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Founder, No Code MBA
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Glide vs Retool

An in-depth head to head comparison

In this article, read a side-by-side comparison between two no-code tools: Glide and Retool. We'll compare pricing, the benefits, the drawbacks, give examples of what you can and can't build, as well as our overall recommendation.

What is Glide?

Glide turns spreadsheets into beautiful, easy-to-use apps, without code.
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Learn everything you need to know about Glide

Our in-depth course will take your from a beginner to expert

The Complete Guide to Glide Apps

What is Retool?

Build internal tools, remarkably fast
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Pricing

Glide pricing

  • Free basic plan with the glideapp.io domain, Glide branding, public sign in, and limited data storage
  • $32/month - $40/month (+$2/private user) for custom domains, up to 25,000 data rows, no Glide branding, lower transaction fees, private apps, and more features

Retool pricing

  • Free plan with editor mode only and up to 5 modules
  • $10/month - $50/month per user enables user mode (people can use your app without the ability to edit your set up), version history, more modules, and more advanced features

Benefits

Glide benefits

  • Simple/magical app building experience
  • Build using a Google Sheet, so it’s easy to pick up
  • Constantly improving the product
  • Active community
  • Can build just about any type of app
  • Strong security features

Retool benefits

  • Build internal apps connected to your company's data
  • Supports data from just about every database and data source
  • Lots of templates and components
  • Display, filter, and edit your company's data directly from retool
  • Allows businesses to create custom dashboards without developer resources

Drawbacks

Glide drawbacks

  • Progressive web app only (can’t be downloaded in app store)
  • Can’t offer in-app purchases
  • Somewhat limited in design
  • No push notifications (can get around this with Zapier for email/texts)

Retool drawbacks

  • Somewhat high learning curve

What you can build

Glide use-cases

  • MVP versions of mobile and web apps like Tinder and Zillow
  • Apps with user accounts and complex logic

Retool use-cases

  • Internal dashboards
  • Internal apps for your business such as a refund management system, data visualization, inventory management, content scheduler, promo code manager and more

What you can't build

What you can't build with Glide

  • Publish your app to the app store (check out Adalo)
  • Apps that require connection to an API

What you can't build with Retool

  • Customer-facing apps (Retool apps are meant to be used internally)

Overall Recommendation

Glide recommendation

Glide is best for building MVPs for your business, or for building internal apps.

You can create user accounts, store and display data from a database, and build complex logic. You can build apps like Tinder, Zillow, Headspace and more using Glide.

For more apps that need to be in an app store or connect with APIs I'd use Adalo.

If you want to build a web app with that scales better and has API access, I'd recommend Bubble.

In all other cases, I love Glide and think it's a great option for your no-code app.

Retool recommendation

Retool is a fantastic tool for building internal apps at your business.

Where Retool really shines is allowing non-technical people to build apps that interact with a live database without needing to use developers.

Retool is the best tool for this use-case.

Access all of this with No-Code MBA Unlimited
Unlock premium step-by-step tutorials building real apps and websites
Easy to follow tutorials broken down into lessons between 2 to 20 minutes
Get access to the community to share what you're building, ask questions, and get support if you're stuck
Friendly Tip!
Companies often reimburse No Code MBA memberships. Here's an email template to send to your manager.

Bring Your Ideas to Life with AI and No Code

Unlock premium step-by-step tutorials building real apps and websites
Easy to follow tutorials broken down into lessons between 2 to 20 minutes
Get access to the community to share what you're building, ask questions, and get support if you're stuck
Access all of this with No-Code MBA Unlimited
Unlock premium step-by-step tutorials building real apps and websites
Easy to follow tutorials broken down into lessons between 2 to 20 minutes
Get access to the community to share what you're building, ask questions, and get support if you're stuck
Friendly Tip!
Companies often reimburse No Code MBA memberships. Here's an email template to send to your manager.

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