UI Bakery vs. Retool vs. Adalo: Best LCNC Platform? 💻

UI Bakery and Retool are low-code platforms for creating internal business process apps, while Adalo is a versatile, no-code app builder. 

Read on to learn more about: 

• A quick table to compare UI Bakery vs. Retool vs. Adalo 

• My comparison methodology 

• Breaking down each platform, its target audience, main features, and pricing

• Picking the best platform for your needs 

• Harnessing Adalo for your development needs

Here’s a simple table for fast comparison.

‍

UI Bakery vs. Retool vs. Adalo: Key Differences

‍

How I Compared UI Bakery vs. Retool vs. Adalo

Low-code no-code (LCNC) app builders are specific tools I’ve been working with for a long time. A few years back, I created my own website, NoCode.tech, dedicated to reviewing dozens of no-code (and low-code) tools. Hundreds of businesses, individuals, and entrepreneurs have used this site to pick the perfect platform for them. 

Drawing from my knowledge of the no-code and low-code spaces, I compared Retool, UI Bakery, and Adalo using the following:

• Drag-and-drop frontend builder: You won’t need to enter line after line of code to create your frontend, or user interface. Each app builder leverages a drag-and-drop interface for quick yet highly customizable construction.

• Free versions: You won’t need to worry about unquestioningly paying for a platform that you’ve never tested or being constrained by a limited-time free trial. Adalo, Retool, and UI Bakery all offer free versions that let you learn each platform at your own pace and convenience.

• Customizable templates: Start your app-building quickly with a premade template that comes preloaded with screens, buttons, forms, and more. Change the structure and color or delete screens and elements you don’t like. 

• AI tools: It’s the mid-2020s, and app builders that don’t feature AI tools are behind the 8 ball. I ensured that Adalo, Retool, and UI Bakery each showcased a useful AI tool to make app building more manageable and rapid. 

‍

UI Bakery

Who It’s Good For

UI Bakery is an excellent low-code app builder for medium to large-sized organizations, allowing you to create an unlimited number of web apps and keep your source code for each one. It is a low-code platform, so you will need to know your way around a database, some SQL (structure query language concepts) and more to comfortably use the platform. 

Features 

• One jaw-dropping offering is the ability to create modules, essentially data-grabbing tools and widgets that can be plugged into apps created with other app-building platforms.
  
  These can be used to analyze external data with UI Bakery’s low-code power while using a completely different app. 

• Need to create apps on the fly? Look no further than UI Bakery’s slick AI development tool. Just enter in a few prompts, and you’ll be able to develop the beginnings of your app in no time. Further, refine your app with UI Bakery’s powerful drag-and-drop interface, and you’re good to go. 

• While UI Bakery provides its own database builder, it comes with a very long list of database integrations, meeting the needs of almost any organization. Just connect your database from PostgreSQL, Supabase, Amazon S3, and many others to your app in just a few clicks. 

Pricing 

For $12/month per developer and $6/month per user, create specific user roles for your app and get unlimited access to email and chat support. The $50/month per developer and $12/month per user version lets you build apps that can be accessed without logins for displaying data to the public and also allows for audit logs so you can track your app’s development. 

‍

Retool

Who It’s Good For

Like UI Bakery, Retool is a low-code app builder that requires a bit of technical expertise to use and has pricing plans suitable for medium businesses and above, and, like UI Bakery, it allows you to develop as many apps as you wish while keeping their source code. 

It’s also a splendid option for enterprises with their own servers. UI Bakery allows for on-prem hosting, which gives you more control over your app’s security, scalability, and architecture. 

Features 

• Unlike most low-code app builders for creating business tools, you can publish your app to the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. This makes it simple for clients or even external, anonymous users to find and get your app. 

• Retool leverages one of the most powerful and unique AI tools in the low-code space. It integrates powerful AI tools, allowing you to analyze, classify, and create graphic representations of nearly any information entered into your app’s database.

