Scaling an on-prem first SaaS company to tens of millions of ARR

Retool, a tool for engineers to build internal applications quickly, initially launched with a cloud-only version, but encountered challenges with potential customers unable to connect their databases due to security concerns. As a solution, Retool developed an on-premise offering using Docker, allowing customers to host Retool within their own cloud environments, thus ensuring data never leaves their infrastructure. This move was pivotal in attracting large enterprises and regulated industries, significantly expanding Retool’s customer base. The shift to on-premise not only mitigated security concerns and accelerated security review processes but also aligned with industry trends where many cloud-reliant companies generate substantial revenue from self-hosted deployments. While supporting on-premise solutions presents challenges such as maintaining consistent features across different deployment models and managing multiple software versions, Retool has managed these issues effectively, demonstrating that self-hostable software offers compelling advantages for certain business needs.