Can I migrate from Retool to Workshop?

Yes. If your Retool app logic maps to real workflows, Workshop can help you rebuild those flows as a portable product experience with the UX and deployment model you want.

Does Workshop support self-hosting?

Workshop is built for teams who want deployment flexibility — including running on your own infrastructure when needed.

Can I export my Workshop project?

Yes. Workshop emphasizes portability so you can own and deploy what you build.

Can Workshop connect to the same databases and APIs as Retool?

Yes — Workshop is designed to work with real data sources including databases, warehouses, and APIs.

Does Workshop support local models?

Yes. Workshop supports using local models when privacy or latency requirements make that important.

When should I choose Retool instead?

Choose Retool when your primary goal is building internal tools quickly with a mature component library and internal user permissioning.

Workshop vs Retool

Retool builds internal tools. Workshop builds anything — internal tools, customer apps, dashboards — and you own the code.

Try it free. Describe what you want to build.

We outgrew Retool the moment we needed a customer-facing portal. Workshop gave us the same data connectivity with a real frontend we could customize and deploy anywhere.

Workshop and Retool both build internal tools. Workshop uses AI to generate full-stack applications from natural language, with code ownership and flexible deployment options. Retool provides a drag-and-drop builder with pre-built components. Workshop produces portable, standards-based code; Retool offers faster setup for component-based internal dashboards.

At a Glance

Choose Workshop if you want:

You’re building a customer-facing product (not just internal tooling).
You want local development and portable projects you can deploy anywhere.
You need a cohesive experience: website + app + AI features, with full UI control.
You want a path to desktop/mobile/offline as the product grows.

Choose Retool if you want:

You need to ship internal CRUD/admin tools quickly with a large component library.
Your main job is wiring databases/APIs into internal workflows and dashboards.
You want an established internal tools platform with enterprise permissions.
You prefer a browser-based builder and don’t need code ownership.

Feature Comparison

	Workshop	Retool
Primary Focus	Customer-facing + internal apps	Internal tools
Hosting Model	Local-first; deploy anywhere	Cloud or self-hosted
Export / Portability	Exportable, portable projects	Platform-based apps
Local Development	Yes	Mostly browser-based
Data Connectivity	DBs, APIs, warehouses, files	Extensive DB/API connectors
Auth & Billing	App-ready auth + billing options	SSO/RBAC for internal users

Where Workshop and Retool Differ

Deployment & Ownership

Workshop: Workshop is designed around ownership: build locally, deploy on your infrastructure, and keep a portable project you control.

Retool: Retool can be hosted in their cloud or self-hosted, but your apps still live inside the Retool platform/runtime and are optimized for internal delivery.

Working With Real Data

Workshop: Workshop is built to power real product experiences on top of operational data and APIs — including customer-facing flows, permissions, and UI states.

Retool: Retool is excellent at connecting databases/APIs quickly to build internal dashboards, admin panels, and operational tools.

Flexibility & Tech Stack

Workshop: Bring your preferred UI patterns, AI providers, and architecture. Workshop is meant to grow with your engineering decisions.

Retool: Retool gives you a strong set of components and a fast builder experience — with flexibility primarily inside the platform’s constraints.

Ideal Team Profile

Workshop: Founders and product teams shipping software to customers — where branding, UX, portability, and extensibility are essential.

Retool: Operations, IT, and data-enabled teams who need internal tools fast without building an entire product stack.

Best for Different Use Cases

Building a Website

Workshop: When Workshop makes sense: You need a real website and product experience that share one coherent stack and deployment model.

Retool: When Retool makes sense: Your focus is internal tooling, not marketing or public web experiences.

Building an AI App

Workshop: When Workshop makes sense: AI is part of the product experience (customer workflows, copilots, retrieval, personalized UX).

Retool: When Retool makes sense: You want internal AI helpers inside admin tools and operational workflows.

Building a Dashboard

Workshop: When Workshop makes sense: You need dashboards that feel like product UI, with custom interaction and embedding.

Retool: When Retool makes sense: You need internal dashboards tied directly to databases and operational actions.

Building an Internal Tool

Workshop: When Workshop makes sense: You need an internal tool with stricter ownership needs or a path to desktop/mobile/offline.

Retool: When Retool makes sense: You want the fastest path to a robust internal tool with prebuilt components and connectors.

“Retool was great for quick internal admin tools, but when we needed a customer-facing product with full UI control and ownership, Workshop was the better fit.”
— Engineering Lead, Marketplace Startup