See why developers choose Superblocks over Retool
Unlike Retool, Superblocks is a true low-code platform without limits. You can extend further with code, build faster with an AI Copilot, self-host without the overhead, and deliver performant apps at scale – all while adopting organization-wide more affordably.
Alchemy, Motive and Payhawk all chose Superblocks
Ofer Herman
Co-Founder & CTO at Papaya Global
As CTO of a high growth operationally intensive business, we chose Superblocks because it was simple to deploy, billed by usage and intuitive for our engineering teams to build a suite of tooling for our global partner network.
Raised
$445M
Rishub Kumar
Internal Tools Lead at Alchemy
Superblocks has saved us 100s of engineering hours on internal tools and reduced support ticket resolution time by 50%.
Raised
$564M
Arsalan Siddiqui
Director of Engineering at Clearco
Superblocks is ideal for Fintech companies where KYC, fraud and risk are critical tooling areas that evolve weekly. The on-prem agent is a unique low-overhead solution to keep our customer data within our VPC.
Raised
$680M
Why are companies choosing Superblocks over Retool?
Greater Extensibility with Code
Retool apps support client-side JS only while Superblocks supports React, JS, Node, & Python. Retool Custom Components rely on one HTML file, with web-based imports limited to an iframe, while Superblocks provides full extensibility with React.
Scalable Architecture & Better Performance
Retool JS queries are limited by browser CPU & memory, causing major latency for large apps. Superblocks application front-ends are multi-threaded for smooth UI rendering, while back-end queries scale elastically with on-demand cloud compute.
Drastically Less Overhead When Self-Hosting
Deploying Retool on-premise is painful, requiring a heavy DevOps upgrade to access any bug fix or new feature. The Superblocks on-premise agent is stateless, simple to deploy, and new App Builder features are instantly available from the cloud.
Deeper AI Functionality
The Superblocks Copilot helps developers write, debug, and explain SQL, Python, and Javascript code, integrate with REST APIs, and even generate full applications. Retool’s AI is restricted to SQL generation, limiting its usefulness for developers.
Production Monitoring & Observability
Superblocks integrates with observability providers like Datadog, Splunk and New Relic, so you can view metrics, traces, and logs from your internal tools within your preferred provider. Retool does not have observability, leaving you blind when errors arise.
Fairer, More Flexible Pricing
Unlike Retool, users who interact with tools infrequently come at a lower price with Superblocks. Additionally, Retool charges high platform fees and imposes user minimums for their on-premise offering.
Compare Superblocks to Retool
Superblocks
Retool
Pricing
Scalable App Pricing Model
Affordable for occasional usage. Three-tier pricing for Creators, Standard Users, & Light Users maps closer to value
Restrictive to occasional users. Two-tier pricing for Creators and End Users
No Self-Hosted Fees
On-premise agent is available at no additional cost in all tiers
Self-hosted offering comes with high platform fees and 25 user minimums on tiers to get started
Application Builder
Drag & Drop Application Builder
Build internal UIs connected to your data via a drag & drop interface
Integrate with any Database or API
Integrate with any standard database or API endpoint
Multi-Step Application APIs
Program your application with multi-step business logic executed on the server-side
Multi-step APIs are composed of data source queries and language steps in NodeJS and Python for processing, all executed server-side with elastic scaling
All Retool application queries are single-step, resulting in excess network requests and latency overhead for business logic execution
Build Streaming Applications
Build real-time applications based on event-driven architectures like Kafka
Native support for Kafka, Confluent Cloud, Aiven, AWS MSK, Redpanda, and other streaming platforms
No streaming support
Open Source Execution Engine
The Superblocks Developer Community can contribute to the open source agent
Closed source. Need to wait on Retool to prioritize additional features
Workflow & Scheduled Job Builder
Build API Endpoints with Workflows
Build reusable programmatic workflows which can be called within applications or as REST APIs
Full REST API endpoints with customizable responses
Workflows are fire-and-forget and do not respond with success or error
Build Webhooks with Workflows
Invoke workflows over HTTP as webhooks
Supported for Cloud and On-Premise
Beta, Cloud-Only
In Beta and not available on-premise
Execute Scheduled Jobs
Invoke programmatic workflows on a schedule, replacing CRON jobs
Supported for Cloud and On-Premise
Beta, Cloud-Only
In Beta and not available on-premise
Extensibility with Code
Write Front-End JS
Write front-end JavaScript that is executed within the browser
Write Back-End Code in NodeJS & Python
