Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Retool VS Row Zero

Compare Retool VS Row Zero and see what are their differences

Retool logo Retool

Build custom internal tools in minutes.

Row Zero logo Row Zero

Row Zero is the best spreadsheet for big data. Row Zero has all the spreadsheet features you know and love, but can handle 1+ billion rows, process data faster, connect live to your data warehouse and supports sharing.
  • Retool Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-04
  • Row Zero 31 million rows in a spreadsheet
    31 million rows in a spreadsheet //
    2024-04-25
  • Row Zero Import from data warehouses
    Import from data warehouses //
    2024-04-25
  • Row Zero Pivot tables
    Pivot tables //
    2024-04-25
  • Row Zero point and click graphing
    point and click graphing //
    2024-04-25
  • Row Zero write and execute python
    write and execute python //
    2024-04-25

Row Zero is the best spreadsheet for big data. It enables operations, finance, marketing, and other business teams to securely analyze and work with big data sets in a familiar and flexible spreadsheet. Row Zero can open 1 billion row data sets, connect directly to data warehouses, and support multi-user collaboration to make working with hosted data easy for anyone with spreadsheet skills. Because Row Zero spreadsheets run in the cloud, they eliminate the security risk of CSV exports and locally stored Excel spreadsheets. Row Zero closes the last-mile analysis gap helping business teams take insights from dashboards and turn them into actionable results.

Row Zero Features:

Speed and Performance - Row Zero is a spreadsheet that leverages cloud computing strategies to enable users to import, open, and interact, cell-by-cell, with 1 billion row data sets, like they would in Excel and Google Sheets but on a larger scale.

Connectivity - Row Zeroโ€™s native connections to data warehouses provide efficiency gains for business teams who, instead of building one-off static analyses, like financial models and demand forecasts, can build them once using a connected table and schedule automated refresh. Row Zero also enables saving data from the spreadsheet to the data warehouse.

Collaboration - In order for data analysis to be valuable the work must be shared across teams, business units, and organizations. For this reason, Row Zero workbooks can be shared with viewer and editor permissions and support real-time collaboration for group work and facilitating efficient presentations.

Governance โ€“ Row Zero runs in the cloud, enables sharing permissions (viewer and editor), and enforces data permissions from the data warehouses, eliminating the security risk of downloaded CSVs and emailed .xlsx files.

Security - Row Zero is SOC2 Type II certified and HIPAA compliant. The SOC II report and a BAA are available upon request.

Retool

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

Row Zero

$ Details
freemium $10 / Monthly (Pro)
Release Date
2024 February
Startup details
Country
United States
State
WA
City
Seattle
Founder(s)
Breck Fresen, Nick End, William Littlefield, Grant Slatton
Employees
10 - 19

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.

Row Zero features and specs

  • Spreadsheet functions
    Use all the same spreadsheet functions available in Excel and Google Sheets.
  • Performance
    Upload billion row data sets and work with them in a spreadsheet.
  • Collaboration
    Share with viewer and editor permissions and use real-time collaboration.
  • Connectivity
    Connect to you cloud data warehouse to import data directly to the spreadsheet.
  • Pivot tables
    Pivot and analyze large data sets.
  • Graphing
    A point and click graphing UI.
  • Python
    Write python in the code window and execute it in the spreadsheet.
  • Security
    Eliminate the security risk of CSV downloads and emailed .xlsx files. Row Zero keeps your sensitive data in the cloud.

Retool videos

Retool - Logic Review

More videos:

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

Row Zero videos

Row Zero - The world's fastest spreadsheet

More videos:

  • Demo - Open Parquet files with Row Zero
  • Demo - Open a Big CSV with Row Zero
  • Demo - Connect Postgres to Row Zero
  • Demo - Connect Snowflake to Row Zero
  • Demo - Connect Databricks to Row Zero
  • Demo - Export data from a Row Zero spreadsheet to Databricks
  • Demo - Export data from a Row Zero spreadsheet to Snowflake

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Retool and Row Zero)
No Code
100 100%
0% 0
Spreadsheets
0 0%
100% 100
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Productivity
87 87%
13% 13

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Retool and Row Zero.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

Row Zero's answer:

Row Zero is the world's fastest spreadsheet, designed for big data sets. If a user already knows how to use a spreadsheet and needs to analyze or transform large data sets, Row Zero is the perfect tool. Data teams that serve large businesses can off-load ad-hoc and last mile analytics requests by enabling their business partners to work in Row Zero.

What makes your product unique?

Row Zero's answer:

Row Zero's is a last mile analytics tool that enables business teams (marketing, operations, finance, etc...) to connect to cloud data warehouses and work with big data sets in a spreadsheet they already know how to use. BI tools are great for high level metric monitoring but the work initiated as a result of those dashboards needs to happen in a tool where business teams can see and interact with their data.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

Row Zero's answer:

Business teams that need to work with big data sets but prefer a spreadsheet over writing SQL or rigid BI tools.

What's the story behind your product?

Row Zero's answer:

Row Zero was born out of our own frustrations doing data analysis on big data sets. Excel and Google Sheets don't easily connect to cloud data warehouses and have small row limits. We needed to open multi-million row data sets and analyze them quickly. Row Zero is the highly performant tool we wish we'd had.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

Row Zero's answer:

  • Rust
  • Python
  • Amazon Web Services

User comments

Share your experience with using Retool and Row Zero. 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 Row Zero

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...

Row Zero Reviews

We have no reviews of Row Zero yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Retool seems to be a lot more popular than Row Zero. While we know about 104 links to Retool, we've tracked only 8 mentions of Row Zero. 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 (104)

View more

Row Zero mentions (8)

  • ChatGPT for Excel
    Try https://rowzero.com ? We have written a much faster spreadsheet engine and regularly work with 10M+ row datasets. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • I only use Google Sheets
    How large are you talking about? Have you tried https://rowzero.io? - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • 'I grew up with it': readers on the enduring appeal of Microsoft Excel
    You should check out Row Zero (https://rowzero.io). We launched on HN earlier this year. Our CSV handling is the best on the market. You can import multi GB csvs, we auto infer your format, and land your data in a full-featured spreadsheet that supports filter, sort, ctrl-F, sharing, graphs, the full Excel formula language, native Python, and export to Postgres, Snowflake, and Databricks. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: What are you working on (August 2024)?
    I've been working on a better spreadsheet for a while now. https://rowzero.io is 1000x faster spreadsheet than Excel/Google Sheets. It looks and feels like those products but can open multi GB data sets, supports Python natively, and can also connect directly to Snowflake/Databricks/Redshift. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • My Thoughts on Python in Excel
    We built our spreadsheet (https://rowzero.io) from the ground up to integrate natively with Python. Bolting it on like Microsoft did, or as an add in like xlwings, just feels second class. To make it first class, we had to solve three hard problems: 1. Sandboxing and dependencies. Python is extremely unsafe to share, so you need to sandbox execution. There's also the environment/package management problem (does... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Retool and Row Zero, you can also consider the following products

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

Google Sheets - Synchronizing, online-based word processor, part of Google Drive.

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

Microsoft Office Excel - Microsoft Office Excel is a commercial spreadsheet application.

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

Equals - A next generation spreadsheet with SQL data connections