I think Glide could be so much more than a business driven platform. Look on their landing page. What is their main statement? " Glide’s mission is to put the power, beauty, and magic of software development into the hands of a billion new creators."
How in the world can they do that without putting makers at the same level as business users? A billion new creators. What does that mean? Lets break it down:
Creator- Adjective/noun; Somebody who creates something new.
Are you really creating something new with a business app? Kinda. Glide wants to change the world/your business. The maker plan was a huge step forward, but the community is a bit rough against Makers and people who advocate for #glidebeyondbusiness . Anyone who agrees that Glide could at least be a little more (even though they are already SO much!) use the #glidebeyondbusiness tag on your posts.
I’m not trying to be rude at all, I just think Glide could be more.
#glidebeyondbusiness
Thanks for starting the conversation!
Creators include:
- DIYers creating Glide apps for their businesses, teams, and organizations
- Experts creating Glide apps as a service for their clients
- Makers creating Glide apps as products, like templates or SaaS MVPs
While those are the core segments we focus on, we love seeing the hobby projects and creative builds popping up in the community.
I’m game for us to do interesting stuff. 
Is there anything specific you have in mind?
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Making all the integrations available to Maker is a good start. How about opening up all the databases as well? After all, if I use another database with maker, with only 500 updates, as my App gets used, you’ll make your money off of me that way.
Why not give Maker access to the more sophisticated Call API? That is what the way things should have worked to begin with, but you introduced it as a ‘new’ feature.
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I’ve got the same question … what’s missing? What should be included for the maker plans to be more attractive?
Here’s a few ideas / questions to see if this is the thinking … or the right direction:
Some of the more ‘business focused’ features make sense, to me, to not be included (for free)… but maybe that doesn’t have to mean, not available at all.
For example - API … if you wanted to use the API, would you be willing to ‘pay per call’? Kinda like updates, but perhaps with a different value attached as something like the API is incredibly powerful, and API calls have a backend cost to Glide.
Or Databases … would you be willing to pay an extra monthly charge for access to a db that isn’t a native Glide Table? Extra, in addition to the updates consumed by using an external data source, which are free if you use native tables … 1) for clarity and 2) connections to external sources also have a back end cost to Glide.
I don’t mean this to become death by a thousand cuts pricing … just wondering if there’s a way to bridge the gap so a maker can be ‘just a hobbyist’ (no disrespect intended) or a bit more in between hobbyist and business.
Maybe it leads to a progession for Makers allowing them to start without these features and if the application calls for it, allows an upgrade path without forcing a new plan. At least initially. Eventually the math may work that it’s cheaper to be on a business plan - but I think that might be a good problem to have (means the app is successful - or at the very least, being well used).
Anyway … thoughts on the above? Are these the kind of ideas that folks believe help makers or hobbyists use Glide, and support Glides mission?
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No disrespect taken
One thing I think would help the Maker plans is the integrations. It would be great for the integrations to be re-looked at. And I agree with the API problem, because not only businesses use it.
I think there should be a “plan onboarding” thing when choosing Maker showing you all the features and calculating pricing based on what features you want and don’t want. I feel like this would be helpful to help keep people from getting features they don’t want at a price but not getting features they want at that price.
I know this sounds like the Enterprise plan, but we are still talking about Maker here. Flexible Maker plans would be great and cost effective. Say a person just wants one of the Maker features? That’s a valuable customer you just lost!
Hope I answered your question @bschonbrun
Thanks - appreciate the comments and context.
The idea would certainly be extremely flexible, but I suspect it would also be a nightmare for Glide to maintain and support. I also can’t think of another software company that does it (maybe there are??).
I agree about integrations - I’d add that to my list of ‘add ons’ like API or data source.
I’m not sure the comparison to enterprise is apples to apples. In enterprise, as far as I know, you get every feature. What you’re negotiating is how much use (users, apps, updates, etc) is included and at what price.
I honestly can’t think of a plan, in any industry, to use as a comparison. I was thinking of B2C like cable … and I think in most cases you have to pick a base package, and then add ons. Or mobile - same thing, unless you truly go minute by minute (or mg / mg) and those options tend to be brutally expensive.
I think ‘the standard’ if there is such a thing is all about bundling, and the more you commit - the less you pay (on a per unit basis).
I spent a bunch of years in pricing and pricing strategy … I know there’s a ton of data and analytics behind the decision to go that way. I also know it doesn’t always work for everyone - but it’s the Pareto principle in action (80/20) in both ways. Focus on satisfying 80% of the needs, and 20% of your customers deliver 80% of your revenue. Airlines exemplify that last part (writing this as I sit on a plane).
Anyway - good discussion and back and forth. I know the folks at Glide are watching and do take community feedback seriously and to heart.
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Maker has all integrations.
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Isn’t there some business integrations? Or does maker get those too?
What about appstores? Would this be a good solution @NoCodeAndy ? This post covers the Amazon Appstore and what benefits it holds.
The coolest thing about this is the fact that it generates an add-free APK for you to use on other appstores. Also get a listing on Amazon!
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