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Mendix vs Retool comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Mendix
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
5th
Ranking in AI Software Development
11th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Mobile Development Platforms (2nd), Low-Code Development Platforms (3rd), Agentic Automation (5th), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (10th)
Retool
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
15th
Ranking in AI Software Development
12th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of Mendix is 4.1%, down from 7.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Retool is 1.2%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rapid Application Development Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Mendix4.1%
Retool1.2%
Other94.7%
Rapid Application Development Software
 

Featured Reviews

Mitchel Mol BGS - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at Blue Green Solutions
Has improved development quality and speed but has introduced persistent IDE slowdowns
In recent years, the IDE has been more buggy and slower, and although there have been more features added, I would like to see more stability, as some areas that used to work for a fairly long time are now slower in my development, which feels like a step back. I choose a seven mainly due to the issues we've faced with slowdowns and bugs during development, while runtime has been very stable, and the overall output on Mendix platform is still good; there is definitely some room for improvement, and I would probably have given it an eight or even a nine if those issues weren't hurting my developer output for the past few years. Overall, Mendix platform is stable, but the IDE could be better.
YL
IT consultant for healthcare sector at Freelancer
Has provided a quick way to build mobile apps and could improve usability for non-technical users
The best features Retool offers include the ability to quickly create a mobile app and use this mobile app in a native mobile app for Android. I found the process of creating and deploying those mobile apps for Android with Retool to be smooth as the documentation is very good, and I found answers and examples to create a mobile app. I can access a debug mode in the mobile app which was really convenient to make tests and find what can be improved, where I have a problem, and how to correct it. Retool positively impacted my organization as the proof of concept we built gave us a way to convince power users and key users before developing the real software. It was a way to maintain the launch date of the project, which helped speed up the project timeline and save resources.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"You can scale the solution."
"The user experience is great."
"Mendix isn't just an IDE or a coding language; it's a whole platform where you don't have to worry about hosting or monitoring your application, tracking project progress or user stories, as everything is essentially provided by the platform, and it has a very active community helping you out if you have any questions at all."
"On a recent project, using Mendix cut development time by about 40-50% compared to traditional coding for a workflow app."
"The domain model of Mendix is highly valuable as it allows quick setup and public deployment."
"After implementing Mendix, they reduced by 98% the engineers' relocation, as 98% of the cases are now being done by video calls instead of in-person appointments, which says a lot, even though the company didn't provide any numbers on how much is saved."
"The most valuable features are the integration and UI customization."
"The most valuable features are the decorative style, model-driven development, and the fact that Mendix validates flows. Mendix is quick to develop because it's a low-code platform. It's very robust, flexible, open, and scalable. It's for a low-code customer. The tooling is also really good and it has mobile capabilities."
"Retool's most valuable features are its drag-and-drop components and the ability to customize them extensively."
"Retool positively impacted my organization as the proof of concept we built gave us a way to convince power users and key users before developing the real software."
"There are several key aspects to Retool that make it stand out. Firstly, its extensive range of components makes integration straightforward. Secondly, its support for SQL and JavaScript allows for the implementation of complex logic, which is particularly beneficial for developers like yourself with experience in .NET development."
"Retool positively impacted my organization as the proof of concept we built gave us a way to convince power users and key users before developing the real software."
"Retool provides us with the opportunity to save time and be more efficient."
"Retool positively impacted my organization as the proof of concept we built gave us a way to convince power users and key users before developing the real software."
"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."
"Retool positively impacted my organization as the proof of concept we built gave us a way to convince power users and key users before developing the real software."
 

Cons

"It is expensive."
"You need experienced programmers and developers to understand this solution."
"Mendix could improve in customization and UI, UX flexibility, native mobile development, and agile tooling for developers."
"There needs to be an increase in the number of the UI components."
"It needs to provide an overview of model versioning control for the sake of the review process; better SCRUM board; an overview of model changes from the repository through Sprintr (SCRUM board). Also, a choice between versioning control system would be nice."
"All software applications have their hiccups, including the Mendix Studio Pro developers program."
"Mendix could improve in customization and UI, UX flexibility, native mobile development, and agile tooling for developers."
"A constraint of Mendix is that you have to look for the required plugins which takes up development time. There are a limited number of Mendix experts in the market."
"Retool, being a low-code/no-code platform, could improve by allowing users, particularly non-technical users, to use it more easily."
"Retool should add more resource integration."
"In the mobile app development, you have to use JavaScript to interact with components, and for non-technical users, it's already too technical, so Retool has to add some integrated solutions."
"The part where we can add some custom logic or custom plugins could be better."
"One area for improvement in Retool is expanding its library support to include a broader range of third-party JavaScript libraries."
"The solution lacks inbuilt customization to customize bar charts."
"There are restrictions on the front-end side."
"The UI of Retool could be improved, as I am not fond of the current design, and there should be a platform for learning how to use Retool efficiently, especially since our software team customizes it for their needs, leaving the operational team with limited knowledge on how to customize it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is a bit expensive compared to others"
"Its cost is higher than competitors. The cost mostly includes licensing. It is charged per user. The cost model could be better. When you have a big company, what does per user mean? If I have a company where I have 40,000 people who will go to access it but only 200 do, how do you license it and who do you pay for? If they hit it once, do you pay for it? The licensing is complex for a big company. It is easy for us to buy all we can eat, get an enterprise license agreement, and call it good."
"Licensing costs are similar to those for all other IT technology, but they vary by region."
"Mendix licensing cost is based on the number of apps you have on the server. At the basic level, it is free of charge, so that seems reasonable, but once you go beyond that, and when it comes to the number of users on the app, that basic structure doesn't work, and the pricing tends to get a little bit steep."
"Mendix seems a bit expensive. But in terms of wanting to have less developers and higher velocity, the total cost of ownership is fine. It's not cheap, though."
"From a commercial point of view, we would like them to change that they currently sell it as a platform, but as a customer you have to decide upfront the usage of the platform. We would like to have Mendix sell it as a pay as you go model: You pay for what you use, and you don't pay for what you don't use."
"Pricing used to be complex, but Mendix has improved that quite a bit."
"I would not recommend the solution to small and medium-sized businesses because it’s expensive. It’s great for big organizations. I rate the pricing as a three out of ten."
"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."
"I don't know Retool's current pricing, but it cost around $12 per month earlier."
"For me, I'm in India right now, and we have Retool's subscription for one team member for $10 per month."
"The tool is a little bit expensive."
"The pricing is very expensive. It costs for each user, for automated users, open-end users, et cetera."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Computer Software Company
11%
Retailer
6%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Comms Service Provider
14%
University
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise25
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Mendix?
We also use Mendix Enterprise Integration for complex business logic. It's a low-code platform, so we run Mendix in the Mendix Cloud.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Mendix?
I do not have much experience with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing because the sales or business team usually handles that, and as a developer, I don't have a clear idea.
What needs improvement with Mendix?
Improvements for Mendix include that sometimes it gets hung while loading.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Retool?
The pricing, setup cost, and licensing experience were good as the free plan was enough for us.
What needs improvement with Retool?
Retool, being a low-code/no-code platform, could improve by allowing users, particularly non-technical users, to use it more easily. In the mobile app development, you have to use JavaScript to int...
What is your primary use case for Retool?
My main use case for Retool involves an inventory app project. I built a mobile app to make an inventory of chemistry products. Retool helped me with that project as it was a good way to show a qui...
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Genzyme, TNT, Yahoo, Capgemini, Roche, D&B, Aegon, kpn, AZL, Sky, Arch, Penn State Univeristy, BancABC
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Find out what your peers are saying about Mendix vs. Retool and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.