Retool, a rapidly growing company known for making it easier for developers to build line-of-business applications, has introduced a new feature called Workflows, which enables backend workflow creation using a graphical interface. The introduction of this feature follows Retool's announcement of its $45 million funding round roughly six months ago.
Notably, Retool's focus remains primarily on developers, as opposed to the numerous low-code and no-code tools currently available. The platform provides a drag-and-drop interface that allows developers to create automated processes such as cron jobs, custom alerts, and essential extract, transform, load (ETL) tasks. This approach makes Retool more flexible than tools like Zapier, which target simple-to-intermediate use cases.
Retool CEO and co-founder David Hsu highlighted that the company doesn't consider itself a no-code platform but instead stresses the power of code. He cited the increasing trend of individuals learning to code and the potential limitations of no-code tools when trying to build complex workflows without resorting to custom code. Several companies have attempted to do so, but Retool's approach seeks to maintain developers' flexibility.
Jamie Cuffe, product lead at Retool, noted that developers require a toolset that accelerates work without narrowing their options. Retool Workflows aims to remove the tedious aspects of building automations from scratch while preserving the ability to write custom code to solve problems.
The low-code and no-code market offers a variety of tools like Airtable and Zapier, which work well for simpler use cases. However, advanced applications demand more flexibility and the power of code. Furthermore, typical cron jobs can be time-consuming and prone to errors, making them difficult to maintain and debug.
Retool Workflows caters to developers by offering features like webhooks for event-driven approaches, making it suitable for alerting and lightweight ETL applications. The focus is not solely on enterprise integration for moving data between applications, but also on human-in-the-loop processes with Retool's line-of-business applications.
Joel McLean, director of product growth at RE/MAX, shared his company's success with Retool Workflows, stating that it allowed his team to efficiently translate product data into insightful reporting and focus on writing logic unique to their business.
In addition to other no-code platforms like AppMaster, Retool offers developers an accessible and innovative means to build complex backend workflows. The new service is priced based on data throughput, with plans including 1GB of Workflows data, and overages starting at $50/GB. Currently available as a hosted service, the development of an on-premises version is already underway.
