Glide is a no-code platform that allows users to create web apps without writing any code. It helps non-programmers build functional and responsive apps by leveraging data from Google Sheets, Airtable, and several other data sources.

In this review, we will examine Glide’s core features, user interface, ease of use, integration and extensibility, deployment and maintenance, pricing, documentation, and its competitive landscape.

Glide: Features

Glide allows you to build apps directly from your existing data. The platforms can connect to your data from various sources, including spreadsheets like Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel, Airtable, data warehouses like BigQuery, relational databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, and cloud databases like Google Cloud SQL.

If you’re starting from scratch, you can also use the platform’s own Glide Tables, or Glide Big Tables if you need an enterprise-scale database.

Best of all, you can use the platform to visually create relationships, and look up values across all your tables. And whenever your data changes in Glide, it instantly syncs directly back to your original data source.

To keep your data safe, Glide lets you control who can manage, view, and edit your apps with granular permissions. You can also restrict who can access or download specific rows of data based on an email address.

Another advantage with Glide is that you don’t have to rely on external automation tools. You can instead use Glide Workflows to automate tasks, which comes in handy when you need to manage processes such as sending emails, and data updates.

You can start these workflows from app interactions, schedules, emails, and more. There’s also a Webhook workflow that kicks in when it receives data from external services, such as Stripe, or TypeForm.

The platform also keeps a track of all the workflow runs to help you review their execution, and rectify any errors. That said, you can still use external workflow builders like Zapier and Make, with Glide.

In addition to starting with existing data, you can also create an app from an AI prompt, or from its existing collection of templates. Glide has templates for common business apps including CRMs, customer portals, inventory management systems, sales dashboard, and more.

Glide also lets you roll AI capabilities like natural language processing, and computer vision into your apps. The platform, very helpfully, also has a set of AI templates that you can customize as per your requirements. The platform is also beta testing a new feature that will help you build custom components that don’t exist in Glide by prompting AI.

Glide: Interface and Ease of Use

When you first sign into Glide, it’ll ask you to create an app using an AI prompt. The platform will then build the app, and suggest ways to improve your app.

As we mentioned earlier, in addition to using the AI prompt, you can also create an app from existing data. In this case, you’ll have to point Glide to your data wherever it resides. It’ll then look through the data, and automatically create an app for you.

In either case, you’ll end up in the Layout editor that’ll help you refine, and fine tune your apps.

Here, use the left sidebar to add, and manage screens to your apps, and also add components to the screens. The platform has several different kinds of screens, and each one relates to your data in a different way. There’s a Data tab on the bottom of the sidebar that you can use to quickly view the data for the currently selected screen.

In the middle of the screen you can preview, and interact with your app. You can switch between the mobile, and desktop views, and also view the screen as it would appear to different users.

On the right side of the interface, you can configure each screen and its components, tweak their appearance, and bind them to your data.

From the top of the interface, you can switch out from the Layout editor to tweak other aspects of your app. The Data tab takes you to the Data editor where you can view and edit the data. On the left, it’ll list all the imported and synced tables. From here you can modify your data, add new tables, sync external data sources, and more.

The Workflows tab brings up the Workflow editor, where you can create different types of custom Workflows. You can either create a workflow from scratch, or customize one of the six existing ones. For instance, there’s one that will intercept emails, and use AI to extract data and add them to your tables. Another will automatically respond to an email with AI.

Then there’s the Settings tab from where you can adjust your apps’ name, appearance, and other settings. When you’re done, use the Publish button in the top right corner to make your app public. All apps created with Glide are responsive, which means they look good on both desktops, and smartphones.

Glide: Integration and Extensibility

Glide not only allows you to connect to various data sources, but you can connect multiple data sources to a single Glide app. For instance, you could combine data from a PostgreSQL database with business data stored in Google Sheets.

You can also use Glide to connect your apps to all over 50 useful third-party business tools. For instance, you can get your app to interact with Asana to create, and delete tasks, and projects, or with DocuSign to sign a document, generate content with Google Gemini, and OpenAI, and a lot more.

Integrations in Glide can provide different features that can be used in various ways. Depending on the integration, you may need to grant permissions or enter secrets such as an API key. The project has detailed documentation on how to add and configure each of the supported integrations.

Glide: Deployment and Maintenance

Once you’ve created an app, use the Publish button to make it live. As it is with most no-code platforms, by default, all apps are published to a Glide subdomain.

The platform will also generate a QR code that you can scan to access the app from your smartphone. All Glide apps are Progressive Web Apps (PWAs), which means your device will give you the option to install, and use it like a native app.

Once an app is published, you can move it to a custom domain, or unpublish it. By default, all apps will be available to a restricted set of users. However, you can easily make the app accessible to anyone.

