Budibase vs Retool: what their users struggle with

Not a verdict and not a star rating: the problems users of Budibase and Retool describe in public, side by side, each one linked to its source (as of 2026-10-30).

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Every count in this table is of open reports in the recent window (Budibase since 2022-10, Retool since 2023-10); older and fixed reports are not counted. The counts measure how much public discussion exists for each product, not which is better: a popular tool collects more reports.

Problems mostly raised about Budibase

• Checkbox in table or repeater randomly selects the last checkbox too · Reliability & bugs · Blocks work
• SQL Server connector breaks with failover clustering · Integrations · Blocks work
• Google login in open source edition is clunky and cannot be made login-free · Permissions & security · Annoyance
• Complexity ramps up quickly when connecting APIs instead of a database · API & developer experience · Blocks work
• Budibase interface felt sluggish · Performance · Annoyance

Problems mostly raised about Retool

• Pricing undermines SaaS free-tier margins · Pricing & plans · Annoyance
• Building and editing tools takes too much manual work · UI & usability · Annoyance
• Per-user pricing is costly for teams · Pricing & plans · Annoyance
• Slow, ineffective support makes issues harder to resolve · Support · Annoyance
• App overhead makes quick dashboard checks cumbersome · Performance · Annoyance

Go further

Open Budibase and Retool in the compare tool to filter by area and severity, Budibase alternatives, Retool alternatives, or the state of low-code and internal tools.

How the data is built. A theme is a group of reports about the same problem; unique means not matched to a theme on the other product.