--- url: /docs/getting-started/comparison/retool.md description: >- Looking for a Retool alternative? Compare Luna Park and Retool: internal tools and customer-facing apps, logic, backend, code export, hosting, and pricing model. --- # Luna Park vs Retool Looking for a **Retool alternative** with code export and no per-user pricing? Luna Park builds the interface, the logic, and the backend of your app visually, and compiles it into a standard Vue and Node.js application that you own and host where you want. Retool is the reference tool for **internal tools**: admin panels, dashboards, and back-office apps built on top of your existing databases and APIs. Luna Park builds **complete applications**, internal or customer-facing, with their own backend and database. ## At a glance ### Building | | Luna Park | Retool | |---|---|---| | **Made for** | Web applications: SaaS, dashboards, internal tools | Internal tools on top of existing data | | **Interface** | Component tree, CSS-based styling, design tokens | Drag-and-drop grid of ready-made components | | **Logic** | Visual scripting graphs, front and back | Queries (SQL, API), JavaScript, event handlers | | **Execution** | Compiled to JavaScript and Vue | Run by the Retool platform | | **AI** | Sidekick, external agents through MCP | Retool AI, agents | ### Data and backend | | Luna Park | Retool | |---|---|---| | **Data sources** | The project's PostgreSQL database, APIs through `Fetch` | Many connectors: databases, REST, GraphQL, SaaS tools | | **Database** | PostgreSQL, part of the project | Your existing databases, or Retool Database | | **Backend logic** | Routes, crons, backend scripts | Queries run by Retool, Workflows | | **Authentication** | Users plugin (sessions, roles, OAuth2) for your own users | Retool accounts, permissions, SSO on higher plans | ### Ownership and costs | | Luna Park | Retool | |---|---|---| | **Code export** | Readable Vue + Node.js code | App definition (JSON or Toolscript), to import into Retool ([source](https://docs.retool.com/apps/guides/app-management/import-export)) | | **Hosting** | Anywhere | Retool Cloud, self-hosted on Enterprise ([source](https://retool.com/pricing)) | | **Pricing model** | Fixed subscription | Per builder and per user ([source](https://retool.com/pricing)) | | **Platforms** | Web (single-page app, PWA), desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux), mobile (Android, iOS) | Web, mobile (Retool Mobile) | ::: info This comparison reflects our understanding of Retool as of October 2026. Retool evolves fast: check [retool.com](https://retool.com) for its current features and prices. ::: ## Where Retool is stronger * **Speed on existing data**: connect a database or an API and get a working table, form, or admin panel in minutes. * **Connectors**: a long list of ready-made integrations with databases, APIs, and SaaS tools. * **Enterprise features**: SSO, audit logs, granular permissions, source control, and environments. * **Maturity**: a large user base, many templates, and extensive documentation. ## Where Luna Park is stronger ### You own your application Retool apps can be exported as JSON or Toolscript, but these files describe the app for the Retool platform: they are made to be [imported into another Retool instance](https://docs.retool.com/apps/guides/app-management/import-export). Luna Park [compiles](../../deployment/compilation) your project into a standard Vue frontend and a Node.js backend (Fastify and PostgreSQL). You can download the readable source code, host it where you want, and hand it to a development team. ### Pricing that doesn't grow with your team Retool [bills per builder and per user](https://retool.com/pricing), and external users are billed on higher plans. With Luna Park, you pay a fixed subscription for the editor. Your app runs on your own server, at the price of that server, however many people use it. ### Customer-facing apps Retool is designed for apps used by your team. Luna Park builds any web application: a SaaS for your customers, a marketplace, a client portal, with your own design, your own [authentication](../../fundamentals/data/auth), and your own domain. The same project can also serve your internal tools. ### Full control over the interface Retool interfaces are assembled from its own component library on a grid. In Luna Park, you build your own [components](../../fundamentals/interface/components), style them with CSS and [design tokens](../../fundamentals/interface/styling#design-tokens), and use UI libraries or Vue component packages from [npm](../../integrations/npm). ### Logic without writing code In Retool, logic is written as SQL queries, JavaScript transformers, and event handlers. Luna Park's [visual scripting](../../fundamentals/logic/visual-scripting/introduction) covers loops, conditions, functions, typed data, and async calls, in the interface and in the backend, without writing code. You can still write [TypeScript functions](../../fundamentals/logic/scripts#code-functions) when you prefer. ### Every platform from the same project From a single project, Luna Park exports a single-page web app, a PWA, and, with the [desktop app](../desktop-app), native apps for Windows, macOS, Linux ([desktop](../../deployment/desktop)), Android, and iOS ([mobile](../../deployment/mobile)). ## Things to know before switching * **Luna Park comes with its own database.** Your app's data lives in the project's PostgreSQL [database](../../fundamentals/data/database). To work with an existing database or internal API, call it from a [route](../../fundamentals/data/routes) with the `Fetch` node or an [npm](../../integrations/npm) client package: there is no catalog of ready-made connectors. * **You host the backend.** Luna Park can deploy your frontend for testing, but routes, database, and crons run on your own server (see [Self-hosting](../../deployment/deployment)). * **Building takes longer for a simple admin panel.** Retool's ready-made tables and forms are hard to beat for a quick CRUD screen on top of an existing database. ## From Retool concepts to Luna Park | Retool | Luna Park | |---|---| | App | Project, with its [pages](../../fundamentals/interface/components#pages) | | Component | [Component](../../fundamentals/interface/components) | | Module | Reusable [component](../../fundamentals/interface/components) | | Variable / temporary state | [Variable](../../fundamentals/logic/variables), or [Store](../../fundamentals/logic/store) for global state | | Transformer | [Computed variable](../../fundamentals/logic/variables#computed-variables), or [function](../../fundamentals/logic/scripts) | | Event handler | Logic graph of a component | | Resource query | [Route](../../fundamentals/data/routes) called from the interface | | REST API resource | `Fetch` node | | Retool Database table | [Database](../../fundamentals/data/database) table | | Workflow | [Route](../../fundamentals/data/routes) or [Cron](../../fundamentals/data/cron) | ## Which one to choose? **Choose Retool** if you need internal tools on top of databases and APIs you already have, fast, and if per-user pricing and staying on Retool's platform suit your team. **Choose Luna Park** if you are building an application that you want to own: customer-facing or internal, with its own backend, your own design, and costs that don't depend on the number of users.