What is Motor Admin used for?

Motor Admin is a Rails engine that adds a low-code admin panel and SQL-based business intelligence, configured from a settings UI rather than code. It is a good fit for giving support staff an admin panel for a Rails app and building internal reports from SQL without a BI tool.

Is Motor Admin open source?

Yes. Motor Admin is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at motor-admin/motor-admin-rails and is written mainly in Ruby.

Yes. Motor Admin is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Motor Admin?

Yes. Motor Admin can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Motor Admin an alternative to?

Motor Admin is an open-source alternative to Retool, Forest Admin, UI Bakery and Basedash. Other open-source alternatives to Retool include DashPress, Appsmith and ToolJet.

Is Motor Admin actively maintained?

The most recent commit to Motor Admin was on 1 February 2026, and the latest release is 0.4.27, published on 1 June 2024. The project has 839 stars on GitHub.

Motor Admin: open-source alternative to Retool, Forest Admin

About Motor Admin

Motor Admin is a Rails engine that provides a low-code admin panel and business intelligence tools for a Rails application. Everything can be configured from a settings interface with no DSL, and it is presented as a modern alternative to Rails Admin, Active Admin and Blazer. It is aimed at Rails teams who want internal tools and dashboards quickly without hand-coding screens.

Features include customizable CRUD, custom actions through Active Record method calls or API endpoints, virtual attributes, a forms builder, SQL queries with embedded variables, data visualization and dashboards, email alerts, authorization, Active Storage support, search, internationalization, a mobile-friendly layout, configuration sync between environments, authentication, multiple databases, audit logs, collaboration notes and personalized report alerts via Slack. Resource pages can show data from SQL queries and attached dashboards.

The engine is installed by adding a gem and running a migration. The core is MIT licensed, and a Pro edition adds white-label styling and logos, multi-factor authentication and SSO or SAML. A demo app is available for trying it out.

Key features

Admin panel configured from a settings UI
SQL queries, charts and dashboards
Custom actions and virtual attributes
Forms builder
Email and Slack alerts
Audit log and authorization
Pro: white label, MFA and SSO

Good fit for

→Giving support staff an admin panel for a Rails app
→Building internal reports from SQL without a BI tool

Built with: Ruby; Rails
Tags: rails; admin-panel; low-code; business-intelligence; sql; dashboards; ruby; internal-tools

Motor Admin: questions and answers

What is Motor Admin used for?: Motor Admin is a Rails engine that adds a low-code admin panel and SQL-based business intelligence, configured from a settings UI rather than code. It is a good fit for giving support staff an admin panel for a Rails app and building internal reports from SQL without a BI tool.
Is Motor Admin open source?: Yes. Motor Admin is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at motor-admin/motor-admin-rails and is written mainly in Ruby.
Is Motor Admin free?: Yes. Motor Admin is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Motor Admin?: Yes. Motor Admin can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Motor Admin an alternative to?: Motor Admin is an open-source alternative to Retool, Forest Admin, UI Bakery and Basedash. Other open-source alternatives to Retool include DashPress, Appsmith and ToolJet.
Is Motor Admin actively maintained?: The most recent commit to Motor Admin was on 1 February 2026, and the latest release is 0.4.27, published on 1 June 2024. The project has 839 stars on GitHub.