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

Yes

Affordable for occasional usage. Three-tier pricing for Creators, Standard Users, & Light Users maps closer to value

No

Restrictive to occasional users. Two-tier pricing for Creators and End Users

No Self-Hosted Fees

Yes

On-premise agent is available at no additional cost in all tiers

No

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

Yes
Yes

Integrate with any Database or API

Integrate with any standard database or API endpoint

Yes
Yes

Multi-Step Application APIs

Program your application with multi-step business logic executed on the server-side

Yes

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

No

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

Yes

Native support for Kafka, Confluent Cloud, Aiven, AWS MSK, Redpanda, and other streaming platforms

No

No streaming support

Open Source Execution Engine

Yes

The Superblocks Developer Community can contribute to the open source agent

No

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

Yes

Full REST API endpoints with customizable responses

No

Workflows are fire-and-forget and do not respond with success or error

Build Webhooks with Workflows

Invoke workflows over HTTP as webhooks

Yes

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

Yes

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

Yes
Yes

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

Yes

NodeJS and Python supported within Application APIs and Workflows. Import any library

No

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

Yes

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

No

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

Yes

Extend the open-source agent to build custom integrations

No

No extensibility due to closed source code

Performance

Fast Query Performance on Large Datasets

Execute queries efficiently as data volume and throughput scales

Yes

Multi-step APIs executed server-side provide horizontal scalability and elastic compute, ensuring minimal network requests and data transfer

No

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

Yes

Apps are cached at the edge across US West (Oregon), US East (N. Virginia), EU (Ireland), Middle East (Bahrain), & Asia Pacific (Hong Kong)

No

No edge caching available

Generative AI

Copilot for Code in Multiple Languages

AI Copilot to write, edit, debug, and explain code

Yes

JavaScript, Python, SQL, JSON, HTML

No

SQL Only

Copilot for 3rd Party API Calls

AI Copilot to integrate with REST APIs

Yes
No

Generate Mock Data with AI

Use AI to generate mock data when building applications

Yes
No

User-Friendly OpenAI Integration

Native integration with OpenAI with user-friendly methods and parameters

Yes

Easy-to-use dedicated integration form for each endpoint makes leveraging OpenAI simple and intuitive

No

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

Yes
Yes

SSO / SAML / SCIM

Use SAML and other protocols for identity and access management & synchronize user management with your IdP using SCIM

Yes
Yes

Audit Logs

Retain a history of user actions taken within the platform

Yes
Yes

Security Extensions

Extend with custom security policies

Yes

Agent can be extended with custom security layer code

No

No extensions possible

Security Auditability

Audit the platform's source code for bugs and vulnerabilities

Yes

Agent source code is available on GitHub. Run your own security scanners, auditable by security teams

No

Closed source code cannot be audited

Software Development Lifecycle

Commits and Previews

Create and preview commits, then deploy to production

Yes
Yes

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

Yes

Seamlessly leverage Profiles to connect to different environments and regions, enabling apps to query across VPCs

No

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

Yes

Supported for Cloud & On-Premise

No

Supported for On-Premise only

Production Observability

Integrate tools with observability platforms to track metrics, traces, and logs

Yes

Integrate with your preferred observability provider, such as Datadog, Elastic Cloud, AWS OpenSearch, Kafka, Confluent Cloud and more

No

Hosting

Keep Data in Customer’s Network

Ensure sensitive data never leaves your VPC

Yes

Using the Superblocks open source, stateless On-Premise Agent

Yes

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

Yes

US & EU Hosting Regions

No

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

Yes
No

Extended Support Hours

Yes
No

Recognized by G2 for Best Support

Yes
No

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