Checked September 26, 2026, with each pricing page's billing toggle set to monthly. Based on published pricing, not a hands-on build. Jet Admin publishes this comparison and operates in the no-code space — read the "Where Jet Admin fits" section with that in mind.
Start with the thing both vendors bury: neither free plan puts a working app in front of users. Glide's free tier allows zero published apps and zero enabled workflows. Bubble's free tier is explicitly for development. You can build on both for nothing and ship on neither.
Once you're past that, the products diverge sharply — and so does the way they charge.
At a glance
| Glide | Bubble | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | $0 — 2 team members, 10 projects, 0 published apps | $0 — development only, 50,000 workload units/month |
| Paid entry | Basic $25/month — 100 credits, 2 published apps, 1 workflow | Starter $69/month ($59 annual) — 175,000 units |
| Middle tier | Plus $50 — 250 credits, 3 members, 5 published apps | Growth $249 ($209) — 250,000 units |
| Higher tier | Pro $125 — 500 credits, unlimited published apps and workflows | Team $649 ($549) — 500,000 units |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
| Meters | Credits, team members, published apps, workflows | Workload units — server activity |
| Data | Google Sheets, Glide Tables, connected databases | Bubble's own database |
| Code export | No | No, on any plan |
Sources: Glide pricing and Bubble pricing, both checked September 26, 2026.
A note on Glide's tier names. Glide now presents itself as GlideOS with credit-based Basic/Plus/Pro tiers. Older comparisons describe Individual, Maker and Business plans — that structure is gone. If a roundup still lists those names, it predates the change and its numbers won't match what you'll be quoted.
Two different things to be surprised by
Glide meters capacity. Credits, team members, published apps, enabled workflows — each is a countable limit you can check against your plan before you commit. Basic allows 2 published apps and 1 workflow; Plus allows 5 and 5; Pro removes both caps. If you know how many apps you intend to ship, you can pick a tier with confidence.
Bubble meters activity. Workload units track what your app does on the server: a page load costs roughly 0.5 to 2 units, a complex search 10 to 50. Your bill therefore tracks traffic, not app count. Free gives 50,000 units a month; Starter 175,000; Growth 250,000; Team 500,000.
The practical difference is which question you can answer in advance. "How many apps will I publish?" is usually knowable. "How many workload units will my app consume?" is not, until it's running — and a search-heavy interface consumes them far faster than a simple list. Bubble's model rewards efficient design and punishes careless queries with a bill rather than a warning.
Where the money actually lands
For a single modest app, Glide Basic at $25 is less than half Bubble Starter at $69. That gap holds across the range: Plus $50 against Growth $249, Pro $125 against Team $649.
Bubble is more expensive because it is doing more. It carries its own database, workflow engine and runtime, and it targets public-facing products where traffic is the point. Glide is building internal and field apps on data that usually already exists in a sheet.
So the price gap isn't really a verdict — it's a category difference. The question is which category you're in.
Watch Glide's team-member caps. Basic allows 2 members, Plus 3, Pro starts at 5 with 50 extra credits per additional member. If you have four people who need to build, Basic and Plus are out regardless of how simple the app is.
Which should you choose?
Choose Glide if you're turning a spreadsheet into something usable on a phone, if the audience is your own team or field staff, and if you want a countable set of limits you can plan against. It's substantially cheaper and much faster to a first working app.
Choose Bubble if you're building a product rather than a tool — custom interactions, public sign-ups, a real front end you control. Glide cannot do that at any tier, so if this is your case the price comparison is irrelevant.
Neither lets you leave with the app. Bubble states plainly that code export doesn't exist on any plan; Glide is a hosted builder with the same practical outcome. Data comes out of both. The application does not. Weigh that before either becomes load-bearing.
Where Jet Admin fits
Jet Admin overlaps with both, so treat this as an interested party's account.
The overlap with Glide is real: internal tools and operational apps over existing data. The difference is what they read from. Glide works best when the data lives in a sheet or in Glide Tables; Jet Admin connects to a production database or API directly, without copying it. If your app is on a spreadsheet and you're happy there, Glide is faster.
Against Bubble the overlap is smaller. Bubble builds public products with custom UX; Jet Admin does not attempt that and would be the wrong tool for it.
Frequently asked questions
Can I publish an app on either free plan?
No. Glide's free tier allows zero published apps; Bubble's free tier is development only. Both free plans are for building and evaluating.
Which is cheaper?
Glide, clearly — $25 against $69 at the entry tier, and the gap widens above that. They're solving different problems, so treat it as a category signal rather than a verdict.
What is a workload unit?
Bubble's measure of server activity. A page load is roughly 0.5 to 2 units; a complex search 10 to 50. Your bill scales with what your app does, so inefficient queries cost real money.
How many people can build on Glide?
2 on Basic, 3 on Plus, 5 or more on Pro with 50 extra credits per additional member. This caps smaller plans faster than the app limits do for most teams.
Can I export my app from either?
No. Bubble is explicit that code export isn't available on any plan, and Glide is a hosted builder. Data exports from both; the app does not.
Which handles a public-facing product better?
Bubble, and it isn't close. Glide targets internal and field apps. If customers will sign up and use it, Bubble is the one of these two built for it.
Answer the category question first
Is this an internal tool on data you already keep, or a product strangers will use? Glide for the first, Bubble for the second. The $44 monthly difference at entry is real but secondary — picking the wrong category costs far more than the wrong tier.
If it's an internal tool and the data lives in a real database rather than a sheet, connect to it directly instead of copying it somewhere a builder can reach.
