They are not twins any more
Softr vs Glide used to be a close fight between two spreadsheet-friendly builders. In 2026 they have drifted apart. Pick Softr for portals that clients and members log into, with permissions on data in Airtable, Google Sheets, HubSpot, Notion, Salesforce, SQL or Softr's own databases. Pick Glide for apps your own team uses to run operations: it now leads with GlideOS, an AI platform aimed squarely at internal business apps built from your spreadsheets, prompts or files.
Checked Oct 2026. Softr figures come from softr.io/pricing. Glide figures come from glideapps.com/pricing, which covers GlideOS. Glide's FAQ says GlideOS is separate from Glide Classic, and Classic apps keep working on their own plans.
App users on Softr, published apps on Glide
Softr:
- Free: $0, 5 AI credits a month, 5 app users, 5K records, 500 workflow actions a month.
- Basic: $19 a month, 10 AI credits, custom domain, 5 team and 5 client app users, 50K records.
- Pro: $99 a month, 50 AI credits, no Softr branding, Google sign-in and one-time codes, granular permissions, custom code, 10 team and 50 client app users.
- Business: $329 a month, 3 builders, 100 AI credits. Yearly billing takes two months off.
GlideOS:
- Free: $0, limited credits, 2 team members, no published apps.
- Basic: $25 a month, 100 credits, 2 published apps, personal and team apps only.
- Plus: $50 a month, from 250 credits, 5 published apps, public apps.
- Pro: $125 a month, from 500 credits and 5 team members, unlimited published apps.
Outsiders logging in or staff running operations
Softr's own plan guide is a good summary: Basic for individuals with lightweight apps, Pro for small teams building client-facing apps or internal tools with their own branding and role-based permissions, Business for companies building systems used across departments. The common thread is people outside your team logging in to see their own data.
Glide's homepage describes a business operations platform that turns the Excel files and Google Sheets your team runs on into apps and AI agents. Its SheetSense system reads formulas, lookups and notes to work out what matters. You can also start from a prompt, a PDF or a screenshot. Glide says GlideOS is optimized for internal business apps, while still able to make other things.
Connectors and spreadsheets
Softr connects to external sources and also has Softr Databases. Its pricing lists 42 connected apps on Free and Basic, with more on higher plans. Records are capped by plan, so check the count if your table is large.
GlideOS is built around spreadsheets but does not require one. Integrations are included from Free, with premium integrations on Pro and enterprise integrations above that. You can also build with your own agent over MCP on Pro, and Glide's homepage says tools such as Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT can connect and build into the same apps and data.
Who counts as a user
Softr counts app users by unique email across all your apps. It also splits them into team users, who share your company's email domain, and client users, who do not. Public sign-in options such as Google and one-time codes, plus removing Softr branding, start on Pro.
GlideOS counts team members and published apps rather than end users. The Free plan cannot publish at all. Basic publishes personal and team apps, Plus is the first plan that publishes public apps, and Pro removes the cap on published apps. Glide's homepage says apps stay private to your company by default.
AI co-builder or agent-first
Softr's AI co-builder drafts apps from a description, and you keep editing with the no-code editor. Softr's FAQ notes that you can keep building after AI credits run out, which is a real comfort if you are on a small plan.
GlideOS is agent-first. Credits stand in for the AI work it does to build, and when you run out you raise the credit limit, change plans or buy a bundle.
Seven requests, sorted
Here is how the two usually line up on real requests.
- A client portal where each client sees their projects, invoices and files. Softr, with per-user permissions and client users on Pro.
- A member directory or community resource hub. Softr, which counts members as app users and lets you brand it.
- A field inspection app where crews log findings from a phone. Glide, which shows field inspections among its ready-made templates.
- Inventory tracking across several sites. Glide, also among its templates, and a natural fit for spreadsheet-based stock lists.
- Crew or shift scheduling shared with the team. Glide.
- A partner portal on HubSpot or Salesforce data. Softr, given its CRM integrations.
- A public signup page or small product site. Neither is the obvious choice; both lean toward data apps.
If a project sits in the middle, ask who logs in. Outside people with their own data views point to Softr. Your own staff working through operational data point to Glide. If both are true, you may need two apps on the same data, a Softr portal for outsiders and a Glide app for the team. Test how each one syncs before you rely on it, since two apps writing to one sheet can trip over each other.
The traps on each
On Softr, the trap is the user count: a portal that grows from 5 clients to 6 leaves Basic, and branding removal waits until Pro at $99. On GlideOS, the trap is publishing: the free plan publishes nothing, Basic publishes two apps that cannot be public, and a public app means Plus at $50. Neither is a reason to avoid the tool, but both change which plan you actually need.
When neither fits
Both are strongest on business data and portal-style or internal apps. If you want a public web app, a landing page that saves signups or a game, VibeDream is a different kind of tool. You describe it by typing, recording a voice note or attaching a screenshot, and it writes a React + FastAPI app or a Phaser game with a live preview in seconds. The code is yours in the Code tab, with ZIP download and GitHub sync.
Putting it online takes one screen and 5 credits per update. Your own domain takes a TXT and a CNAME record, shown in the deployment guide.
It is not a portal builder for Airtable data, so for the client portal above, use Softr. There is no free plan; plans start at $49 a month on the pricing page. The Fan Page template shows the kind of public page it does well.