

OutSystems and Retool compete in the low-code application development space. OutSystems appears to have the upper hand for large-scale projects with its extensive features and adaptability, while Retool is favored for rapid deployment of internal tools due to its simplicity and cost-effectiveness.
Features: OutSystems empowers users with rapid application development via drag-and-drop capabilities, integration options, and a comprehensive component library. Its pre-built templates and strong support for integrations are key highlights. Retool stands out for its drag-and-drop components, customization options, and minimal coding requirements, all aiding quick internal tool creation.
Room for Improvement: OutSystems is often critiqued for its high cost, limited integration points, and architecture flexibility. There is a desire for better AI integration and enhanced testing frameworks. Retool's limitations are centered around customization, especially in third-party JavaScript library support and component version control. Users seek more options suitable for larger-scale deployments.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OutSystems offers deployment in Hybrid, Public Clouds, and On-premises environments, providing versatility. However, it has mixed reviews concerning customer support due to response times. Retool is structured around Public Cloud deployment, which is efficient for simple internal tools but offers fewer options than OutSystems. Both platforms have room to improve their customer service response times.
Pricing and ROI: OutSystems is perceived as expensive, burdening small to mid-sized enterprises with its high initial and yearly costs despite its rapid application development capabilities. Retool, conversely, is budget-friendly for small teams, offering an affordable subscription model that promotes swift development of internal tools without significant financial commitment.
Developing that same project in OutSystems can be completed in around 40 to 50% less time, requiring only six resources.
Time efficiency. Your team can be deployed to work on different modules parallelly and you can really save time up to an enormous level.
We had fewer front-end resources, and while developing with Retool, we did not need many front-end team members, which saved on salaries.
I think we can see time saved to start the proof of concept and maybe money saved because I was able to develop the mobile app alone without needing additional resources.
We have seen a return on investment because we are building these internal dashboards 30 to 50% faster, so we are saving approximately 30 to 50% of an employee's time.
Many helpful videos and documentation are available on the OutSystems site, making it relatively easy to learn the platform.
They do have the customer support ticketing system where you can raise the ticket, decide the priority, and depending upon your priority and urgency, they are going to resolve your problem.
There have been no issues with support,
The customer support is amazing; overall, AWS customer support is very professional and fast.
It is very easy to learn and integrate within our database and infrastructure because we are already on Amazon Web Services, and our entire tech stack is on Amazon Web Services.
Technical support team is available, but I haven't needed to contact them.
They can be deployed vertically and horizontally, supporting as many deployments as needed.
It's scalable and doesn't experience any slowdown when handling increasing data volumes.
Retool is more suited for startups, but it can get messy at scale.
Retool is stable in my experience.
It is crucial to be aware of which module corresponds to which application in real-time projects, as there are multiple applications.
You have to design your architecture in a very magnificent and decent way so that how you process your data so that load can be easily balanced.
I would like to see more integration between the use of artificial intelligence to speed up the process delivery time.
Retool needs more customization options, as it should not be limited to a few customization features; it should be broader, with more features available for users to utilize.
AI tools, features, and machine learning capabilities should be added as they would be helpful in the future.
There should be better documentation or support for non-technical users, providing a platform to learn and implement Retool effectively.
Subsequent users can be added at an additional cost per user; exact pricing details can be found on the OutSystems site.
The pricing, setup cost, and licensing experience were good as the free plan was enough for us.
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Retool is that it is straightforward but somewhat pricey compared to other industry leaders such as Sentry and others.
OutSystems offers a lot of reusable components and solutions that I can simply drag and drop and use, which has a significant impact on project delivery time.
We use integration extensively in OutSystems, which allows us to connect our own internal systems to our newly created system applications.
OutSystems has a very good learning curve for developers.
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.
Compared to other solutions, the time is 30 to 50% shorter when we are building an internal tool using Retool.
Retool provides built-in features with all processing happening within the platform, which is a significant advantage.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| OutSystems | 4.6% |
| Retool | 1.4% |
| Other | 94.0% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 19 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 7 |
| Large Enterprise | 32 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 7 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 3 |
| Large Enterprise | 4 |
OutSystems is a low-code platform designed for accelerated application development, offering customizable UI with drag-and-drop features and integration options for efficient workflow management.
OutSystems supports rapid project delivery through visual modeling and reusable components, facilitating Agile development across platforms. It integrates seamlessly with databases and external services, offering native mobile capabilities and enterprise scalability. While known for handling complex demands with ease, users suggest enhancements in AI integration, support services, pricing, and documentation. Automation, version control, and learning resources are other areas highlighted for potential improvement. OutSystems is widely used for streamlining processes in banking, healthcare, and insurance industries, with integrations into SAP and ServiceNow, leveraging cloud capabilities on AWS and Azure.
What are the key features of OutSystems?In industries such as banking, healthcare, and insurance, OutSystems is employed to develop both web and mobile applications for streamlined processes and task automation. Companies use this platform for rapid application development, integrating with systems like SAP and ServiceNow, and employing cloud services from AWS and Azure for optimized deployment.
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.
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