OutSystems vs Retool comparison

OutSystems and Retool are both solutions in the Rapid Application Development Software category. OutSystems is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.7, while Retool is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.1. OutSystems holds a 5.5% mindshare in RADS, compared to Retool’s 1.0% mindshare. Additionally, 94% of OutSystems users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Retool users who would recommend it.

OutSystems

Read 53 OutSystems reviews

6,305 Views
5,422 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Retool

Read 10 Retool reviews

640 Views
640 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

OutSystems

Retool

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

OutSystems and Retool are key players in the low-code development segment. OutSystems is favored for its comprehensive feature set, appealing to larger enterprises with its scalability and integration abilities. Retool, however, shines in efficiency, particularly for creating internal tools, thanks to its ease of use and integration capabilities. Data suggests OutSystems has higher satisfaction in pricing and support, while Retool provides a feature-focused model that attracts use in specific scenarios.

Features: OutSystems offers robust features such as full-stack support, visual programming, and advanced security measures. Its scalability and enterprise-grade solutions make it suitable for complex applications. Retool emphasizes efficient internal software creation with rapid interface development, API integrations, and pre-built components, providing ease and agility in customizing applications.

Room for Improvement: OutSystems can improve by simplifying its deployment process to cater to smaller organizations, enhancing user interface components for non-IT users, and reducing its overall cost to attract smaller enterprises. Retool could benefit from expanding its feature set to match broader enterprise needs, enhancing security features for large-scale use, and offering more comprehensive customer support options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Retool's deployment is designed for simplicity with minimal setup, allowing quick configuration, making it ideal for teams needing rapid solutions. OutSystems deployment is more structured and fits larger organizations requiring comprehensive application management. It boasts more extensive customer service, providing enterprise-level support, while Retool offers quicker, more direct assistance tailored to its niche user base.

Pricing and ROI: OutSystems involves a higher initial setup cost, justified by its scalability and comprehensive solution suite, offering long-term ROI for complex projects. Retool presents a more cost-effective initial setup, focusing on swift deployment and targeted ROI for internal tasks. While OutSystems targets versatile enterprise needs with higher pricing satisfaction, Retool is ideal for swift, internal application deployment, balancing cost and capability effectively.

To learn more, read our detailed OutSystems vs. Retool Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

OutSystems vs. Retool

December 2025

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Helped 879,310 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

OutSystems

Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software

4th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Mobile Development Platforms (1st), Low-Code Development Platforms (2nd), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (5th)

Retool

Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software

15th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

AI Software Development (11th)

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2025, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of OutSystems is 5.5%, down from 7.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Retool is 1.0%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Rapid Application Development Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
OutSystems	5.5%
Retool	1.0%
Other	93.5%

Rapid Application Development Software

Featured Reviews

Mohamed Aktharul Ameen

Software Developer Advisor at NTT DATA Services

OutSystems facilitates rapid application development and effective project management

What I find valuable about OutSystems is that it has a very good learning curve for developers. Within two weeks, we can gain knowledge in OutSystems, and it is very easy to learn. With my background being .NET, OutSystems is straightforward to learn, which is beneficial. Developing applications in OutSystems is good, and the flexibility allowed by OutSystems for application development is excellent compared to my experiences with other low-code technologies, where I've faced some challenges. The clean separation of concerns in the architecture provided by OutSystems is a key benefit compared to other platforms. OutSystems integrates with our existing tech infrastructure and provides flexible integration. If we want to integrate with third-party services, OutSystems has SOAP and RESTful services that allow us to consume external services, integrate with external databases such as SQL or Oracle, and includes integration studio for writing custom .NET code. After developing a .NET component, we can reference it in service studio, creating a reference file that makes integration easy. OutSystems officially supports various integrations and also includes an API discovery tool for consuming and exposing services, providing a lot of information about incoming URLs, similar to how we use Postman.

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Yannick LE GAL

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.

