Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Retool VS Laravel Nova

Compare Retool VS Laravel Nova and see what are their differences

Retool logo Retool

Build custom internal tools in minutes.

Laravel Nova logo Laravel Nova

Application and Data, Languages & Frameworks, and MVC Tools
  • Retool Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-04
  • Laravel Nova Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-08-21

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

Laravel Nova

Pricing URL
-
$ Details
-
Release Date
-

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.

Laravel Nova features and specs

  • Ease of Integration
    Laravel Nova is designed to work seamlessly with the Laravel framework, allowing for quick and efficient integration with existing Laravel applications.
  • User Interface
    Nova provides a clean, responsive, and modern user interface that enhances the user experience for both developers and end-users.
  • Resource Management
    It offers comprehensive tools for managing resources, relationships, and metrics, making it easier to handle complex data structures within the admin panel.
  • Customizability
    Developers can easily customize the Nova dashboard, including fields, actions, filters, and lenses, to suit their application needs.
  • Active Community and Support
    As part of the Laravel ecosystem, Nova benefits from an active community, detailed documentation, and ongoing support and updates.

Possible disadvantages of Laravel Nova

  • Cost
    Unlike other free open-source Laravel solutions, Nova is a paid product, which might not be suitable for small projects or developers with limited budgets.
  • Learning Curve
    For developers who are new to Laravel or Nova, there is a learning curve to effectively understand and utilize all of Nova’s features.
  • Limited Extensibility
    While Nova is customizable, there are certain extensibility limitations that might require a workaround or in-depth understanding to overcome.
  • Dependence on Laravel Ecosystem
    Nova is tightly coupled with Laravel, which means it cannot be used with other PHP frameworks, thus limiting its use cases.
  • Performance Concerns
    In some cases, especially with larger datasets or more complex operations, there might be performance bottlenecks if the Nova configurations are not optimized properly.

Retool videos

Retool - Logic Review

More videos:

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

Laravel Nova videos

LARAVEL NOVA VS LARAVEL BACKPACK ⚔ HONEST REVIEW

More videos:

  • Review - Laravel Nova Overview
  • Review - LKnet | Why we Decidided to Switch from Wordpress to Laravel Nova

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Retool and Laravel Nova)
No Code
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
84 84%
16% 16
Web Frameworks
0 0%
100% 100
Productivity
92 92%
8% 8

User comments

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Reviews

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

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...

Laravel Nova Reviews

We have no reviews of Laravel Nova yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Retool should be more popular than Laravel Nova. It has been mentiond 98 times since March 2021. 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.

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

Laravel Nova mentions (15)

  • Goravel: A Go framework inspired by Laravel
    Same reason IDEs — when you really know them — allow for quicker development compared to using primitive text editors with a bunch of third-party plugins duck-taped together. When you understand the framework, everything is written to the same standard, behaves in similar ways, and is where you expect it to be. Adding things like background job processing requires changing one line of config. Also, one... - Source: Hacker News / 2 months ago
  • Laravel Ecosystem in 2024
    Laravel Nova: Laravel Nova is an easy-to-use admin panel for Laravel applications with a clean design. It provides an intuitive UI for managing application data and creating custom dashboards. With Nova, developers can easily build CRUD interfaces, manage relationships, and add custom tools. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Creating a CRM from scratch in wordpress, how hard would it be?
    If you're insistent on php, use Laravel Nova, or better yet, something like Odoo. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Would love some CMS suggestions for an for existing Laravel app
    Laravel ecosystem itself provides you with Nova. It's perfect for. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Am new to PhP and Laravel and my company wants me to code in it.
    But if this is simply "We need a CRUD app", you should look at Laravel Nova to cut down on a lot of work that people have done a million times before. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Retool and Laravel Nova, you can also consider the following products

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

Laravel Voyager - The missing Laravel admin

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

Laravel Kit - Desktop Laravel admin panel app with no configuration needs

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

Invoker - The no-bull Laravel tool