Microsoft Azure App Service vs Retool comparison

Microsoft Azure App Service

Read 8 Retool reviews

506 Views
506 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Microsoft Azure App Service and Retool compete in cloud solutions and internal tool development. Azure App Service stands out in comprehensive cloud infrastructure, while Retool's strength lies in rapid application development.

Features: Microsoft Azure App Service offers built-in auto-scaling, continuous deployment, and seamless Azure ecosystem integration. It supports Docker, multiple frameworks, and sophisticated scaling options, tailored for extensive cloud deployment. Retool is lauded for its drag-and-drop interface, rich component library, and integration with APIs, making it ideal for quick internal tool assembly. It offers customizable components and seamless database connectivity.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Azure App Service may need simplification in configuration management and a more intuitive user interface. Integration with non-Microsoft products could be improved, along with better pricing visibility. Retool can enhance its scalability for larger deployments, provide a broader range of components, and include more in-depth technical support documentation to aid complex customizations. Incorporating enhanced analytics tools would also be beneficial.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Azure App Service demands more technical expertise due to its complex configurations but benefits from strong support within the Microsoft ecosystem. Retool emphasizes simplicity in deployment, offering a user-friendly experience with tailored support focused on developers creating internal tools. Its straightforward deployment process aids teams in rapid roll-out.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Azure App Service has a flexible pricing model suitable for different business sizes, with a potentially higher initial cost that aligns with its extensive functionalities. Retool presents a compelling ROI through reduced development time and complexity, making it a cost-effective choice for rapid internal solutions. Its pricing structure is attractive for environments prioritizing speed and flexibility.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Azure App Service vs. Retool Report (Updated: September 2025).

Microsoft Azure App Service vs. Retool

Download the complete report

Helped 869,566 peers since 2012

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

Microsoft Azure App Service

Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software

7th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Mobile Development Platforms (4th)

Retool

Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software

16th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure App Service is 3.0%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Retool is 0.9%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Rapid Application Development Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Azure App Service	3.0%
Retool	0.9%
Other	96.1%

Rapid Application Development Software

Featured Reviews

AntonioNascimento

Solutions Architect at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Seamless integration and application hosting enabled through versatile service

When using a Linux App Service or containerized App Services, the logging is not as good as when using the Windows version. The Linux App Service should be more user-friendly, focusing on logging, troubleshooting, and similar features. With Microsoft Azure App Service, it is more difficult with Linux or other container solutions because there are many options. When creating an App Service, you can create it as Linux or Windows. After that, you can choose some stack or use Docker to container. When using Linux with container, the logging functionality is not as robust.

Read full review

Anees Shoukat

Full Stack PHP/Python AWS Developer at Binary Port

Built-in features streamline data processing and integration

Retool provides built-in features with all processing happening within the platform, which is a significant advantage. The platform is easy to use without requiring the installation of different libraries. Various features are available through drag and drop and UI-based interactions. The tool allows data retrieval through queries and displays information directly. It offers data tools that grab information based on specified queries and draws everything on screen. If a table is needed, it efficiently lists down the table data. Data manipulation happens through queries. We simply specify the table and required query, and the results are displayed immediately. Permissions are required for access. When we grant access from AWS, Retool can access the data. Without proper permissions, access is restricted. We can provide view-only access in Retool while maintaining view, edit, and delete capabilities in the main system. This allows us to control access for sales personnel and external data viewing. The platform provides an extensive range of graphs and visualization options.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Azure App Service is customization. It provides the building block from its modularity. You can add what you need with the appropriate code."

"The most valuable feature is the ability to scale the application."

"Enroll in some kind of formal training, not from Microsoft, but from a partner, and keep up with the change because the Azure platform changes a lot."

"The integration works smoothly once you understand the process."

"One valuable feature of Azure App Service for us is its integration with Azure DevOps, which we heavily rely on in our development process."

"It is the best because it's easy to use, and there's a plan for every type of workload."

"The solution is very simple to set up."

"Overall, all of the features are very good."

More Microsoft Azure App Service pros

"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."

"We can create the dashboards quickly."