Also, since Glide apps are basically web-based, any changes you make to the app, or to the data in the connected data source, will automatically be reflected in the app without any manual intervention. This makes maintenance incredibly easy, and ensures that all users have access to the latest version of the app.

Glide: Pricing and Documentation

Glide has a tiered pricing model, starting with a feature-restricted Free tier. For instance, Free users can browse through the list of Free templates, but will need to upgrade to a paid plan to use them.

Paid plans start with the $60/month ($49/month billed annually) Maker plan. You can use this plan to connect your app with Google Sheets, import data from Excel, or CSV files, or use Glide’s own data sources.

The $249/month ($199/month billed annually) Business plan lets you use Airtable, and Excel as additional data sources over the Maker plan. To unlock all of the supported data sources, you’ll have to switch to the Enterprise plan, which is priced according to usage.

Also, remember that each plan also restricts the number of rows you can have in your app, and the list of available features. Furthermore, with the Maker plan you can only make your app available to users who sign in using a public email service, such as Gmail, or an education domain (.edu).

To complicate matters further, each plan has a limited number of updates. These are like credits that you consume to change, and sync data from external sources like Google Sheets, and Airtable. However, these don’t apply if you use Glide’s own data sources.

In terms of documentation, Glide has enough text and video resources to help you get started with the platform. It’ll teach you how to use the platform’s essential functions such as automations, and workflows. You can take your questions with the platform to Glide’s forum boards, though users on the paid tiers get priority support as well.

Glide: The Competition

There are lots of other no-code platforms, but Glide mainly competes with Softr, which also allows you to build apps from your existing business data.

While it originally started as an interface on top of Airtable, Softr too can now work with popular third-party databases, ranging from simple options like Google Sheets, to relational databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, and more. Glide however offers its own in-house data sources.

When compared to Softr, Glide offers a more robust platform with built-in workflow capabilities, and very handy AI-powered features. But that also gives it a stepper learning curve as compared to Softr.

Then there’s Bubble. Unlike Glide, which helps create data-driven apps for internal use, Bubble is more versatile, and can help create all kinds of SaaS platforms. Also, while Glide can create PWAs, if you want to create native mobile apps, there’s Adalo, which like Bubble can be used to spin up all kinds of business apps.

Glide: Final Verdict

Glide is a good option if you’re looking to quickly build data-driven apps without much effort. The platform combines ease of use with powerful features, which help make it appealing to both beginners and experienced users.

However, Glide has a complex pricing plan, and might turn out to be a little more expensive than its peers, depending on your exact use case.

That said, it has a lot going for it in terms of its seamless integration with popular data sources, intuitive interface, visual editors, and built-in automations, and customization options. These features make Glide a must try option for anyone looking to convert their existing business data into visually appealing PWAs.

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Thunkable is a popular cloud-based no-code platform that helps users build mobile apps even without having any prior coding experience. It has gained considerable attention due to its intuitive interface, powerful features, and support for both Android and iOS app development.

In this review, we’ll analyze various aspects of Thunkable, including its features, interface and ease of use, integration and extensibility, deployment and maintenance, pricing, documentation, and competition.

Thunkable: Features

Thunkable offers a wide range of features that cater to the needs of different users, from beginners to more advanced builders.

One of Thunkable's biggest strengths is its ability to build apps for both Android phones and iOS devices, and tablets, at the same time. Users can create apps that work across both platforms without needing to write platform-specific code.

Thunkable's core strength lies in its intuitive drag-and-drop interface. The platform also offers a large collection of pre-built components to cover a wide range of functionalities. Users can easily add essential user interface components like buttons, sliders, as well as media components, sensors, and more, to their apps, with a simple drag-and-drop.

This visual approach helps make the platform highly intuitive, particularly for those with little or no coding experience. While it doesn’t offer templates as many of its peers, there are also sample apps that you can remix and customize to meet your requirements.

Another wonderful feature is Thunkable’s Scratch-inspired block-based programming system, that you can use to define your app’s logic. You create logic by dragging and connecting blocks to create event handlers, control flow, and perform actions. This makes programming easier and more accessible.

Another interesting feature is Thunkable’s ability to let you infuse Artificial Intelligence (AI) into your apps for things like image and voice recognition. The platform can also integrate with OpenAI for adding generative AI functionality to your apps.

Thunkable: Interface and Ease of Use

Thunkable's interface is clean and intuitive, which makes it fairly user-friendly and accessible to beginners. As we’ve said before, the platform's drag-and-drop system makes it easy to design and build apps without any coding knowledge.

Thunkable’s interface is broadly divided into two tabs, namely Design, and Blocks.

You use the Design tab to create the UI of your app by dragging elements like buttons, labels, switches, and such to the canvas. You can also customize each element's properties, such as color, size, and layout, to match your app's branding and requirements.

