What Refine does

Refine (legal entity Refine Development Inc., headquartered at 447 Sutter St 405, San Francisco) is a US-based, venture-backed developer tools company that operates an AI-powered platform for generating React-based internal applications from natural language descriptions. The platform connects to existing REST APIs or Supabase projects, uses AI agents to analyze backend schemas, and outputs production-grade React/TypeScript code that customers fully own and can export, self-host, or modify without vendor lock-in. The company serves enterprise development teams and non-technical business functions (Sales, Finance, HR, Engineering, Operations, Customer Support, Marketing, Education) that need to build admin dashboards, CRMs, HR systems, and other internal tooling without per-seat SaaS costs.

The product is delivered through a two-product architecture: Refine Core, an MIT-licensed open-source React framework distributed via npm and GitHub that anchors the developer funnel (35K GitHub stars, 32K+ active developers, 8K+ production projects); and Refine, a commercial AI product builder with credit-based subscription pricing (Starter at $0.99/month with 300 credits, Pro at $20/month with 1,500 credits) and a custom-priced Enterprise Edition offering SSO, self-hosting, ACL/RBAC/ABAC, audit logging, and an option to opt out of data training. A third sub-product, Refine/ops (ops.refine.dev), targets operations-specific use cases. The open-source core drives top-of-funnel adoption while the commercial AI product and Enterprise Edition monetize the resulting usage, supported by 15+ out-of-the-box integrations (Firebase, Airtable, Supabase, Strapi, Hasura, NestJS, Next.js, GraphQL, and identity providers including Okta, Azure AD, Amazon Cognito, and Google Cloud Identity).

Refine generates revenue through credit-based subscription SaaS, enterprise licensing with multi-year contracts, and indirectly through the funnel-conversion value of its open-source community. The go-to-market is primarily product-led growth via self-serve signup on refine.dev and npm, supplemented by direct enterprise sales for larger deployments. The company was founded in 2021 by Turkish founders (CEO Civan Özseyhan, CPO/co-founder Eren Erkalkan, Tech Lead Batuhan Özgür Özdemir, Technical PM Arda Yüceler), is part of Y Combinator's S23 batch, and has raised approximately $3.8M in disclosed funding to date, including a $2.8M seed round led by Senovo in May 2024 with participation from 500 Emerging Europe and other investors. The team is international with 10+ members, and the product portfolio was restructured in January 2026 to formally separate Refine Core (open source) from the commercial Refine AI builder.

Name

Refine

Legal name

Refine Development Inc.

Website

https://refine.dev

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Refine (Refine Development Inc.) is a US-based developer tools company whose AI-powered platform generates React-based internal applications — admin dashboards, CRMs, and business tools — from natural language, serving enterprise teams and business functions via an open-source core and credit-based commercial subscriptions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Developer Tools - AI-Powered Internal App Builder

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Personalization, Testing & Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) (BPAFAFAG)

Keywords

• AI internal tools
• React low-code platform
• Open-source framework
• Admin panel builder
• Enterprise internal apps

Headquarters

HQ city

Newark

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Subscription SaaS (Credits-based): Monthly subscription plans with credit allocation for AI usage. Users purchase credits that are consumed when generating code and building applications. Higher tiers include more credits and advanced features.
2. Enterprise Licensing: Custom enterprise plans with volume pricing, dedicated support teams, SSO capabilities, and enhanced data-handling controls including opt-out of data training.
3. Open-Source (Freemium): Refine Core is open-source under MIT License. Serves as top-of-funnel for commercial product while providing value to developer community.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Refine is an AI-powered platform that turns existing REST APIs or Supabase backends into production-grade, React-based internal tools (admin panels, dashboards, CRMs, HR systems, customer ops apps) from natural language descriptions. It comprises two products: Refine (AI Product Builder, commercial SaaS) and Refine Core (MIT-licensed open-source React framework). Generated code is 100% pure React/TypeScript that customers fully own and can export or self-host.

