Retool vs Superblocks, and the open-source third option.
Retool is the mature per-seat platform with the broadest integration library. Superblocks is the flat-price, AI-first challenger that meters usage in Governed Agent Units and self-hosts only the data plane. ToolJet is the open-source alternative that runs anywhere and lets your own coding agent build.
Tencent, Swisscom, Duolingo, Gojek, Orange, Unity and hundreds more run internal tools on ToolJet.
Implementing ToolJet has been a massive accelerator for our internal operations. It allows us to rapidly build, deploy, and standardize mission-critical internal data apps and CRUD applications at a fraction of traditional development time.
Seats versus a flat pack
Retool bills every builder and every end user: $50 and $15 a month on Business. Superblocks charges a flat $125 a month for up to 15 builders and unlimited end users, but includes one hosted app and 100 GAUs. ToolJet bills builders only and includes end users up to the plan limit.
Neither self-hosts the whole platform
Retool self-hosts on paid tiers with the advanced options on Enterprise. Superblocks Hybrid runs only the data plane in your VPC, with the control plane and app definitions in their cloud. ToolJet runs everything on your infrastructure, air-gapped if needed, from the free Community Edition.
Docker
Kubernetes
AWS
Google Cloud Run
Azure Container Apps
Who does the AI building, and what it costs
Retool AI spends pooled credits, and its MCP relays your agent's prompt to that AI. Superblocks' Clark spends GAUs, eight per dashboard, and its Builder MCP is a chat channel to Clark. ToolJet's built-in agent runs on GPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok, or your own coding agent builds with no ToolJet credits.
Claude Code
Codex
GitHub Copilot
Cursor
Grok Build
What a team of ten actually pays
Ten builders and ninety end users, on the tier that includes SSO and audit logs, is the honest comparison. Two of the three have no published price for that tier.
$50 per builder, $15 per end user, then Enterprise for SSO.
- Business is $50 per builder and $15 per end user a month: $1,850 for ten builders and ninety end users.
- That tier includes audit logs and RBAC. SSO/SAML and Git sync need an Enterprise contract with no published price.
- Free tier for up to 5 users; 3,000 pooled AI credits on Business that reset monthly.
$125 a month for the whole team, until you need the governed tier.
- Teams is $125 monthly or $100 annual for up to 15 builders and unlimited end users: the cheapest entry of the three for a team of ten.
- It includes one hosted app ($10 a month each after that), 100 GAUs, RBAC, and staging plus production.
- SSO, audit logs, source control, secrets management and VPC deployment are all Enterprise, with no published price.
$199 per builder buys the governed tier outright.
- Team is $199 per builder a month with SSO, audit logs, Git sync, custom user groups and white labelling included: $1,990 for ten builders.
- End users are included up to 100 on Team and unlimited on Enterprise, not billed per head.
- Starter at $29 a month and a free tier below that; every tier has a published price.
What actually runs in your network
All three say self-hosted. Only one of them means the whole platform.
A full deployment, at cloud prices, on paid plans.
- Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, GCP and Azure on any paid tier; the whole platform runs in your infrastructure.
- Every builder and end user is still billed, and unlimited users, SSO and advanced self-host options need Enterprise.
- Air-gapped deployment is an Enterprise feature.
An agent in your VPC; the platform stays in theirs.
- Hybrid runs the on-premise agent in your AWS, GCP or Azure VPC to execute queries and code.
- Configuration, permissions, app definitions and Clark inference stay in Superblocks' cloud, reached outbound-only, so disconnected operation isn't possible.
- AWS Cloud-Prem on Enterprise is single-tenant but operated by Superblocks as a managed service; air-gapped operation isn't documented.
Everything runs where you put it.
- Control plane, data plane and app definitions on your infrastructure: Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, GCP, on-premise or air-gapped.
- Self-hosting starts on the free Community Edition; Team and Enterprise add governance.
- ToolJet AI Enterprise runs the AI server inside your network as well.
Who builds the app when you connect Claude Code
All three have an MCP server. The difference is whether your agent does the work or hands the prompt to theirs.
One build tool, and it isn't your agent.
- The MCP's single build tool forwards your prompt to Retool AI, which generates a React app and bills Retool AI credits on top of your agent's tokens.
- Or write a React app locally and import it: no credits, but you maintain React code inside Retool.
- BYOK for OpenAI and Anthropic keys is Enterprise-only.
Your agent talks to Clark. Clark builds.
- Builder MCP creates, edits and publishes apps from Claude by conversing with Clark, so every build consumes GAUs.
