I noticed in the documentation that Self Hosted is for Enterprise Only. I am currently using it for personal use on my home network. Is this still going to be supported? Concerned you will stop supplying updates etc. for users like me. Searched around and can’t seem to find any info.
I can add on this that registrations on my.retool (to register a self hosted license) now redirect to the pricing page (where it still seems that self host has the same plans as cloud). So it seems impossibile to register a new license for self hosting and it’s a requirement for deploying.
Also now the Retool | Self Hosted page only mentioned enterprise.
The communication is mixed, different pages say different things. If it were true it would be the most severe breach of trust ever from Retool. No heads up, no prior roll out announcement of a flagship feature has been there since forever. Zero time for companies to react. Hope I’m wrong and Retool clarifies asap.
I was about to deploy for a client in a self host env with a business plan so I’m really looking forward to hearing what @Retool has to say about this.
Hi folks,
Thank you for reaching out regarding our self-hosted options.
Currently, we are no longer accepting new self-hosted signups via our self-serve channel. This docs page update is part of some broader plan adjustments we are preparing for later this year.
While we are still finalizing the specific timeline and details for existing self-hosted accounts, please keep the following in mind:
- Existing Accounts: You can continue to use your account as normal, no changes in capability or support
- Proactive Notice: Our goal is a smooth transition; should any changes affect your current plan, we will provide you with ample notice and all the necessary information to prepare
- Cloud & Enterprise: You are welcome to sign up for new Cloud accounts at any time, and we are happy to assist with migrations. If self-hosting is a strict requirement for a new use case, we can connect you with our Sales team to discuss Enterprise options
So @Tess let me get this straight, with zero prior communication, you implemented a monumental change to your business model, removing the ability to self-host for any SMB. Self-hosting has been available since the inception of this tool, and anyone working with Retool would reasonably consider it a core principle of what you stand for. And now you're trying to PR your way out of it with a carefully worded support reply. I'm sorry, but that's not good enough.
You say that: “Our goal is a smooth transition; should any changes affect your current plan, we will provide you with ample notice and all the necessary information to prepare” but the reality is that you just did it and told nothing to anybody. So in practice is literally the opposite of it.
This has been handled in a way that I genuinely find baffling. You have every right to adjust your business model but when you do something this significant, you plan it, and you communicate it with ample notice FOR REAL.
We're talking six months minimum, ideally more. Because this is not a consumer app that people download and delete. This is a tool that companies, agencies like mine, recommend to clients, integrate into their workflows, and build long-term roadmaps around. I have clients where I planned self-hosted Retool deployments a year in advance. That work, those conversations, that trust, all of it was built on the assumption that self-hosting was a stable, available option. Because it always had been, and you never said otherwise.
And that's exactly the problem. It's not just that you changed course, it's that you did it overnight, without telling anyone. How am I supposed to professionally recommend a tool to a client when that tool can make changes this significant with no warning? What guarantee do I have that in six months you won't turn around and tell existing self-hosted accounts the same thing? Your reply even says you're "still finalizing details for existing self-hosted accounts", which, honestly, does nothing to reassure me. It actually makes things worse.
For clients I already have running Retool on-premises, I now have to reconsider everything. Not because the product isn't good, but because I can no longer trust the stability of the company behind it. And that's a much bigger problem than any feature or pricing change.
This is a serious breach of trust, both toward your users and toward the people who have spent real professional credibility recommending and championing your product. I really hope someone at Retool takes this seriously, because the way this was handled is the kind of thing that loses you not just customers, but advocates.
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Jack, Keith -
I appreciate you all being direct and we owe you the same.
First: We apologize we handled this the way we did. You should have heard this from us directly before seeing it reflected in the docs. That’s on us.
Here's what's happening and why:
We've stopped offering self-hosted deployments on self-serve plans for new sign-ups. Self-hosting carries real infrastructure, security, and compliance weight, and we've concluded we can only support it properly through our Enterprise offering where we have the right relationship with customers to do that well and effectively.
We believe this is the right long-term decision. We also understand it’s a hard change for some of you, and we should have communicated it more clearly and directly.
Jack, when you've built client engagements around self-hosted Retool, learning about this through a docs change can feel abrupt, and we understand that.
So let me be specific about what this means for you:
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If you're an existing self-hosted customer, nothing changes right now. Your deployments will keep running and your capabilities will stay the same - this is not an end-of-life announcement.
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If we eventually sunset legacy self-hosted plans, you'll know well in advance. There are no current plans to sunset legacy self-hosted plans. If that ever changes, we will provide at least six months’ advance notice so you have time to plan with your clients and make decisions deliberately, not under pressure.
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If you're mid-engagement with a client on a self-hosted deployment, that work is not disrupted.
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For future self-hosted needs, new deployments will go through our Enterprise sales team. I know that's a significant shift, especially for smaller agencies and independent builders. If you want to have a conversation about what that looks like for your situation, please reach out to me directly - I'd genuinely rather work through it with you than lose you.
We made the right decision for customers but it was wrong to not communicate it clearly and we promise to do better. If you would like to meet to chat directly, happy to arrange that!
Best,
Abhishek Gupta
Head of Product
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Hi @Abhishek_Gupta, thanks for taking the time to respond and for being direct about it. That's appreciated.
I'm happy to jump on a call if you think an honest, unfiltered perspective would be useful. Consider it plain feedback from someone who's both a user and someone who puts their professional reputation on the line when recommending a tool to clients.
As for the substance of your reply, whether or not the business decision to discontinue self-hosting for self-serve plans is the right one, that's ultimately your call, I don't have the full picture from Retool's side. But that's almost beside the point. The core issue I raised is that there was no communication around it. And as much as I appreciate the apology, the concern I outlined doesn't fully go away because of it.
I do take note of the reassurances you've shared. But the trust issue I described isn't really about what happens next with existing deployments. It's more about the fact that a change this significant happened the way it did, and that's what makes it harder for me to put Retool in front of a client with the same confidence I used to. Not the decision itself, but the way it was handled.
That said, I do appreciate you reaching out personally and I'm genuinely open to continuing this conversation. Let me know how you'd like to organize a call.
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