Glide turns spreadsheets into apps. Custom code turns requirements into products.
Glide is the fastest path to internal tools and simple client-facing apps built on Google Sheets or Airtable. Custom development is the right choice when the application needs a real data model, performance, or capabilities beyond what Glide can provide.
Internal tool or client-facing application in Glide that's outgrown the spreadsheet data model — or a new project evaluating Glide vs. custom development
Glide's proposition is clever: connect it to a Google Sheet or Airtable base, and it generates a mobile-optimized app from the spreadsheet columns. For simple use cases — field service checklists, internal directories, basic client portals — it works surprisingly well.
The fundamental constraint is the data model: a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets are flat tables. Real applications need relational data (orders belong to customers; customers belong to organizations), complex query logic, transactions, and the data integrity constraints that a proper database provides.
When Glide is appropriate:
- Internal team tools with simple data (staff directories, equipment checklists, simple CRMs)
- Proof-of-concept apps to test workflows before building
- Small-scale client-facing portals where the data volume is low
- Non-technical teams who need to build something themselves
When Glide fails:
- Applications where multiple users can edit the same data simultaneously (spreadsheet conflicts)
- Applications with complex relationships between data types
- Any requirement for server-side business logic beyond basic formulas
- Applications that need authentication beyond Glide's user model
- Scale beyond hundreds of rows (Glide slows as sheets grow)
- Applications that need to be white-labeled (Glide branding is present)
Understanding of when Glide's data model is sufficient and when a real database and custom code is the right foundation
Custom web applications with Postgres databases, proper relational data models, and the business logic that Glide's spreadsheet foundation can't support.
For Glide applications that teams have been running and want to upgrade, the migration starts with rebuilding the data model as a proper relational database before adding features.
One honest number to start.
Fixed-scope, fixed-price. The number below is the starting point — final scope is built from your brief.
Understanding of when Glide's data model is sufficient and when a real database and custom code is the right foundation
Three steps, every time.
The same repeatable engagement on every project. No surprises, no mystery, no billable ambiguity.
Brief & discovery.
We send you questions, then get on a call. Output: a written scope with every step, feature, and integration listed.
Build & ship.
Fixed schedule, weekly reviews. No scope creep unless you change the scope — and if you do, we reprice it transparently.
Warranty & retainer.
30-day warranty on every launch. Most clients stay on a monthly retainer for ongoing features and maintenance.
Why Fixed-Price Matters Here
The scope of a Glide replacement is defined by the existing feature set plus the new requirements. Fixed price.
Questions, answered.
When: the tool is used daily by multiple people, data volume is growing, the spreadsheet model creates data quality issues, or the team needs features (bulk operations, complex search, reporting) that Glide can't provide.
Glide: $49-$249+/month subscription. Custom internal tool: $25k-$35k one-time, then ~$20/month hosting. For tools in use for 3+ years, custom development is cheaper.
Tell Ryel about your project.
Describe what you’re building and what outcome you need. You’ll have a written, fixed-price scope within the week.