Budibase vs Retool

Which one do AI engines recommend, and how do they differ on price, fit and features?

The short answer

Retool is the stronger AI pick in Low-Code & No-Code: it has a visibility score of 29.9 versus 5.2 for Budibase, and ranks ahead in 78% of the answers that name both.

Choose Budibase if…

AI answers describe it more positively (67% vs 41% positive)
You need ISO 27001 coverage
Flat tiers pricing suits your budget better than per seat
open-source, self-hosted deployment

Choose Retool if…

You want the brand AI engines rank higher (29.9 vs 5.2)
You want a lower entry price ($10 vs $19)
You need a self-hosted or on-premises option
You need SOC 2 Type II or ISO/IEC 27001:2022 coverage

AI visibility side by side

Latest weekly run · Nov 3

Metric	Budibase	Retool
Visibility score	5.2%	29.9%
Change vs last week	down−0.5%	down−4%
Rank in Low-Code & No-Code	#20	#4
Share of voice	1.6%	7.8%
Mentions this run	9	46
Positive in AI answers	67%	41%

The stronger value in each row is marked with a ✓.

Visibility score trend

Weekly runs over the last 60 days

Budibase −0.5pp · Retool −4pp over 1 weekly runs.

Engine by engine

Retool leads on 3 of 3 engines

ChatGPT

7.6%

34.3%

AI Mode

6.3%

22.4%

Perplexity

1.9%

33%

BudibaseRetool

Head to head in AI answers

9 engine answers name both brands

2Budibase ranked higher

7Retool ranked higher

Prompt	Engine	Budibase	Retool
How do I choose a low-code platform for a mid-market team?	AI Mode	#4	#2
Best low-code platform for startups	Perplexity	#8	#4
Alternatives to the most popular low-code platform	ChatGPT	#6	#3
Alternatives to the most popular low-code platform	AI Mode	#7	#5
Alternatives to the most popular low-code platform	Perplexity	#11	#4
Most affordable low-code platform that is still reliable	ChatGPT	#7	#6
Is there a free low-code platform for small teams?	ChatGPT	#2	#4
Is there a free low-code platform for small teams?	AI Mode	#2	#3
Which low-code platform has transparent pricing?	ChatGPT	#4	#3

Features, pricing & fit

Dimension	Budibase	Retool
Pricing model	Flat tiers	Per seat
Entry price	Free; paid from $19 / mo	Free; paid from $10 per seat / mo
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Deployment	Self-host on your own infrastructure or use Budibase Cloud	Retool Cloud, self-hosted, or air-gapped
Compliance	ISO 27001	SOC 2 Type II, ISO/IEC 27001:2022
Support	Community forum, docs and chat, Email support on Business plan, Priority SLAs and account manager on Enterprise	—
Founded	2019	2017
Headquarters	Belfast, Northern Ireland	San Francisco, CA, United States
Employees	51–200	201–500
Funding	Seed (about $1.8M, before Seed II) · $9M raised	Series C2 · $141M raised
Best for	IT and operations teams in regulated organizations that want agents, apps and automations they can self-host.	Enterprises and business teams that want to build internal tools with AI while IT keeps governance, security review and audit trails.