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Show HN: Open-source alternative to Retool

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Re: Show HN: Open-source alternative to Retool

#111

Post by barnabee »

krithix wrote: post #78
barnabee wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some feedback, as you asked for it and I signed up for both OpenBlocks and Budibase cloud versions today to try them out: (NB: If I like either or both of them I’ll self host, as I have no interest in SaaS, indeed it’s what’s stopped me from using things like Retool despite missing RAD tools ever since Delphi stopped being a viable solution for me.) OpenBlocks dropped me quickly into its pretty snappy app (literally…

(I work at Retool.) We offer a self-hosted version of Retool if you're interested: https://retool.com/self-hosted/ The self-hosted option is also free for teams of up to 5 people under our new free plan.

Thanks, but I have no interest in per user licensing for server side software nor in using proprietary, closed source dev or hosting platforms.

Re: Show HN: Open-source alternative to Retool

#113

Post by jroes »

eropple wrote: post #86
jroes wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like charging for SSO is a reasonable request of enterprises when adopting open source software. Most enterprises require SSO as policy (and should). Most enterprises also don't contribute financially to the sustainability of open source software, so this is one way to ensure that happens.

The problem is that everyone should have SSO, and that includes small orgs. If you don't want your stuff used by small orgs that can't afford to pay, that's a totally reasonable standpoint. At the same time, though, if it's good they probably will use it despite not having SSO, and so that decision makessecurity (something that, by and large, benefits everyone) into an opt-in luxury good. Speaking only for me, I'd be…

I agree that orgs of all sizes should use SSO. The pricing should scale appropriately.

But as we have seen, companies are not doing enough to secure the sustainability of the open source software they rely on for their businesses, and I think a balance needs to be struck.

Re: Show HN: Open-source alternative to Retool

#115

Post by eropple »

jroes wrote: post #113
eropple wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that everyone should have SSO, and that includes small orgs. If you don't want your stuff used by small orgs that can't afford to pay, that's a totally reasonable standpoint. At the same time, though, if it's good they probably will use it despite not having SSO, and so that decision makessecurity (something that, by and large, benefits everyone) into an opt-in luxury good. Speaking only for me, I'd be…

I agree that orgs of all sizes should use SSO. The pricing should scale appropriately. But as we have seen, companies are not doing enough to secure the sustainability of the open source software they rely on for their businesses, and I think a balance needs to be struck.

They are not. I agree.

SSO isn't where to try to bleed that pig though, I think, to the point where for team-based systems it is probably more proper to disallow anything else (and maybe make them pay for guest access outside of their domain!).

Re: Show HN: Open-source alternative to Retool

#116

Post by iampari »

glutamate wrote: post #77
amendegree wrote: post #39

This looks super promising. We've been looking for a good all in one internal tool builder, gonna invesitage this now. Anyone have any other alt's they found useful?

Hi, I'm the lead dev of Saltcorn ( https://saltcorn.com ), I built it around the relational data model and it may fit your use case. Some people are finding it useful!

I just watched all the videos of Saltcorn on Youtube - and amongst the tools I researched so far this was most impressive. About to use it for a few internal tools soon.

Re: Show HN: Open-source alternative to Retool

#118

Post by Aaikansh22 »

amendegree wrote: post #39

This looks super promising. We've been looking for a good all in one internal tool builder, gonna invesitage this now. Anyone have any other alt's they found useful?

I believe you should definitely check DronaHQ https://www.dronahq.com/ .

An ideal alternative to Retool. We offer an intuitive drag drop interface with 150+ pre-built UI components and you can also connect with any database of your choice and build admin panels, dashboards, or any kind of web and mobile apps. The best part is you can choose what suits you the best between user-based pricing or usage based pricing.

For more details > https://www.dronahq.com/retool-alternative/

Re: Show HN: Open-source alternative to Retool

#119

Post by rlnorthcutt »

Nimsical wrote: post #65

This is cool and in some world where the company becomes massive and basically commit to properly maintaining the product I could see it being a player. I'm skeptical of open-sourcing UI and workflow builders. The upsides are that you enable a community to build connectors and the UI builder + maintain them, but the downside is that you have to manage the community well enough that enterprises can trust the connector…

You have a good point about enterprise requirements and the challenge of wrapping an SLA around open source which is entirely or primarily made from community contributions. I ran into this all the time when I worked at Acquia which provides a platform for Drupal.

One thing to note - proprietary does not necessarily mean it is any safer or more stable than OSS. Superblocks is actually a closed source fork of Appsmith, so the code is very close to the open source version, but now it is not visible.

In my experience, proprietary vs OSS is not the issue, but maturity and support.

Most newer software either has undiscovered bugs, or develops them as they grow and become complex. More mature software tends to be more stable in general, and OSS projects with commercial backing tend to have the resources (and incentive) to focus on security and stability.

This is why I am so interested in the explosion of Open Source business models. In theory, it provides a more stable product and commercial support, while still being transparent about its code and being open to community contributions.

Re: Show HN: Open-source alternative to Retool

#120

Post by rlnorthcutt »

Wow! It is great to see another low code, open source platform being launched. I’ve been involved with open source for over 25 years, and I am a big believer in the power of open source to accelerate development and empower people all over the world to build amazing things. I have built a career on OSS, and millions of others have as well. It is a game changer.

In full transparency, I am the Head of DevRel at Appsmith, which is an alternative tool to Open Blocks, and a source for some of Open Block’s code (https://github.com/openblocks-dev/openblocks/search?q=appsmi...).

However, that is not really what I want to discuss here.

As long as I have been involved in open source, I have dealt with FUD about OSS from investors, executives, and business people who don’t “get it”. These folks have usually been highly resistant to open sourcing code or making contributions because they think it will hurt the business. “Why would I want to share code that can be used to compete against us?” This could even apply to a young engineer or maintainer of a growing open-source project who’s deciding to startup and thinking whether to build an OSS company.

We have seen a huge boom in open source business models, and this is a GREAT thing. But, what can we do to ensure that we don’t prove the naysayers right?

My concern is that as we see a rise in competition among open source businesses, we will also see a rise in competitive businesses (open source and proprietary) that use previous work to accelerate their advantage… which is one of the central features to open source.

But, in theory, open source also has advantages for those who provide code - attribution, contribution, funding, shared resources, etc. There are also different licensing models that have strengths and weaknesses. We decided to go with a permissive license so that people can use Appsmith in all environments, and sometimes this works against us because competitors can build on top of Appsmith. But hey, that’s the nature of the game right?

So - what can we or should we do as a community to ensure that open source business models can be successful without tarnishing the reputation of open source in general? Should we be more clear with attribution? Should we partner and make shared libraries for common functionality? Maybe do nothing? What do you think?

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