Write back-end code executed on the server-side, as you would for a standard application back-end
NodeJS and Python supported within Application APIs and Workflows. Import any library
Application Queries support client-side JS-only, with imports limited to packages bundled for use on the web
Build Fully-Featured Custom Components
Augment the built-in component library by developing your own custom components in React
Build fully-featured components in React, with full DOM control and the ability to share component state. Develop locally in your IDE, import any package, and bundle multiple files
Custom Components written in a single HTML file in the browser, limited to an iframe with no ability to share state or interact with the DOM. Imports are limited to packages bundled for use on the web
Build Custom Integrations
Integrate with non-standard databases via a custom integration
Extend the open-source agent to build custom integrations
No extensibility due to closed source code
Performance
Fast Query Performance on Large Datasets
Execute queries efficiently as data volume and throughput scales
Multi-step APIs executed server-side provide horizontal scalability and elastic compute, ensuring minimal network requests and data transfer
Client-side code execution is limited by browser CPU and memory, resulting in increased latency & overhead for app loading and query processing
Global Edge Caching Network
Cache applications globally to reduce app latency
Apps are cached at the edge across US West (Oregon), US East (N. Virginia), EU (Ireland), Middle East (Bahrain), & Asia Pacific (Hong Kong)
No edge caching available
Generative AI
Copilot for Code in Multiple Languages
AI Copilot to write, edit, debug, and explain code
JavaScript, Python, SQL, JSON, HTML
SQL Only
Copilot for 3rd Party API Calls
AI Copilot to integrate with REST APIs
Generate Mock Data with AI
Use AI to generate mock data when building applications
User-Friendly OpenAI Integration
Native integration with OpenAI with user-friendly methods and parameters
Easy-to-use dedicated integration form for each endpoint makes leveraging OpenAI simple and intuitive
Wrapper on raw API request schema from OpenAI, requiring user to reference documentation and understand each OpenAI parameter
Enterprise Security
Granular Permissions (RBAC)
Control access to tools granularly with role-based access controls
SSO / SAML / SCIM
Use SAML and other protocols for identity and access management & synchronize user management with your IdP using SCIM
Audit Logs
Retain a history of user actions taken within the platform
Security Extensions
Extend with custom security policies
Agent can be extended with custom security layer code
No extensions possible
Security Auditability
Audit the platform's source code for bugs and vulnerabilities
Agent source code is available on GitHub. Run your own security scanners, auditable by security teams
Closed source code cannot be audited
Software Development Lifecycle
Commits and Previews
Create and preview commits, then deploy to production
Integrate with Multiple Environments through a Single Deployment
Configure integrations to dynamically work with multiple development environments and regions without needing to deploy separate instances
Seamlessly leverage Profiles to connect to different environments and regions, enabling apps to query across VPCs
Dedicated Retool on-premise stack must be deployed into each VPC, resulting in large DevOps overhead and expense
Source Control with Git Supported for Cloud & On-Premise
Integrate with your git provider to sync changes for code review and CI/CD
Supported for Cloud & On-Premise
Supported for On-Premise only
Production Observability
Integrate tools with observability platforms to track metrics, traces, and logs
Integrate with your preferred observability provider, such as Datadog, Elastic Cloud, AWS OpenSearch, Kafka, Confluent Cloud and more
Hosting
Keep Data in Customer’s Network
Ensure sensitive data never leaves your VPC
Using the Superblocks open source, stateless On-Premise Agent
Using a fully on-premise installation including custom vendor databases
US and EU Cloud Hosting
Cloud-hosted offering is available in US and EU regions
US & EU Hosting Regions
US Hosting Region Only
On-Premise Deployment Effort
The level of effort required to deploy the software
Negligible
5 min to deploy a lightweight, stateless agent to keep data within your private network
High
Complex on-premise installation that includes managing databases and migrations
Platform Upgrade Effort
The frequency and level of effort associated with on-premise upgrades
Negligible
Access new features without upgrading your agent. Upgrades are simple, comparable to the initial deployment
High
Full upgrades are required to access new features and critical security and bug fixes. Upgrades are expensive and require complex database migrations with downtime
Customer Support
Live Chat with Technical Support from Engineer
Extended Support Hours
Recognized by G2 for Best Support