• When considering UI Bakery vs. Retool vs. Adalo, you might be pleased to learn that Retool has the most extensive template selection, with over 300 options. These allow for the creation of specialized apps for an array of industries, including manufacturing, construction, real estate, e-commerce, and more. 

Pricing 

Like UI Bakery, how much you pay for Retool depends on the number of people using the platform to develop your app and the number of people using it. For $10/month per developer and $5/month per app user (billed monthly), build up to 5 special app components that you can use on any of your Retool apps. 

The $50/month per developer and $15/month per app user (billed monthly) version allows for unlimited modules and white-label branding, so your app can look professional and unique. 

Want to compare Retool and Adalo against Appsmith? Read the full comparison. 

‍

Adalo

Who It’s Good For

Adalo is a simple, no-code app builder that requires no technical skills or programming knowledge. Over the years, I’ve recommended It more than any other tool to freelancers, entrepreneurs, and small and medium-sized businesses. This is because it provides enough oomph and design freedom to bring nearly any app idea to life. 

Features 

• With one of the most intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces in the no-code and low-code spaces, you can start working on your app right after signing up without consulting tutorials or help documentation. 
  
  Yet, Adalo provides enough design freedom to customize and craft your app to your exact tastes and brand needs, ensuring that your app functions flawlessly and stands out from the rest. 

• Adalo features Magic Text, a cutting-edge AI tool that automatically brings info from your database to specific components on your frontend. This simplifies organizing data you collect from users and lets you develop your app at a quicker pace. 

• You’ll be delighted to know that Adalo has a free version. Santa is so generous that he’s putting Adalo at the top of his “Nice List.” You can access Adalo’s component marketplace and add tools like a PDF generator, QR Code, and more. 

Connect your free app with Stripe to enable payments and publish your app on the web so your users can access it through their preferred browsers, such as Chrome or Safari.

Pricing 

Start using Adalo for only $45/month (billed monthly). 

‍

How To Choose the Right LCNC Platform

You now have some info about the features that Adalo, Retool, and UI Bakery offer. Therefore, it’s time to decide which platform works best for you. Just consider these points:

• Your technical background: You’ll struggle with UI Bakery if you don’t have any experience with marking up database schema or using APIs. And, while UI Bakery boasts the most powerful and customizable frontend builder, you’ll need to learn it, which will take some time. 
  
  When comparing Adalo vs. Retool vs. UI Bakery, Adalo is the only platform that doesn’t require any technical skill or knowledge. 

• Your budget: Both Retool and UI Bakery charge per number of monthly app developers and app users. While both start at under $15/developer per month and $6/user per month, your monthly costs can add up very quickly if you’re onboarding new users or developers.
  
  So, if you don’t want to cut into your bottom line, you might want to seek out an alternative. For a cost-effective, no-code option, we recommend you give Adalo a shot.

• The type of app you want to build: UI Bakery is purely for creating internal business apps, tools, and widgets. While you can create external, client-facing apps, such as booking apps for restaurants and salons, with Retool, the platform isn’t specifically designed for this. It can take quite a bit of time to dial everything in. 

Adalo is the best choice for building anonymous client-facing apps for ordering, booking, and other purposes. While it doesn’t provide the granular features that many large organizations need to optimize their processes, it’s great for creating internal software such as accounting tools, KPI trackers, and dashboards used by small to medium-sized organizations. 

If you’re on the fence about any of these platforms, just sign up for the free versions. None require credit card information, and they all provide enough access to features so you can build and release an app that you can immediately test out. 

‍

'{{rich-cta}}'

‍

Next Steps: Create Your App with Adalo

Want to build an external, client-facing app but aren’t technical and don’t want to pay an arm or a leg to do so? Your solution is Adalo. 

Adalo is the only no-code app builder when compared to UI Bakery vs. Retool, meaning you don’t need to know anything about database schema markup or APIs. Yet, Adalo gives you enough power, design freedom, and integrations to create an app that perfectly meets your needs and tastes. 

‍Get Adalo and build a web app for free.