Used For

• +**Your team is manually checking customer subscriptions in 5 different database tabs** → One dashboard with filters, search, and click-to-cancel buttons
• +**Support tickets pile up because agents can't quickly see user history** → Custom panels that show everything in one place
• +**Inventory tracking happens in spreadsheets that 12 people edit** → Real-time dashboard connected to your actual database
• +Connects to your existing databases and tools without rebuilding everything
• +AI assistant writes the JavaScript and SQL queries you're too tired to figure out

Best For

• >Your internal tools are held together with duct tape and prayers
• >Operations team keeps bugging engineering for 'simple' dashboards
• >You need customer support tools that don't cost $50k and 6 months

Not For

• -Teams under 10 people who just need basic dashboards — you'll outgrow the free plan fast at $10/user/month
• -Pure no-code enthusiasts — you'll hit the code wall for anything beyond basic forms and tables
• -Mobile-first companies — this is built for web dashboards, not phone apps

Pairs With

• *PostgreSQL (the database everyone connects first because it just works)
• *Stripe (to build customer subscription management dashboards)
• *Slack (where your team gets notifications when workflows break at 2am)
• *GitHub (for version control because yes, even drag-and-drop apps need Git)
• *ChatGPT (the AI integration everyone builds to make their internal tools 'smart')
• *Tableau (for the pretty charts that Retool makes but executives want fancier)

The Catch

• !Free plan caps at 500 automated workflows per month, which sounds like a lot until you actually use it
• !That drag-and-drop promise hits reality when you need custom logic — JavaScript required
• !Self-hosting sounds great until you realize you're now responsible for keeping it running

Bottom Line

Turns 30-hour admin panel builds into weekend projects, but you'll still need to write some code for anything interesting.