Bubble.io vs Softr vs Glide (2026): Which No-Code Tool Should You Use for Your MVP?

You want to ship a product in weeks, not months. You don’t have a developer budget — or you do, but spending $15,000 on an unvalidated MVP feels absurd. In May 2026, three platforms — Bubble.io, Softr, and Glide — together hold 60%+ of the no-code tools market for startups, according to the State of No-Code 2025 Report. And choosing between them isn’t obvious.

No-code means building apps through a visual editor: no SQL, no JavaScript, no backend hire. Bubble.io creates full web applications with their own database. Softr turns Airtable or Google Sheets into portals, dashboards, and marketplaces. Glide makes mobile and PWA apps — literally from a spreadsheet. All three work without code. But that doesn’t make them interchangeable.

# What Bubble.io, Softr, and Glide actually cost in 2026

Pricing is the first thing founders look up. What matters is not the entry price — it’s what you’re actually paying six months in.

Bubble.io starts at $29/month on the Starter plan (June 2026). But that comes with a cap: 5,000 workflow actions per month and 1 GB of storage. A real MVP with 50+ active users hits that ceiling in 3–4 weeks. The next step is Growth at $119/month, then Team at $349. Custom domain email, SSL, and Bubble branding removal all require Starter or above. There is a free plan, but it doesn’t allow a custom domain, and apps go dormant after one hour of inactivity.

Softr is the only one of the three with a genuinely useful free plan. Free tier: up to 5 internal users, 100 external users, 3 apps. For a small internal tool or a CRM for a three-person team, that covers the first 2–3 months without a single payment. Basic ($49/month) lifts user limits and adds a custom domain. Keep in mind — Airtable Free has its own constraints: 1,200 rows per table, which matters once you connect your data source.

Glide costs more upfront but prices more transparently. Maker is $49/month, Team is $99. The key difference: Glide charges for “updates” (data changes), not for users. The free plan gives you 500 updates per month. One active user generates roughly 200 updates per day. Do the math. And Glide Business ($199/month) is the only tier that removes the row limit entirely.

The real cost of no-code is never just the line item on the pricing page. Add Airtable ($20/month on Pro for Softr), a domain ($10–15/year), and possibly Zapier for automations ($20–50/month). That “free” MVP realistically costs $50–120/month three months after launch.

# Bubble.io: who it’s built for and where it breaks

Bubble.io is the most flexible platform of the three. That’s true. But flexible doesn’t mean simple.

Bubble builds real web applications: its own database, conditional workflows, API connections, user authentication, roles, and access control. If you need a marketplace, a SaaS platform, or a tool with multiple user types — Bubble handles that without code. The other two can’t.

But the learning curve is real. Based on our work with four startup teams across Kyiv and Lviv in 2025–2026: not one of them shipped a working MVP on Bubble in under three weeks. Two hired a Bubble consultant ($25–40/hour on Upwork for a specialist from Ukraine or Georgia). At that point you’re no longer building “without development costs.”

Where Bubble breaks — scaling. At 5,000+ monthly active users, the platform slows down on base plans. You have no direct SQL access; you’re entirely dependent on their infrastructure. If Bubble raises prices or shuts down, migrating your product is painful. Vendor lock-in is higher here than with either alternative.

That said: for a Ukrainian sole proprietor (ФОП) or a small startup that needs multiple user roles, Bubble remains the best no-code option in its class. Just plan for 4–6 weeks to launch, not four days.

# Softr: MVP in a weekend on top of Airtable

Softr is an honest, underrated platform. It doesn’t try to be everything.

The idea is straightforward: you have data in Airtable or Google Sheets — Softr turns it into a polished portal, dashboard, CRM, marketplace, or knowledge base with user authentication. Over a weekend. Without a consultant.

According to Softr’s own data (April 2026), 70% of users ship the first version of their app within 48 hours. We tested this — one of our editors built a client database for a small agency in six hours. The Airtable base already existed. Softr added login, filters, and a submission form. Total cost: $0 in month one.

The limitations are equally honest. Softr can’t handle complex logic: no conditional workflows, no internal automation triggers (you’ll need Zapier or Make). Calculations live in Airtable. Custom code requires the Pro plan ($139/month). And — worth noting for teams growing fast — Airtable Free caps at 1,200 rows per table. For a CRM with 500+ contacts, that becomes a real constraint within 3–4 months.

Softr is the clear choice when: your team already has an Airtable base; you’re building internal tools (HR portals, contractor directories, project trackers); you need a working demo for an investor or client in two weeks.

# Glide: a mobile app in three hours

Glide is the fastest way to get onto a user’s phone. That’s not an exaggeration.

If you have a Google Sheets spreadsheet with data, you’ll have a working PWA with authentication, push notifications, and a reasonable UX in 2–3 hours. Glide generates an interface automatically from your sheet structure. You adjust it from there. That’s the whole process.

