Softr vs Glide: Client Portals or Team Apps?

Softr vs Glide mostly comes down to one question: who will log in to the app?

• Pick Softr if the people logging in are mostly outside your company: clients, partners, members or vendors. Softr is built around portals, with user groups, granular permissions, and live connections to Airtable, Google Sheets, SQL databases or its own Softr Databases.
• Pick Glide if the people logging in are mostly your own team, especially staff working from a phone in the field. Glide's current product, GlideOS, takes the spreadsheet your team already runs on, and its AI agent builds working apps for desktop and phone from it.

Both tools now build apps from a prompt, both bill on AI credits alongside other limits, and neither publishes native apps to the App Store. The differences are in data, permissions and pricing units. Here's how they compare in November 2026.

Quick comparison

What each tool is today

Softr: portals and internal tools on your data

Softr says it lets you "build secure portals and internal tools, no developer required." It started as a front end for Airtable and now includes its own database, workflows, forms and AI agents.

The AI app builder takes a plain-English prompt and generates the pages, the database, the permissions and the workflows. Softr's pitch here is "no generated code." You get the same blocks and settings you'd use by hand, so you can switch between prompting and visual editing at any point.

Glide: GlideOS, built by an agent from your spreadsheet

Glide changed shape in 2026. Its current product, GlideOS, is described on its pricing page as "an AI software development platform for building internal business apps from a spreadsheet, a prompt, or a file." You drop in a spreadsheet, and a system Glide calls SheetSense reads the formulas, lookups and notes. The agent then builds a working app for desktop and phone.

One detail trips people up. GlideOS is a separate product from the original Glide, which is now called Glide Classic. Glide's FAQ says GlideOS has its own plans and pricing. Classic apps keep running, but there's currently no tool to migrate them to GlideOS. If you've used Glide before, you're starting fresh. Our Glide alternatives guide covers that change in more depth.

Who uses the app: clients vs your own team

Softr is shaped around outside users. Its pricing page splits app users into team users, who share your business email domain, and client users, who don't. Everyone on a free email domain like Gmail counts as a client user. The use cases on its homepage lead with client portals, partner portals, vendor onboarding and knowledge bases. A typical Softr build might be a portal where each client logs in, sees only their own projects and invoices, and uploads files.

Glide is shaped around your own operations. The GlideOS homepage talks about "the Excel files and Google Sheets your team runs on." Its templates are field inspections, inventory management and crew scheduling. It even pitches logging data "from a phone in the field" while the back office updates instantly. Glide does list portals as a use case, but public apps sit on its higher plans, and new apps are private to your organization by default.

Data sources: Airtable, Google Sheets, or a built-in database

Softr connects to your data where it lives. Its data source guide says Softr "connects natively to over 20 different data sources," and the homepage lists Airtable, Google Sheets, Notion, HubSpot, monday.com, Supabase, MySQL and PostgreSQL. Softr reads and writes the source directly. The guide says Softr "does not store or sync data from your data source," apart from 24-hour caching for speed.

That's great when Airtable is your system of record and other tools already hang off it. The catch is rate limits. Softr's guide warns that Airtable and Sheets suit apps with a modest number of people online at once. For tens of thousands of concurrent users, it points you to Softr Databases, SQL, Supabase or Xano. Softr Databases is the built-in option, with "no API rate limits" and a one-click migration tool for Airtable bases.

Glide pulls your data in. Its data documentation says every project "has one database that can include multiple data tables from one or more sources." You can upload Excel files or connect Google Sheets. The key line: "GlideOS does not write back to Google Sheets." It copies the sheet into a Glide table, and edits made in the app stay in Glide.

So the question to ask is: after launch, where should the truth live?

• If your Airtable base or Google Sheet must stay the master copy, Softr fits better.
• If you're happy for the app to become the master copy, Glide's model is simpler.

Glide also offers a direct Postgres-compatible connection string, read-only or read/write, so BI tools and other software can work with your project data. Its integrations directory lists more than 1,000 services, including Airtable, Salesforce and Supabase.

AI features compared

Softr:

• AI co-builder. Generates pages, database structure, business logic and permissions from a prompt. You refine it with AI or by hand.
• Ask AI. A chat block inside your app that answers questions from live data. It "only analyzes the data each user is allowed to see," so permissions still apply.
• Database AI agents. Toggle-on agents for cleanup, enrichment, tagging and summaries on your Softr Databases.
• Softr MCP. The MCP page says you can connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor to build and manage apps, databases and workflows. It's included on every plan, and you "don't spend Softr AI credits to work this way."

Glide:

• Glide's agent. Builds and edits the app from a prompt, a spreadsheet, a PDF or a screenshot. Paid plans let you choose an agent mode (light, medium or heavy).
• SheetSense. Reads spreadsheets in detail, formulas included, so the app reflects how the sheet actually works.
• Ask Glide. Ask questions about your business and get answers from live app data.
• Bring your own agent. Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT can build into Glide over MCP. On the pricing page, this is a Pro feature.

