Openblocks
The Open Source Retool Alternative
Build internal tools fast, with no limitations
- Connect to any data sources or APIs.
- Build UI with 50+ components.
- Share with collegues and customers.
It's cumbersome to create a single app. You had to design user interfaces, write code in multiple languages and frameworks, and understand how all of that code works together.
Low-code/No-code platforms are fast to get started with but quickly become unmaintainable and inflexible. This creates more problems than it solves.
Retool-like solutions are great for their simplicity and flexibility, but they can also be limited in different ways compared to frameworks like React/Vue.
Openblocks wants to take a step forward. More specifically, Openblocks is
- An all-in-one IDE to create internal or customer-facing apps.
- A place to create, build and share building blocks of web applications.
- A domain-specific language that UI-configurable block is the first-class citizen.
- Visual UI builder with 50+ built-in components.
- Module and Query Library for reusable components and queries in the UI builder.
- Custom components to share through React and Openblocks SDK (instead of iFrame). (Pre-alpha)
- Native connections to PostgresSQL, MongoDB, MySQL, Redis, Elasticsearch, RestAPI, SMTP, etc.
- JavaScript supported everywhere to transform data, control components, etc.
- Embed Openblocks pages as a React component (instead of iFrame).
- Role-based access control (RBAC) for granular permission management.
- Auto-saved and restorable history for release and version control.
- DIY app themes to precisely align with your company's content.
- Audit logs to track activities and ensure compliance.
- Openblocks is open-source. You don't need to worry about vendor lock-in or being stuck with an outdated version of the software.
- In Openblocks, developers can create and use their own components instead of depending on offical updates.
- Openblocks supports left menu navigation (like most sites do). Retool has header navigation only.
- Openblocks has more components and richer configuration than Appsmith and Tooljet.
- In Openblocks, you can choose auto-height or fixed-height mode for your components, while Appsmith supports fixed-height mode only.
- In Openblocks, you can reuse common structures when building apps with modules and query library features.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us or share with our community. Our team is here ready to help.
📮 Chat with us on Discord
📑 Search for solutions in our Documentation
🔎 Submit an issue here on GitHub
You can access Openblocks from cloud-hosted version at any time, or use the following resources for deploying Openblocks on different platforms:
- Language support: If you have experience with a language that isn't currently supported by our product, send us a pull request.
- Create and share components or demos: If you've created something that might be useful to others, add the link here.