# Alternatives to Refine Refine is an open-source framework (with an AI-assisted builder) for generating internal tools, admin panels, and dashboards as portable React/TypeScript code rather than a proprietary low-code app. It targets developer-led teams that want Retool-class speed without platform lock-in, connecting to REST APIs or Supabase, with self-hosted deployment, RBAC/ABAC access control, audit logging, and enterprise SSO (Okta, Azure AD, Cognito). Refine ranks #8 of 11 in Internal tool builders, with an Alt Score of 73. It is licensed under MIT, open source with paid hosting from $0.99/mo and available on the web. 9 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/refine/ Category: Internal tool builders ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Developers and teams building CRUD-heavy internal tools, admin panels, dashboards, and B2B applications who want a code-based React framework rather than a purely visual low-code builder. - **What you get**: An open-source, headless React meta-framework (hooks, components, and providers) covering data fetching, authentication, authorization, routing, real-time updates, and audit logging, with optional UI library integrations (Ant Design, Material UI, Mantine, Chakra UI, shadcn/ui). A separate paid Enterprise Edition adds features like Okta SSO and multitenancy, and a separate hosted 'Refine AI' product generates a Refine codebase from a text prompt. - **How it works**: Developers scaffold a project via a CLI or browser tool, choosing a base framework (Vite, Next.js, or Remix), UI library, data provider, and auth provider. Refine's data provider layer connects the app to backends such as REST, GraphQL, Supabase, Strapi, or Hasura, and the resulting standard React/TypeScript codebase is deployed or self-hosted like any other web application. ## Profile - **License**: MIT (verified 2026-07-30) - **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting (verified 2026-07-30) - **Starts at**: $0.99/mo (verified 2026-07-30) - **Platforms**: Web - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-30) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [UI Bakery](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ui-bakery.md) | 100 | Proprietary | Web | | 2 | [ToolJet](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/tooljet.md) | 96 | AGPL-3.0 | Web | | 3 | [DronaHQ](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/dronahq.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android | | 4 | [Jet Admin](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/jetadmin.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Web | | 5 | [Microsoft Power Apps](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/power-apps.md) | 86 | ? | Windows, iOS, Android, Web | | 6 | [Retool](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/retool.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Web | | 7 | [NocoBase](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/nocobase.md) | 73 | Apache-2.0 + supplementary NocoBase License Agreement (no SaaS resale, branding restrictions) | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web | | 8 | [Budibase](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/budibase.md) | 68 | GPL-3.0 | Web | | 9 | [Superblocks](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/superblocks.md) | 64 | Proprietary | Web | | 10 | [Appsmith](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/appsmith.md) | 55 | Apache-2.0 | Web | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | Internal tool builders checklist | Refine | UI Bakery | ToolJet | DronaHQ | Jet Admin | Microsoft Power Apps | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | OSS + paid hosting | Freemium | Freemium | Subscription | Freemium | Freemium | | Starts at | $0.99/mo | $20/mo/developer | Free | $100/mo (billed annually) | $39/mo | $20/user/mo | | License | MIT | Proprietary | AGPL-3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | ? | | Platforms | Web | Web | Web | Web, iOS, Android | Web | Windows, iOS, Android, Web | | Data source connectors | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Drag & drop UI builder | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Custom code (JS/Python) | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | Partial | | Self-hostable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | Granular permissions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Audit logs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Git-based versioning | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | | Mobile layouts | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Free tier limits | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | | SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ## Sources Sources for Refine. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **Pricing model**: OSS + paid hosting — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Refine CORE (the framework) is MIT-licensed and free to self-host. Refine separately sells a paid Enterprise Edition (private npm registry, e.g. Okta SSO, docs: /core/docs/enterprise-edition/) and a h - Quote: “Refine CORE is an open source, React meta-framework for enterprise.” - **Platforms**: Web — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Refine CORE builds standard web apps on Vite, Next.js, or Remix. No dedicated native iOS/Android or desktop package currently exists in the refinedev/refine monorepo, despite an older README line ment - Quote: “Refine applications are usually built on top of the following frameworks, and you can follow their deployment guides to deploy your application.” - **License**: MIT — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “Refine is licensed under the MIT License.” - **Starts at**: $0.99/mo — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: This is the cheapest paid tier of the separate hosted 'Refine AI' product (Starter, 300 credits/month); the Pro plan ("MOST POPULAR") is $20/month for 1500 credits. Underlying plan data also lists a $ - Quote: “$0.99 / month” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: GitHub repo refinedev/refine also shows commits as recent as June 2026 and 35k+ stars; clearly active, not dead/discontinued/acquired. - Quote: “Last updated on Jan 21, 2026 by Alican Erdurmaz” - **Data source connectors**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Includes REST, GraphQL, Supabase, Strapi, Strapi v4, Hasura, Appwrite, Airtable, NestJS Query/CRUD, and community-maintained data providers. - Quote: “Refine offers built-in data provider support for the most popular API providers.” - **Drag & drop UI builder**: No — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Refine is a headless, code-first React framework (and its AI product is a prompt + code-editor flow); pages are built with React/TSX components and hooks, not a visual drag-and-drop canvas. - Quote: “Instead of being limited to a set of pre-styled components, Refine provides collections of helper hooks, components and providers” - **Custom code (JS/Python)**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Customization is via React/TypeScript/JavaScript hooks and components throughout the docs and GitHub README code samples; no Python API, SDK, or backend is offered anywhere in Refine's docs. - Quote: “Since business logic and UI are completely decoupled, you can customize UI without constraints.” - **Self-hostable**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Ships official Dockerfiles (refinedev/Dockerfiles repo) for Vite/Next.js/Remix apps; the framework has no vendor lock-in for hosting. - Quote: “Refine applications are usually built on top of the following frameworks, and you can follow their deployment guides to deploy your application.” - **Granular permissions**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “Refine provides an agnostic API via the accessControlProvider to manage access control throughout your app, which allows you to integrate different methods, such as RBAC , ABAC , ACL” - **Audit logs**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Quote: “Refine allows you to track changes and who made them in your data by sending a new log event record whenever a new record is created, updated or deleted.” - **Mobile layouts**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: Responsive web layout (not a native mobile app); equivalent ThemedLayout components exist for Material UI, Mantine, Chakra UI, and shadcn/ui. - Quote: “ is designed to be responsive. In the live-preview, it appears in tablet mode and uses . On larger screens, it will use .” - **Free tier limits**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: The open-source CORE framework has no usage limits when self-hosted. The separate hosted 'Refine AI' product's cheapest tier caps usage at 300 credits/month; live-rendered pricing showed this tier pri - Quote: “300 credits / month $0.99 / month” - **SSO**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-30) - Note: SSO (Okta) ships only as part of the paid, contact-us-priced Enterprise Edition (distributed via a private npm registry), not the free Community Edition. - Quote: “This package is included in Refine's Enterprise Edition. To learn more about Refine's Enterprise Edition, please contact us.” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/