Glide vs Softr: Choosing the right platform for your idea

Introduction

Glide Apps and Softr are two platforms that are popular among beginners in the Nocode space.

But which platform is right for you to help you build your internal business app or a client portal?

In this blog post, we’ll do a side-by-side Glide vs Softr comparison.

But, can I save you some time so you don’t worry about Glide vs Softr anymore than you do?

If you are building an internal business app or a client portal, just build it with Glide.

If you are building a simple website with a public directory, just build it with Softr.

But, before we move ahead, here’s a quick introduction to Glide and Softr.

What is Glide Apps?

Glide is a web-based app builder that allows non-programmers to quickly create powerful and beautiful apps by combining prebuilt components with a familiar spreadsheet model.

Glide Apps on Y-combinator

Glide Apps is a no-code platform that allows you to create internal business apps without any coding experience. It offers a visual interface that makes it easy to create apps for a variety of purposes.

A platform like Glide Apps saves you time and money on internal business app development.

Here are multiple examples of apps that I have built with Glide Apps for my clients.

It is also a great place to get started with Nocode app development for anybody who doesn’t have prior coding experience.

What is Softr?

Softr turns your Airtable or Google Sheets data into beautiful and powerful client portals or internal tools.

Glide vs Softr: a fair comparison

There is little to compare between Glide Apps and Softr, purely because of the distinct and diverse applications that could be built with each of these platforms. But Softr has recently started positioning itself in the same category as Glide, Noloco, and Stacker.

I say this as a Certified Expert in Glide Apps and as an ex-Certified/Verified Expert Softr (apart from being a Certified Expert in Stacker and Noloco too, and in Zapier).

So even with Softr’s new positioning, I will present a comparison based on the type of application you’re trying to build.

Nocode Application: Directory/Listing Website

The only overlap I see between applications of Glide Apps and Softr is when you’re trying to build a directory or a listing website.

And because you would want a directory website to rank in Google Search, Softr wins here.

That’s because pages built in Softr are SEO-friendly, while anything built in Glide Apps is not.

You can still build a directory or listings website in Glide, provided you don’t rely on search engine results to drive traffic to your app.

Application: Websites

Again, since Softr allows you to build SEO-friendly websites, Softr wins here too.

In fact, the earlier version of my own website was built using Softr. I moved to WordPress because a very dear friend offered to do the heavy lifting of managing the technical aspects of the website.

Glide does not allow you to build SEO-friendly websites. So don’t even think about building a website using Glide Apps.

The only exception is if you’re generating traffic to the website from other initiatives like social media marketing and paid marketing. Even in these cases, the website performance wouldn’t be as great as it is with Softr or WordPress.

Nocode Application: Simple Web Apps

The only situation where I would suggest building a simple web app is where you have decided you want to stick to Softr and not learn any other Nocode platform.

That could be because you’re already a paid customer perhaps?

If that is not a constraint, and if you’re looking to spend on another platform, I would recommend building even the simplest web apps with Glide Apps.

That’s simply because Softr doesn’t have a lot of layout design options for the detail pages of a web app.

Nocode Application: Complex Web Apps

You know where this is going.

I just tried to convince you to take a leap of faith with a platform like Glide Apps to build even the simplest web apps.
So the choice of the platform for building complex web apps too is Glide Apps.

The SEO-friendly aspect of Softr is not of much use here since the content in web apps is usually behind a login screen or a paywall and you wouldn’t want it indexed on search engines anyway.

Summary of Glide Apps vs Softr by application types

In essence, the choice of the platform should solely be based on the kind of application you’re trying to build.

You can check out examples of applications that can be built with Glide Apps and Softr.

Here’s a quick summary of the types of apps you can build with both, and what I would choose between Glide Apps and Softr to build the app:

Other comparisons between Glide Apps and Softr

If you’re still looking for an objective comparison between Glide Apps and Softr, this article compares Glide Apps, Stacker, Noloco, and Softr.

Conclusion

None of the other comparison points matter much if you focus solely on choosing the right platform for the application you’re trying to build.

And that should be your only concern.

Trust me when I say that you shouldn’t be worried about pricing between Glide and Softr, at all.

Focus on the functionality, user experience, and usability of the apps and you should be good.