App builders

Glide expert: field and operations apps that stay fast as they grow.

SBD builds Glide apps for field and operations teams, designs the data so they stay fast as rows grow, and connects them to your systems of record, for teams of 5 to 1,000 people. Workflow automation builds start at $1,500 and internal tools at $3,000, with the fixed price set after a $500 Automation Audit that is credited to the build.

Scope a Glide build Book a discovery call

Tool: glideapps.com
Usually paired with: Google Sheets, Airtable, Slack, Make
Timeline: Most builds live in 3 to 5 business days from scope
Owned by: You. Accounts, credentials and code in your name.

What we build on Glide

Build field and operations apps the team uses on their phones
Shape the data so the app stays fast as rows grow
Connect Glide to the systems of record with workflows
Set roles so each person sees only their own work

What we sync

Apps and screens
Tables and rows
Users and roles
Workflows

Workflows we are asked for

Glide field inspection app
Glide stock and orders app
Glide app on Google Sheets
Glide workflows to Slack

Often paired with

Tools Glide usually needs to talk to.

What we build

What a Glide developer from SBD builds

Most teams that contact us already run something on Glide: an inspection app, a stock or job tracker, a staff directory. It was quick to build and people use it on their phones. Then rows pile up, computed columns slow screens down, and someone asks for the data to reach the finance system. We work with the app you have and tell you plainly where Glide stops.

The work falls into three parts. Data: choosing between Glide Tables, Big Tables, a spreadsheet or a SQL database, and designing relations and computed columns that stay within their limits. Screens and roles: layouts that work one-handed on site, offline-tolerant forms, and row owners so each person sees only their own jobs. Workflows: Glide workflows for in-app steps, and n8n or Make where data crosses systems, needs retries or must be logged.

We have not published a case study built on Glide, so we will not point you to one. The closest published work is an order and dispatch app built on Retool for a building materials supplier, with role-based views for warehouse and transport staff and WhatsApp updates.

Fit

When Glide is the right choice, and when it is not

Glide suits field and operations teams who need a clean mobile app quickly: inspections, site visits, deliveries, stock counts, simple approvals. Non-technical admins can change screens without a developer, which keeps small changes cheap.

Where the data lives decides how far it scales. Glide documents a limit of 25,000 rows for a standard Glide Table and up to 10 million rows for Big Tables, and its FAQ ties the 10 million figure to Enterprise plans. Big Tables limit aggregations, lookups and rollups to 100 matching rows, so reporting logic may need to move elsewhere. A SQL database keeps the data in a system you control and other tools can read. We will steer you elsewhere when:

The app needs complex logic, heavy reporting or a strict audit trail; a database with Retool or custom code holds that better.
Many systems write to the data every minute; that belongs in Postgres with Glide as one of several front ends, or without Glide.
Permissions must be enforced on a server for external users; a custom app does that more reliably.
The team only needs a form and a sheet; a form tool costs less.

Plans and limits

Glide plans, credits and data choices

Glide prices by plan, team members and usage credits. Its pricing page also gates published apps and enabled workflows by plan, so an organisation with several apps and automations usually lands on Pro or Enterprise. The pricing page does not publish row limits per plan, so we confirm the data choice against your plan during the audit.

From Glide's pricing page in October 2026:

Basic: $25 a month; 2 team members; 2 published apps; 1 enabled workflow.
Plus: $50 a month; 3 team members; 5 published apps; 5 enabled workflows.
Pro: $125 a month; from 5 team members; unlimited published apps and workflows; 24-hour data backups.
Enterprise: priced on request; adds SSO, audit logs, publishing approval, project-level roles and permissions, premium and enterprise integrations and 30-day backups.

Engagement and cost

How hiring a Glide expert from SBD works

Every engagement starts with an Automation Audit at $500, credited in full to your build. For Glide we review the app, its tables and computed columns, which workflows run, how fast key screens load and how close you are to row and credit limits. You get a ranked list of fixes, each with a fixed price, and a blueprint for the first build.

Workflow automation builds start at $1,500, internal tools at $3,000 and multi-module systems at $5,000, and the fixed price is set after the audit and agreed before work begins. Typical scopes are a new field app, a data restructure that moves heavy tables to Big Tables or SQL, or an integration with accounting, ERP or messaging. Work runs in two-week sprints with sixty days of hypercare, and care plans start at $50 a month. Nothing is billed by the hour; see the pricing page.

Your Glide subscription is paid by you to Glide. We do not resell licences.

Handover and migration

What you own, and moving into or out of Glide

The Glide team, the data source and every integration account are in your name. You receive a data document listing tables, relations, computed columns and row owners, a guide for your admins on what they can safely change, and a runbook for each integration.

Migration runs both ways. Teams move into Glide from paper forms, WhatsApp groups and shared sheets; we map the data, set roles, pilot with one crew, then roll out. Teams also move the data out from under Glide, into Postgres or another SQL database, when volume or reporting demands it, keeping the app people already know. The audit tells you which path fits. Book a discovery call to talk through your app.

