Glide got you to a working app. People are using it, your data is where it should be, and things finally feel real. Then the limits show up. Pricing starts creeping up, your database feels constrained, or you need custom code and integrations that Glide was never designed for.
That’s usually when the search for glide alternatives starts. Not because Glide is “bad,” but because your app is growing up. You’re looking for no-code platforms, low-code development tools, and app builders that give you more control without turning your project into a full rebuild.
This guide breaks down the options that can take a business application from “working” to “reliable at scale,” with room for the features you know you’ll need next.
If you want to move fast without boxing yourself in, Anything is built for this. You describe what you need in plain English, and the AI app builder helps you build it in a way that can keep up with real users.
You stay focused on the product and the customers. Anything helps you stop fighting the tool and start shipping the next version.
Summary
- Glide has powered over 1 million app builds according to their 2025 Year in Review, but that adoption masks a critical limitation. Every Glide app is a Progressive Web App running in a browser sandbox that blocks access to native device APIs, such as biometric authentication, Bluetooth, NFC, and background processing. For internal tools accessed during work hours, this works fine. For consumer-facing products that need to feel native or publish to the App Store and Google Play, it's a fundamental dealbreaker that no workaround can fix.
- Glide provides no method for exporting application source code on any plan, including Enterprise. Your application logic, UI configurations, and workflows exist only within Glide's proprietary system, so you can export your data but can't take any code with you. When you outgrow the platform or need capabilities it cannot provide, you rebuild from zero. For revenue-generating applications or products where business continuity is critical, the inability to migrate poses a serious risk that compounds over time.
- Performance bottlenecks emerge when apps scale beyond small datasets. Many Glide apps rely on Google Sheets as the data source, which works well for teams tracking 50 inventory items, but degrades noticeably with thousands of rows. Row limits per app are capped at 10,000 for business applications, and the platform lacks features such as computed column rollups. Browser engine overhead adds another layer of performance overhead between your app and device hardware, resulting in slower response times than native apps that render the UI directly through the operating system.
- Glide's AI Report 2025 found that 67% of managers cite faster decision-making as a key benefit of AI-powered tools, yet speed only matters when the underlying infrastructure supports it. If your app can't handle data volume, lacks integrations with critical systems, or requires constant manual intervention, adding AI features on top doesn't address structural problems. Technical debt accumulates through documented workarounds and manual processes that are fragmented across Slack threads and half-maintained wikis, creating operational friction that slows teams as they scale.
- Compliance constraints eliminate entire use cases before technical evaluation begins. Glide's terms explicitly prohibit processing protected health information, making it not HIPAA-compliant. For healthcare applications or any regulated industry where data governance isn't optional, this isn't a feature gap you can work around. The platform optimized for internal tools and rapid prototyping wasn't designed for applications requiring audit trails, role-based workflows, or enterprise security standards.
- AI app builder addresses this by generating actual code from natural language descriptions, giving teams applications they can modify, extend, or migrate without vendor lock-in or architectural rewrites when requirements evolve beyond any single platform's constraints.
Is Glide actually built for serious business applications?
Glide is one of the easiest ways to turn data into something usable. If your goal is an internal tool your team uses during the workday, it can feel almost unfair how quickly you can ship.
The problems start when you ask Glide to be something it was never built to be: a real mobile product with app store distribution, native device features, and a tech foundation you can own long-term.
According to Glide's 2025 Year in Review, over 1 million apps have been built on the platform. That number is real, and it explains the hype. It also explains the most common “wait, what?” moment people hit during research: you can’t publish a Glide app to the App Store or Google Play. That’s not a missing checkbox. It’s a reflection of how Glide works under the hood and sets the ceiling on what you can build.
What Glide actually outputs
Every Glide app is a Progressive Web App. Users open it via a browser URL rather than downloading it from an app store. Yes, you can pin it to a home screen using “Add to Home Screen.” But it still runs in a browser. That difference shows up everywhere.
PWAs live inside a browser sandbox. So a lot of “normal app” stuff is either limited or off the table:
- Face ID / Touch ID style biometric auth: usually not available in the way you want
- Bluetooth and NFC hardware connections: typically blocked
- Contacts, calendars, and background processing: heavily limited
- Closing the tab often means the app is effectively “closed,” too
If the app is a form, checklist, or dashboard people use for a few minutes at a time, you can live with this. If it’s a consumer app where polish and native feel decide whether users stick around, this becomes a wall.