- You pick a mode (Max, Standard or Smart), not a model; Superblocks routes to frontier or open-source models behind the scenes.
- Admin MCP lets Cursor, Claude Code and Windsurf administer the org; it does not build apps and is an Enterprise feature.
Our agent, or the one you already use.
- ToolJet AI is built in, needs no setup, and runs on GPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok, your choice.
- Or Claude Code, Codex or any MCP client composes the app over the MIT-licensed MCP server: around 50 tools, no ToolJet credits, cloud or self-hosted.
- Either way the result is a native app you can inspect and edit in the visual builder.
- Claude Code
- Codex
- GitHub Copilot
- Cursor
- Grok Build
Retool vs Superblocks, feature by feature
Verified against each vendor's published pricing and documentation on 11 September 2026. Vendors change plans often; if something has moved, tell us.
| Feature | Retool | Superblocks | ToolJet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licensing & deployment | |||
| Open source | Proprietary | Proprietary; only the on-premise agent is published | Community Edition, AGPL-3.0; MCP server MIT |
| Self-hosting | Paid tiers; unlimited users, SSO and advanced self-host need Enterprise | Hybrid (data plane only) or AWS Cloud-Prem, both Enterprise | Free, Team and Enterprise |
| What runs in your network | The whole platform | The data plane; control plane and app definitions stay in Superblocks' cloud | The whole platform |
| Air-gapped | Enterprise | Not documented | Supported |
| Pricing | |||
| Free tier | Yes, up to 5 users, 250 AI credits | No; 14-day trial of Teams | Yes, 2 builders, 50 end users, self-hostable |
| Cheapest paid plan | Team: $10/builder + $5/user per month | Teams: $125 monthly or $100 annual, flat, up to 15 builders | Starter: $29/mo with 2,000 AI credits |
| Tier with SSO and audit logs | Enterprise for SSO; audit logs on Business at $50/builder + $15/user | Enterprise, no published price | Team: $199/builder, published |
| End users | Billed on every plan | Unlimited | Included up to 100 on Team; unlimited on Enterprise |
| Apps | Unlimited | 1 hosted app included; $10/mo each after | Unlimited on Team |
| AI metering | Pooled credits that reset monthly; agents billed hourly on top | GAU packs from $1 to $1.25 per unit, recurring, reset monthly | Credits per plan with pay-as-you-go top-ups; none over MCP |
| AI & coding agents | |||
| Built-in AI agent | Retool AI on Retool-managed OpenAI and Anthropic keys | Clark, announced on Claude Opus 4.6; modes, not models | ToolJet AI; choose GPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok on paid plans |
| MCP server | Public beta since May 2026; cloud plans and self-hosted 4.0+ | Builder MCP (Claude at launch) and Admin MCP (Enterprise) | Open source, MIT; Claude Code and Codex plugins, any MCP client |
| What your agent does | Relays your prompt to Retool AI, or imports React you wrote | Converses with Clark, which does the building | Composes the app itself from ~50 tools |
| Credits consumed by an agent build | Retool AI credits on the prompt path | GAUs, same as any Clark session | None |
| What gets produced | A React app | A Superblocks app built by Clark | A native app, editable in the visual builder |
| Bring your own LLM key | Enterprise only | Not for Clark, except Bedrock on AWS Cloud-Prem | Enterprise: Anthropic, Gemini, Grok, OpenRouter |
| Security & governance | |||
| SSO / SAML | Enterprise | Enterprise | Team plan: SAML, OIDC, LDAP, Google, GitHub |
| SCIM | Enterprise | Enterprise | Enterprise |
| Audit logs | Business | Enterprise | Team plan |
| RBAC | Business | Teams | Custom user groups on Team |
| Source control / Git sync | Enterprise | Enterprise: GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps | Team plan; any cloud or self-hosted Git |
| Secrets management | Enterprise | Enterprise | AWS, Azure, GCP, HashiCorp Vault |
| Environments | Staging on Team; unlimited on Business | Staging and production on Teams | Multi-environment on Enterprise |
| White labelling | Branding on Business; full on Enterprise | Not listed on Teams | Team plan |
| Platform | |||
| Integrations | Broad first-party library | 50+ | 100+ |
| Code in apps | JavaScript; Python in Workflows | JavaScript and Python | JavaScript and Python |
| Built-in database | Retool Database | None | ToolJet Database on PostgreSQL |
| Workflows | Retool Workflows | Workflows as REST endpoints | Visual builder with JS and Python |
| Community | No public codebase | No public community | 40,800+ GitHub stars, 650+ contributors |
Sources: Retool pricing · Retool MCP tools reference · Superblocks pricing · Superblocks Hybrid architecture · How GAUs work · ToolJet pricing
ToolJet is an open-source, AI-native platform for building internal tools, business applications, workflows and AI agents. The Community Edition is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and has over 40,800 GitHub stars and 650 contributors. It runs on ToolJet Cloud or self-hosted on Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, GCP, on-premise or air-gapped. Apps can be generated by the built-in ToolJet AI on GPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok, composed by Claude Code or Codex over an MIT-licensed MCP server, or built visually with 78+ components and 100+ integrations. ToolJet is SOC 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR compliant and is used in production by Tencent, Swisscom, Duolingo, Gojek, Orange, Unity, ClearScore, Bandwidth, Toss, Endeavour Group, ShareChat, YMCA NYC and hundreds of other organisations. Plans: Free; Starter at $29 a month; Pro at $79 per builder; Team at $199 per builder with SSO, audit logs, Git sync and white labelling; Enterprise from $3,000 a month with SCIM, multi-environment, custom data retention and a dedicated support manager.
