details
Release Date
-

Retool

Website
retool.com
$ Details
freemium $10.0 / Monthly (Startup)
Release Date
2017 January
Startup details
Country
United States
State
California
Founder(s)
David Hsu
Employees
10 - 19

Gio UI features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

Retool features and specs

  • Speed of Development
    Retool allows developers to rapidly build internal tools with a drag-and-drop interface, reducing the time it takes to get functional applications up and running.
  • Integration Capabilities
    Retool supports integration with a wide range of databases, APIs, and other services, making it easier to connect different data sources and systems.
  • Customizability
    While Retool provides prebuilt components, it also allows for custom code and scripting, enabling developers to tailor applications to specific requirements.
  • Collaboration Features
    Retool supports collaborative features, such as sharing applications with team members and version control, making it easier to work in teams.
  • Security
    Retool provides robust security features, including access control and data encryption, to help protect sensitive information.

Possible disadvantages of Retool

  • Cost
    Retool can be relatively expensive compared to building internal tools from scratch or using some other platforms, potentially making it less accessible for smaller teams or startups.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly interface, there can be a learning curve for new users who need to become familiar with its specific functionalities and scripting capabilities.
  • Customization Limitations
    Though Retool offers customizability, there might be certain limitations compared to fully bespoke solutions, impacting highly specific or complex use cases.
  • Dependency on Retool
    Relying heavily on Retool may create a dependency that could be problematic if the company changes its pricing, features, or discontinues services.
  • Performance
    For very large datasets or highly complex operations, performance can become an issue, as it is with many platform-based solutions.

Gio UI videos

Samsung S5660 Galaxy Gio UI demo

Retool videos

Retool - Logic Review

More videos:

  • Review - #Worth?! Ep.12 - Retool (Gameplay / Review)
  • Demo - February NY Enterprise Tech Meetup: Retool Demo

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Gio UI and Retool)
Developer Tools
8 8%
92% 92
No Code
0 0%
100% 100
GUI Frameworks
100 100%
0% 0
Development Tools
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Gio UI and Retool

Gio UI Reviews

Best GUI frameworks for Go
gioui: Uses the modern GPU-based UI architecture and can be used to create mobile and desktop applications. Gioui is lightweight and has a minimalistic API

Retool Reviews

Top 5 Dynobase alternatives you should know about - March 2025 Review
The choice ultimately depends on your environment and use case. Many teams use a combination of tools: for example, Dynomate for developers, and a Retool app for operations or support teams. By understanding the strengths of each alternative, you can select the tool (or combination of tools) that best integrates with your AWS workflow, making DynamoDB development smoother...
Source: www.dynomate.io
React UI Components Libraries: Our Top Picks for 2023
Retool offers extensive documentation and support. Its support is available on its Discourse forum, Slack (if you are a Retool power user), Intercom for live chat, and dedicated support for enterprise customers.
Source: kinsta.com
ILLA Cloud vs. Retool vs. Bubble - Unveiling the Best Low-Code Platforms
In the quest for the best low-code platform, Retool, Bubble, and ILLA Cloud all offer unique features and capabilities. While Retool shines with its self-hosted option and Bubble contributes to the open-source community, ILLA Cloud stands out as a powerful and flexible low-code platform. With its comprehensive feature set, affordable pricing models, and self-hosted...
Top 9 Low-Code Tools for 2023 for low-code development
Retool is a powerful low-code platform that enables developers to build internal tools and apps with ease. It offers a drag-and-drop interface and a wide range of pre-built components for seamless development. Retool integrates with various data sources and external services, allowing users to fetch data, perform calculations, and display results in real-time. Its...
Superblock vs Retool: A Comprehensive Comparison for Low-code development Platforms
Retool caters to a diverse audience, including developers, product managers, and business professionals. Developers benefit from Retool's low-code capabilities, allowing them to build applications quickly without sacrificing customization. Product managers can leverage Retool to streamline internal workflows and enable teams to be more productive. Business professionals can...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Retool seems to be a lot more popular than Gio UI. While we know about 98 links to Retool, we've tracked only 8 mentions of Gio UI. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Gio UI mentions (8)

  • How to Create Your First Mac App Using Go
    Go Programming Language Gio Toolkit for Go Xcode Command Line Tools Apple Developer Documentation This blog post provides a comprehensive guide to building your first Mac app using Go, with plenty of code examples to help you understand each step. By following this guide, you can quickly get started with Mac app development and explore the powerful capabilities of Go and Gio. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Bare Metal Rust in Android
    > At least with a language like Go, it somewhat makes sense, and has been attempted: https://gioui.org/ Gio UI is an immediate-mode UI, and immediate-mode UIs map very nicely to Rust. Egui is quite easy to use. https://www.egui.rs/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Bare Metal Rust in Android
    I didn't bash Java/Kotlin. In fact, I have written few android apps in Kotlin, Java and I also have fiddled with Jetpack compose, JNI and NDK (I have also played with mpv's Opengl/Vulkan's rendering on Android if that matters to you). I don't want to share the projects of mine because I don't want to reveal my identity. > https://gioui.org/ I know that tailscale's android application is written in it but I don't... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Bare Metal Rust in Android
    Tell me you've never done any Android development, without telling me... This is such a low-effort "take" without any effort to justify _why_ you'd want something like this. There's a high amount of impedance mismatch trying to write GUIs in a non-GC language like Rust which _has_ to run on what's essentially a Java VM (ART). At least with a language like Go, it somewhat makes sense, and has been attempted:... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • htmx/Go experiences?
    I am building the same but with golang and https://gioui.org/. Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

Retool mentions (98)

  • Code or No Code? The AI Revolution in Web Development
    Retool – Low-code platform for business applications. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • I keep turning my Google Sheets into phone-friendly webapps, and I can't stop
    As mentioned by another poster, check out "Partner portals" section on https://retool.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • How to Build Internal Tools 100x Faster
    It is possible to speed up the development and delivery process for many internal applications by using no-code or low code tools. These vary in offerings from open source to SaaS, including popular ones like AirTable, BudiBase, Retool, NocoDB and others. These can all greatly help speed up delivery times. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Do you need a No Code tool for Firebase?
    There are some No Code tools for Firebase. Some of them are fully integrated, some of them use some limited functions of Firebase through their API. If a tool allows you to integrate with a REST API, you probably can use it. Some of them are: FlutterFlow, JetAdmin, Retool, Bubble, etc. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
  • Visual Basic 6 rebuilt in C# – complete with form designer and IDE in browser
    >The No-Code world is fascinating, and the best I've seen in this space is https://retool.com/, but it's expensive and locks you into their ecosystem. >Even today, small businesses need to build out simple apps that were simple to do back in the Visual Basic days—a stock control system, a basic support system, sales tools, etc. Today, it's a minefield of options that can quickly get expensive. A RAD tool like... - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Gio UI and Retool, you can also consider the following products

Fyne - The Fyne toolkit is an easy to learn, free and open source, platform for building graphical applications for desktop, mobile and beyond.

Appsmith - Appsmith is an open source web framework for building internal tools, admin panels, dashboards, and workflows.

SQLPage - Build SQL-only websites - Build full web applications using just SQL queries

Airtable - Airtable works like a spreadsheet but gives you the power of a database to organize anything. Sign up for free.

JDBI - See this.

Bubble.io - Building tech is slow and expensive. Bubble is the most powerful no-code platform for creating digital products.