The practical difference: Softr's AI produces normal Softr blocks you can always edit by hand. Glide is more agent-first, with the agent as the main way you build. If you want to drive either tool from Claude or another agent you already pay for, Softr makes that available on every plan.

Permissions and security

For a client portal, permissions are the product. A client who can see another client's invoice is a serious incident.

Softr lets you set up user groups and control what each group can see and do. Its Pro plan adds "granular permissions & visibility," Google sign-in and one-time-password login. The Business plan adds two-factor authentication, domain-restricted signup and global data restrictions. SSO (SAML and OpenID) and SCIM are Enterprise features.

Glide sets access at the app level. Its publishing docs list four options: invite only, anyone can sign up, sign-in optional, and anyone can open. Public apps start on the Plus plan. Glide's docs also warn that data in a public app "is accessible to anyone with the link." Org-level roles and permissions come with Pro. Glide Enterprise adds SSO, "roles down to the row," approved AI models and audit logs.

Both are fine for an internal team. For a portal where many outside users must each see only their own records, Softr gives you more control on mid-tier plans.

Mobile apps: both are web apps

Neither tool publishes native apps to the App Store or Google Play.

• Softr lists "Installable mobile app (PWA)" and push notifications on its Business plan. Users add your portal to their home screen, and it opens like an app.
• Glide apps work on phones too. Its docs say you share a link or QR code, and users tap Add to Home Screen. Glide's help center says Glide apps are Progressive Web Apps and that "publishing directly to the App Store or Google Play is not supported."

If store listings matter, look at a native builder instead. The Bubble vs Adalo comparison covers two that publish to both stores.

Pricing models: what each tool meters

Prices change often, so this section describes what each tool charges for. Check Softr's pricing page and Glide's pricing page for current numbers.

Softr meters people, records and actions. Each plan sets limits on:

• Builders, the people who use Softr Studio. Extra builders can be added on paid plans.
• App users, split into team users and client users, counted once across all your apps.
• Database records across your Softr Databases.
• Workflow actions per month (triggers and flow controls don't count).
• AI credits per month for the AI features, with add-on credits available on every plan.

Glide meters AI usage and scale. Its FAQ says GlideOS "uses LLM tokens to build software," standardized as credits. Plans set:

• Credits, with top-ups or a higher credit limit when you run out
• Team members, with Pro priced by team size
• Published apps, projects and enabled workflows
• Features by tier, such as public apps on Plus and MCP on Pro

What that means in practice:

• Softr costs grow with your audience. A portal with hundreds of client logins pushes you up the tiers, whatever the build effort.
• Glide costs grow with your building and your team. Heavy agent use burns credits, and more staff means a bigger Pro tier.

Softr vs Glide: which should you choose?

Choose Softr if:

• Your users are clients, partners or members outside your company
• Airtable or Google Sheets must stay the system of record
• You need fine-grained permissions so each user sees only their records
• You want to build with your own AI agent without buying extra credits

Choose Glide if:

• Your users are your own staff, and many of them work from phones
• You run operations on Excel or Google Sheets and want an app built from them fast
• You're happy for the app's database to become the master copy
• You want an agent to do most of the building

Consider something else if you need native store apps, or you're leaving either tool for reasons this post doesn't cover. Our Softr alternatives roundup ranks portal builders by data source and pricing unit. For internal tools in a Microsoft shop, see our Power Apps alternatives guide.

Where Taku fits

Softr and Glide are for building an app on your business data. Sometimes the job is different: you've seen an AI workflow that would save your team hours, and you just want to run it. Taku is an AI-native desktop workspace for that. You mirror an AI app, skill or workflow someone already got working, run it, and remix it, with no GitHub or environment setup. It isn't a portal builder, and it doesn't replace Softr or Glide. Taku is in Beta, and the Mac app is available now.

FAQ

Is Softr or Glide better for a client portal?

Softr, in most cases. It's built around outside users, counts client users separately from team users, and offers granular permissions on mid-tier plans. Glide can build portals, but public apps start on its Plus plan, and its focus is internal operations.

Does Glide still work with Google Sheets?

Yes, but differently from before. GlideOS imports a Google Sheet into a Glide table and doesn't write changes back to the sheet. If the sheet must stay the source of truth, that's an important difference from Softr's live connection.

Can Softr or Glide publish to the App Store?

No. Both build web apps that users can add to their home screen. Softr offers an installable PWA with push notifications on its Business plan. Glide's help center says direct store publishing isn't supported.

What is the difference between Glide and GlideOS?

GlideOS is Glide's current, AI-agent-based platform. Glide Classic is the original no-code builder. They're separate products with separate plans, and Glide says there's currently no way to migrate Classic apps to GlideOS.

Is Softr or Glide cheaper?

It depends on what grows in your business. Softr's costs follow app users, records and workflow actions. Glide's follow AI credits, team members and published apps. A portal with many outside users tends to cost more on Softr. A team that builds a lot with the agent tends to use more Glide credits.