Retool
Windmill
| Feature | Retool | Windmill |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $10/mo | Free / from $10/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.4 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | engineering-teams, operations, startups, enterprise | developers, devops-teams, internal-tools, data-pipelines |
| Founded | 2017 | 2022 |
| Drag And Drop | ✓ | ✗ |
| Data Connectors | ✓ | ✗ |
| Custom Code | ✓ | ✗ |
| Workflows | ✓ | ✗ |
| Permissions | ✓ | ✗ |
| Mobile Apps | ✓ | ✗ |
| Workflow Editor | ✗ | ✓ |
| Script To Ui | ✗ | ✓ |
| Scheduling | ✗ | ✓ |
| Approval Flows | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi Language | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hostable | ✗ | ✓ |
| Audit Logs | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Retool Pros
- Fast development
- Many integrations
- Pre-built components
- Good for internal tools
✗ Retool Cons
- Not for customer-facing apps
- Vendor lock-in
- Expensive at scale
✓ Windmill Pros
- Open-source and self-hostable
- Supports Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash, SQL natively
- Auto-generates UI from script parameters
- Excellent scheduling and workflow orchestration
✗ Windmill Cons
- Smaller community than Zapier/n8n
- Self-hosting requires infrastructure knowledge
- Less polished documentation for beginners
The Verdict
Retool is built for engineering teams and operations, with a focus on drag-and-drop and data-connectors. Windmill targets developers and devops teams and leads with workflow-editor and script-to-ui.
Both tools come in at similar price points ($10/mo for Retool, $10/mo for Windmill), so pricing won't make the decision for you.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Feature-wise, Windmill offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Retool takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.