The iOS notification problem
Android push notifications are workable. iOS is where things get painful.
Notifications for chat messages and comments aren’t supported on Apple devices. Deep links inside notifications don’t work either. Users typically need to add the app to their home screen before notifications work. That’s a lot of friction for something people expect to “just happen.” Most users won’t troubleshoot. They’ll just stop opening the app.
Performance at scale
Glide apps run through a browser rendering engine, which adds overhead between your UI and the device. Native apps render through the operating system (UIKit on iOS, Jetpack Compose on Android), so the experience tends to be smoother and more consistent when you push the limits.
Data is another pressure point. Many Glide builds start with Google Sheets. For small datasets, it feels great. A team tracking 50 items or 100 customers won’t notice much. But once you’re dealing with thousands of rows, you start seeing lag and awkward workarounds.
Glide’s Big Tables can store large amounts of data on Enterprise plans, but business apps still face practical limits, such as row limits that cap at 10,000 per app. At that point, you’re spending more energy “making Glide behave” than building the product you actually want.
The vendor lock-in reality
Glide does not let you export your application source code on any plan, including Enterprise. Your UI setup, logic, and workflows live inside Glide’s system. You can export your data from Glide Tables, but you can’t take the app itself with you.
That might be fine for internal tools where the downside is “we rebuild later if we have to.” It’s a different story for anything tied to revenue, customer access, or long-term product value. If you outgrow Glide, you’re not migrating. You’re rebuilding from scratch.
And teams usually discover this late. The internal-tool look that’s totally fine for an ops dashboard can feel cheap when customers expect a polished app. The missing device access that doesn’t matter for data entry becomes a dealbreaker once users expect native behavior.
Where Glide actually excels
Glide still has a clear lane, and it does great work there. It’s well-suited for rapid prototyping and internal tools such as CRMs, inventory trackers, dashboards, and lightweight workflows. The drag-and-drop builder is fast, the templates help you start moving, and the integrations make it easy to connect to existing systems.
Over 100,000 companies use Glide, including names like Volkswagen, Airbus, and Coca-Cola. The key detail is how they use it: internal tools shared by link, not consumer apps distributed through app stores.
If you need a real mobile product, code ownership, or deep device features, you want a different foundation. That’s where a platform like AI app builder comes in. The core idea is simple: you describe what you need, and you get a code-based app you can actually extend and keep. That shift matters when requirements change, when you need native mobile behavior, and when you don’t want your business trapped inside one vendor’s editor.
Compliance gaps
Glide’s terms explicitly prohibit processing protected health information, meaning it’s not HIPAA compliant. If you’re building anything that touches PHI, Glide is out. There’s no clever workaround for that. It’s a hard constraint.
The platform philosophy question
If you spot the mismatch early, you save yourself a lot of wasted time.
Glide is built for speed, simplicity, and internal tool sharing. It works when performance demands are modest, native features are optional, and vendor lock-in is an acceptable trade. Once you need app store distribution, deep device integration, or code ownership for business continuity, the limits become practical.
Glide isn’t “good” or “bad.” It’s a specific tool for a specific job. The real win is choosing a platform whose default behavior matches what you’re trying to ship.
But recognizing the wrong foundation is only half the problem.
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Why Glide's constraints become business bottlenecks
The other half is what happens after you accept the limits. One workaround turns into two. One manual step turns into a weekly ritual. Soon, you will no longer be able to build momentum. You are babysitting the tool.
You feel it as slower decisions, messier handoffs, and little failures that nobody owns because they live between systems. At that point, you are not constrained. You are paying for them.
The opportunity cost of staying put
When an internal tool works “well enough,” it’s tempting to leave it alone. But “well enough” usually means your team is quietly doing extra work to keep it running.
Every hour spent fixing spreadsheet formulas that should be automated is an hour you did not spend improving the thing customers actually touch. Every manual copy-paste between systems is a point where mistakes slip in and response times slow. The real cost does not appear in Glide. It shows up as projects you never start because your team is already stretched, keeping the current setup from wobbling.
According to over 1,000 managers and business leaders surveyed in Glide's AI Report 2025, 67% cite faster decision-making as a key benefit of AI-powered tools. That sounds great, but speed only helps when the foundation can handle it. If your app struggles with data volume, can’t connect to the systems that matter, or needs constant manual cleanup, adding AI on top just makes the cracks more expensive to fix.
