Retool, the leading developer-focused software development platform, today announced the general availability of Retool for External Apps, the easiest way to build rich interactive portals and business applications for customers, vendors, and partners in hours (instead of months).

Since launching in 2017, Retool has made a name for itself as one of the premier low-code tools for building browser-based internal line-of-business applications. The well-funded startup’s service is now used at thousands of companies, including Amazon, OpenAI, Pinterest, Plaid, Snowflake, Taco Bell and Volvo. Now, it’s expanding its focus from internal apps to also include external apps. Aptly named “Retool for External Apps,” this new service is now generally available and aims to make it easy for any business to quickly and efficiently build secure and performant apps for a far wider audience than before.As Retool CEO and co-founder David Hsu told me, quite a few companies already started using External during its preview phase. Among those are quite a few larger businesses like Orangetheory, for example, which provided a Retool app to over 1,600 of its studio managers, as well as quite a few startups that are using the service to build MVPs while trying to find product/market fit.For the most part, we’re not talking about consumer applications. While it’s possible to build these — and some people are — Retool’s focus is on business apps, not the next social network.“The core idea behind Retool is basically that all internal tools have the same building blocks