Is Budibase or Retool cheaper?

Budibase has the lower entry price — Budibase starts at $0/mo and Retool at $0/mo.

Does Budibase or Retool support HIPAA?

HIPAA support — Budibase: —; Retool: —. Confirm current scope with the vendor.

Best Internal Tool Builders · head-to-head

Budibase vs Retool

A sourced, side-by-side comparison for internal tool builders. Budibase has the lower entry price. Every figure links to the vendor's own page and the date we captured it.

Budibase has the lower entry price — Budibase starts at $0/mo, Retool at $0/mo. Free tier: Budibase Yes, Retool Yes. HIPAA: Budibase —, Retool —.

As of 2026-06-14 · figures link to their source below

Side by side

Budibase

$0/mo entry

Entry price$0/mo (Open Source (Self-hosted))

Free tierYes

HIPAA (BAA)—

SOC 2—

GDPR—

Best forSMEs and enterprises building employee-facing request and approval workflows

Retool

$0/mo entry

Entry price$0/mo (Free)

Free tierYes

HIPAA (BAA)—

SOC 2Yes

GDPRYes

Best forEngineering teams building internal ops tools at scale

Sources — Budibase: budibase.com (verified 2026-06-14) · Retool: getapp.com (verified 2026-06-14)

Key features

Budibase: Open-source fair-code with self-hosted option (unlimited users, no seat fees); ISO 27001 certified with SOC 1/2 data-center compliance for cloud infrastructure; AI-powered agents that handle employee requests across Slack, Teams, and other channels; Low-code workflow automation with approval routing, conditions, and loops; Multi-channel integration supporting 100+ business tools and databases

Retool: Visual drag-and-drop UI builder with 100+ pre-built components; Enterprise governance layer with inherited permissions and audit logs; Workflow automation with JavaScript/Python code steps; AI-powered app generation and code assistance; Self-hosted (on-prem, VPC) and cloud deployment options

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