I created a CRM tool using Retool.
Retool
RetoolExternal reviews
External reviews are not included in the AWS star rating for the product.
Easy to use, practical system!
Pretty OK
Best No Code Tool
Retool team keeps on releasing updates providing more and more features to the users.
It's benefitting in terms of reduced time of development and thereby saving developer's cost
Amazing tool
Provides good connectivity with APIs and other databases
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of the solution is connectivity with APIs and other databases.
What needs improvement?
The solution lacks inbuilt customization to customize bar charts. The solution should add two or three more types of components and allow the usage of Python or other languages instead of Java script. The solution lacks inbuilt customization.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Retool for seven to eight months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have never faced any bugs or lags with the solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I am the only one working with the solution as a developer in our organization.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have previously used a different solution called Appsmith.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial setup is super easy. Retool has good documentation, and connectivity with other applications is very easy.
What about the implementation team?
The solution's deployment time depends on the utility. In my case, it took almost four months. Retool takes two to three hours to deploy for a simple project. It is very easy; you just have to drag and drop.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I don't know Retool's current pricing, but it cost around $12 per month earlier.
What other advice do I have?
For my use case, the solution helps me to create multiple charts and tables for data. The solution is deployed on the cloud in our organization. I would recommend the solution to other users.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Has notably streamlined the creation and management of admin panels in my organization
What is our primary use case?
I employ Retool primarily to build admin panels that effectively manage office and backend project staff. These panels facilitate the management of various organizational functions and streamline user interactions with upstream processes. Retool is deployed in a cloud-based environment, enhancing its accessibility and integration capabilities.
How has it helped my organization?
Retool has notably streamlined the creation and management of admin panels in my organization, reducing the need for extensive coding and expediting deployment processes. This efficiency has led to a faster turnaround in managing backend operations, proving highly beneficial for organizational productivity.
What is most valuable?
Retool's most valuable features are its drag-and-drop components and the ability to customize them extensively. These features allow for quick setup and easy modifications, which are essential for tailoring applications to specific organizational needs without extensive coding knowledge.
What needs improvement?
One area for improvement in Retool is expanding its library support to include a broader range of third-party JavaScript libraries. This would enhance the tool's versatility and allow more complex functionalities to integrate seamlessly into the admin panels.
Retool should include enhanced graphical customization tools in its next release, particularly for creating more dynamic visual representations within the admin panels.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Retool for approximately two and a half years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Retool is stable and doesn't currently suffer from significant bugs or issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Retool has proven to be a scalable solution, consistently supporting the growing needs of my organization without any significant issues.
How are customer service and support?
I have had minimal need to contact the support team, and the available online resources have been sufficient to resolve any queries.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of Retool was straightforward with ample documentation available, facilitating an easy adoption process.
What about the implementation team?
Retool had an in-house deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
For new users, evaluate the scale of their administrative needs as Retool provides excellent free services for smaller setups, but larger deployments might require transitioning to a paid plan.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before adopting Retool, I considered other options like Appsmith but chose Retool for its superior user interface and integration capabilities.
What other advice do I have?
On the AI side, they have an enterprise feature through which, while working on DB, if you want to send a query, like wanting to set users, which is greater than fifty, but you are unsure if that is secure, so AI helps in sending an actual query. Retool helps get the exact query, and it gets added when pasting the same around the query. This, in a way, means AI can be used for that if you do not have answers to complex queries.
Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Used to create multiple reporting dashboards and implement low-code workflows to communicate with RESTful APIs
What is our primary use case?
We are using Retool to create multiple reporting dashboards and implementing low-code workflows to communicate with our RESTful APIs and multiple databases.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Retool is the workflow because I can integrate multiple features, such as RESTful API, JavaScript API, or different databases on the same dashboard. I can also do the ETL of the data, trigger events, execute specific scripts, or even generate emails or notifications via that workflow.
What needs improvement?
The part where we can add some custom logic or custom plugins could be better. Some options are very limited, and we have to do something using code over there.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Retool for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We haven’t faced any issue with the solution’s stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
A team of 30 users is using the solution in our organization.
I rate the solution’s scalability an eight out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously created custom applications using many coding technologies. Other than Retool, we have used Xano and Bubble for low-code technologies.
What other advice do I have?
Our company is a customer of Retool, but we develop the internal tools for our company. At some point, we faced issues communicating with some APIs because of some limitations in the plugin when generating the emails for Firebase. We cannot directly communicate with the Firebase features. So, I had to do some coding in the plugin to overcome that.
We recently implemented Retool with our AI product, which was pretty good. I would recommend Retool to other users because it is a good tool if you know how to use it. Someone with basic programming or application development knowledge can use the solution. You must be clear about what you want to implement, what the use case is, and what the requirements are.
Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Easy to use, I don't need to write extensive code and built-in components helps to develop tools
What is our primary use case?
I've built Retool applications for clients who collect feedback from users. Some clients use Retool internally for their established companies with millions of users. They need specific data from their databases, so I create custom tools to retrieve and sometimes update or modify that data.
My company has its own product: an application and website for employers and job seekers. We are providing tier one to tier two sitting on the app. We use Retool to track the data of our job seekers, employers, and others. We also use Retool to modify and add data for companies and employers.
How has it helped my organization?
The integration capabilities have enhanced the existing tech stack. Retool has provided a lot of services, like their own cloud and database handling. They have also provided other databases besides MongoDB, like SQL.
And if we want to integrate other platforms, like email, and other services, we can reconfigure each one and use it.
Retool recently licensed the AI part about one to two months ago. So we can use AI for databases as well as for the support site.
What is most valuable?
The best thing about Retool is its ease of use. You don't need to write extensive code. It's easy to establish and enable functionalities without coding the front end. Retool's built-in components help you develop tools quickly for your team.
Modifications are also easy, and your team can use all the functionalities with ease. Overall, Retool provides us with the opportunity to save time and be more efficient.
What needs improvement?
Retool provides multiple tools and functionalities that we can use. However, there are restrictions on the front-end side. From the back-end side, we can use anything, but on the front-end, we have limited tools. This limits our ability to enhance functionality.
For example, if I'm creating a tool for you to collect feedback from your clients or users, we have limited resources on the front-end. For the back-end, we have unlimited resources, but for the front-end, we are restricted to creating dashboards and similar tools.
If you want to enable other functionalities, we can add them, but this is a limitation on the front-end side.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using it for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is totally stable. It's not written on, like, ten, but it is just stable. I've been using it for the last two years, and I haven't found any bugs. So, according to me, it is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We are able to perform everything. Even if we add more users, it still performs the same.
We have taken the $10 per month solution for one team member with admin access. Five to six members are using that admin access. But if you have five members and want to give each a specific login ID and password to track their activity, then you can take five-member access. For that, they will charge $10 per user, so $50 per month.
How are customer service and support?
I have contacted them earlier. I was getting some info with my link. At that time, Retool had updated their whole platform. They had sent a mail, but I didn't check it, so I contacted the support team, and they replied over email and their support site. So that is a pretty soft end of frequent.
It's not bad, but it's not good. They have to support totally over emails. They could implement a support site or chat system, so that would be an added benefit. But, they have replied very frequently over email.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Retool is very easy and efficient for creating both the client-side (front-end) and back-end. To save time, we have created multiple internal tools using Retool.
If we were using React, for example, we would have to hire another person to work on it and create the whole internal site, which would be time-consuming. But with Retool, we already have a certified front-end part.
We have created what we need and then enabled the back-end. So it is time-saving and easy to use.
How was the initial setup?
It's very easy to install and use. Retool is basically a website. If your organization wants to use it, you create an account, and they will provide a specific link for your organization. For example, if your organization's name is ABC, then Retool will provide you with a link. You use this link for all your work.
Inside, you log in, create tools, and use everything. You can also share different tools with different team members, and they provide that feature. You can track everything your team does. This is a recent benefit that makes Retool easy to use.
Deployment Model:
The deployment model depends on the requirements. Retool offers cloud hosting for $10. If you use it for feedback collection, you can use Retool's cloud. You do not need another cloud.
However, if you need to use personal internal tools and data from your database, you'll need to integrate your database with Retool.
What was our ROI?
It's worth the money. Retool also provides free tools for limited use, so I don't have to pay any money.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Retool is cheap compared to other platforms. For me, I'm in India right now, and Retool's subscription for one team member for $10 per month. I think that is very cheap. Other platforms charge more, like $80 or $100. So that is the key for us.
What other advice do I have?
My recommendation is based on the use case. For example, I would want to know for what purpose you want to use Retool.
For building custom internal tools with drag-and-drop UI and prebuilt components, it is the best tool. It is easy to build and can be customized at any time. It will also be the best practice for any internal team. You can track everything, like editing specifications and the working scenario of each team member.
It is easy to learn. A beginner only has to take a demo once. After that, it is very easy to use. Everything is in one format, and the user can search, track, and use it at a time. So, it is very easy to use for any internal team.
Overall, I will give it a nine out of ten. For internal users and operation teams, Retool has helped a lot. We have a lot of components/configurations and other things to create the whole database and tools. There is a lot of configuration, but Retool makes it easy to configure and create a proper host. So, I will give it nine out of ten.