Refine vs Windmill
Both are alternatives to Retool. Here's how they stack up — verified facts, no spin.
Also searched as Windmill vs Refine — same comparison, one verdict.
Refine
Not a builder — a React framework, when you would rather own the code.
Refine is a React meta-framework for building internal tools and admin panels in code: it handles data fetching, auth, routing, forms and tables, and leaves the interface to you and your component library of choice. There is no canvas and no vendor format — the output is a React application in your repository, which means it cannot be locked in by definition. MIT. It is the right answer when the objection to Retool is ownership rather than price, and when you have engineers who would rather write React than learn a builder.
Windmill
For teams whose internal tools are mostly scripts and workflows.
Windmill takes the opposite approach to a drag-and-drop canvas: you write scripts in Python, TypeScript, Go or Bash and Windmill generates the UI from their inputs, alongside a workflow engine for chaining them. For an engineering team whose internal tooling is fundamentally automation with a form on top — reruns, backfills, ops jobs — that is a much better fit than a widget canvas. AGPL-3.0 core with a commercial enterprise edition. Roughly 17.5k stars, and unusually fast because the execution engine is Rust.
Side by side
| Refine | Windmill | |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereignty Score | 96 | 88 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 (core; enterprise edition is commercial) |
| Pricing | Free and open source. It is a library — you host the app like any other. | Free and open source to self-host. Paid cloud and enterprise editions. |
Refine edges it on the Sovereignty Score, but the right pick depends on the trade-offs below.
Refine
Strengths
- +The output is your own React code — no vendor format at all
- +MIT, no enterprise tier, nothing gated
- +Works with Material UI, Ant Design, Chakra or your own components
- +Handles the boring parts: auth, data, forms, tables
Trade-offs
- −Not low-code — this is a framework for engineers
- −Non-technical staff cannot build with it
- −Slower to a first working screen than any builder here
- −You own every design decision, which is freedom and work
Windmill
Strengths
- +Script-first: the UI is generated from code you already write
- +Serious workflow engine, not an afterthought
- +Rust execution engine — genuinely fast
- +Fits engineering teams better than a drag-and-drop canvas
Trade-offs
- −Wrong shape if you want non-engineers building tools
- −AGPL-3.0 strong copyleft
- −Smaller community than Appsmith or ToolJet
- −UI generation is less flexible than hand-placed widgets
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Facts verified 2026-08-07. Licenses and pricing change — spotted something out of date? That's a correction we want.