Best for
Best for regulated organisations building database applications and portals where HIPAA, SOC 2 or GDPR compliance has to be certified.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
AI App Builders Comparison
Caspio vs. Retool
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for engineering and operations teams building internal tools on top of existing databases and APIs.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Caspio | Retool |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $270 / month Team plan billed annually; $300 on monthly billing. Business is $540 annually or $600 monthly, and a separate HIPAA/Compliance Edition is $500 a month on a one-year term. All plans include unlimited app users. | lower value Free; paid plans from $10 / builder / month Annual billing: Team $10 per builder and $5 per internal user per month, Business $50 per builder and $15 per internal user. On monthly billing that becomes $12 / $7 and $65 / $18. Enterprise on request. |
| Free trial | Free trial with access to core features, no upfront cost | Free plan for up to 5 users |
| Output | Online database applications, deployed standalone or embedded | Internal web and mobile apps, workflows and AI agents |
| API | Yes, a REST API with webhooks and an MCP server | Yes, the Retool API manages the organisation, its users and Spaces |
| Hosting | Caspio-hosted on AWS, with data residency in the US, Canada, the EU, UK, Australia and South America | Retool cloud or self-hosted |
| What it generates | Online database applications generated from a description by the Caspi AI builder, then edited in the Flex drag-and-drop builder; automations cover scheduled tasks and triggered actions | Internal tools: web and mobile apps, scheduled and event-driven workflows, and AI agents; an AI app builder starts an app from a prompt next to the classic drag-and-drop editor |
| Stack and frameworks | A SQL Server data core with role and record-level security, encryption and audit trails; apps are configured rather than written in a framework | Drag-and-drop component library with JavaScript in queries, bindings and transformers; custom components are written in React and TypeScript and published to the organisation's component library |
| Auth and database | SQL Server with user directories and SAML single sign-on; record-level security controls which rows a given user sees | Connects to any database, API or LLM provider, with a hosted Retool Database included; permissions and audit logging from the Business tier, SSO and SCIM on Enterprise |
| Hosting and deploy | Caspio-hosted on AWS; apps deploy standalone or embed as components in a website, intranet or customer portal, with data residency across six regions | Retool cloud or self-hosted; the free, Team and Business tiers can both be self-hosted, Enterprise adds unlimited end users and white-labelling |
| Payments | Not stated | No built-in billing or checkout; a payment provider is connected as an API resource like any other |
| Access to the code | Apps run on the platform; access to the data is through a documented REST API, webhooks and an MCP server rather than an exportable codebase | Apps live in Retool rather than as an exportable codebase; JavaScript and custom React components extend them, and Git-backed source control is an Enterprise feature |
| MCP-ready | stated Yes | No |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise |
| Support | more entries Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat, Community forum | Community forum |
| Onboarding | more entries Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials, Guided onboarding, Personal consulting | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | Zapier, Make, n8n, Keragon | more entries OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, AWS Bedrock, Azure OpenAI |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price Caspio From $270 / month Retool Free; paid plans from $10 / builder / month
- Free trial Caspio Free trial with access to core features, no upfront cost Retool Free plan for up to 5 users
- Deployment Caspio Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based Retool Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise
- Hosting Caspio Caspio-hosted on AWS, with data residency in the US, Canada, the EU, UK, Australia and South America Retool Retool cloud or self-hosted
- Support Caspio Email helpdesk, Phone, Chat, Community forum Retool Community forum
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Caspio
Strengths
- HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II and GDPR certified annually by independent audit, not self-attested
- Unlimited app users on every plan, so cost does not grow with the audience
- Phone, live chat and ticketing, staffed by in-house support engineers rather than outsourced
Limitations
- Entry pricing starts at $270 a month, well above most tools in this category
- Apps live on the platform rather than as an exportable codebase
- Builder seats are capped on the Team plan at five app authors
Retool
Strengths
- Connects to any database, API or LLM provider instead of starting from its own data
- Self-hosting is available on every tier, the free one included
- Extensible with JavaScript everywhere and custom React and TypeScript components
Limitations
- Priced per builder and per internal user, so cost tracks headcount rather than apps
- Apps are not an exportable codebase, so leaving the platform means rebuilding
- Git source control, SSO and SCIM are Enterprise-only
Plans
Pricing
Caspio
- Team $270 Per month billed annually ($300 monthly). 5 app authors, 250K data records, unlimited app users.
- Business $540 Per month billed annually ($600 monthly). Unlimited app authors, 1M data records.
- HIPAA / Compliance Edition $500 Per month on a one-year term, for workloads under a signed Business Associate Agreement.
- Enterprise Custom Quoted by the vendor, for full governance, security and guaranteed performance.
Retool
- Free $0 Up to 5 users, unlimited apps, 500 workflow runs a month, 5 GB database and 5 GB file storage, 250 AI credits a month.
- Team $10 Per builder per month on annual billing ($12 monthly); internal users $5 ($7 monthly). 5,000 workflow runs a month, staging environment, release versions.
- Business $50 Per builder per month on annual billing ($65 monthly); internal users $15 ($18 monthly). Adds audit logging, rich permissions, portals and external user access.
- Enterprise Custom Quoted by the vendor. Adds SSO and SCIM, Git source control, unlimited end users and white-labelling.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Caspio
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Retool
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Caspio https://www.caspio.com · no check date recorded yet
Retool https://retool.com · no check date recorded yet
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.