Blog posts & tutorials

Retool helps developers build powerful internal tools, fast. This is a full guide to the platform, its pros and cons, and what you should and shouldn't use it for.

Airtable and Google Sheets are great no-code options for small datasets, but they have their limitations. We discuss what the main ones are, and why a SQL database might be a better option.

Retool database is the newest addition to the Retool development suite. Built on PostgreSQL, it's a database with the power of SQL but an interface as simple as a spreadsheet. In this post, we discuss its best use cases.

In this tutorial, we’ll build a practical MongoDB GUI using simple drag-and-drop components and basic JavaScript, in less than an hour! This frontend is great for many use cases, including company data dashboards, customer order panels and more.

Retool has just had a boost in speed and power, so switching between applications much more seamless and performant. In this article, we discuss how to make great multi-page applications with optimal performance and effective UI.

We love the new sidebar frame in Retool. In this article, we discuss functionality and limitations, provide a couple of different layout ideas, as well as some UI tips and tricks for using the sidebar in internal apps. 

In this study, we’ll look at how Red Roots Capital experimented with (clunky) SaaS software, before landing on a custom solution in Retool - built by Bold Tech - where they can not only track and file receipts for their accounting team, but they can do this on the go from a custom-made mobile app. ‍

With the rapid growth of low-code platforms and advanced developer tools, there is a spectrum of ways to create internal apps beyond custom coding from scratch. In this article, we’ll break these options down for you, including examples of software, and the pros and cons of using each.

Internal tools are often overlooked in the development space, but great internal infrastructure can often be the key to unlock greater productivity and rapid growth. So why aren’t people investing in better internal apps?

Build vs Buy is a grand debate in internal tooling, where SaaS products are often brilliant, they're sometimes too generalized to fulfill all companies’ needs. We run through some of your options, how to decide when to build or buy, and the pros and cons of each option.

Effective internal tools are essential for start-up growth in 2023, but how do you calculate ROI on your internal tool, and how do you plan and develop these tools best?

Over the past 18 months Bold Tech has worked with Bilt to build internal admin dashboards and tools on Retool. Using on a mixture of PostgreSQL, Redis Cache, and other APIs, here are some of their apps.

When Chartio announced it was being deprecated in March 2022, Blue Valet & Bold Tech had a mammoth task of migrating 50 internal apps to Retool in just a matter of weeks. Here is how we did it.

In this tutorial, we run through a Bold Tech favorite hack: collapsible side containers. Perfect for making extra space for filters, extra data, charts, and more!

In this tutorial we will walk you through some different possible CRUD layouts in Retool, what they are good and not-so-good for, and give you some of our best tips and tricks for layout best (and worst) practices.

Looking to create a sleek, automated system for users to report query failures in Retool? Follow this tutorial to create automatic bug reports and link them to your Asana board.

In this article, we walk through how to connect the Google Drive API to your Retool environment, pull your files into an application, and create new ones.

Most Retool apps are based on some kind of CRUD interface, and we think that with form inputs, a little goes a long way in turning an unfriendly UI into an optimized, beautiful user experience. Here’s a couple of simple tips to help make this happen.

Using Retool’s “Query JSON with SQL” query, we create a filter panel that streamlines the experience for the end user. We will focus on setting up a filter container with a bespoke UI to help your users sort and find data in tables more effectively and with fewer clicks - a perfect exercise for beginners trying Retool! 

Hybiscus and Retool are a dream team, providing beautiful and dynamic PDF reports in a matter of minutes. In this tutorial, I’ll walk through how to sign up for Hybiscus, set up a Hybiscus Resource in Retool, connect it to an application and get started making some stunning, automated reports.

One of the most commonly requested components in the Retool community is an image carousel. Well, good news! Using the pagination component, we can now make a carousel-style component in Retool, here's how.

In this tutorial we’ll be looking at how to use one to create a dynamic document uploader, giving you the option to preview, rename files and save them to an Amazon s3 bucket. We’ll also be explaining some of the basics around the concept of the magical ‘i’, and how to use it when developing ListView elements in your apps

The Release Manager (or versioning) in Retool is a super useful feature for splitting up your work into shippable units and version-controlling your apps. Nevertheless, it can cause a bit of confusion. In this post, we will clear up how the release manager system works, and how best to work with versioning in a team to avoid any crucial mishaps.

In the first instalment of Bold Tech’s UI sessions, we are tackling busy component enemy no.1: the button, to bring you some top tips for making better use of this powerful component, as well as some handy and innovative tricks to improve your UI even more.

In this tutorial we will cover three topics that are often necessary in charts but can be somewhat challenging to navigate using the Retool Plotly interface.

Have a Retool app for your company with key functionality but no one can make their mind up exactly how it should look? In this tutorial, we’ll show you how to create a settings modal that will allow each user to customize their interface to suit their own preferences.

Accessibility is an essential part of UI design, and dev teams are often thinking about how to let users apply their own preferences to the apps they use. This tutorial will walk through how to build a user-defined accessibility setting system using Retool and Google Sheets.

Retool's API Generator is a speedy way of creating varied dummy data through a REST API and can be used to fill gaps whilst waiting for backend changes, create mock apps and even create a staging environment. This tutorial will show you how.

DocuSign is a brilliant way to electronically sign and manage key documents between different users and devices, here's how to integrate it into your Retool app.

PDFs are used for just about everything in business these days - contracts, invoicing, eSignatures, record keeping, you name it. So, for many companies looking for Retool apps, PDF end products are essential. Here are a three options to generate PDFs within Retool.