When collaboration breaks down
Small teams can survive on workarounds. Five people can coordinate through Slack and shared spreadsheets and mostly stay aligned. Once you hit 20, then 50, the same habits turn into friction you can’t ignore.
Glide’s permissions are fine for basic access (who can view versus edit). The problems start when you need real workflows: approvals, data-driven conditional access, or multi-step reviews. You can fake it with hacks, but those hacks tend to break the moment the process changes.
It gets worse when different teams need different views of the same source of truth. Sales wants a live pipeline. Ops needs inventory rules and reorder triggers. Finance needs audit trails and approvals. If you split into multiple Glide apps, your data fractures. If you force one app to serve everyone, the UI becomes a junk drawer, and no one can find what they need quickly. Either way, collaboration slows down.
The integration ceiling
Glide integrates with Google Sheets, Airtable, Excel, and several other sources. That seems flexible until you need a system that isn't on the list.
At that point, add Make or Zapier, then another connector, and then a patch to prevent issues. Each additional hop adds another maintenance item. Latency creeps in. Failures become harder to trace.
If your CRM, accounting, project management, and inventory tools all need to stay in sync, middleware chains turn into dependency chains. One upstream API change can disrupt the entire flow. You end up spending more time debugging integrations than shipping improvements.
The hidden tax of technical debt
Technical debt is not just messy code. It’s the weight of the decisions you made because the platform constrained you.
That workaround from six months ago is now wired into three other processes. That weekly export exists because Glide can’t run the automation you actually need. Someone has to remember to do it. When they forget, everything downstream goes sideways.
Most teams “solve” this by documenting the hacks and training people on the quirks. But the docs go stale fast. The real knowledge ends up scattered across Slack threads, half-updated wikis, and whoever happens to remember why something was set up that way. When the original builder leaves, the next person burns weeks reverse-engineering choices that no longer fit the business.
Platforms like AI app builder address this by generating actual code from plain English, so you can edit it, extend it, or hand it off to developers later. You are not trapped in a proprietary box. You get room to grow without stacking fragile workarounds on top of fragile workarounds.
When performance becomes a competitive issue
Internal tools can tolerate a few seconds of load time. Customer-facing apps can’t.
If your catalog takes three seconds to render while a competitor’s loads instantly, most users will not wait. Browser-based PWAs often incur additional rendering overhead compared to native apps, and that gap becomes significant when users open your app multiple times a day.
Users do not care what you built it with. They care that it feels fast, looks legit, and does not glitch when they need it. If Glide’s limits stop you from delivering that experience, you are not dealing with a tech issue anymore. You are dealing with a compounding business disadvantage.
The migration trap
The longer you stay on Glide, the more expensive it becomes to leave. Every new feature, workflow, and custom view increases rebuild cost later. So teams talk themselves into staying because switching feels painful.
But that math usually ignores the ongoing cost of operating inside limits that slow you down, block growth, and force manual work. You are not stuck because Glide is “bad.” You are stuck because it was built for fast prototypes, and you are now asking it to run something closer to a real product.
The gap between what you need and what the platform provides widens as the business evolves, the user count rises, or another integration becomes a workaround.
But knowing you need something different and finding the right alternative are two separate challenges.
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Top 21 Glide Alternatives That Break Through the Limitations
Finding the right alternative means matching your specific constraint to the platform that fixes it. A tool that handles complex calculations will not help if your real issue is native mobile publishing. One that shines in enterprise integrations may be overkill for a small team that just needs cleaner data handling than Google Sheets provides. The platforms below map to the exact bottlenecks Glide addresses, grouped by what they solve, rather than an A-to-Z list.
1. Anything: Turn descriptions into production apps
Most no-code platforms require you to click through a series of builders, connect data, and stitch the UI together piece by piece. That works until you need something the UI does not expose. Anything flips the workflow. You describe what you want in plain English, and it generates real working code for mobile and web apps.
You are not trapped in a proprietary box. You get code you can edit, extend, or hand off when the app outgrows a solo build. Payments, authentication, a built-in database, and dozens of integrations are included, so you don't spend your weekend wiring up the basics. If Glide is blocking you on logic depth or customization, this gives you a cleaner path forward: describe the app, ship it, then improve it. Try an AI app builder and publish to the App Store or web without babysitting a visual editor.
