Retool Alternatives for Teams That Build Internal Tools with AI Agents

Internal tool builders made sense when writing a CRUD screen took a sprint, and with a coding agent the screen takes minutes, so the questions shift to where the code lives, who can log in and how the data stays inside your network.

Broken access control tops the OWASP Top 10, and internal tools are a common place for it, since they tend to start as "only for us" and skip authorization.

This list compares the options on those questions rather than on component count.

Retool alternatives at a glance

How they compare

1. Refine: internal tools as React code

Refine is an MIT-licensed React framework for admin panels and dashboards. It gives you hooks for lists, forms and filters, and data providers for REST, GraphQL and several backends, and leaves the UI library to you.

Key features

• Plain React and TypeScript, so an agent edits it like any other repo.
• Data providers and auth providers you can swap.
• Works with common component libraries.

Good to know

Refine is the frontend only, so the agent still has to build the API, the database and the login integration, and you still have to host them, which is where most of the effort in an agent-built tool goes.

2. Appsmith: open source visual builder

Appsmith is an Apache 2.0 platform for admin panels and dashboards that connects to databases and APIs. You build screens on a canvas and write JavaScript for the logic, and you can self-host it.

Key features

• Self-hosting under a permissive license.
• Connectors for common databases and any HTTP API.
• Git sync for app definitions.

Good to know

Apps are defined inside Appsmith, so a coding agent in your repo has less to work with than in a code-first tool. It suits teams where operations staff build screens on top of APIs that engineers own.

3. ToolJet: builder with prompt-driven generation

ToolJet is a visual internal tool platform whose open source foundation is licensed under the AGPL-3.0. Its repository describes building apps visually, from a prompt, or from Claude Code, Codex and Cursor over MCP.

Key features

• Canvas builder plus AI app generation.
• MCP access for coding agents.
• Built-in database tables alongside external connectors.

Good to know

The AGPL license matters if you plan to modify and offer it to others. As with Appsmith, the tool lives in ToolJet rather than in your codebase.

4. Budibase: operations apps and automations

Budibase positions itself around agents, automations and apps for running operations. It is strongest for forms, approval steps and data entry on top of a table.

Key features

• Forms and portals with built-in tables.
• Automation steps triggered by data changes.
• Self-hosting option.

Good to know

Check the license for the parts you plan to use, since the repository does not use a single standard license. Custom backend logic is limited compared with writing it in code.

5. Void: Vite apps on a self-hosted Cloudflare platform

Void is Cloudflare's open source SDK, CLI and platform for full-stack Vite apps. Code that imports its database or AI modules gets those resources provisioned on deploy, and the self-hosted platform lets admins control who can deploy apps into a shared Cloudflare account.

Key features

• File-based routes and typed database access from schema to UI.
• void deploy provisions resources and applies migrations.
• A platform with access control and quotas for employee-built apps.

Good to know

Void targets Cloudflare Workers with D1, or PostgreSQL and MySQL through Hyperdrive. If your data and the rest of your systems are in AWS, the tool runs outside that network.

Encore: a backend for agent-built internal tools on AWS

Encore combines an open source SDK for TypeScript and Go with a platform that provisions and deploys the app into your own AWS account. It is not a UI builder and instead pairs with Refine or a plain React frontend and covers the part those tools leave to you: the API, the database, the login check and the deploy.

// tickets/tickets.ts
import { api } from "encore.dev/api";
import { SQLDatabase } from "encore.dev/storage/sqldb";

const db = new SQLDatabase("tickets", { migrations: "./migrations" });

export const list = api(
  { expose: true, auth: true, method: "GET", path: "/tickets" },
  async (): Promise<{ tickets: { id: number; subject: string }[] }> => {
    const tickets = await db.queryAll<{ id: number; subject: string }>`
      SELECT id, subject FROM tickets WHERE status = 'open' ORDER BY id`;
    return { tickets };
  },
);

Endpoints marked auth: true go through the auth handler, where you verify your identity provider's tokens. The database runs locally with encore run, which starts Postgres for you, and on AWS it is an RDS instance in a subnet with no internet access.

A Refine build can be served from the same app through static assets.

For an agent, the backend and its infrastructure are in the same files, so asking for a new table or a background job produces one change it can run locally before review. Deploys go to your AWS account on push, and cloud access sits with Encore's IAM role, not the agent.

How to choose

• Refine when engineers and agents build the tool as code and you want full control of the UI.
• Appsmith when non-engineers assemble screens and you want a permissive self-hosted license.
• ToolJet when you want visual building and prompt generation in one product.
• Budibase when the tool is mostly forms and automations over tables.
• Void when your company runs on Cloudflare and wants a governed place for employee-built apps.
• Add Encore under a code-first frontend when the tool needs its own backend and database in your AWS account.

Related guides

• Building an internal admin dashboard with Claude Code on AWS
• Encore vs Void for AI-built internal apps
• How to build an internal developer platform
• Best infrastructure for AI coding agents
• How to deploy a Node.js or TypeScript backend to AWS with an AI coding agent
• How to test AI agent pull requests in a preview environment