"Retool can be used with many applications as it is language independent; anyone can use it easily and create various visualizations regardless of their programming knowledge—this is the main reason I recommend it."

"Retool provides built-in features with all processing happening within the platform, which is a significant advantage."

"The stability is okay."

"Retool provides us with the opportunity to save time and be more efficient."

"Retool's most valuable features are its drag-and-drop components and the ability to customize them extensively."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is connectivity with APIs and other databases."

More Retool pros

Cons

"There is still room for improvement in terms of the maturity of the solution. Everything is available that we need, but the issue is that they are still upgrading. Even though they have Azure applications and automation services, they still need to mature more. There are many things that need to mature and the road map for this is quite long, taking another three to eight years to have a mature solution."

"The main area that requires improvement is the function apps and logic apps, specifically from a VNet integration standpoint."

"Initially, there were some rare instances when the server went down because it was deployed on Linux."

"Licensing, pricing, and potential technical issues could be improved."

"Licensing, pricing, and potential technical issues could be improved. Microsoft's support and technical aspects like installation complexity could use enhancement."

"It would be fantastic if Microsoft morphed after my exit service, removing it from subscriptions and moving it to different regions, especially for that service."

"I do not have notes for improvements."

"The solution is somewhat expensive."

More Microsoft Azure App Service cons

"The part where we can add some custom logic or custom plugins could be better."

"Retool should add more resource integration."

"AI tools, features, and machine learning capabilities should be added as they would be helpful in the future."

"The solution lacks inbuilt customization to customize bar charts."

"Retool could enhance support, including efforts to establish support centers in Europe, which was lacking previously. However, the community is still in the growth phase, leading to potential delays in receiving responses to queries."

"One area for improvement in Retool is expanding its library support to include a broader range of third-party JavaScript libraries."

"AI tools, features, and machine learning capabilities should be added as they would be helpful in the future."

"The components are changed frequently, which is very irritating."

More Retool cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product's price is low, especially if we compare it with other tools or clouds, like Google Cloud or AWS Cloud."

"Azure App Service is expensive compared to its competitors, especially its cloud-only version."

"The pricing for Microsoft Azure App Service is per hour, and you're billed per hour, and it depends on the plan you're using. Each plan can host up to a minimum of four to eight applications at a time, so the pricing is quite okay with how I use Microsoft Azure App Service currently, but with the little testing I've done, I saw that some other regions tend to be costlier than others. If the same SLE is delivered for all services, there should be a way to make the prices parallel across regions. Having more transparent pricing for Microsoft Azure App Service would give customers more comfort."

"The product is not expensive. The tool's price is okay for all of the benefits you get from the solution."

"We have no complaints about the pricing."

"The pricing for this solution is set in tiers, with the overall cost depending on the features that are required. I would advise organizations to have a detailed look at the functions they need, to ensure that they are in the correct pricing tier."

"I would rate the product's pricing a five out of ten and is subscription based."

"Azure doesn't cost as much as other services."

More Microsoft Azure App Service pricing and cost advice

"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."

"The tool is a little bit expensive."

"For me, I'm in India right now, and we have Retool's subscription for one team member for $10 per month."

"I don't know Retool's current pricing, but it cost around $12 per month earlier."

"The pricing is very expensive. It costs for each user, for automated users, open-end users, et cetera."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Rapid Application Development Software solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

14%

Outsourcing Company

10%

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	12
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	33

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	2

Questions from the Community

Would you choose Microsoft Azure App Service or PowerApps?

Microsoft Azure App Service is helpful if you need to set up temporary servers for customers to run their programs in locations that other cloud providers do not cater to. When servers are closer t...

Do you recommend Microsoft Azure App Service?

I highly recommend Microsoft Azure. We have been using it for nearly four years. We mostly use it for creating and maintaining websites, such as content management systems like WordPress sites, whi...

What do you like most about Microsoft Azure App Service?

One valuable feature of Azure App Service for us is its integration with Azure DevOps, which we heavily rely on in our development process.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Retool?

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.

What needs improvement with Retool?

The platform already provides many features, and additional features aren't necessary for medium-level usage. Only very high-level requirements might necessitate more features. AI tools, features, ...

