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Comparison · Infra & APIs
Databricks vs Retool
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Databricks and Retool — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Databricks vs Retool: at a glance
What is Databricks?
Databricks lands DBR 18.2 GA on Spark 4.1; the 18.x line is the active story, older LTS pages are mostly doc refreshes.
The substantive shipping event in the window is Databricks Runtime 18.2 GA on May 4, the latest minor in a fast 18.x cadence on Spark 4.1.0 (18.0 in January, 18.1 in March, 18.2 Beta on April 8, GA on May 4). The rest of the recent feed is an April 13 documentation refresh that updated release notes for older LTS versions — 14.3, 15.4, 16.4, 17.3, 13.3 — without new shipping behind them.
What is Retool?
Retool gives workflows their own run identity and sells self-hosted through Google Cloud.
Retool's first November week was about running and buying Retool in production. Workflows can now run as a chosen permission group, so scheduled and webhook-triggered runs no longer borrow a person's access. Self-hosted Enterprise can be deployed to GKE and billed through Google Cloud Marketplace, Microsoft SQL integration versions 1.0 and 2.0 were removed, and 4.88 reached the Edge channel. App testing entered public beta on November 3.
Databricks vs Retool: editorial side-by-side
Databricks
5.0INFRA · APISANALYTICS
Databricks lands DBR 18.2 GA on Spark 4.1; the 18.x line is the active story, older LTS pages are mostly doc refreshes.
◆ Current state
The substantive shipping event in the window is Databricks Runtime 18.2 GA on May 4, the latest minor in a fast 18.x cadence on Spark 4.1.0 (18.0 in January, 18.1 in March, 18.2 Beta on April 8, GA on May 4). The rest of the recent feed is an April 13 documentation refresh that updated release notes for older LTS versions — 14.3, 15.4, 16.4, 17.3, 13.3 — without new shipping behind them.
◆ Where it's heading
Databricks is pushing Spark 4.1 hard through the runtime line: JDK 21 default in 18.x, breaking changes around NULL preservation and partition columns, aggressive deprecation of older behaviors (input_file_name removal, AWS SDK v1 shading). The 18.x cadence is roughly one minor every six weeks, and 16.4 LTS is acting as the bridge for customers needing to migrate Scala 2.12 code to 2.13 before they can move to 17 or 18.
◆ Prediction
Expect an 18.x LTS designation later in 2026 once the line stabilizes, with continued behavioral hardening and more shaded dependency cleanup. Doc refreshes for older LTS versions — particularly 13.3 LTS, which is close to its August 2026 end-of-support — will likely keep landing as Databricks pushes customers up the runtime stack.
Retool
6.3INFRA · APIS
Retool gives workflows their own run identity and sells self-hosted through Google Cloud.
◆ Current state
Retool's first November week was about running and buying Retool in production. Workflows can now run as a chosen permission group, so scheduled and webhook-triggered runs no longer borrow a person's access. Self-hosted Enterprise can be deployed to GKE and billed through Google Cloud Marketplace, Microsoft SQL integration versions 1.0 and 2.0 were removed, and 4.88 reached the Edge channel. App testing entered public beta on November 3.
◆ Where it's heading
After the late-October app builder GA, Retool is filling in governance and operations: testing for generated apps, AI spend controls, service identities for automation and procurement through a cloud marketplace. Older integration versions are being retired on a schedule.
◆ Prediction
Expect more admin and governance controls around workflows and the app builder, plus further marketplace or self-hosted deployment options.
Alternatives to Databricks and Retool
Other Infra & APIs products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Databricks or Retool.
SpinupWP
SpinupWP now writes DNS records for you, starting with Cloudflare and Route 53.
Elasticsearch
One Node.js Brotli bug and a compromised CA bundle force ten patches across the Elastic Stack.
OpenMQTTGateway
OpenMQTTGateway returns after 22 months with a security-first 1.9.0.
Parse Server
Parse Server 9.11.1 alphas close two beforeSave advisories, one a server crash.
GitLab
GitLab sells Orbit as the evidence layer for agent pilots and AI-code rules.
See all Databricks alternatives → · See all Retool alternatives →
Recent activity from Databricks and Retool
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4d agoRetoolService users for workflows
- 5d agoRetoolSelf-hosted Retool 4.34 and 4.0 stable updates
- 5d agoRetoolMicrosoft SQL integration versions 1.0 and 2.0 removed
- 5d agoRetoolRetool 4.88 Edge for self-hosted instances
- 6d agoRetoolApp testing
- 6d agoRetoolRetool on Google Cloud Marketplace
- 6mo agoDatabricksDatabricks Runtime 18.2 (released May 4, 2026)
- 7mo agoDatabricksDBR 18.0 documentation refresh
- 7mo agoDatabricksDatabricks Runtime 15.4 LTS Databricks Runtime 15.4 LTS for Machine Learning 3.5.0Aug 19, 2024Aug 19, 2027
- 7mo agoDatabricksDatabricks Runtime 13.3 LTS Databricks Runtime 13.3 LTS for Machine Learning 3.4.1Aug 22, 2023Aug 22, 2026
- 7mo agoDatabricksDatabricks Runtime 17.3 LTS Databricks Runtime 17.3 LTS for Machine Learning 4.0.0Oct 22, 2025Oct 22, 2028
- 7mo agoDatabricksDatabricks Runtime 18.2 (Beta) Databricks Runtime 18.2 for Machine Learning (Beta) 4.1.0Apr 8, 2026Oct 8, 2026
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Databricks and Retool?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Retool is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Databricks better than Retool?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Retool is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Databricks?
Top Databricks alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Databricks alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/databricks for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Retool?
Top Retool alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Retool alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/retool for the full list with editorial commentary on each.