Parse Server
Parse Server 9.10.2 alphas patch a LiveQuery permissions bug cluster and a server-crash CVE.
Comparison · Infra & APIs
Glide vs Retool
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Glide and Retool — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Glide vs Retool: at a glance
| Feature | Glide | Retool |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Infra & APIs | Infra & APIs |
| Velocity score | 0.8 | 7.5 |
| Sparks · 30d | 0 | 1 |
| Top themes | no-code, ai-agent, data-editor, enterprise | cli-tooling, developer-experience, ai-models, self-hosted |
| Last editorial update | 4mo ago | 1d ago |
| Website | — | Visit → |
What is Glide?
Glide's cadence has thinned post-Agent-launch, with recent work focused on Data Editor polish.
After putting Glide Agent into beta in September 2025, the product entered a quiet stretch broken up by multi-month 'general updates' digests. The most recent April release returns to the Data Editor — adding filter, sort, and search that work uniformly across Glide Tables, Big Tables, and external data sources — rather than expanding the agent surface.
What is Retool?
Retool ships a CLI, opening code-first app development and CI/CD pipelines
Retool has been expanding on two fronts: AI integration and developer tooling. The CLI launch lands alongside a regular cadence of self-hosted updates and model additions, signaling that Retool is building infrastructure for enterprise teams that want both AI-assisted app development and code-controlled deployment workflows. The self-hosted track (4.34 stable, 4.58 Edge) maintains a separate release cadence for on-premise customers.
Glide vs Retool: editorial side-by-side
Glide
0.8INFRA · APIS
Glide's cadence has thinned post-Agent-launch, with recent work focused on Data Editor polish.
◆ Current state
After putting Glide Agent into beta in September 2025, the product entered a quiet stretch broken up by multi-month 'general updates' digests. The most recent April release returns to the Data Editor — adding filter, sort, and search that work uniformly across Glide Tables, Big Tables, and external data sources — rather than expanding the agent surface.
◆ Where it's heading
The Glide Agent positioning from late 2025 was a clear pivot toward natural-language app generation, but follow-through is slow. Recent work focuses on core-editor ergonomics, enterprise plumbing (folder permissions, SSO, admin-only invites), and broadening the integration surface (Snowflake, QuickBooks, Salesforce, OpenRouter's 300+ models). The product reads as in a consolidation phase rather than an active push.
◆ Prediction
If Agent remains the strategic bet, expect a return to AI-driven app-generation features later in 2026 — likely tighter Agent + Workflow chaining and richer multi-model selection. Otherwise the cadence suggests settling into incremental enterprise integration work, with no-code rivals (Bubble, Softr, Adalo) continuing to apply pressure.
Retool
7.5INFRA · APIS
Retool ships a CLI, opening code-first app development and CI/CD pipelines
◆ Current state
Retool has been expanding on two fronts: AI integration and developer tooling. The CLI launch lands alongside a regular cadence of self-hosted updates and model additions, signaling that Retool is building infrastructure for enterprise teams that want both AI-assisted app development and code-controlled deployment workflows. The self-hosted track (4.34 stable, 4.58 Edge) maintains a separate release cadence for on-premise customers.
◆ Where it's heading
The CLI is the clearest directional signal: Retool is moving away from a browser-bound, GUI-first builder toward a tool developers can embed in existing code workflows. Iframe embedding expands where Retool apps can live; frontier model additions keep AI features current. Together these moves position Retool to compete in engineering-led organizations that previously ruled it out on tooling grounds.
◆ Prediction
Deeper git and CI/CD integration examples are likely to follow the CLI — a CLI release is usually the first piece of a code-as-infrastructure story. AI model additions will continue on the visible 2–3 week cadence, tracking the frontier model release cycle.
Alternatives to Glide and Retool
Other Infra & APIs products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Glide or Retool.
Railway
Railway's weekly cadence is building a PaaS for AI agents: MCP, Cloud Agents, no-barrier entry.
Redocly
Redocly ships consent controls and closes an RBAC gap in its AI-powered docs platform
Skipper
Skipper fixes two silent data-loss bugs — body truncation on large requests and multi-value header drops.
ToolJet
ToolJet ships Custom Component Library and tightens enterprise controls on path to AI-native low-code.
GitHub
GitHub turns Copilot into an org-wide default, adds memory to agentic security fixes.
See all Glide alternatives → · See all Retool alternatives →
Recent activity from Glide and Retool
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2d agoRetoolRetool CLI: build apps from the command line ⚡
- 2d agoRetoolRetool 4.62 Edge for self-hosted instances
- 2d agoRetoolSelf-hosted Retool 4.34 and 4.0 stable updates
- 8d agoRetoolEmbed apps in iframes
- 9d agoRetoolSelf-hosted Retool 4.34, 4.0 stable updates
- 9d agoRetoolRetool 4.58 Edge for self-hosted instances
- 5mo agoGlideData Editor gets search, sort, and filter
- 7mo agoGlideFolder permissions, plus a multi-month catch-up bundle
- 10mo agoGlideGeneral updates
- 11mo agoGlideQuickBooks and Salesforce integrations as Enterprise add-on
- 0y agoGlideGeneral updates
- 1y agoGlideGlide Agent Available in Beta ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Glide and Retool?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Retool is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 7.5 vs 0.8), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Glide better than Retool?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Retool is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 7.5 vs 0.8), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Glide?
Top Glide alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Glide alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/glide for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Retool?
Top Retool alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Retool alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/retool for the full list with editorial commentary on each.