Best for
Best for engineering and operations teams building internal tools on top of existing databases and APIs.
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
AI App Builders Comparison
Retool vs. Rocket.new
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for solo builders and small teams who want auth, a database and payments already connected on day one.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Retool | Rocket.new |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | 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 tier; Pro $25 / month, Rocket $50 / month, Booster $250 / month Plans are monthly credit allowances of 20, 100, 250 and 1,500 credits. Credits never expire, and extra credits can be bought. |
| Free trial | Free plan for up to 5 users | Free tier with 20 credits per month |
| Output | Internal web and mobile apps, workflows and AI agents | Production-ready Next.js web apps and Flutter mobile apps |
| API | Yes, the Retool API manages the organisation, its users and Spaces | Not stated |
| Hosting | Retool cloud or self-hosted | Not stated |
| What it generates | 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 | Web apps, mobile apps, landing pages, dashboards and internal tools from a prompt, or from an imported Figma file |
| Stack and frameworks | 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 | Next.js with TypeScript for web, Flutter with Dart for iOS and Android, chosen automatically by project type |
| Auth and database | 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 | Yes, Supabase out of the box: PostgreSQL, storage, edge functions and Supabase Auth with email, social login and magic links |
| Hosting and deploy | Retool cloud or self-hosted; the free, Team and Business tiers can both be self-hosted, Enterprise adds unlimited end users and white-labelling | Yes, one-click deploy to Netlify with staging and production environments; custom domains on paid plans |
| Payments | No built-in billing or checkout; a payment provider is connected as an API resource like any other | Yes, Stripe and Razorpay for checkout, subscriptions and one-time payments |
| Access to the code | 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 | Yes, download the project as a zip on Pro and above; two-way GitHub sync for Next.js projects |
| Deployment | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Community forum | Not stated |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized |
| Integrations | OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, AWS Bedrock, Azure OpenAI | more entries Supabase, Stripe, Razorpay, GitHub, Netlify, Figma, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Analytics, Airtable, Notion, Mailchimp, Resend, Twilio, SendGrid, HubSpot, Mixpanel, Cal.com, Calendly |
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 Retool Free; paid plans from $10 / builder / month Rocket.new Free tier; Pro $25 / month, Rocket $50 / month, Booster $250 / month
- Free trial Retool Free plan for up to 5 users Rocket.new Free tier with 20 credits per month
- Deployment Retool Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise Rocket.new Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
- Company size Retool Small and mid-sized, Enterprise Rocket.new Freelancers, Small and mid-sized
- Output Retool Internal web and mobile apps, workflows and AI agents Rocket.new Production-ready Next.js web apps and Flutter mobile apps
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
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
Rocket.new
Strengths
- Supabase database, storage and auth are connected from the start
- Stripe and Razorpay checkout without separate setup
- Credits do not expire, and extra credits can be bought
Limitations
- The framework is decided by project type, Next.js for web and Flutter for mobile
- Source code download needs a paid plan from Pro upwards
- Two-way GitHub sync covers Next.js projects only
Plans
Pricing
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.
Rocket.new
- Free $0 20 credits per month.
- Pro $25 Per month. 100 credits per month, source code download, custom domains.
- Rocket $50 Per month. 250 credits per month.
- Booster $250 Per month. 1,500 credits per month.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
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.
Rocket.new
- 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
Retool https://retool.com · no check date recorded yet
Rocket.new https://www.rocket.new · 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.