A Glide alternative — Exepad
Same describe-an-app-and-ship rhythm, no spreadsheet underneath. Exepad publishes a full-stack web app with a native database, forms, email, auth, file storage, hosting, custom domain, and SSL — one subscription, no per-user fees, no monthly update caps.
One subscription. Eight production components.
Everything you need in the plan. No add-ons, no separate vendor invoices.
Database
Forms
File storage
Hosting
SSL
Visitor analytics
Custom domain
Honest take, no bashing
What each tool does best, side by side.
What Glide is good at
Glide is the smoothest path from a Google Sheet or Airtable base to a published app. The bidirectional sync is fast, the templates and component library cover most internal-tool patterns, and Glide's AI app generator lets you describe an app and have a working version in minutes. For teams whose data already lives in a spreadsheet and who want a tidy PWA front-end, Glide remains a strong fit.
Where Exepad fits differently
Exepad runs as one product where Glide runs as a front-end over a spreadsheet plus a per-seat, per-update tier ladder. The plan bundles a native relational database, forms with validation, transactional email, file storage, edge hosting, automatic SSL, role-based authentication, a custom domain, first-party visitor analytics, and a REST + MCP API — without metering users, editors, monthly updates, or capping SQL access to Enterprise.
Exepad vs. Glide
Side-by-side on the 14 dimensions that actually move the needle.
Time to first published app
Exepad
4–10 minutes
Glide
10–60 minutes if the spreadsheet already exists.
Database included
Exepad
Native relational database, AI-modeled from your description.
Glide
Glide Tables / Big Tables, or sync from Google Sheets / Airtable / Excel; SQL on Enterprise only.
Authentication included
Exepad
Native auth with email, magic-link, social, role-based permissions.
Glide
Email + Google sign-in; business-email gating on Business; SSO on Enterprise.
Email sending included
Exepad
Transactional email — confirmations, automations, sender reputation managed.
Glide
Bring your own SendGrid / Mailgun, or wire it via Glide actions + integrations.
Hosting included
Exepad
Edge hosting on Cloudflare, no update or sync caps.
Glide
Hosted; metered updates — 5,000/mo on Business, overage fees apply.
File storage included
Exepad
Native object storage served from the global edge.
Glide
Image/file URL fields stored in the connected source or Glide Tables.
Form backend included
Exepad
Native forms with validation, conditional logic, direct database writes.
Glide
Form-screen components write back to the connected data source.
Visitor analytics included
Exepad
First-party analytics in every paid plan.
Glide
Bring your own GA4 or external analytics via header embed.
Search built in
Exepad
Site-wide search across pages and records, included.
Glide
Per-list search; site-wide search requires custom setup.
Custom domain
Exepad
Included on every paid plan; automatic SSL.
Glide
Custom domain available on Maker ($25/mo) and above.
GEO (AI citation) ready
Exepad
Schema.org JSON-LD, semantic HTML, direct-answer blocks ship by default.
Glide
PWA shell; head-tag schema requires custom embed and Glide Pages tuning.
SSL + bank-level security
Exepad
Edge SSL, automated backups, 99.9% uptime, tenant isolation.
Glide
SSL on custom domains; SOC 2 / GDPR on managed infra; no native HIPAA.
Lighthouse Performance score
Exepad
95+ guaranteed across pages.
Glide
PWA shell scores well in isolation; degrades with Sheets-backed pages and large datasets.
Designed for non-technical users
Exepad
Describe in English; the platform generates schema, UI, and back-end together.
Glide
Visual builder + AI app generator; expects spreadsheet schema design upfront.
Starting price
Exepad
$25/mo — unlimited apps, one USD wallet.
Glide
Free; Maker $25/mo; Team $99/mo; Business $199/mo annual ($249 monthly).
Code export
Exepad
Not required — the platform runs the app; REST + MCP API exposes the data.
Glide
No source-code export; data lives in the connected source.
Pricing snapshot May 2026 from glideapps.com/pricing. Glide's published tiers limit editors (2 on Maker, 10 on Business), users (30 included on Business, then $5–$6 per additional user per month), monthly updates (5,000 on Business with overage fees), and gate SQL plus premium integrations to Enterprise. Add a Google Workspace or Airtable Team seat to supply the data source and the line item climbs again. Exepad's plan replaces every meter with one invoice — see /pricing for current tiers.
When each one wins
Pick the right tool — both have legitimate strengths.
Pick Glide when…
Your team's data already lives in a Google Sheet and stays there.
A small operations team or non-profit running everything from a shared Sheet — volunteer rosters, asset inventory, weekly reports — who wants a tidy mobile-friendly front-end. The bidirectional sync keeps Sheets as the system of record.
A spreadsheet-to-PWA pattern with under 5,000 monthly updates.
Teams whose app fits inside Glide's Maker or Team plan, whose data tops out around a few thousand rows, and whose business does not need transactional email, native auth, or AI-search visibility. The free tier covers the prototype.
A handful of editors maintaining many small internal apps.
An IT or ops lead who builds a portfolio of small Glide apps for different departments — a request tracker, a kitchen-checklist app, a vehicle log — and benefits from Glide's template gallery and shared component library.
Pick Exepad when…
You need a real public-facing site, not a PWA shell.
Founders, agencies, and operators whose published app has to rank in Google, get cited by AI Overview and ChatGPT, and live on a custom domain that loads fast. Exepad ships semantic HTML, JSON-LD schema, and Lighthouse 95+ by default.
