Rowy vs Twenty
| Tagline | Spreadsheet UI over Firestore or PostgreSQL with built-in cloud function automations | Modern open-source CRM built as an alternative to Salesforce |
| Category | Databases & Spreadsheets | CRM & Sales |
| Replaces | Airtable, Google Sheets, Retool | Salesforce, Pipedrive, Airtable |
| GitHub stars | 6.2k | 51k |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Manual Docker | Docker Docker Compose Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 6 months ago | 5 days ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
Rowy
- Primary backend is Google Firestore; self-hosted PostgreSQL support is less mature
- No offline mode; requires live database connection at all times
- Automation and cloud function execution is tightly coupled to Google Cloud Functions for the Firestore path
Twenty
- Smaller ecosystem of integrations and marketplace apps versus Salesforce/AppExchange
- Workflow automation, reporting, and analytics are still maturing
- No mature mobile apps
- Younger product, so APIs and data model still evolve between releases
Bottom line
Both are a similar lift to self-host; choose Twenty for the larger community and ecosystem. Twenty has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
Rowy
Spreadsheet UI over Firestore or PostgreSQL with built-in cloud function automations