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 #16 with an average rating of 8.4. OutSystems holds a 6.5% mindshare in RADS, compared to Retool’s 0.9% 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

6,818 Views
5,932 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Retool

Read 8 Retool reviews

506 Views
506 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

OutSystems

Retool

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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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: September 2025).

Buyer's Guide

OutSystems vs. Retool

September 2025

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Helped 868,787 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 (5th)

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 OutSystems is 6.5%, down from 7.6% 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 (%)
OutSystems	6.5%
Retool	0.9%
Other	92.6%

Rapid Application Development Software

Featured Reviews

Sukrut Joshi

Manager India Sales at Nitor

Enables users to develop applications quickly and has a responsive and helpful technical support team

The time to market is quite good. We can quickly develop an application using the tool. OutSystems is developed using .NET and Java. We can easily find technical resources who have worked on .NET and Java and leverage their previous knowledge to develop OutSystems applications. It can also be used for application development. If an end-user does not want to use the solution after two to three years, OutSystems sends the source code and the applications to the end-user. There is no dependency. It’s one of the major factors I found quite good in OutSystems.

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

"I find it to be a genuinely cool and effective platform for my development needs."

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

"Refactoring with TrueChange is very simple."

"It is a stable solution, and the initial setup is straightforward."

"I really like the one-click publish feature in OutSystems. In other development tools/languages, it's not as easy. I also like how easily I can manage all my projects in one place."

"We have no complaints surrounding both the scalability and stability of this solution."

"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."

"We can quickly develop an application using the tool."

More OutSystems pros

"We can create the dashboards quickly."

"There are several key aspects to Retool that make it stand out. Firstly, its extensive range of components makes integration straightforward. Secondly, its support for SQL and JavaScript allows for the implementation of complex logic, which is particularly beneficial for developers like yourself with experience in .NET development."

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

"The stability is okay."

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

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

"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."

More Retool pros

Cons

"I would like to see OutSystems improve its integration capabilities, especially with emerging technologies like AI and GPT."

"The tool's weakness is its focus on the solution only. Other than that, it's pretty easy to use for both technical and non-technical people. However, the tool lags in automation. For instance, we've used Python for scraping and other automated tasks. So, I believe automation is an area where it could improve."

"The tutorials for the solution should be updated."

"The documentation needs to be more robust."

"Writing custom code still needs to be done via Integration Studio. This might have been added to the IDE."

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

"The initial setup is a little difficult."

"While I can't speak to the market impact, as a developer, I've seen significant reductions in development time across different versions of our applications. One area for improvement would be the UI controls in Service Studio. Sometimes, controls don't appear in the IDE, requiring us to check them in the web browser instead. Overall, our experience with OutSystems has been positive, though improvements in UI development would be welcomed."

More OutSystems cons

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

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

"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."

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

"Retool should add more resource integration."

"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."

More Retool cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is not an expensive product, especially if you have access to more features and deal with more projects."

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

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

"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."

"OutSystems is an expensive product. My company has to make monthly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the solution."

"The product is expensive and I would rate its pricing a seven out of ten. You need to pay a yearly subscription to use the product."

"As for licensing costs, I'm not directly involved in that aspect."

"You should contact OutSystems for more details but my opinion is that it is not for small business budgets."

More OutSystems pricing and cost advice

"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."

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

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

"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

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	18
Midsize Enterprise	7
Large Enterprise	29

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

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?

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.

See all answers

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, ...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Comparisons

ServiceNow vs OutSystems

Compared 13% of the time

Appian vs OutSystems

Compared 11% of the time

Oracle Application Express (APEX) vs OutSystems

Compared 11% of the time

Mendix vs OutSystems

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Power Apps vs OutSystems

Compared 8% of the time

More OutSystems Competitors

Streamlit vs Retool

Compared 68% of the time

Pega Platform vs Retool

Compared 18% of the time

AWS App Studio vs Retool

Compared 14% of the time

More Retool Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

OutSystems

September 2025

Download OutSystems product report

Buyer's Guide

Retool

September 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

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

OutSystems vs. Retool

September 2025

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