2. Tadabase: Database-first architecture
Tadabase solves the data problem directly. Where Glide treats spreadsheets as the storage layer, Tadabase starts with a relational database. That means real relationships, better querying, and fewer “this breaks when we scale” moments once your data gets big.
It also provides role-based permissions and conditional logic, allowing different teams to see different views of the same system without clutter. If data structure and integrity matter more than rapid prototyping, Tadabase provides a stronger foundation than the spreadsheet model.
3. Fliplet: Enterprise security and integration
Fliplet is built for teams with tighter rules. Security controls, audit trails, and compliance-friendly setup matter here, especially in industries where “good enough” is not acceptable. You can build web and mobile apps using templates without sacrificing customization.
Integrations also go beyond lightweight connectors. Fliplet is designed to integrate with enterprise systems such as CRMs, ERPs, and authentication providers without workarounds. If Glide is ruled out due to governance and compliance before you even test features, Fliplet is designed for that reality.
4. Bubble: Complex logic and workflow automation
Bubble handles deeper logic than Glide. If your app needs multi-step workflows, conditional automation, or messy data rules, Bubble gives you more control through a visual programming setup. It takes time to learn because it introduces core programming concepts, including variables, conditionals, API calls, and backend workflows.
Bubble is strongest for web apps with complex backends. Mobile typically refers to packaging the web app for app stores, which adds extra steps. If your priority is powerful web workflows over native mobile polish, Bubble is one of the more capable options.
5. Adalo: Visual simplicity with component flexibility
Adalo maintains the drag-and-drop experience while offering more customization options. Its component marketplace can speed up common needs such as forms, authentication flows, and payments without forcing you into a rigid template.
It is still operating on a builder model, and performance is not comparable to a fully native app. But if you liked Glide’s simplicity and just need more UI flexibility and components, Adalo can be a more straightforward step up than moving directly to more complex tools.
6. Softr: Airtable integration without compromise
Softr is a natural fit if you already use Airtable and want a better front end. According to Softr's comparison of the 7 best Glide alternatives, you can build web apps and client portals on top of Airtable with minimal setup. Because the connection is native, updates in Airtable can show up quickly in Softr.
Softr is primarily for web experiences, including portals, membership sites, and internal tools. If your system of record is Airtable and your problem is presentation and access, not mobile app publishing, Softr solves that specific gap without forcing a rebuild.
7. AppSheet: Google workspace native automation
AppSheet (owned by Google) fits teams already deep in Google Workspace. It integrates seamlessly with Sheets, Forms, and Drive, and its automations can run workflows, triggers, scheduled tasks, and approval chains that go beyond simple button actions.
It also handles offline work better than many browser-first apps, which matters for field teams and in unreliable connection environments. If your organization runs on Google, AppSheet can be the “keep it in the ecosystem” choice, offering deeper workflow capabilities than Glide.
8. Thunkable: True cross-platform mobile development
Thunkable is for teams that need real mobile apps, not browser wrappers. It builds native iOS and Android apps and provides access to device features such as camera, GPS, push notifications, and more. The builder includes mobile-first UI patterns that feel more natural on a phone.
Testing on real devices during development helps catch usability issues early. If native mobile publishing is the requirement that kills Glide for your use case, Thunkable targets that head-on.
9. Microsoft power apps: Enterprise ecosystem integration
Power Apps is built for Microsoft-heavy organizations. It integrates naturally with tools such as Dynamics 365, SharePoint, Teams, and Azure, and it fits into existing security and governance policies without much duct tape.
Paired with Power Automate, it can run approvals, scheduled tasks, and cross-system workflows. If Microsoft integration is the deciding factor, Power Apps is often the safest internal bet.
10. Zoho creator: CRM-integrated business applications
Zoho Creator makes the most sense when your business already uses Zoho. It integrates closely with Zoho CRM and the wider Zoho suite, so apps can extend what you already run rather than creating a separate data island.
It also includes workflow automation, analytics, and operations-focused reporting. If your app needs are tightly tied to CRM workflows and reporting, Zoho Creator is built for day-to-day business use.
11. OutSystems: Enterprise scale with custom code support
OutSystems sits between the speed of low-code development and the control of traditional development. You can build fast with visual tools, then drop into custom code when you hit a wall. It also includes enterprise connectors for systems such as SAP, Oracle, and Salesforce.