Product overview

Refine offers a two-product architecture: (1) Refine (AI Product Builder) - a commercial AI-powered platform that generates React-based internal tools from natural language descriptions, with Starter ($0.99/month), Pro ($20/month), and Enterprise pricing tiers; and (2) Refine Core - an open-source React framework with 35K GitHub stars that provides the foundation for building enterprise internal tools without vendor lock-in. A third product, Refine/ops, serves operations-focused use cases. Both the commercial AI builder and open-source framework share the core value proposition of generating production-ready React code with no black box, enabling full code ownership and self-hosting.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Refine Core: Open-source React framework for building enterprise internal tools, admin panels, dashboards, and B2B apps. Previously known as just 'Refine' before the product split in 2026.

Products and services

• Refine (AI Product Builder) AI-powered platform that generates React-based internal tools from natural language descriptions. Users connect existing REST APIs or Supabase projects, describe the desired internal tool, and receive production-ready React/TypeScript code. Includes Web IDE for previewing and vibe coding, SSO support, ACL/RBAC/ABAC access control, audit logging, self-hosting options, and one-click export. Pricing: Starter $0.99/month (300 credits), Pro $20/month (1,500 credits), Enterprise (custom).
• Refine Core Open-source React framework under MIT License for building enterprise-grade internal tools, admin panels, dashboards, and B2B applications. Provides 100% pure React/TypeScript code output with no vendor lock-in. Offers out-of-the-box integrations for 15+ services including custom REST and GraphQL APIs, multiple UI frameworks (Ant Design, Material UI, Mantine, Chakra UI, shadcn/ui), and authentication support. Distributed via npm create refine-app@latest.
• Refine/ops Operations-focused variant of the Refine platform, accessible at ops.refine.dev. Part of the product family complementing the main Refine AI builder and Refine Core framework.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5,000+ companies worldwide using the platform
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration19 records

AI capability8 records

Feature5 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Retool: Retool is the dominant low-code internal tools platform, allowing teams to build admin panels, dashboards, and business applications quickly. Refine explicitly positions as an open-source alternative to Retool, targeting the same use cases (admin dashboards, CRM, HR systems) with a developer-first, code-ownership approach rather than Retool's drag-and-drop model.
• Appsmith: Appsmith is an open-source low-code platform for building internal tools, dashboards, and admin panels with drag-and-drop UI and JS customization. Both companies compete for developer mindshare in the open-source internal tools space and share a similar community-led go-to-market motion.
• ToolJet: ToolJet is an open-source low-code framework for building internal tools with a focus on connecting to databases, APIs, and SaaS applications. Competes directly with Refine on the open-source, self-hostable internal tools positioning with similar target customer (enterprise developers building CRUD apps).
• Budibase: Budibase is an open-source low-code platform for building internal tools, workflows, and approval apps. Targets the same internal tools use cases as Refine with a similar open-source-first, self-hostable architecture and developer-friendly extensibility model.

Emerging players

• v0 by Vercel: v0 is an AI-powered UI generation tool from Vercel that creates React/Next.js components and applications from natural language prompts. Represents the next-generation AI-native competitor to Refine's AI builder, with deeper integration into the Next.js/React ecosystem.
• Lovable: Lovable (formerly GPT Engineer) is an AI-powered app builder that generates full-stack React/TypeScript applications from natural language descriptions. Competes with Refine's AI Product Builder on the AI-to-app generation workflow, though with broader full-stack scope.
• Bolt.new: Bolt.new is StackBlitz's AI-powered full-stack web app builder that creates, runs, and deploys applications from natural language prompts. Represents direct competition to Refine's AI product builder in the AI-generated React application space.
• Bubble: Bubble is a no-code platform for building web applications without code, popular with startups and SMBs for building internal tools and SaaS products. While more focused on customer-facing apps, it overlaps with Refine in the internal tools and dashboard building use case.

Broad incumbents

• Microsoft Power Apps: Microsoft Power Apps is part of the broader Microsoft Power Platform, offering enterprise-grade low-code application development integrated with Microsoft 365, Azure, and Dataverse. Represents the broad incumbent alternative for enterprise internal tooling, with massive distribution via the Microsoft sales channel.

Others

• Supabase: Supabase is the open-source Firebase alternative that Refine integrates with as a primary data source. While not a direct competitor (Supabase is a backend platform, Refine is a frontend/internal tools builder), the deep integration makes Supabase a key ecosystem partner and partial adjacency in the developer platform stack.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/refine_dev
• GitHubgithub.com/refinedev/refine
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/refine-dev

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors9 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Refine