The open-source alternative to Retool Agents

Looking for something like Retool Agents, but open source and free to start? Alfera is the AI coworker your whole team shares: a company brain that syncs your apps, connections shared per person or per team, permissions on every action, and Slack, WhatsApp and email. Self-host it in one click, or start on Alfera Cloud.

In one line: Alfera is open source with a company brain, vs a closed agent builder inside Retool.

Agent builder inside an internal-tools platformAlfera on GitHub
Hire your coworkerBook a demo
Retool AgentsAgent builder inside an internal-tools platformOpen source, or Alfera Cloud
What it isPart of Retool: build AI agents that call your queries, workflows, MCP servers and other agents, with monitoring and evals.The AI coworker your whole team shares, with a company brain that syncs your apps. Open source.
Open sourceNoYes, AGPL-3.0
Self-hostEnterprise onlyYes: one click on DigitalOcean or AWS, or one command on any server
PriceAgents: $50 free usage/month (up to 20 hours), then hourly rate by model. Team plan €9/builder/mo billed annuallyFree to start: open source to self-host, and Alfera Cloud starts with $10 of free AI usage
Where it worksWeb app (agent chat), Email (unique agent address), Agent Chat component in Retool apps, Retool Workflows, A2A protocolSlack, WhatsApp, email from its own address, the web app, a Mac app, the API and MCP
Team useAgents live in a Retool organization; admins grant groups Use, Edit or Own on agents and folders. Chat threads can be shared as replay links.Multiplayer: one coworker for the whole team. It knows who is asking, and each connection is shared with everyone, one project, or one person
PermissionsGroup RBAC on agents and resources; tools inherit the user's resource access. Billing docs exclude time spent waiting for human approval.Allow, ask first, or never, per connection and per action. Approvals in Slack, email or the app, and every action logged
Starts on its ownAgents run when invoked (chat, email, A2A, app, workflow). A workflow on a schedule or webhook can invoke an agent automatically.On a schedule, from a webhook, or on 600+ app events
ModelsRetool-managed OpenAI and Anthropic models, or your own provider keys and custom AI providers (own keys required when self-hosted).230+ models: Claude, GPT, Gemini, open models, your ChatGPT plan, or your own

Where Retool Agents is the better choice

Companies already building internal tools on Retool that want governed agents connected to production data.

  • Built-in evals: datasets, test cases and side-by-side comparison of agent runs and models
  • Agents reuse Retool queries, workflows and database connections, inside the same permission system as Retool apps
  • Billed by agent runtime hour, with a per-model rate and live monitoring of cost, runtime and tokens per agent

Everything Alfera does

  • A company brain that syncs your apps. Connect Google Drive, Notion, Slack and the rest. Documents sync on their own, keep every version, and every answer draws on them.
  • One coworker for the whole team. It knows who is asking. Many people, many tasks at once, each with their own chats and connections, and shared chats when you want.
  • 3,000+ app connections, shared the way you choose. Each connection is open to everyone, one project, or one person. A personal mailbox stays personal; the support inbox is the team’s.
  • Permissions on every action. Allow, ask first, or never, per connection and per action. Approvals land in Slack, email or the app, and every action is logged.
  • Where your team already is. Slack, WhatsApp, email from its own address, the web app, a Mac app, and your own code through the API and MCP.
  • It starts work by itself. On a schedule, from a webhook, or on 600+ app events in Gmail, HubSpot, Stripe and more.
  • Its own computer. Every chat runs in a sandbox with a terminal and a browser, and its files stay from one chat to the next.
  • Any model. 230+ models: Claude, GPT, Gemini, open models, your ChatGPT plan, or a model you run yourself.
  • Open source, and free to start. AGPL-3.0. Self-host it in one click on DigitalOcean or AWS, or start on Alfera Cloud with $10 of free AI usage.

Retool Agents and Alfera

Alfera. Alfera is the AI coworker your whole team shares. It has a company brain that syncs your apps, 3,000+ app connections shared per person or per team, permissions on every action, and it works in Slack, WhatsApp, email and the web app. It starts work by itself, runs on any model, and it is open source: self-host it in one click or start free on Alfera Cloud. Retool Agents is not open source.

Sources

Facts about Retool Agents come from its own pages, read on 16 October 2026. Something out of date? Write to hello@alfera.ai and we will fix it.