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Retool VS React Native

Compare Retool VS React Native and see what are their differences

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Contents:
  1. » Base Details
  2. » Videos
  3. » Reviews
  4. » Alternatives

Retool logo Retool

Build custom internal tools in minutes.

React Native logo React Native

A framework for building native apps with React
  • Retool Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-04
  • React Native Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-16

Retool

Website
retool.com
Pricing URL
Official Retool Pricing
$ Details
freemium $10.0 / Monthly (Startup)
Release Date
2017 January
Startup details
Country
United States
State
California
City
San Francisco
Founder(s)
David Hsu
Employees
10 - 19
Edit details

React Native

Website
reactnative.dev
Pricing URL
-
$ Details
Release Date
-
Edit details

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.

React Native features and specs

  • Cross-platform development
    React Native allows developers to write code once and use it to build applications for both iOS and Android platforms, significantly reducing development time and effort.
  • Performance
    React Native uses native components under the hood, providing better performance compared to hybrid technologies like Cordova or Ionic.
  • Community support
    React Native has a large and active community, which means plenty of libraries, tools, and support are available to help developers solve problems and add features.
  • Hot reloading
    React Native supports hot reloading, enabling developers to see the results of the latest change instantly without losing the application's state.
  • Reusable components
    Developers can use React Native's component-based architecture to create reusable UI components, making code more modular and easier to maintain.
  • Strong backing
    Backed by Facebook, React Native benefits from continuous development, regular updates, and a high level of reliability and stability.

Possible disadvantages of React Native

  • Complexity for advanced features
    Implementing complex features and achieving deep integrations with native APIs may require more effort and a good understanding of native programming.
  • Performance limitations
    While React Native performs well for most use cases, it may still fall short in performance-intensive applications compared to fully native solutions.
  • Limited third-party libraries
    Some third-party libraries might not be available for React Native, or they may lack features compared to their native counterparts.
  • Platform-specific code
    Despite being cross-platform, certain features might still require platform-specific code, increasing the complexity when developing for both iOS and Android.
  • Potential for outdated documentation
    As React Native evolves quickly, some documentation or tutorials might become outdated, leading to confusion and extra effort to find up-to-date information.
  • Size of the application
    React Native applications tend to have larger file sizes compared to their native counterparts due to the inclusion of the JavaScript runtime and other dependencies.

Retool videos

+ Add

Retool - Logic Review

More videos:

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

React Native videos

+ Add

React Native in 2019 & Beyond

More videos:

  • Review - What Is React Native?
  • Review - Why React Native is garbage.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Retool and React Native)

Retool

React Native

No Code
100 100%
No Code
0% 0
Development Tools
0 0%
Development Tools
100% 100
Developer Tools
56 56%
Developer Tools
44% 44
Javascript UI Libraries
0 0%
Javascript UI Libraries
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Retool and React Native. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

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

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...
Source: blog.illacloud.com
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...
Source: blog.illacloud.com
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...
Source: blog.illacloud.com

React Native Reviews

Explore 9 Top Eclipse Alternatives for 2024
Pioneered by Meta Platforms, Inc., React Native is a remarkable JavaScript framework that merges native app development with JavaScript libraries, offering a dependable solution for creating exemplary native apps for Android, iOS, and other platforms.
Source: aircada.com
Top 10 Flutter Alternatives for Cross-Platform App Development
Introduced in 2015 by Facebook, React Native is an open-source framework based on JavaScript. Being a developer-friendly framework, it’s a mobile-first platform that is capable of rendering mobile apps for multiple platforms, including iOS and Android.
Source: www.moontechnolabs.com
Exploring 15 Powerful Flutter Alternatives
React Native is an open-source UI framework for writing native Android and iOS apps using JavaScript and React. React Native does deliver excellent prototyping capabilities, however. The React framework lends itself nicely to creating basic proofs of concept and experimenting with different interaction models and UI designs with little overhead. Features like Fast Refresh...
Source: positiwise.medium.com
THE BEST 34 APP DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE IN 2022 LIST
Create native apps for Android and iOS using React. React Native combines the best parts of native development with React, a best-in-class JavaScript library for building user interfaces. You can use React Native in your existing Android and iOS projects or you can create a whole new app from scratch. Written in JavaScript—rendered with native code. React primitives render...
Source: www.edigitalagency.com.au
Top 10 Visual Studio Alternatives
React native is famous for enabling the users to develop the core native applications and offers the best quality. It does not compromise on providing the best customer services and support. The react-native components surround the codes that already exist and then interact with the native APIs. That, in turn, allows the developers to learn the development process and makes...
Source: blog.back4app.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, React Native should be more popular than Retool. It has been mentiond 232 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

React Native mentions (232)

  • Apprendre Flutter
    React Native: Assez faile à prendre en main si on maitrise React. - Source: dev.to / 10 days ago
  • Migrating from AngularJS to React
    React skills work for React Native development - Although React Native is a separate framework designed specifically for building mobile applications, many of the skills a developer gains working with the React framework are applicable here as well. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • The Mobile Development Tech Stack for 2025
    React Native (Official Documentation) allows you to create apps for both iOS and Android with a single codebase, while TypeScript adds type safety to your JavaScript, reducing bugs and improving code quality. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • React + AI Stack for 2025
    React Native is the powerhouse for cross-platform mobile development. Write once, run everywhere, get native performance when you need it, enjoy hot reloading for rapid development, tap into a huge ecosystem of libraries and tools, and integrate with native modules when you need platform-specific features. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • How Do I Start a New React Native App?
    React Native is a powerful framework for building cross-platform mobile applications using JavaScript and React. Whether you're a seasoned developer or a beginner, starting a new React Native project can be both exciting and challenging. This guide will walk you through the essential steps, tools, and best practices to set up your React Native project efficiently and effectively. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Retool and React Native, you can also consider the following products

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

jQuery - The Write Less, Do More, JavaScript Library.

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

Babel - Babel is a compiler for writing next generation JavaScript.

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

Flutter - Build beautiful native apps in record time 🚀

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