Quick answer
For internal business apps on your data, Softr and Google AppSheet are the closest switches: Softr for portals and internal tools with permissions, AppSheet for teams on Google Sheets and Workspace, where it often comes with the plan. Zite and Noloco suit tools a whole team or your clients use. Capacity, which we make, builds a custom app from a description or straight from Claude or ChatGPT, and ships native mobile apps.
For native apps in the stores, Adalo publishes iOS and Android apps on flat pricing, FlutterFlow builds Flutter apps with code you can download, and Bubble handles complex logic on web and mobile. Retool fits internal tools on company databases.
| Tool | Best for | Paid plans from | Free plan | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | a custom app built from a description, for your team or your customers, with native mobile apps. | $25/month | Web app: no. Desktop: 1 project | No free plan on the web; login via Clerk or Supabase |
 Lovable | a custom web app from a chat, with login and a database through Lovable Cloud. | €25/month | Yes, 5 credits a day (up to 30 a month) | Builds web apps, not native ones |
 Base44 | non-technical builders who want an all-in-one app with the backend handled. | $16/month (yearly) | Yes, 25 message credits a month | Two kinds of credits to track |
 Softr | client portals and internal tools on your own data, with permissions. | $19/month (yearly) | Yes, 5 AI credits a month | Mobile is an installable web app |
 Google AppSheet | teams on Google Workspace who want apps on their Sheets, often already paid for. | $5/user/month | Free to build, up to 10 test users | Priced per user; public apps need Publisher Pro |
 Zite | business apps and workflows for a whole team, with unlimited users. | $20/month (yearly) | Yes, 50 credits a month | Credits, records and workflow runs are capped |
 Noloco | client portals and operations on data you already keep in Airtable or Google Sheets. | $65/month (yearly) | Yes, 50 active clients | Records and client seats are capped per plan |
 Retool | internal tools on company databases, built with AI, with mobile apps and self-hosting. | €9/builder/month (yearly) | Yes, up to 5 users | Priced per builder and per user |
 Adalo | native iOS and Android apps designed on a visual canvas, on flat pricing. | $36/month (yearly) | Yes, 500 records per app | AI assistant still in beta |
 FlutterFlow | native mobile apps designed visually, with code you can download. | $39/month | Yes, up to 2 projects | More of a design tool than a prompt |
 Bubble | apps with heavy business logic that need to scale, built visually. | $29/month (yearly) | Yes | Steeper learning curve |
Why people look for a Glide alternative. The reasons that come back most often.
Published apps are capped
Glide's free plan publishes no apps, Basic publishes 2 and Plus 5. Unlimited published apps start on Pro, $125 a month for 5 members.
Public apps start on Plus
Basic, at $25 a month, publishes personal and team apps. An app the public can use starts on Plus, at $50 a month.
GlideOS is a separate subscription
GlideOS, Glide's AI platform, is a standalone product, separate from the original Glide (Glide Classic), with its own plans. Teams on Glide Classic are changing product either way, so they compare.
Built for internal apps
Glide is made for the tools a team runs on. People building a customer-facing product or an app for the App Store and Google Play look at builders made for that.
How we compared them. The same questions for every tool.
- What you get from one sentence, a spreadsheet or a file: an internal tool, or a full app with its data and logic.
- Where the data lives: Google Sheets, the tool's own database, or your company's systems.
- How many apps you can publish, and whether the public can use them.
- How you pay: a plan, credits, seats, users or published apps.
- Native mobile apps for iOS and Android.
- Who it's built for: operations teams, founders, or developers.
Build from a description
01 · our product
Capacity
Best for a custom app built from a description, for your team or your customers, with native mobile apps.
Capacity turns a plain-language description into a working app: a React front end, a server and its own database, published at a capacity.studio address or on your own domain. You change it by chatting and watch each change in the preview. You choose the model (Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Sonnet 5.5, Fable 5.1, Mistral Large 4 or Kimi K3) or leave it on Auto.
