Public form with file uploads

Hey there,

I am enjoying Retool as our business automations platform. I came across Retool forms and thought it was the ideal solution for our problem but then ran into a stag.

I need the end-users to upload a file: PDF's, JPEGS and or PNG's.

I see that Retool Forms does not allow for this.

These end-users can be many, they are not accounts we would want to add to our Retool organisation but rather the broad internet public.

How to best solve this within Retool?

Hey @Emir_Gluhbegovic! You can definitely allow unauthenticated users to upload whatever is needed. While I haven't tried this through Forms, you can achieve this by creating a public app with that functionality! :blush:

To add to what @Derek_Watts said here, public apps are only available on Business or higher.

@AbbeyHernandez @Derek_Watts
Firstly, thanks for the replies!

@Derek_Watts I did try on forms but forms do not allow for file uploads.

For Public apps, how do the costs work? I see there is a "costs per external user" for the business plan:

0-250 $8/month
251-500 $6/month
Over 500 Free

I assume this means that if I get 0-250 external users I will need to pay an additional $8 per month?

@Emir_Gluhbegovic

From what I understand, external users typically refer to those who aren’t part of your organization’s internal team—that's anyone with an email outside your org. I think a lot of people get tripped up by that distinction because it’s more about whether the user is classified as "inside" or "outside" the org via their email domain.

Public apps, however, don’t require any authentication via Retool. These apps can be accessed by literally anyone and are unlimited, but you do need to be on the Business plan to enable this feature.

That said, @AbbeyHernandez can tell you for sure.

I also think some clarification on Retool’s pricing page would go a long way. Maybe breaking it down like:

Cost per Editor
Cost per User (Inside the organization)
Cost per External User (Outside your organization)
Cost per Anonymous/Public User

Just a thought, it might be easier for people to understand the costs when embedding a simple widget, creating a public-facing app, or building an onboarding flow.

Hope that helps!

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Thanks @Derek_Watts

In terms of Public Apps, can you have files being uploaded by none-authenticated users or is there some limitation around that?

@Emir_Gluhbegovic not that I am aware of no.

Thanks for the replies!

Cool, it seems I can make uploads just need to be aware that any uploads made by the public are accessible by the public.

All sorted my side.

Thanks for the help & info!

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