OPEN-SOURCE MIGRATION BENCHMARK
License: Apache-2.0
★ 35.4k GitHub Stars
Replace Retool with Self-Hosted Appsmith
Open-source low-code framework to build admin panels, internal tools, and dashboards in hours Stop paying Business ($50 base + $18/user/mo) ($230/mo for a 10-person team) and run Appsmith on a $4.50/mo Linux VPS with full data sovereignty.
10-Seat Annual Savings
+$2,706 / yr
vs Retool standard plan
Container RAM & vCPU
2048 MB RAM
2.0 vCPU • Migration: Moderate
Recommended Cloud Box
$4.50/mo VPS
Hetzner CX22 (4GB RAM / 2 vCPU)
1-to-100 Seat Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Table
Comparing Retool (Business ($50 base + $18/user/mo)) vs Appsmith on Hetzner CX22 (4GB RAM / 2 vCPU).
| Team Size | Retool Cost | Appsmith VPS | Net Annual Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Seat (Solo) | $68.00/mo ($816/yr) | $4.50/mo (CX22) | +$762 / year |
| 5 Seats | $140.00/mo ($1,680/yr) | $4.50/mo (CX22) | +$1,626 / year |
| 10 Seats | $230.00/mo ($2,760/yr) | $4.50/mo (CX22) | +$2,706 / year |
| 25 Seats | $500.00/mo ($6,000/yr) | $4.50/mo (CX22) | +$5,946 / year |
| 50 Seats | $950.00/mo ($11,400/yr) | $4.50/mo (CX22) | +$11,346 / year |
| 100 Seats | $1,850.00/mo ($22,200/yr) | $4.50/mo (CX22) | +$22,146 / year |
Production Docker Compose + Caddy Auto-SSL
Copy and run docker compose up -d on any Ubuntu 24.04 server.
# Production Docker Compose: Appsmith (Replaces Retool)
services:
caddy:
image: caddy:2-alpine
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- "80:80"
- "443:443"
volumes:
- ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile:ro
- caddy_data:/data
networks:
- stack_net
appsmith:
image: index.docker.io/appsmith/appsmith-ce:latest
container_name: stack-appsmith
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
- "APPSMITH_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD=${APPSMITH_PASS:-abcd1234efgh5678}"
- "APPSMITH_ENCRYPTION_SALT=${APPSMITH_SALT:-salt12345678}"
volumes:
- appsmith_data:/data
networks:
- stack_net
networks:
stack_net:
driver: bridge
volumes:
caddy_data:
appsmith_data:
Caddyfile (Automatic HTTPS Reverse Proxy):
# Automatic Let's Encrypt HTTPS for Appsmith
appsmith.{$DOMAIN:yourdomain.com} {
encode zstd gzip
reverse_proxy appsmith:80
}
Why Teams Switch to Appsmith
- ✓45+ drag-and-drop UI widgets
- ✓Connects to Postgres, Stripe, REST, GraphQL & S3
- ✓Git version control for internal tools
GitHub Repository
appsmithorg/appsmith
Official Website
www.appsmith.com
Docker Image
index.docker.io/appsmith/appsmith-ce:latest
Database Needed
Built-in / SQLite
1-Click Cloud VPS Hosting
Deploy Appsmith in 60 Seconds
Sized automatically for Appsmith (2048MB container RAM + OS overhead).
PRODUCTION BOILERPLATE ZIP
Get All 16 Pre-Built Production Stacks + Encrypted S3 Backups
Includes pre-tuned docker-compose.yml, Caddy Auto-SSL, AES-256 encrypted nightly S3/R2 Postgres backups, and Ubuntu 24.04 UFW/Fail2ban hardening scripts.