It is designed for performance and scale closer to traditional enterprise apps than lightweight no-code tools. If you are building something mission-critical that will grow beyond “builder limits,” OutSystems is built for long-term complexity.
12. Rocket.new: Prompt-to-app creation
Rocket.new turns prompts into working apps. You describe the app, and the app generates the logic, UI, and data structure so you can move fast. The approach is similar to how an AI app builder works: intent matters more than dragging blocks.
It also supports importing Figma designs and offers code export and custom domains. If you want speed while also having an exit route later, that combination can matter.
13. FlutterFlow: Native mobile performance
FlutterFlow generates Flutter code that compiles to native iOS and Android apps. That means better performance than web view wrappers and greater control over UI details, including animations, transitions, and responsive layouts.
It integrates with backends such as Firebase, Supabase, and custom APIs. If your app is mobile-first and polish drives retention, FlutterFlow is built to meet that quality bar.
14. Appgyver: Complex workflows and API integration
Appgyver (now SAP Build Apps) is a good fit for applications that require deep API integrations and more complex business logic. It supports REST APIs, databases, and enterprise integrations with more flexibility than beginner-friendly tools.
The learning curve is higher because it exposes more real logic concepts. If Glide feels too simple for your workflows, Appgyver offers greater depth.
15. Noloco: Beyond spreadsheets for internal tools
According to Noloco's analysis of 21 alternatives, the Platform focuses on UI controls, permissions, logic, and integrations that go beyond the spreadsheet-first approach. It includes more granular role-based access and workflow automation to cut down repetitive manual work.
If you are building internal tools like CRMs, back-office systems, or operations dashboards, and spreadsheets are now the bottleneck, Noloco is designed to move you past that phase.
16. Clappia: Offline-first business process apps
Clappia is built for offline work. It supports running without connectivity and syncing once a connection is restored, which is critical for field teams. It also supports native mobile features, including GPS, QR codes, geofencing, NFC, and more.
If your team operates in areas with unreliable internet, Clappia can prevent the “everything stops when the browser drops” problem.
17. Ninox: Data-heavy reporting and visualization
Ninox is stronger in reporting and structured views, including Kanban, Gantt, and other data-heavy layouts. It is less about glossy app experiences and more about making business data readable and useful.
If reporting and analysis drive your requirements more than mobile publishing, Ninox can be a better fit than a general-purpose builder.
18. Power Apps: Microsoft ecosystem depth
Already covered above in the Microsoft Power Apps section, but worth repeating: if your company runs on Microsoft, the integration and governance fit is often the real value. It can be less about “best features” and more about fewer blockers.
19. Kintone: Team collaboration with shared databases
Kintone combines app building with collaboration features like chat and document sharing. Its shared database model enables multiple apps to access the same data without duplicating or syncing data across separate tools.
If your team needs collaboration built into the tool, not bolted on through separate apps, Kintone is designed for that workflow.
20. Caspio: Low-code with custom code extensions
Caspio provides a visual builder and the option to add custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for greater control. It also connects to cloud databases without forcing everything into a spreadsheet model.
If you want a mostly visual tool but still want a practical escape hatch for edge cases, Caspio offers that balance.
21. Airtable: Structured data with a limited front-end
Airtable is a strong “fix the data first” option. It provides relational structure, APIs, and automations that address many spreadsheet pain points. The front end is still limited compared to full app builders, but it provides a clean foundation for other tools.
If your main issue is data integrity and structure, Airtable can remove that blocker before you even pick a front-end.
Pick the platform that removes your biggest constraint first.
Build without constraints from day one with AI
You've seen the alternatives. Platforms with higher row limits, better integrations, and more customization. And most of them come with the same price tag: more setup, more moving parts, and a learning curve that starts to look a lot like “I guess I’m basically building this in code now.”
If you want to get past Glide’s limits without turning your project into a second job, look at tools built for shipping real apps. Platforms like AI app builder let you describe what you need in plain English, then build, test, and ship a production-ready mobile app and web app from that prompt. Payments, authentication, database setup, hosting, and App Store submission are part of the build, not a weekend of duct tape. You also get code visibility and export options, so you are not trapped in a walled garden when your requirements change.
Your creativity should not stall out because you hit a platform ceiling. And your business should not get stuck because “simple” features turn into a pile of integrations and workarounds. Build something that runs, generates revenue, and can evolve without requiring you to rebuild it from scratch.
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