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Founder, No Code MBA
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Bubble vs Retool

An in-depth head to head comparison

In this article, read a side-by-side comparison between two no-code tools: Bubble and Retool. We'll compare pricing, the benefits, the drawbacks, give examples of what you can and can't build, as well as our overall recommendation.

What is Bubble?

Bubble introduces a new way to build a web application. It's a no-code point-and-click programming tool. Bubble hosts all applications on its cloud platform.
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Learn everything you need to know about Bubble

Our in-depth course will take your from a beginner to expert

The Complete Guide to Bubble

What is Retool?

Build internal tools, remarkably fast
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Pricing

Bubble pricing

  • Free basic plan with the bubble.io domain, Bubble branding, limited data storage
  • $25/month - $115/month for custom domains and no branding, scheduled workflows, dev versions, and additional data storage

Retool pricing

  • Free plan with editor mode only and up to 5 modules
  • $10/month - $50/month per user enables user mode (people can use your app without the ability to edit your set up), version history, more modules, and more advanced features

Benefits

Bubble benefits

  • Powerful web app builder
  • Can build just about any type of web app
  • Can integrate APIs
  • Lots of templates
  • Active community

Retool benefits

  • Build internal apps connected to your company's data
  • Supports data from just about every database and data source
  • Lots of templates and components
  • Display, filter, and edit your company's data directly from retool
  • Allows businesses to create custom dashboards without developer resources

Drawbacks

Bubble drawbacks

  • More difficult to create your app's design than other tools. However, as of November 2021, Bubble released a new responsive designer, which makes designing easier than in the past.
  • Published apps can be slightly slow

Retool drawbacks

  • Somewhat high learning curve

What you can build

Bubble use-cases

  • Complex web apps - just about anything can be built
  • Apps that connect to APIs
  • Apps that scale

Retool use-cases

  • Internal dashboards
  • Internal apps for your business such as a refund management system, data visualization, inventory management, content scheduler, promo code manager and more

What you can't build

What you can't build with Bubble

  • Native mobile apps

What you can't build with Retool

  • Customer-facing apps (Retool apps are meant to be used internally)

Overall Recommendation

Bubble recommendation

Bubble is best for more complex web app MVPs and for building scalable web apps.

It's a really powerful tool that can build just about any web app, but also comes with a higher learning curve.

I’d use Bubble in cases where your use-case is too complex for Glide or Webflow.

Retool recommendation

Retool is a fantastic tool for building internal apps at your business.

Where Retool really shines is allowing non-technical people to build apps that interact with a live database without needing to use developers.

Retool is the best tool for this use-case.

Access all of this with No-Code MBA Unlimited
Unlock premium step-by-step tutorials building real apps and websites
Easy to follow tutorials broken down into lessons between 2 to 20 minutes
Get access to the community to share what you're building, ask questions, and get support if you're stuck
Friendly Tip!
Companies often reimburse No Code MBA memberships. Here's an email template to send to your manager.

Bring Your Ideas to Life with AI and No Code

Unlock premium step-by-step tutorials building real apps and websites
Easy to follow tutorials broken down into lessons between 2 to 20 minutes
Get access to the community to share what you're building, ask questions, and get support if you're stuck
Access all of this with No-Code MBA Unlimited
Unlock premium step-by-step tutorials building real apps and websites
Easy to follow tutorials broken down into lessons between 2 to 20 minutes
Get access to the community to share what you're building, ask questions, and get support if you're stuck
Friendly Tip!
Companies often reimburse No Code MBA memberships. Here's an email template to send to your manager.

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