Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

ToolJet VS Refine

Compare ToolJet VS Refine and see what are their differences

ToolJet logo ToolJet

Open-source alternative for Retool

Refine logo Refine

A React Framework for building internal tools, admin panels, dashboards & B2B apps with unmatched flexibilty.
  • ToolJet Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-07
  • Refine Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-11-18

Refine is a meta React framework that enables the rapid development of a wide range of web applications. From internal tools, admin panels, B2B apps and dashboards, it serves as a comprehensive solution for building any type of CRUD applications.

It's internal hooks and components simplifies the development process and eliminates the repetitive tasks by providing industry-standard solutions for crucial aspects of a project, including authentication, access control, routing, networking, state management, and i18n.

Refine is headless by design and offers unlimited styling and customization possibilities, empowering developers to create tailored and fully functional applications that meet specific project requirements.

ToolJet

Website
tooljet.ai
$ Details
Platforms
-
Release Date
-

Refine

Website
refine.dev
Pricing URL
-
$ Details
Platforms
Web Browser React Native Remix Electron NextJS ReactJS
Release Date
2021 September

ToolJet features and specs

  • Open-source
    ToolJet is an open-source platform, which means you can customize the tool to fit your specific needs while also benefiting from community contributions and transparency.
  • No-code/Low-code
    ToolJet allows users to build powerful applications with minimal to no coding, making it accessible to non-developers and reducing the time required to develop applications.
  • Integration
    ToolJet offers integrations with various databases, APIs, and third-party services, enabling seamless data flow and interaction with other tools.
  • Extensibility
    The platform can be extended with custom widgets and functionalities, allowing developers to add specific features not available out-of-the-box.
  • Community Support
    As an open-source tool, ToolJet has a growing community of users and developers who contribute to its development and provide support through forums and repositories.

Possible disadvantages of ToolJet

  • Learning Curve
    Despite its no-code nature, there might be a learning curve for non-developers unfamiliar with the concepts of application building and data management.
  • Documentation
    As with many open-source projects, documentation quality can vary and may not be as comprehensive as that of commercial alternatives.
  • Scalability
    Depending on deployment and usage, scaling applications might require additional infrastructure management and technical know-how.
  • Support
    While community support is available, it might lack the immediate and guaranteed assistance found in commercial products with dedicated support teams.
  • Feature Gaps
    Being a relatively newer and open-source tool, ToolJet may lack some advanced features found in more mature or commercial platforms.

Refine features and specs

  • Backend Agnostic
  • Decoupled UI
  • Native Typescript Core
  • Powerful Default UI
  • Routing
  • Authentication
  • Rest API Integration
  • GraphQL API Integration
  • Developer tools
  • SSR Support

ToolJet videos

ToolJet - Introduction

More videos:

  • Review - FOSS Meetup - July 2021 | AdonisJS | Cloud Native chaos | ToolJet | FOSS United

Refine videos

No Refine videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ToolJet and Refine)
No Code
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
49 49%
51% 51
Open Source
0 0%
100% 100
Productivity
100 100%
0% 0

Questions and Answers

As answered by people managing ToolJet and Refine.

What makes your product unique?

Refine's answer:

Refine's unparalleled flexibility with data providers makes it a unique choice. Whether you're integrating with REST, GraphQL, or any other data source, Refine streamlines the process.

Another defining feature is its built-in UI integrations. This means you can create polished and responsive user interfaces with ease. Plus, with a thriving community and extensive developer support, you're never alone when using Refine.

Refine simplifies data management and CRUD operations, allowing you to focus on building your application's core functionality. Its robust security features and authentication support ensure your data is protected.

What truly sets Refine apart is its headless architecture. This design philosophy empowers you to customize every aspect of your application, giving you complete control over its look and feel.

Real-time capabilities are another standout feature. This means you can easily incorporate live updates and collaboration features into your apps.

With comprehensive documentation and tutorials, getting started and mastering Refine is a straightforward process. The active open-source community ensures regular updates and improvements.