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

"Reduces the manual labor in compiling and deploying applications and generating procedural code (by reducing development bureaucracy/processes, resulting in real gains). The LifeTime Server approach, requiring just a few steps to publish applications in production environments, is fantastic."

"The tool makes the development process easier."

"We used almost all of the features, themes, styling guide, and approach components. They are useful in our applications."

"We can do the validation before calling the API."

"The most valuable feature is Agile development. I love that you save a lot of time on development and can focus on logic and business requirements."

"It is much easier to develop applications with the product’s IDE."

"Scalability proved to be an exceptionally beneficial feature."

"There is literally a ton of stuff it can do. It's very flexible."

More OutSystems pros

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

"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 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."

"We can create the dashboards quickly."

"Retool positively impacts our organization by saving costs compared to using other data repositories, and teams prefer Retool for daily tasks that perform customizations to showcase web pages or link their data backend, making it more efficient and cost-effective than other software available in the market."

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

"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."

More Retool pros

Cons

"The latest version of the app generation tools could be more user-friendly."

"There are not enough resources on the market."

"I would like to see more integration between the use of artificial intelligence to speed up the process delivery time."

"OutSystems could improve by being more like GitHub. It would be more helpful for us for division management and version control for our application."

"There are many tutorials available but they are very basic and good for learning the platform. To develop an enterprise-grade application, advanced tutorials need to be developed to help IT professionals design/develop high-quality/performance applications."

"I think OutSystems needs to improve in many areas. First, sometimes Service Studio becomes really slow and even hangs for long periods. Also, if I have not published my module in some time, and some kind of Service Studio exception occurs, I lose my work."

"The solution is costly."

"The integration points need to be increased. People have also started to adopt this solution for their regular needs. That means it's not only the big enterprises that are adopting this solution. There are also small and medium enterprises that are adopting it. I've read that where you have large deployments, OutSystems starts to crumble a bit. That is the idea that no customer would know at the beginning and would also not like to hit the wall there. When it is on the client, there are a lot of applications already on low-code, and then suddenly you realize that you want to do some big applications, and you face hurdles. This is the general feedback for all such platforms."

More OutSystems cons

"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."

"There are restrictions on the front-end side."

"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."

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

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

"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."

"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."

More Retool cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is expensive."

"There are no additional costs with the standard license."

"OutSystems is expensive, and they changed the pricing model in the last couple of years. It's changing too much and it's becoming unstable. They are constantly shifting their prices based on users, courses, and other factors."

"It is very high price."

"For a single application, it's too expensive."

"There is a free trial to use this solution and other options available, such as enterprise. There are different subscription plans."

"I believe they are very strict with their pricing platforms, or the pricing policies, and it changes."

"OutSystems was open to a deal that worked for both sides."

More OutSystems 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."

"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."

"The tool is a little bit expensive."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Manufacturing Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

14%

University

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	18
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	29

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

Which solution is better for developing non-ITSM applications: OutSystems or Service Now?

The short answer is that OutSystems is far better for 2 main reasons. Firstly, with Service Now you are locked into that platform for good. The business model is to lock in and then keep pumping th...

See all answers

What industries do you think OutSystems is most useful for?

I cannot really name an industry in which OutSystems cannot be beneficial. Who does not want to make top-notch applications that work in no time? And OutsyStems does exactly that. The low-code plat...

See all answers

How did you decide which OutSystems edition was the best one for you?