SOC 2
ISO 27001
GDPR
Retool vs Superblocks, answered
Which is cheaper, Retool or Superblocks?
For a small team without governance needs, Superblocks: Teams is $125 a month (or $100 billed annually) for up to 15 builders and unlimited end users, against Retool's $10 per builder plus $5 per end user on Team, or $50 and $15 on Business. The picture flips once you need SSO or Git sync, because both vendors put those on Enterprise plans with no published price. ToolJet publishes the price of its governed tier: $199 per builder a month on Team with SSO, audit logs and Git sync included.
Can Retool and Superblocks be self-hosted?
Retool can, on paid tiers, with the whole platform running in your infrastructure and the advanced options reserved for Enterprise. Superblocks Hybrid self-hosts only the data plane: an agent in your VPC executes queries while the control plane, app definitions and Clark inference stay in Superblocks' cloud, reached outbound-only. Its AWS Cloud-Prem is single-tenant but operated by Superblocks as a managed service. ToolJet self-hosts the whole platform, air-gapped if needed, from the free Community Edition.
How do Retool AI and Superblocks Clark differ?
Retool AI is a set of AI actions and agents metered in pooled credits that reset monthly, with hourly billing for agents. Clark is Superblocks' app-building agent, metered in Governed Agent Units at roughly 8 per dashboard, running on Claude Opus 4.6 with automatic routing across frontier and open-source models; you choose a mode, not a model. ToolJet AI is built in on every plan, runs on GPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok, and its credits can be topped up rather than upgraded.
Do Retool and Superblocks work with Claude Code or Codex?
Both have MCP servers, but neither lets your agent build the app itself. Retool's MCP has one AI build tool that forwards your prompt to Retool AI, plus tools to import a React app you wrote locally. Superblocks' Builder MCP lets Claude create, edit and publish apps by conversing with Clark, which consumes GAUs; its Admin MCP for Cursor, Claude Code and Windsurf administers the org only. ToolJet's MIT-licensed MCP server exposes around 50 build tools so the agent composes a native app directly, with no credits consumed.
Which plans include SSO, audit logs and Git sync?
Retool: SSO/SAML and Git sync on Enterprise, audit logs on Business. Superblocks: all three on Enterprise. ToolJet: all three on Team at $199 per builder a month.
Is there an open-source alternative to Retool and Superblocks?
ToolJet. The Community Edition is AGPL-3.0 with over 40,800 GitHub stars and 650 contributors, self-hosts on Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, GCP or air-gapped, and its MCP server for coding agents is MIT-licensed. Neither Retool nor Superblocks publishes its platform source.
Is ToolJet enterprise-ready, and who uses it?
Yes. ToolJet runs in production at Tencent, Swisscom, Duolingo, Gojek, Orange, Unity, ClearScore, Bandwidth, Toss, Endeavour Group, ShareChat and YMCA NYC, among others. It is SOC 2, ISO 27001 and GDPR compliant. Team includes SSO with SAML, OpenID Connect and LDAP, audit logs, Git sync, custom user groups and white labelling; Enterprise adds SCIM, multi-environment, custom data retention, air-gapped deployment and a dedicated support manager.
The third option runs anywhere
Open source, self-hosted from the free tier, and built by the agent you already use. Start on cloud or run the Community Edition today.
built with AI
