Retool
Low-code platform where companies build internal tools tied to their own data.
On the record
Checkpoint: Results of July 2026 React/Agents relaunch and net revenue retention data
The call
Retool keeps large enterprise customers locked into costly contracts while AI app builders and Microsoft chip away at the edges of its market.
Retool is a software platform that helps companies quickly build custom business applications without hiring specialized programmers. It has real customers paying serious money, and switching to a different tool is painful because companies have hundreds of apps locked in and their teams know how to use it. However, Microsoft now offers a similar tool called Power Apps bundled into packages most big companies already buy, and new AI coding tools like Replit and Bolt can generate apps from simple written instructions, which could make expensive platforms like Retool less necessary. The one thing that matters most is whether Retool's recent redesign in July 2026 wins over companies wanting to use AI to build apps faster, or whether those companies just pick Microsoft or free AI tools instead.
Why
01
AI pressure: Replit, Bolt, v0, Lovable, Base44, and Cursor (AI code-generation tools). These tools let anyone prompt an app into existence, skipping Retool's builder entirely for simple internal tools. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: Microsoft (Power Apps plus Copilot Studio). Microsoft bundles Power Apps and Copilot Studio into enterprise agreements companies already buy, undercutting Retool on price. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. Retool's 500,000-plus built apps and $1.2M-average contracts make ripping out its tools costly and slow for big customers.
What would change this call
Retool confirms or denies the October 2025 $45M Series D at $3.2B valuation with a primary source. Shows whether investors still value Retool at 2022 levels or if funding has stalled.
Retool discloses ARR or NRR figures in the next 4 quarters. Would clarify whether growth is accelerating (Sacra view) or flattening (Getlatka view).
Enterprise buyers publicly choose Copilot Studio over Retool's July 2026 React/Agents relaunch for internal tools. Would confirm Microsoft is winning the enterprise internal-tools budget Retool needs.
Retool discloses ARR or NRR figures in the next 4 quarters. Would clarify whether growth is accelerating (Sacra view) or flattening (Getlatka view).
Enterprise buyers publicly choose Copilot Studio over Retool's July 2026 React/Agents relaunch for internal tools. Would confirm Microsoft is winning the enterprise internal-tools budget Retool needs.
Key numbers
- $120M ARR reported by Sacra
- 416 employees, down 10.5% YoY per Crustdata
- $3.2B valuation unchanged since 2022 round
Named risks
- Core drag-and-drop builder can be bypassed entirely by prompt-based AI code generation tools.
- Microsoft bundling Power Apps and Copilot Studio into existing enterprise agreements at no incremental cost.
- No primary-source-confirmed funding round or valuation increase since July 2022.
- Conflicting third-party revenue and headcount estimates undermine visibility into actual trajectory.
- 2023 Fortress Trust breach still referenced in competitor sales comparisons as of 2026.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft (Power Apps and Copilot Studio) | gaining on | Bundled into enterprise agreements with comparable governance, cited as named predator as of 2026-07 |
| Replit | contesting | Framed by Sacra as direct rival for enterprise AI workflows, Nov 2025 |
| Airtable | gaining on | Acquired competing internal-tools startup Airplane, January 2024 |
| Appsmith, Budibase, ToolJet | contesting | Open-source low-code alternatives cited as closest feature-match rivals, 2026-02 |
| AI vibe-coding tools (v0, Bolt, Lovable, Base44) | contesting | Can generate internal apps from prompts with no platform, driving Retool's July 2026 relaunch |
Questions people ask
- Is Retool profitable in 2026?
- No profitability figures are disclosed. Retool is privately held; third-party estimates (Sacra) put ARR at roughly $120M as of October 2025, up from about $90M at end of 2024, but no profit or margin data has been published as of July 2026.
- Could AI replace Retool?
- Retool's core drag-and-drop app builder is directly exposed to prompt-based 'vibe coding' tools like Replit, v0, Bolt and Lovable, which can generate internal apps without any platform. Retool responded with a full-stack React AI app builder and governance layer launched July 14, 2026, to stay relevant.
- Who is Retool's biggest competitor?
- Retool faces two fronts: Microsoft (Power Apps plus Copilot Studio, bundled into enterprise agreements) on the incumbent side, and AI-native 'vibe coding' tools like Replit on the disruptive side. Sacra explicitly frames Retool vs Replit as a fight to own enterprise AI workflows as of November 2025.
- What is Retool's current valuation?
- Retool's last confirmed priced valuation is $3.2 billion, set in a $45M Series C2 round led by Sequoia Capital on July 30, 2022. A reported October 2025 'Series D' at the same $3.2B figure has not been verified by primary sources as of July 2026.
- Did Retool raise new funding recently?
- No primary-source-confirmed funding round has occurred since the July 2022 Series C2 ($45M at $3.2B valuation). A salestools.io report claims a $45M Series D in October 2025 at the same $3.2B valuation, but this is unverified as of July 2026.
- What does Retool actually build?
- Retool, founded in San Francisco in 2017 by CEO David Hsu, is a low-code and AI-assisted platform for building internal business tools like admin panels and dashboards that connect to databases, APIs, and LLMs, plus a newer AI agent toolkit launched in public beta May 2025.
Timeline
- 2026-07-14Retool launches full-stack React AI app builder with governance layer and Enterprise AI credit promo
- 2025-11-12Sacra reports Retool vs Replit competitive analysis, citing ~$120M ARR estimate
- 2025-05-28Retool launches Agents public beta, claims 100 million+ hours automated for customers
- 2025-04Retool launches AppGen, AI app generation from natural-language prompts
- 2024-01Airtable acquires competitor Airplane
- 2023-09-13Fortress Trust discloses $15M crypto theft traced to Retool cloud provider breach
- 2023-06-21Retool lays off 9% of staff across customer success, recruiting, workplace teams
- 2022-07-30Retool raises $45M Series C2 led by Sequoia Capital at $3.2B valuation
Revision history
21 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Retool revenue, valuation & funding (2025-09-07)
- $120M Est. ARR, $3.2B Valuation (2026-07-02)
- Retool raises $45M at a $3.2B valuation (2022-07-30)
- Retool Raises $45M in Series D (2025-10-13)
- Retool vs Replit (2025-11-12)
- Retool: the $82M ARR internal app builder (2022-12-14)
- Retool Automates Over 100 Million Hours of Work, Announces Agents to Drive More Return on AI (2025-05-28)
- Retool - Headcount, Funding & Open Jobs (2026-06-29)
- Retool lays off customer success, recruiting, workplace teams (2023-06-21)
- Retool 2025 Feature Releases, AI, Agents & More (2025-08-26)
- Employee Data and Trends for Retool
- Retool launches a full-stack React AI app builder (2026-07-14)