Why pick Capacity over Glide
- A fixed monthly price: each plan comes with a set number of credits, and building from Claude, ChatGPT or Mistral is unlimited on every paid plan, because your own subscription writes the code while Capacity hosts the app.
- Native mobile apps: Expo projects that you submit to TestFlight and Google Play from the publish dialog, with your own store accounts.
- Hosting, a database and a custom domain are part of every paid plan, with a full version history to roll back any change.
- Capacity Desktop ($249 once, macOS) runs the same builder on your Mac with your Claude Code or ChatGPT plan, and pushes the code to your own GitHub.
Watch out for
- The web app has no free plan for building: paid plans start at $25 a month. Capacity Desktop has a free plan with one project.
- Login isn't built in: you add it with the Clerk extension or a Supabase connection.
- It doesn't build from a spreadsheet the way Glide does: you describe the app, and you bring your data into its database.
- In the web app, your code downloads as a zip; pushing to your own GitHub is a Desktop feature.
Pricing
Starter $25/month (100 credits), Growth $69/month (250 credits), Professional $129/month (500 credits), Business $299/month (1,000 credits). Every plan includes unlimited projects, custom domains and unlimited building from Claude and ChatGPT.
02
Lovable
Best for a custom web app from a chat, with login and a database through Lovable Cloud.
Lovable builds web apps from a chat with a live preview beside it. Lovable Cloud adds the backend, with a database, user login, file storage and server functions on a Supabase foundation, and your code syncs both ways with GitHub on every plan.
Why pick it over Glide
- The chat and the preview are the whole interface, so it feels lighter than a Replit workspace.
- Two-way GitHub sync on every plan, including Free, so a developer can take over later.
- It also works from its own desktop app, from ChatGPT and as an MCP server.
Watch out for
- Each message uses credits, and Lovable Cloud usage is billed in credits too once its monthly grant is used.
- For the App Store or Google Play, Lovable points you to a PWA or a Capacitor wrapper you set up yourself.
Pricing
Free: 5 build credits a day, up to 30 a month. Pro: €25/month for 100 monthly credits, with rollovers, top-ups and custom domains. Business: €50/month, adding a team workspace and SSO. Prices shown in euros from France.
03
Base44
Best for non-technical builders who want an all-in-one app with the backend handled.
Base44, owned by Wix since 2025, builds the front end, backend, database, user login and payments from a plain-language description, runs the apps on its own infrastructure, and connects to tools like Gmail, Slack, Notion and HubSpot. It makes websites, internal tools, online stores and mobile apps.
Why pick it over Glide
- The lowest entry price for an app builder on this list: Starter is $16 a month billed yearly.
- Login and payments are part of what it builds, not an add-on.
- It wraps your app for the App Store and Google Play and helps you submit it.
Watch out for
- Plans count two kinds of credits, message credits and integration credits, so check both before a busy month.
- GitHub integration starts on the Builder plan ($40 a month billed yearly).
- Store apps are your web app in a native web view, not a native rebuild.
Pricing
Free: 25 message credits a month. Billed yearly: Starter $16/month (100 message credits), Builder $40 (250), Pro $80 (500), Elite $160 (1,200). Monthly billing costs about 20% more.
Business-app builders
04
Softr
Best for client portals and internal tools on your own data, with permissions.
Softr is an AI app builder for business operations: secure internal tools and client portals with databases, workflow automation and integrations included. You build with AI or with no-code blocks, and connect data from its own databases or tools like Airtable and Notion.
Why pick it over Glide
- Unlimited apps, databases, workflows, agents and forms even on the free plan, with an API and an MCP server.
- Built for portals: granular permissions and visibility, Google sign-in and one-time passwords for your app's users from Pro.
- Over 59 integrations, including Airtable and Notion as data sources.
Watch out for
- AI credits are few (5 a month free, 10 on Basic, 50 on Pro), so most building is done with no-code blocks.
