Glide Pricing in 2026: Plans, Features & Alternatives

After breaking down all of Glide’s pricing plans, I found the pricing model to be confusing, mainly due to the multiple limits on data sources, integrations, and users. Here's what you need to know to choose the right plan in 2026 and the top alternatives worth considering.

Glide pricing plans: At a glance

Glide’s pricing is based on the number of published apps, users, available data sources, and monthly updates (data syncs or workflow runs). Exceeding your allowed monthly updates or included user caps on select plans will trigger extra charges.

Here's a quick overview of what you get on each plan:

Glide pricing plans breakdown

Glide's pricing scales with the number of apps, users, updates, and data sources. Beyond these obvious limits, you're also capped on rows per app, storage, and which integrations you can access.

Before we look at each plan, below are some important terms you need to know:

• Users: A unique person who logged into your app in the last 30 days counts as a user.
• Personal users: Users who sign in with consumer email domains like Gmail or .edu. 
• Updates: An update is consumed when you sync data with external sources like Google Sheets, Airtable, or Excel. Glide's native tables (Glide Tables, Big Tables) don’t consume updates.

Free plan: $0/month

This plan works for learning Glide or testing simple personal apps. The biggest restriction is that you can’t publish any of the apps you build.

What's included:

• Unlimited drafts
• 1 editor
• 0 updates/month (Glide Table updates don't count)
• 25,000 rows per app (Glide Tables and Big Tables only)
• 40+ UI components
• Community support only

Best for: Individuals learning Glide or testing if the platform fits their needs.

Pros:

• No cost to experiment
• Access to the full component library
• Unlimited Glide Table updates
• Import data from Google Sheets, CSV, or Excel files

Cons:

• Doesn’t support live syncing with Google Sheets, Airtable, or Excel data

• You can’t publish your app

Explorer plan: $19/month (billed annually)

Explorer supports Glide Tables (and Big Tables) and includes CSV/Excel and Google Sheets import. However, it doesn't support live syncing with Google Sheets, Airtable, or Excel as connected data sources — that starts on higher tiers.

What's included:

• 1 published app
• 100 personal users
• 250 updates/month ($0.02 per additional)
• 25,000 rows per app
• Glide AI and Workflows
• Third-party integrations
• AI-assisted support

Best for: Solo builders who want to start publishing their first app.

Pros:

• Access to Glide AI and workflows
• Third-party integrations available
• Cheapest way to access automation features

Cons:

• Limited to 1 app
• 100-user hard cap with no expansion option
• 250 updates run out fast with active integrations

Maker Plan: $49/month (billed annually)

This is where Glide becomes usable for real projects. You finally get Google Sheets, unlimited personal users, custom branding, and your own domain.

This plan, however, is for personal users only. Anyone signing in must use a consumer email (Gmail, Outlook, .edu). If you need work email sign-ins (yourcompany.com), you need Business.

What's included:

• 3 published apps
• Unlimited personal users (Gmail, .edu only)
• 500 updates/month ($0.02 per additional)
• Up to 25,000 rows/app with Sheets/Glide Tables, or up to 50,000 rows per app with Big Tables
• Glide Tables + Google Sheets
• Custom domains and custom branding

Best for: MVPs, communities, schools, or nonprofits

Pros:

• Unlimited personal users (great for communities)
• Google Sheets live syncing is finally available
• Custom branding removes the Glide logo

Cons:

• No Airtable or Excel (requires Business)
• No work email sign-ins
• No API access

Business Plan: $199/month (billed annually)

Business unlocks Airtable, Excel, the Glide API, and work email sign-ins. But the per-user pricing adds up fast. It only includes 30 users, and any extra costs $5/month per user, billed annually or $6 billed monthly.

What's included:

• Unlimited published apps
• 30 business users included ($5/month yearly or $6/month monthly for each additional user)
• 5,000 updates/month ($0.02 per additional)
• 25,000 rows per app if you use spreadsheet data sources
• 100,000 rows per app if you use large-scale data sources like Big Tables
• Google Sheets, Airtable, and Excel live syncing support
• Glide API and Call API

Best for: Internal tools for small-to-medium teams, businesses with existing Airtable or Excel data.

Pros:

• Unlimited apps
• Can sync with more data sources, including Airtable
• Glide API for programmatic access

Cons:

• Per-user pricing scales costs quickly
• No SQL or premium integrations (Salesforce, QuickBooks, HubSpot)
• 5,000 updates may not be enough for heavy automation use cases

Enterprise plan: Custom pricing

Enterprise is the only plan that supports SQL-based databases and premium integrations like Salesforce and HubSpot. Everything that's capped in other plans becomes customizable.

What's included:

• All Business plan features
• Custom user limits
• Custom updates
• Custom rows
• Integrations like Salesforce and QuickBooks
• Single Sign-On (SSO)
• Data backups
• Dedicated Account Manager

Best for: Large organizations that need SSO or integrations with enterprise tools.