But Glide is a tool for a specific class of problems — not a substitute for Bubble or Softr. It works best for: field teams (logistics, repair crews, sales reps); internal mobile directories; booking and scheduling systems; simple marketplaces with a limited number of SKUs. The offline cache introduced in Glide’s 2024 release is a real advantage for teams working without reliable connectivity.

Where Glide falls short: complex table relationships, fine-grained permission roles, custom branding on cheaper plans. And — most critically — the update limit. When several employees are actively editing data simultaneously, the free tier runs out in days. This is a standard complaint in the Glide Community for teams of 5–10 users. In practice: as soon as you have an operational use case with active data entry, budget for Maker ($49/month). It’s predictable by design, not a surprise.

# How to pick the right platform for your use case

One rule: choose by the problem, not by which landing page looks best.

If you need a marketplace, SaaS product, or anything with multiple user types — go with Bubble.io. Budget $29–119/month and 4–6 weeks of work. Or find a Bubble consultant on Upwork for $25–40/hour.

If you already have an Airtable base and need to show something to an investor or client fast — Softr. Free plan, live in 2–3 days. You’ll upgrade to $49/month when you need to.

If you need a mobile app for a field team or a prototype for UX testing — Glide. Fastest to launch, $49/month on Maker.

One thing most people overlook: choose your platform based on where the product is heading. If you’re planning 10,000 monthly active users in a year, start with Bubble even if the ramp-up is slower. Migrating from Softr or Glide to Bubble after you’ve grown is effectively a rebuild from scratch.

And honestly: most early-stage startups overestimate how complex their MVP actually needs to be. About 80% of the use cases teams bring to us are solvable with Softr + Airtable for $0 in month one. Bubble is needed less often than founders think.

# Real cases: what Ukrainian teams have shipped

These aren’t platform marketing examples.

Case 1 — Bubble.io. A two-person team in Lviv launched a B2B platform connecting contractors with residential renovation clients — no technical co-founder. First prototype on Bubble: five weeks. Plan: Starter ($29/month). Three months later they upgraded to Growth ($119/month) after reaching 400 active users. The founder estimates they saved roughly $12,000 compared to custom development at that stage. The trade-off: ~60 hours of learning time and $800 spent on a consultant.

Case 2 — Softr. A Kyiv HR agency built an internal portal for tracking candidates. They already had an Airtable base — 3,500 contacts. Softr added authentication for four recruiters and a client intake form. Launch time: two days. Cost: $0 (Softr Free + Airtable Free at launch, then Airtable Plus at $10/month later). The one gap: no automatic notifications without Zapier.

Case 3 — Glide. A small logistics company with 12 drivers in Kharkiv needed an app to track delivery requests and confirm drop-offs. Built in one day. Glide Maker ($49/month). The offline cache was critical — drivers regularly work in areas with no signal. Before Glide, they coordinated via an Excel file shared in a WhatsApp group. That’s not a joke. That’s how they actually ran operations.

Three different problems — three different platforms. All three worked because the teams chose the tool for the actual task, not for the most powerful-sounding feature set.

# No-code pitfalls the tutorials never mention

YouTube tutorials show you building an app in 20 minutes. Here’s what they leave out.

Vendor lock-in. There’s no export. If Bubble triples its prices tomorrow, you either pay or rebuild everything from scratch. Softr and Glide are the same. This is a conscious risk — accept it before you start building, not after.

Performance at scale. Bubble on Growth ($119/month) starts struggling under heavy load — users themselves acknowledge this on the Bubble forum (thread “Performance Issues,” April 2026, 340+ replies). Softr slows down on Basic with 500+ concurrent users. Glide with 10,000+ rows in a table does too.

SEO. Bubble generates a React app that indexes poorly without additional configuration. Softr has reasonable server-side rendering for public pages. Glide is PWA-only — no SEO to speak of. If your MVP depends on organic search traffic, this is a hard constraint.

Support. All three platforms use ticket-based support. Response time: 24–48 hours. A critical bug on a Friday evening is your problem until Monday. That’s the reality of SaaS tooling.

But — and this matters — no-code is still faster and cheaper at the starting line than custom development. Just go in with clear expectations.

If you’re thinking about other low-budget tools for running your business, see business grants in Ukraine for 2026 or 10 business ideas for mums on maternity leave for practical starting points. And if you’re comparing AI coding tools to no-code platforms, our breakdown of Cursor vs Windsurf vs Copilot covers the hybrid approach.

# See also

• Crypto exchanges and investment tools for business
• Loans for small business and sole proprietors
• Financial calculators for startups
• Currency tools and rates

The Kompanion editorial team tested Bubble.io (Starter plan), Softr (Free and Basic), and Glide (Maker) in May–June 2026 on real client projects. Prices are current as of publication date and subject to change.

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