- Mobile means an installable web app (PWA) with push notifications, on the Business plan.
Pricing
Free: 5 AI credits a month. Billed yearly: Basic $19/month (10 AI credits, custom domain), Pro $99/month (50 AI credits, no Softr branding, permissions, custom code), Business $329/month (100 AI credits, 2FA, installable mobile app with push notifications). Yearly billing gives two months free.
05
Google AppSheet
Best for teams on Google Workspace who want apps on their Sheets, often already paid for.
AppSheet is Google's no-code app builder: apps and automations on Google Sheets, its own database, SQL databases and APIs, with forms, barcodes, signatures and photos, and integrations with Gmail, Chat and the rest of Google Workspace. With Gemini, you describe what the app should do and it builds it.
Why pick it over Glide
- AppSheet Core comes with most paid Google Workspace plans, so many teams already have it.
- Close to the spreadsheet model teams know, with automations that send email, SMS and push notifications.
- Free to build and test with up to 10 users, for as long as you like.
Watch out for
- Every signed-in user counts toward the per-user price, which adds up for a portal with many clients.
- Public apps without sign-in need a Publisher Pro subscription, and building with Gemini needs a paid Google Workspace license.
Pricing
Free to build and test with up to 10 users. Starter $5 per user per month, Core $10 (included in most paid Google Workspace plans), Enterprise Plus $20. Public apps need AppSheet Publisher Pro.
Zite builds business apps and workflows on its own database from a description, so a team can run its operations in one place, from a prompt like "a client management app for my marketing agency", connected to the apps it already uses. Every plan, including Free, has unlimited users, apps and editors.
Why pick it over Glide
- Unlimited users on every plan, which suits tools a whole team uses.
- Apps, workflows and a database in one product.
- The Business plan lets you build with your own AI.
Watch out for
- Monthly credits cap how much you build: 50 on Free (10 messages a day), 100 on Pro, 400 on Business.
- Records and workflow runs are capped per plan: 5,000 records and 1,000 runs a month on Free.
Pricing
Free: 50 credits a month, 5,000 records, 1,000 workflow runs. Billed yearly: Pro $20/month (100 credits, 100,000 records, a custom domain), Business $75/month (400 credits, 250,000 records, your own AI). Team and Enterprise on request.
07
Noloco
Best for client portals and operations on data you already keep in Airtable or Google Sheets.
Noloco calls itself the AI portal builder for teams running complex operations: one system for your team, your clients and the AI agents that help run it. You build client portals, CRMs, project trackers and dashboards with its AI, Nola, on Noloco Tables or on the Airtable and Google Sheets data you already have.
Why pick it over Glide
- Made for client portals: each client gets a branded, real-time space with as much access as they need, and no more.
- Keeps Airtable or Google Sheets as the data source instead of making you migrate.
- Unlimited team seats on the free plan, and a 14-day trial of Build with every feature.
Watch out for
- The free plan stops at 50 active clients and 2,000 records, with Noloco Tables or a CSV import as the only data sources.
- Build includes 10 team seats, 1,000 active clients and 25,000 records; more records cost $25 for each extra 25,000.
Pricing
Free: 30 AI credits a month plus 5 a day, unlimited team seats, 50 active clients, 2,000 records. Build: $79/month, or $65/month billed yearly (250 AI credits, 10 team seats, 1,000 active clients, 25,000 records, other data sources, 2FA). Enterprise: custom. Non-profits get 50% off.
08
Retool
Best for internal tools on company databases, built with AI, with mobile apps and self-hosting.
Retool builds internal software with AI: describe the app and its app builder returns a production-ready app with security and governance built in, or build with your own AI agent through Retool's MCP server and command-line tool. Around the apps sit workflows, its own database, mobile apps and self-hosting.
Why pick it over Glide
- Made for apps on company data, with staging and production environments from Team.
- External users and embedded apps on Business, for portals, with the first 50 external users free.