Pros:

• SSO for enterprise security requirements
• SQL and premium integrations are finally available
• Custom terms and SLAs

Cons:

• Pricing requires a sales conversation (no transparency)
• Likely expensive for most small-to-medium teams

Which Glide plan should you choose?

Choose Free if you:

• Want to learn Glide before spending money
• Don't need to publish the app

Choose Explorer if you:

• Need workflows to build automations
• Are building one app with under 100 users
• Are fine starting with Glide Tables (including Big Tables) and using imports (CSV, Excel, or Google Sheets), but don’t need live syncing with connected data sources

Choose Maker if you:

• Need unlimited personal users (Gmail/edu sign-ins)
• Want custom branding and your own domain
• Need to sync your Glide apps with Google Sheets data

Choose Business if you:

• Need work email sign-ins for professional deployment
• Require Airtable, Excel, or API access
• Are building multiple internal tools

Choose Enterprise if you:

• Need SSO for security compliance
• Require SQL databases or Salesforce/HubSpot integrations
• Have high-volume data needs

Is Glide worth the cost?

Glide is worth the cost if you want an easy-to-use no-code builder that turns spreadsheets into apps fast.

Skip it if you need unlimited users without paying per person or if you want to build apps that do more than manage and display basic data (CRUD apps).

Costs to watch out for

Before committing to Glide, understand these limitations:

• Per-user pricing on Business: The $199/month looks reasonable until you have more than the 30 included users. Every additional user after that will cost extra.

• Data source restrictions: Syncing Google Sheets data requires Maker ($49/month). Airtable and Excel require Business ($199/month). SQL databases, HubSpot, Salesforce, and BigQuery require the Enterprise plan. If you have existing data in these tools, you're forced into expensive tiers immediately.
• Updates deplete faster than expected: Every sync with external data sources consumes updates.
• Editor seats: Explorer and Maker plans cap the number of editors to 2, while Business plans only support 10. If your team outgrows that, you're looking at an upgrade just to let more people build.

Glide alternatives and pricing comparison

Glide's pricing works for some users, but integration limits and per-user costs push teams toward alternatives.

Here's how the top alternatives stack up:

If Glide’s pricing model or limited ability to build complex apps are dealbreakers for you, some tools take a different approach.

Zite vs Glide: Which should you choose?

You should pick Zite if you want an AI-first builder that generates a working app from descriptions in minutes instead of spending hours learning how Glide’s UI works.

Zite is better for:

• AI-native development: You tell Zite what you want, and it generates a production-ready app instead of manually configuring screens and components as you would in Glide. The learning curve is almost nonexistent.
• Fully custom business software. Zite isn't limited to spreadsheet-backed CRUD apps. You can build portals, dashboards, multi-step workflows, and tools with complex backend logic that Glide can't support.
• Scaling without per-user pricing. Roll out to as many users as you need without worrying about costs growing with every new team member.

Glide is better for:

• Simple spreadsheet frontends. If you already use Google Sheets, Excel, or Airtable and just need a basic interface on top of your data, Glide handles that well.
• Lightweight mobile-first apps. Each row in a sheet becomes a record in the app, which works great for simple internal tools.

The big difference is that Zite is AI-first, so you go from idea to working app faster, and it builds fully custom business apps. Glide is a solid traditional no-code tool for spreadsheet-driven apps, but it starts to feel constrained once you need advanced logic.

My bottom line on Glide pricing

For solo builders or small teams creating internal tools from spreadsheet data, Maker and Business plans offer reasonable value. However, a complex pricing model that charges per update and per user for businesses can get expensive. If you need SQL, Salesforce, or HubSpot, you're also pushed to Enterprise pricing.

For more complex apps and a simple pricing model that supports unlimited users on all plans, consider Zite. Companies like The Athletic, Bombas, and Domino's Pizza already use the platform to build business software.

Try Zite for free →

Frequently asked questions

How much does Glide cost per month?

Glide starts at $19/month (Explorer plan, billed annually) and $199/month (Business plan, billed annually). Syncing updates from your data source to Glide apps costs extra. Enterprise pricing is custom.

Is there a free version of Glide?

Yes, Glide has a free plan that supports unlimited drafts, but you can’t publish them. It works for learning Glide, but you’ll need to upgrade your plan when you get users.

Does Glide charge per user?

Glide charges per user only on the Business plans when you exceed the 30 included users. Explorer is capped at 100 users, and Maker doesn't charge per user but has personal-user-only restrictions.

What's the best Glide alternative for teams?

Zite is the best Glide alternative for teams that outgrow simple spreadsheet apps, because it can handle more advanced backend logic and gives you far more freedom to design custom business apps, not just tweak pre-configured components.