Retool vs Zoho Creator comparison

Retool and Zoho are both solutions in the Rapid Application Development Software category. Retool is ranked #15 with an average rating of 8.1, while Zoho is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.6. Retool holds a 1.2% mindshare in RADS, compared to Zoho’s 1.3% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Retool users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of Zoho users who would recommend it.

Retool

Read 10 Retool reviews

790 Views
679 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Zoho Creator

Read 34 Zoho Creator reviews

1,340 Views
1,085 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Retool

Zoho Creator

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Zoho Creator and Retool compete in the low-code application development category. Retool's advanced customization and integration capabilities give it the upper hand over Zoho Creator's competitive pricing and support.

Features: Zoho Creator facilitates app creation with pre-built templates, a drag-and-drop interface, and third-party integrations. Retool offers advanced customization, seamless database integration, and control through its feature-rich platform.

Room for Improvement: Zoho Creator could enhance its feature set for complex applications, improve workflow customization options, and expand its API integration capabilities. Retool may benefit from simplifying its deployment process, offering more beginner-friendly guidance, and reducing the complexity of its setup for less technically-inclined users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Zoho Creator provides an intuitive deployment model with smooth onboarding and extensive support. Retool, while more complex, offers flexible deployment and robust technical support.

Pricing and ROI: Zoho Creator is cost-effective, appealing to budget-conscious small and medium enterprises with its attractive pricing and rapid ROI. Retool requires a higher initial investment but offers substantial long-term value through its extensive customization capabilities, appealing to those focusing on scalability.

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

Buyer's Guide

Retool vs. Zoho Creator

December 2025

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Helped 881,114 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

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 (12th)

Zoho Creator

Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software

12th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Low-Code Development Platforms (8th), Business Orchestration and Automation Technologies (8th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of Retool is 1.2%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zoho Creator is 1.3%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Rapid Application Development Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Zoho Creator	1.3%
Retool	1.2%
Other	97.5%

Rapid Application Development Software

Featured Reviews

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.

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VishalKumar7

Zoho Developer at Evoluz Global Solutions

User experience metadata and workflow customization have been streamlined

The creator needs improvement; for instance, if I create a widget that has dynamic data, it cannot get published. When we publish a page that contains a widget, dynamic data does not appear. That is the problem with Zoho Creator, so it needs improvement. The portal user aspect is also costly; for example, purchasing 250 portal users can be expensive for clients who require them monthly. It creates a financial burden similar to how customer logins on e-commerce websites such as Flipkart or Amazon are generally free. Thus, Zoho Creator needs to offer free access for all portal users as they are essential for the application's usage. In Zoho Creator, we cannot work on UI customization as expected; if I want an application resembling a Figma design, there are limitations on UI changes.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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."

"We can create the dashboards quickly."

"The stability is okay."

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

"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."

More Retool pros

"The solution's flexibility and quick turnaround are valuable."

"Zoho Creator is a low-code platform that is easy to use and manage other resources. It stands out because of its modular platform approach. It offers an ERP system with the flexibility to create various applications like service applications, customer portals, and more. It's particularly useful if you already have an ERP system and want to extend its functionality with applications for customer portals, e-commerce, or internal processes such as HR approvals and inventory management. The platform simplifies workflow creation."

"Zoho Creator is easy to design and accessible for any business purpose. The solution is priced low and helps you meet business requirements. You can write a script based on requirements and trigger it whereby the customer will receive notifications. It is a customizable application."

"We can create multiple applications simultaneously with it."

"In Zoho Creator, we can create applications from scratch and implement full automation, which is what I find best about it."

"Zoho Creator boasts a multitude of impressive features, but one of the most outstanding is its flexibility in creating interactive reports and pages. With Zoho Creator, users have the ability to utilize HTML and CSS to create visually appealing pages that are rich in information, utilizing data from the system itself. This exceptional feature provides a remarkable advantage and adds immense value to Zoho Creator."

"The most important thing is Zoho Creator's functionality. Other cloud platforms cannot provide its functionality."

"Zoho Creator is a flexible and powerful solution. I like the tool's advanced modification feature which helps to modify its layout and setup scripts."

More Zoho Creator pros

Cons

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

"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."

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

"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."

"Retool, being a low-code/no-code platform, could improve by allowing users, particularly non-technical users, to use it more easily."

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

"Retool should add more resource integration."

More Retool cons

"The platform's technical support services need improvement."

"One significant issue with Zoho Creator is the lack of backup when items are deleted, unlike CRM where backups are available."

"We are looking for a single portal across all Zoho apps."

"We face issues while moving from one form to another form. We have a negative impression of the tool's support since they do not provide us assistance with our queries. They don't have solid answers to our questions."

"If we want to update 5,000 data in one function, we cannot do it because the running time for those records takes around at least ten minutes."

"If I create a widget that has dynamic data, it cannot get published. When we publish a page that contains a widget, dynamic data does not appear."

"Improvement could come from the ability to implement and create custom dashboards or subforms in Zoho Creator."

More Zoho Creator cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"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."

"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."

"We would prefer it if the price went down drastically."

"Zoho Creator is the cheapest option in the market right now that can deliver this level of quality."

"The plan provided is presented on a monthly basis, giving an idea of the cost each month. However, the actual cost is calculated and charged on a yearly or annual basis. The cost is displayed in a detailed manner, breaking down the amount charged annually, and presenting it in a monthly format."

"Zoho Creator's pricing is fine. It's subscription-based."

"Zoho Creator's price is reasonable compared to other vendors."

"The tool has three plans and one of them costs 50 dollars per month."

"The Enterprise version costs INR 1500 per month."

"The tool's licensing costs are annual. You need to pay more if you need a bigger database."

More Zoho Creator pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

14%

University

10%

Outsourcing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

15%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	22
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

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...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Zoho Creator?

I find the pricing of Zoho Creator to be very cheap. When compared to other low-code platforms, Zoho Creator consistently ranks at the top regarding functionality. Their native Android and iOS appl...

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What needs improvement with Zoho Creator?

Regarding improvements in the Deluge scripting language, I would like to see enhancements in its loop feature, which behaves differently compared to loops in other languages. Additionally, the exec...

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What is your primary use case for Zoho Creator?

There can be several different use cases for Zoho Creator that I work with. I can use Zoho Creator for all types of custom applications. I have built BOM applications and manufacturing-related appl...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Retool

January 2026

Download Retool product report

Buyer's Guide

Zoho Creator

January 2026

Download Zoho Creator product report

Overview

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

Zoho Creator is a web-based platform that lets everyone build custom business applications without any prior technical knowledge
Zoho Creator offers a first of its kind drag-n-drop interface to create tables/forms, design, schedule workflows and perform a variety of automated actions.

Zoho Creator's powerful tools for data collection and management, analysis, reporting and collaboration make it the smart choice for small to large organizations to run their business online, without any additional costs, infrastructure, or software.

Zoho Creator is used by more than 400,000 users and 100,000+ apps have been already created. Don't let complex looking workflows and business rules scare you.

Zoho Creator is completely non-programmer friendly. Use the intuitive and feature-rich platform to build your custom database applications. Just write your business rules and let the software handle deployment and hosting. You can create your own forms/tables afresh or import data from standard formats (.xls .csv .mdb) and get your database application online within minutes, really!

Zoho

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

Estate Crush Winery, Integra Services, Avidpays, Napa Valley Film Festival, Marionnaud, The Institute of Hormonal Health, Stone Tapert

Buyer's Guide

Retool vs. Zoho Creator

December 2025

Free Report: Retool vs. Zoho Creator

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