What is your primary use case for Retool?

In Retool, I have designed graphs and data tools to implement rules-based functionality. Instead of implementing these features in our platform, we created them through Retool because we only provi...

Microsoft Power Apps vs Microsoft Azure App Service

Comparisons

Compared 38% of the time

Oracle Application Express (APEX) vs Microsoft Azure App Service

Compared 18% of the time

ServiceNow vs Microsoft Azure App Service

Compared 11% of the time

Pega Platform vs Microsoft Azure App Service

Compared 6% of the time

Cloudflare Workers vs Microsoft Azure App Service

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Azure App Service Competitors

Streamlit vs Retool

Compared 60% of the time

Pega Platform vs Retool

Compared 17% of the time

AWS App Studio vs Retool

Compared 13% of the time

ToolJet vs Retool

Compared 11% of the time

More Retool Competitors

Product Reports

Microsoft Azure App Service

Download Microsoft Azure App Service product report

Download Retool product report

Also Known As

Azure App Service, MS Azure App Service

No data available

Overview

Microsoft Azure App Service is an HTTP-based mobile application development platform and solution. It is designed to enable organizations to completely control their application development and hosting processes.

Microsoft Azure App Service Benefits

Some of the benefits that come from using Microsoft Azure App Service include:

A high level of security. Microsoft Azure App Service comes with enterprise-level and industry-standard SLAs through the use of PCI security standards. Users can go about developing their applications without having to worry about exposure to security risks. Microsoft Azure App Service keeps the application development process secure so that all that users have to worry about is creating their application.

Collaborate and develop applications from anywhere. Teams that are spread out across the globe can collaborate and build applications from anywhere that they happen to be. Microsoft’s global data center is a cloud hub that developers can take advantage of to connect their teams if they are located in disparate locations. It can handle all of a developer's application hosting needs.

Multi-format and multi-lingual support. Microsoft Azure App Service supports both physical machine and virtual machine formats. In addition, it also supports a variety of different programming languages.

Utilize pre-fabricated templates. Microsoft Azure App Service gives developers access to an extensive list of templates. These can both ease the process of planning the development of applications by providing developers with ideas and make it easier for the developers to build them.

Microsoft Azure App Service Features

Some of the many useful features Microsoft Azure App Service has to offer include:

When users choose to employ the Microsoft Azure App Service solution, they gain access to many different capabilities. These features include:

Manual or automatic auto-scaling capabilities. Microsoft Azure App Service enables developers to control how their applications auto-scale. Developers can employ the auto-scaling feature by hand or set it so that it automatically rescales according to their needs.

IDE integrations. Microsoft Azure App Service can easily integrate with various IDE software solutions. This gives developers access to many analytic, debugging, and monitoring options.

Deployment slots. These are virtual spaces where developers can test and deploy new versions of their applications while working on them. This feature allows developers to resolve any issues before the new version of the application is put into production.

Reviews from Real Users

Microsoft Azure App Service’s versatility offers organizations that use it a great deal. It is a very complete, ready-to-use, out-of-the-box mobile development solution that gives users the capabilities that they need to design their mobile applications with the greatest level of ease. In addition, users can employ the cloud to scale operations so that their applications have the proper amount of space to run at the time that they need it.

Andriy L., the Azure practice leader at a computer software company, writes, “I like that it's a ready-to-use, out-of-the-box solution that provides all of the necessary functions for customers, such as codes that can be quickly switched from the production version, or test and DEV versions to production.”

Yasir M., a solution architect at Komatsu, writes, "The best feature is scalability, which allows you to target potential clients worldwide by connecting the application to a local server. This makes the application readily accessible, and the response time will be much better."

Microsoft

Retool enables rapid construction of internal tools with minimal coding, streamlining workflows across HR, customer support, and compliance. Praised for its drag-and-drop interface, extensive component library, and SQL support, it boosts organizational efficiency by automating tasks and enhancing data management.

Sample Customers

Real Madrid, Absolut, AccuWeather, Heineken, NBC News, Paramount

Information Not Available

Microsoft Azure App Service vs. Retool