your ad here · $149/weekyour ad here · $149/weekyour ad here · $149/weekyour ad here · $149/weekyour ad here · $149/weekyour ad here · $149/weekyour ad here · $149/weekyour ad here · $149/weekyour ad here · $149/weekyour ad here · $149/weekyour ad here · $149/weekyour ad here · $149/week

Internal tools

Free and open-source Retool alternatives

Retool (Build internal tools on top of your data) is a commercial product. These 3 tools do the same job and are free to use or to self-host.
Short answer: the best free alternatives to Retool are Appsmith, ToolJet and Budibase. Self-hosting is free; you pay only for the server (a small VPS is about $4–6/mo). Licenses and prices checked 2026-10-01.
  1. 1
    Appsmith

    Open source platform to build internal tools

    Build admin panels and dashboards on your data.

    Open source (Apache-2.0) ·★ 41k GitHub stars · last commit 2026-10-07 · details

  2. 2
    ToolJet

    Open source low-code platform for internal tools

    Low-code internal tools, self-hostable.

    Open source (AGPL-3.0) ·★ 41k GitHub stars · last commit 2026-10-07 · details

  3. 3
    Budibase

    Open-source low-code platform for internal tools

    Internal apps and forms on any database.

    Open source (GPL-3.0 (core)) ·★ 28k GitHub stars · last commit 2026-10-07 · details

Want paid options too? See all Retool alternatives or the full free alternatives list. Beyond developer tools, OSS Software lists more open-source Retool alternatives.

FAQ

Is there a free alternative to Retool?+

Yes. Appsmith, ToolJet and Budibase do the same job for free; Appsmith, ToolJet and Budibase are open source.

What is the best open-source alternative to Retool?+

ToolJet is the most starred on GitHub (41k stars). Low-code internal tools, self-hostable.

Open source: OSI-approved license. Free to self-host: the code is public and free to run yourself, with limits in the license.