For larger teams

Glide at enterprise scale.

In larger organisations Glide is usually run by operations, facilities, field service, logistics and HR teams who need mobile apps for staff away from a desk. Apps often start in one region or depot and spread, so several apps and data sources end up owned by different people, and central IT becomes involved once the apps hold customer or staff data.

SSO and access

Glide lists SSO, audit logs and project-level roles and permissions on Enterprise. We map your identity provider groups to Glide roles and row owners, so staff see only their own jobs and leavers lose access when their account is closed.

Data at scale

We choose Glide Tables, Big Tables or SQL from expected row counts and reporting needs, and design computed columns around the documented Big Tables limits so key screens stay fast.

Publishing control

Glide lists publishing approval on Enterprise. We set who may publish, keep a written change log, and release changes in a scheduled window with a rollback plan.

Systems of record

We connect Glide to your ERP, accounting or HR system through n8n or Make, with one system owning each field, retries on failure and alerts before data drifts.

Field conditions

We design forms for patchy signal, gloves and bright light: short steps, large targets, photos and signatures captured once, and clear status when a submission has not yet synced.

Governance and training

We write a short admin guide covering who may create apps and tables, naming and how to request changes, then train your admins on your own apps.

Engagements we take on

Already on Glide, need more complex builds

The first app works and other teams want their own: approvals, scheduling, stock across sites. We audit what exists, restructure the data where it slows you down, and add the workflows needed, priced as a fixed build.

Already on Glide, app slowing down

Rows have grown and screens take longer to load. We move heavy tables to Big Tables or a SQL database, simplify computed columns and keep the same screens your crews already know.

Already on Glide, need it connected to the ERP

Office staff still rekey jobs, stock or timesheets from the app into the ERP or accounting system. We build a sync with clear field ownership, retries and alerts, so both agree without a weekly reconciliation.

Already on Glide, need governance across teams

Several depots built their own apps and nobody is sure who can see what. We map apps, data and roles, set up SSO where your plan includes it, and write rules your IT team can review.

The same standards, whichever tool.

Under the hood

Upserts keyed on the record
Every write is matched on the source ID. A retry or a re-fire updates the existing record instead of creating a second one.
Retries with backoff
Rate limits and timeouts are retried with increasing delays, then parked for review, never dropped.
Idempotent, loop-safe writes
Two-way flows carry a marker so a change written by the sync does not re-trigger the sync.
Reconciliation
A nightly job compares counts and totals on both sides and lists any record that differs.
Audit log
Every run records input, mapping result, action taken and who or what triggered it. Searchable by record.

For the team

Slack or email notifications
The alerts go to a named person, not a channel nobody reads. You choose Slack, email, WhatsApp or all three.
A runbook
One document per integration: what it does, what each alert means, and what to do in the first ten minutes.
Training
A live session with the people who will use the review queue, recorded for whoever joins later.
Handover
Admin access, billing and code sit in accounts in your name from day one. If we leave, it keeps running.
Sixty days of hypercare
The engineers who built it stay on call after go-live, fix what breaks and tune what the team asks for.

Keys and data

Keys live in a vault, never in code
API keys and tokens are stored in the orchestration layer's encrypted credential store or the platform's secret manager. None are written into workflows, repos, spreadsheets or chat.
One credential per connection
Each integration gets its own key, scoped to the objects and actions it needs. A lead sync cannot read invoices. Revoking one key stops one thing.
Service accounts, not personal logins
Connections use a dedicated service user in your account, so nothing breaks when a person leaves and nothing runs under someone's name.
Two-factor on every account
Every platform account we set up has two-factor authentication on, with recovery codes handed to you, not kept by us.
Rotation on handover and on request
Keys are rotated when the build is handed over, when anyone with access leaves, and at any time you ask.

The offer

Put Glide to work with the rest of your stack.

A fixed scope agreed in a discovery call, live in three to five business days for most builds, accounts in your name, and the engineers who built it on call for sixty days after.

Hire SBD for this build Browse all tools

ScopeOne call to agree the workflows, the fields and the owner. Written up the same day.
BuildValidation, upserts, retries, reconciliation and an audit log, on n8n, Make or code.
Go-liveSandbox first, then a switch. Longer only where a vendor approval sits on the path.
HandoverRunbook, training session, alerts to a named owner, admin access and code in your accounts.
AfterSixty days of hypercare, then a care plan or run it yourself.

Questions

What people ask about Glide.

When is Glide the wrong choice?

When the app needs complex logic, heavy data or strict audit trails. We would then build on a database and Retool or custom code.

Keep exploring

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Glide

Start with the one Glide workflow your team still runs by hand.

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A team of six gathered around one screen in an open-plan office — A discovery call with the people who own the process.