Refine is suitable for projects of enterprise-level solutions. Its scalability makes it a versatile choice for developers and organizations alike.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

Refine's answer:

It provides a headless architecture, giving developers complete freedom to customize the frontend using any UI library or framework, which is not always the case with other solutions.

Secondly, Refine's data provider support is extensive, with a wide range of options, making it easier to integrate with various backends. Additionally, it has a rapidly growing community and extensive documentation, ensuring excellent support and resources for users. The real-time features, along with built-in UI integration for popular libraries, simplify complex tasks.

Refine is backed by an active development team that regularly releases updates and improvements. In summary, Refine offers flexibility, comprehensive support, and a strong community, making it a compelling choice in the competitive landscape of web application development frameworks.

How would you describe your primary audience?

Refine's answer:

Refine's primary audience consists of developers and teams who are focused on building Enterprise web applications, particularly those in need of admin panels, internal tools, or dashboards. Refine can be use for any type of CRUD apps.

These developers typically have a background in Typescript and React and are looking for a framework that provides flexibility, extensibility, and efficiency in building data-centric applications.

Refine is popular among enterprises and businesses that require scalable and maintainable solutions for their data management needs.

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare ToolJet and Refine

ToolJet Reviews

Top 9 Low-Code Tools for 2023 for low-code development
Tooljet is a low-code development platform that empowers users to build web and mobile applications without extensive coding knowledge. It offers a drag-and-drop interface, pre-built templates, and a range of components for rapid application development. Tooljet supports integrations with popular databases and external services, allowing users to create dynamic and...
Appsmith vs. Tooljet: Which Low-Code Platform is Better for You?
In this blog post, we will compare two popular LCDPs for building internal tools: Appsmith and Tooljet. We will also introduce ILLA Cloud, a new and innovative LCDP that offers a viable alternative to Appsmith and Tooljet.

Refine Reviews

We have no reviews of Refine yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Refine should be more popular than ToolJet. It has been mentiond 39 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

ToolJet mentions (13)

  • Building an intelligent CRM using ChatGPT, PostgreSQL, and ToolJet
    You can also download its JSON file and import it into a ToolJet app, but you'll need to provide your Sendinblue credentials and OpenAI API key. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
  • Adding ability to import packages using Micropip to our low-code web framework - ToolJet
    You can quickly try out this feature on ToolJet Cloud (https://tooljet.com) or on your local machine (https://docs.tooljet.com/docs/setup/try-tooljet). Source: about 2 years ago
  • Building Recruitment Management App using Appwrite and ToolJet (Part 1)
    ToolJet (https://github.com/ToolJet/ToolJet): A free and open-source low-code platform that allows you to quickly build applications. Sign up here. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • Build a coupon code manager app in 30 minutes
    This tutorial will guide you to build a CRUD app that will let you create new coupons, edit or delete existing coupons. We will be using ToolJet to build this application and will use Google Sheets as the data source. - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • Best (Free) Web-based Front-end Form for an SQL Database
    Checkout https://retool.com/ or https://tooljet.com/. Built for exactly this purpose. Source: about 3 years ago
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Refine mentions (39)

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What are some alternatives?

When comparing ToolJet and Refine, you can also consider the following products

Retool - Build custom internal tools in minutes.

Appsmith - Appsmith is an open source web framework for building internal tools, admin panels, dashboards, and workflows.

Budibase - What Wordpress is to websites, Budibase is to web apps. Budibase is a free and open source web app builder for creating, launching and growing web applications. Budibase eliminates repetition and dramatically reduces development time. Check it out.

PocketBlocks - In PocketBlocks, all you need to do is drag and drop pre-built or self-customized components onto the What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) canvas to make an app, PocketBlocks helps you build an app quickly and focus on the business logic.

Airtable - Airtable works like a spreadsheet but gives you the power of a database to organize anything. Sign up for free.

Blitz.js - Rails-like framework for React apps, built on Next.js