Each app can have multiple screens, and each screen has its own Design tab. This allows you to create different views or pages within your app, each with its own layout and components.

The Blocks tab is where you add the logic and functionality to the app. Again, you just drag and drop to connect code blocks to define the app's behavior, which can be everything from reacting to a button press, and handling user input, to accessing device’s sensors, and interacting with external services.

Similarly, the other sections, particularly, Data, Assets, and Cloud Variables, help you easily manage various aspects of your app's data and resources. There’s also the Settings section where you define different details of your app, such as its name, default layout, some important Android and iOS publishing settings, and more.

Thunkable also provides a couple of mechanisms to test and preview your apps. There’s the Web Preview that you can use to test the app from within the browser itself. Then there’s the Live App that can help test your apps in your mobile phone. Any changes you make to the app are reflected instantly in the device.

Thunkable: Integration and Extensibility

Thunkable offers a wide range of integrations with popular services and tools, such as Google Maps, Stripe, Firebase, Airtable, Google Sheets, Xano, RevenueCat (for in-app purchases, and subscriptions), and more.

The platform also allows you to connect your app to any Application Programming Interface (API). You can also use it to connect to a database, or integrate with external data sources, including Google Sheets, and Airtable, to store and manage data within your app.

There’s also the Web Viewer component that allows you to display websites in your apps. More importantly though you can use this component to run HTML and JavaScript commands. This flexibility enables you to extend the platform's capabilities and customize apps beyond the platform’s built-in capabilities.

Thunkable also integrates with Figma, a popular web-based design tool that offers more design versatility. You can compose the interface for your app in Figma, and then import it into Thunkable.

Thunkable: Deployment and Maintenance

Thunkable also helps simplify the deployment and maintenance process for all mobile apps you create with the platform. Once an app is ready, you can easily publish it to the Google Play Store and Apple App Store directly from Thunkable.

Remember though, the Apple and Android app publishing processes are quite different. For instance, to publish with Apple, you first complete the process in the Thunkable publishing wizard, and the app file is sent directly to your Apple TestFlight.

On the other hand, to publish with Android, you receive an email from Thunkable with your app's Android App Bundle (AAB) file, which you download and then submit to the Google Play Store for review.

You’ll still have to do some running around to register, and submit the app to the relevant app store. However, Thunkable provides step-by-step guidance to help you submit new apps and subsequent updates. This helps streamline the otherwise complex app submission process, especially for first timers.

Thunkable: Pricing and Documentation

Thunkable offers a tiered pricing structure, including a free tier with limited features, and paid tiers with more advanced capabilities. The free tier is suitable to explore, and experiment with the platform, while the paid tiers are necessary if you want to deploy your apps.

Premium plans are priced on a monthly or annual basis. The Builder plan costs $59/month or $37/month billed annually, and can be used to put custom branding, and publish one app each on the Apple or Google app stores.

If you want to publish multiple apps, you’ll need to switch to the Advanced plan that costs $189/month or $99/month billed annually. In addition to unlimited apps, this plan will also let you roll in in-app payments, and ads in your apps.

Thunkable provides comprehensive documentation, including text and video tutorials, to help users get started and make the most of the platform. The documentation covers everything from the basics of app creation to advanced integration, database management, and app deployment.

Thunkable also maintains an active community forum where users can share projects, ask questions, and get help from other users.

Thunkable: The Competition

Thunkable faces competition from several other no-code platforms that also cater to mobile app development, particularly Adalo, which too primarily focuses on mobile apps, and offers a similarly intuitive drag-and-drop interface.

One area where Adalo scores over Thunkable is in terms of the number of third-party integrations. Thunkable, on the other hand, is good for defining more advanced backend capabilities. This means you can build more versatile apps with Thunkable, while Adalo is easier to get started with.

However, Thunkable’s lack of templates can be an issue for first timers, though of course they can remix one of the demo apps to get a rolling start. And although both platforms don't let you publish mobile apps on the free plan, Thunkable’s free plan is more restrictive than Adalo's.

Thunkable: Final Verdict

Thunkable has everything you need to build and roll out mobile apps without coding. It’s both easy to use and offers advanced functionalities to experienced campaigners. The drag-and-drop interface, pre-built components, and the Scratch-inspired logic system makes it a good option for both beginners and intermediate users.

That said, as with any platform, there is a learning curve when it comes to more complex functionality. For example, while the drag-and-drop interface simplifies app design, integrating third-party APIs, creating, and managing complex database structures, or building advanced app logic might require a bit of time to master.

Also, while the block-based logic system is relatively easy to learn, it can make it quite cumbersome to define complex app logic, especially when working on larger projects.

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