We started using OutSystems fairly recently, so we are still on the free version of it. My company is still testing how we like the platform, but so far, we have been satisfied with it and will li...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Comparisons

ServiceNow vs OutSystems

Compared 10% of the time

Mendix vs OutSystems

Compared 9% of the time

Oracle Application Express (APEX) vs OutSystems

Compared 8% of the time

Appian vs OutSystems

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Power Apps vs OutSystems

Compared 8% of the time

More OutSystems Competitors

Streamlit vs Retool

Compared 50% of the time

Pega Platform vs Retool

Compared 17% of the time

ToolJet vs Retool

Compared 13% of the time

AWS App Studio vs Retool

Compared 12% of the time

More Retool Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

OutSystems

December 2025

Download OutSystems product report

Buyer's Guide

Retool

December 2025

Download Retool product report

Overview

OutSystems is a platform for low-code application development that unites design, code, and deployment to simplify development so any business can create innovative solutions in a timely manner. There are various use cases an organization can employ with OutSystems, including:

Customer portals: Through OutSystems, companies can easily create customer portals and mobile applications and deploy them faster in comparison to manual coding. The platform offers businesses the opportunity to develop secure, scalable, and customized applications that support their and their customers' needs.
Internal apps: Using this solution, companies can also build internal applications and portals which can be used for their workforce. Using these, organizations can overcome their internal app backlog, bridge gaps between systems, and facilitate their work process.
Core systems: Custom software for running a business can also be developed using OutSystems. The tool shortens the time for developing core systems and delivers them flexible and personalized to each business' needs.

OutSystems offers faster development and deployment times than hand-coding while delivering unique and personalized solutions to its customers. The main focus of OutSystems is high-performance low code which enables businesses to create functional products that answer their needs. It offers clients the ability to develop enterprise-grade applications with a high level of security.

The product stands out from its competitors as it offers:

Serious applications
Serious productivity
Serious scalability

It ensures its clients that the applications built using this platform are as scalable as hand-coded ones while increasing workspace productivity and evolving applications’ capabilities.

OutSystems Features

OutSystems has various features through which users can develop and deploy highly efficient applications and other products. Some of the features include:

Monitoring: The tool has a feature that allows real-time monitoring of the usage of applications and their performance. All insights are reported to companies via the intuitive interface.
APIs: OutSystems is completely scalable through application programming interfaces.
Security: The product offers its users a high level of enterprise security for their applications as well as for their data.
Mobile: Every application created on OutSystems can be deployed for mobile. The product also provides the option to monitor the performance of applications to detect any issues.
DevOps automation: The product facilitates and shortens the development time of applications through various automation which help users create apps without the help of developers, as well as providing developers with additional resources.
Agile development: Every company that seeks to perform agile development can benefit from the native support this tool provides.
Debugging engine: OutSystems has an integrated debugging engine that can be utilized in the development and deployment processes, shortening the time it takes for developers and businesses to look for issues.
Multilingual support feature: Customers can benefit from support in multiple languages, ensuring their questions are answered understandably.

OutSystems Benefits

The solution offers a wide array of benefits to companies that utilize it in their application development. Some of these benefits include:

Visual development at high speed provides increases productivity for both businesses and users.
The option to integrate applications to a large number of systems without additional complications.
The product adds automation to all levels of development, including front end, back end, and integration, facilitating the delivery of complex applications.
Artificial intelligence (AI) validation ensures the high quality of applications.
The tool offers connectivity with more than 400 systems and existing technologies, allowing companies to save money they would otherwise have to invest in new software.
The multi-platform solution decreases costs for organizations by removing the need for third-party software.
It offers whole-team cross-functional collaboration, which can increase the technological knowledge in a company and raise the overall business expertise.

Reviews from Real Users

Harikrishnan R., a technical lead at Netlink Software Group America Inc, likes OutSystems because the tool helps with validation, offers good features, and is reliable.

An owner at a consultancy thinks OutSystems is versatile with great scalability and great technical support.

OutSystems

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.

Retool

Sample Customers

Randstad, Warner Brothers, HP, Intel, ING, Banco Popular, Thrivent Financial, Bacardi, Kent State University, Bacardi, FICO, ING, Vodafone, AbbVie, Estafeta, Siemens, Vopak

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Buyer's Guide

OutSystems vs. Retool

December 2025

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