- Self-hosted and air-gapped deployments on Enterprise.
Watch out for
- Every builder and every internal user is a monthly line: on Team, €9 per builder and €5 per internal user, billed yearly.
- External users, which a client portal needs, start on Business: €46 per builder and €14 per internal user.
Pricing
Free: up to 5 users, 250 AI credits a month. Billed yearly: Team €9 per builder and €5 per internal user a month (1,000 AI credits), Business €46 per builder and €14 per internal user (3,000 AI credits, external users and embedded apps, the first 50 external users free). Enterprise: custom. Prices shown in euros from France.
Native mobile apps, built visually
09
Adalo
Best for native iOS and Android apps designed on a visual canvas, on flat pricing.
Adalo is a visual no-code app builder: you design native iOS, Android and web apps on a multi-screen canvas, with an AI assistant, Ada, that builds alongside you, a hosted Postgres database, and one app version published to the web, the App Store and Google Play.
Why pick it over Glide
- Flat pricing: no usage or token-based charges on any plan.
- Automated App Store publishing from the Starter plan.
- A hosted Postgres database is included, even on the free plan.
Watch out for
- You design screen by screen, and the Ada AI assistant is labelled beta.
- Plans limit published apps: 1 on Starter, 2 on Professional, 5 on Team.
Pricing
Free: 500 records per app, no published app. Billed yearly: Starter $36/month (1 published app, custom domain, App Store publishing), Professional $52/month (2 apps, 5 editors), Team $160/month (5 apps, 10 editors). Monthly billing costs 20% more.
10
FlutterFlow
Best for native mobile apps designed visually, with code you can download.
FlutterFlow builds Flutter apps for iOS, Android and the web in a visual editor, with AI to generate pages and components. It's the usual pick when the native mobile app is the product.
Why pick it over Glide
- Strong native mobile results with fine control over every screen.
- Download the project's source code or an APK from the Basic plan.
- Push to GitHub and work in VS Code on higher plans.
Watch out for
- You build screen by screen in an editor, so it asks more of you than a prompt-to-app tool.
- Team plans are priced per seat.
Pricing
Free: up to 2 projects. Basic: $39/month. Growth: $80/month for the first seat, $55 for the second. Business: $150/month for the first seat.
Bubble is the long-standing visual app builder. It now starts from an AI prompt and lets you switch between prompting and editing visually, for web, iOS and Android apps, with its own database and workflows.
Why pick it over Glide
- Deep control over data, workflows and permissions, which suits complex products.
- Web and native mobile apps from the same plan.
- Generating an app from a prompt doesn't use AI credits.
Watch out for
- It takes longer to learn than prompt-only builders.
- Usage is measured in workload units, which grow with your app's traffic.
Pricing
Free plan to build. Billed yearly: Starter $29/month, Growth $119/month, Team $349/month, each with more AI credits and workload units.
Glide and its alternatives, side by side. From each official site, October 15, 2026.