User counts and monthly updates are climbing past the Glide caps.
Teams whose users have crossed 30, whose monthly update volume regularly tops 5,000, or whose SQL/SSO needs would force an Enterprise contract. Exepad does not meter users, editors, or workflow events per seat.
You want a database, email, auth, and forms in one platform.
Solo builders and small teams who do not already pay for Google Workspace or Airtable, and do not want Glide on top. Exepad's native relational database, transactional email, and role-based auth are part of the same plan as the front-end.
What the typical stack costs
Line-item breakdown of what most teams actually pay each month — and what the same setup costs on Exepad.
What the move actually looks like
Most Glide-to-Exepad moves take a day. Export each Glide Table or connected Sheet as CSV, paste the schema and a description of the app into Exepad, and let the platform generate the database, screens, and forms. Email + magic-link auth and role-based permissions land natively — no Make/Zapier glue for emails, no overage worry on monthly updates. If your value is the Sheets-backed PWA pattern your team is trained on, stay on Glide. If your value is shipping a working public site with a custom domain at a flat monthly cost, expect a one-day rebuild.
Your migration checklist
The concrete steps most teams follow when moving from Glide to Exepad — usually a day, not a week.
Audit the existing Glide project
List every app, every connected Sheet or Glide Table, every user role, and every external integration (Make, Zapier, SendGrid) you rely on today.
Export Glide Tables and connected Sheets as CSV
Preserve linked-record IDs. Each CSV imports as a relational table in Exepad; relations re-form during import.
Describe the app to Exepad in plain English
Paste the screen list and user roles. Exepad drafts screens, schema, and a form layer in one pass.
Move auth and gated screens
Map Glide's email + Google sign-in to Exepad's magic-link + social login. Recreate user groups as roles.
Re-point the custom domain
Update DNS to Exepad's edge. SSL provisions automatically. Keep the Glide app live until cutover is verified.
Set 301 redirects from old PWA URLs
Mirror the Glide page slugs where possible so bookmarks, indexed pages, and AI citations survive the move.
Common mistakes
What people get wrong when evaluating Glide alternatives — and what to do instead.
Mistake
Treating Glide's headline plan price as the full cost
Fix
Add the Google Workspace / Airtable seats, the email vendor, the Make/Zapier glue, and any monthly update overages. That is the real number.
Mistake
Re-creating Glide screens component-by-component in Exepad
Fix
Describe outcomes — 'a list of assets with a detail page and an editable form' — and let the renderer pick a layout. Tighten by re-prompting sections.
Mistake
Importing a 25,000-row Sheet directly without splitting it
Fix
Migration is the moment to normalize. Split big Sheets into multiple relational tables and let Exepad's schema express the relations cleanly.
Mistake
Forgetting to budget for SEO/GEO once the app moves
Fix
PWAs ship as a shell. Exepad's pages are crawlable HTML with JSON-LD by default — re-prompt meta and direct-answer blocks for any page you want cited.
Mistake
Skipping 301 redirects after cutover
Fix
Bookmarks and any organic traffic to the Glide PWA URL get lost otherwise. Redirect every indexed slug before the Glide project is paused.
Frequently asked
How much cheaper is Exepad than a typical Glide stack in 2026?+
A realistic Glide stack — Team plan ($99/mo), one Airtable Team editor ($24/mo), an email vendor ($20/mo), and a Make.com starter plan ($20/mo) — lands around $163/mo before any user or update overages. Exepad bundles all of that into one subscription. See /pricing for current tiers.
Does Exepad require a spreadsheet like Glide does?+
No. Exepad ships a native relational database in every plan. If you want to keep Sheets or Airtable as a system of record, the REST and MCP APIs make two-way sync straightforward — but it is not required.
Can I publish to the App Store or Google Play like Glide promises?+
Glide outputs Progressive Web Apps, not native binaries. Apple and Google do not list Glide PWAs as native App Store apps. Exepad publishes a real web URL that installs as a PWA the same way; for App Store submission, both tools are PWA-only and a wrapper is required.
Will my Exepad app stay fast as data grows?+
Yes. Exepad's native relational database scales independently of the front-end and serves from Cloudflare's global edge. Glide-on-Sheets typically slows past a few thousand rows; Big Tables help but cost more and still meter updates.
How does Exepad handle user accounts and roles?+
Native authentication with email + magic-link, social logins, and role-based permissions in every paid plan. No per-user pricing once you cross 30 seats, no business-email gating locked to a $199/mo tier.
Will AI assistants like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews cite my Exepad pages?+
Yes. Exepad ships GEO-ready output by default — JSON-LD schema, semantic HTML, direct-answer blocks. Glide's equivalent requires manual header tags and offers no native GEO or AEO surface today.
How long does migration from Glide take?+
Most teams cut over in one day. Audit the Glide project, export Tables and Sheets as CSV, describe the app to Exepad, move auth and roles, re-point the custom domain, set 301 redirects.
Can Exepad fully replace Glide for spreadsheet-to-app workflows?+
For most internal-tool, client-portal, and small-business use cases — yes. For teams whose value is the Sheets-as-source-of-truth pattern and who already pay for Google Workspace, Glide remains the more direct fit.
Move from Glide to Exepad
Describe your app and publish in minutes — hosting, database, email, and analytics included.
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