| Feature |  Glide | Capacity | Lovable | Base44 | Softr | Google AppSheet | Zite | Noloco | Retool | Adalo | FlutterFlow | Bubble |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paid plans from | $25/month | $25/month | €25/month | $16/month (yearly) | $19/month (yearly) | $5/user/month | $20/month (yearly) | $65/month (yearly) | €9/builder/month (yearly) | $36/month (yearly) | $39/month | $29/month (yearly) |
| Free plan | Yes, no published apps | Desktop only (1 project) | Yes | Yes | Yes | To build and test | Yes | Yes | Yes, up to 5 users | Yes, no published apps | Yes | Yes |
| How you pay | Credits, published apps, members | Monthly credits; building from Claude or ChatGPT unlimited | Monthly credits | Message and integration credits | Plan, with a few AI credits | Per user | Credits, records and workflow runs | Plan, records and seats | Per builder and per user | Flat, by published app | Per seat | AI credits and workload units |
| Where the data lives | Built from a spreadsheet, a prompt or a file | Its own database | Lovable Cloud (Postgres) | Its own backend | Its databases, Airtable, Notion | Sheets, AppSheet database, SQL, APIs | Its own database | Noloco Tables, Airtable, Google Sheets | Your databases and APIs, Retool Database | Hosted Postgres database | – | Its own database |
| Mobile apps | – | Native (Expo, TestFlight and Google Play) | PWA or Capacitor, set up yourself | Web view wrapper for the stores | Installable web app (Business) | Mobile and web apps | – | – | Retool Mobile | Native iOS and Android | Yes (Flutter) | Yes (iOS and Android) |
| Built for | Teams building internal apps | Non-technical founders, small businesses | Founders, designers, product teams | Non-technical builders | Business teams: portals and internal tools | Google Workspace teams | Teams building internal tools | Firms running client work | Engineering and operations teams | No-code builders, mobile first | Mobile app teams | No-code builders with complex apps |
How to choose. Start from what you need, not from the ranking.
Internal tools and portals with permissionsSoftr
Apps on Google Sheets and WorkspaceGoogle AppSheetA custom app from a descriptionCapacity
Tools for a whole team, unlimited usersZite
A portal for your clientsNoloco
Internal tools on company databasesRetool
Native apps on flat pricingAdalo
A Flutter app with code you can downloadFlutterFlow
Complex logic, built visuallyBubble
The lowest entry price for a full appBase44When to stay on Glide
If your team's apps fit Glide's published-app limits and you like starting from a spreadsheet, with the agent working as hard as you choose (light, medium or heavy), Glide is still one of the friendliest ways to give a team its own tools, and its free plan lets you try GlideOS.
Questions people ask. Short answers, with the details above.
What is the best alternative to Glide?
For internal business apps, Softr and Google AppSheet are the closest. Zite and Noloco suit tools for a whole team or your clients, and Retool fits internal tools on company databases. Capacity builds a custom app from a description, and Adalo, FlutterFlow or Bubble build native mobile apps.
Is there a free Glide alternative?
Yes, with limits: Softr, Zite, Noloco, Bubble, FlutterFlow, Lovable, Base44 and Retool have free plans, and AppSheet is free to build and test with up to 10 users. Glide's own free plan doesn't publish apps. The Capacity web app has no free plan; Capacity Desktop has one with a single project.
Glide vs Softr: which is better?
Glide builds internal business apps from a spreadsheet, a prompt or a file, and caps published apps below Pro. Softr is built for client portals and internal tools on your own data, with permissions on Pro. Pick Glide for a team's internal apps, Softr for portals your clients log into.
Glide vs AppSheet: which should I use?
AppSheet is Google's no-code builder, priced per user from $5 a month and included in most paid Google Workspace plans, so teams on Workspace often already have it. Glide prices by plan, credits and published apps, from $25 a month. If your data and your team live in Google Workspace, start with AppSheet.
Is there a Glide alternative for native mobile apps?
Adalo publishes native iOS and Android apps on flat pricing, FlutterFlow builds Flutter apps with code you can download, Bubble publishes iOS and Android apps, and Capacity builds Expo apps you submit to TestFlight and Google Play.
What's the difference between GlideOS and Glide Classic?
GlideOS is Glide's AI platform for building internal business apps from a spreadsheet, a prompt or a file. Glide describes it as a standalone product, separate from the original Glide platform (Glide Classic), with its own plans and its own subscription.
Can I build from my spreadsheet somewhere else?
Yes. AppSheet builds apps on Google Sheets, Noloco connects to Google Sheets and Airtable, and Softr connects to Airtable and Notion. Builders like Capacity or Lovable build the app from a description and keep the data in their own database.
Related comparisons
Try the alternative we build.
Describe your app in a sentence and Capacity builds it, or connect it to Claude or ChatGPT and build from the chat. Plans from $25 a month.