AlternativesUpdated

Best AppSheet Alternatives in 2026

AppSheet, Google's no-code platform, builds apps and automations over Google Sheets and other data, and every person who signs in needs a license. If the app is for your customers, if licenses add up, or if it should not sit on a spreadsheet, here are six alternatives and what each one does.

By the Fabricate teamWe make Fabricate6 min readPrices checked
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Fabricate Cloud for one app: its database, form responses, keys and secrets, and accounts for its visitors
An app's database, form responses, keys and visitor accounts in Fabricate Cloud. Real Fabricate screens, shown with sample data.

Key takeaways

  • AppSheet is priced per user: $5 a month on Starter, $10 on Core and $20 on Enterprise Plus, and Core is included in most paid Google Workspace plans.
  • An app anyone can open without signing in needs Publisher Pro, at $50 a month per app.
  • On Starter and Core, each AppSheet database holds up to 2,500 rows.
  • Glide and Softr suit team apps and portals on spreadsheet data; Retool suits tools over your own database.
  • Fabricate builds an app with its own database and sign-in from a description, and the people who sign in are not counted as licenses. Building and previewing are free; publishing is on Pro and Max.

Why Are Teams Looking for AppSheet Alternatives?

  • Priced per User

    Starter is $5 per user a month, Core $10 and Enterprise Plus $20, and you license every person who signs in. A signed-in user is counted once across all your apps, and guest users are counted per device.

  • Public Apps Are a Separate Plan

    An app anyone can open without signing in needs Publisher Pro, at $50 a month per app, which has no sign-in options or security filters.

    Fits: Fabricate

  • Small Databases Below Enterprise

    On Starter and Core, each AppSheet database holds up to 2,500 rows, with 5 and 10 databases; Enterprise Plus allows 200 databases of 200,000 rows.

  • AI Building Needs Workspace

    Creating an app with AppSheet's AI assistance needs a paid Google Workspace license.

Compare at a glance

Fabricate beside AppSheet, feature by feature.

  • Builds From a Description
    Fabricate
    Yes
    AppSheet
    With a paid Google Workspace license
  • Price per Person
    Fabricate
    None for the people who sign in to a published app
    AppSheet
    $5 to $20 per user a month
  • Apps Anyone Can Open
    Fabricate
    On Pro and Max
    AppSheet
    Publisher Pro, $50 a month per app, without sign-in
  • Data
    Fabricate
    The app's own SQLite database
    AppSheet
    Google Sheets, cloud files or the AppSheet database
  • Free Plan
    Fabricate
    Build and preview
    AppSheet
    Prototypes with up to 10 test users
  • Paid Plans From
    Fabricate
    $25 a month
    AppSheet
    $5 per user a month
Number 1

Fabricate

We make this

Best for: Apps your customers sign in to

Builds a web app from a description, for your team or your customers: the screens, the app's own SQLite database and sign-in. The people who sign in to a published app are not counted as licenses, and the app keeps its own data rather than a spreadsheet. Building and previewing are free; publishing is on Pro and Max.

Checks before you publish

Fabricate's security check on an app: one problem to fix and two quality warnings, each with a Fix in chat button
Each finding comes with a Fix in chat button. A real Fabricate screen, shown with sample data.

What it does well

  • Apps for customers or staff
  • The app's own database
  • No price per person who signs in
Paid plans from
$25 a month
350 credits a month on Pro
Free plan
60 credits
A month, to build and preview
A live app
Pro and Max
Publishing is on paid plans

See the plans

How to Move from AppSheet to Fabricate

  1. 1

    Download your data

    Save each sheet or table behind the app as a CSV file.

  2. 2

    List what the app does

    Write down its views, forms, actions, who signs in and what each person may see or change.

  3. 3

    Describe it to Fabricate

    Describe the app in plain words from that list, and ask for an import page for your CSV files.

  4. 4

    Test it in the preview

    Sign in as each kind of user, add and change records, and check who can see what.

  5. 5

    Put it online

    On Pro, one press of Publish gives it its own address to share, after the same browser check.

Chat

Fabricate's chat on a phone: the owner asks for opening hours and a note about cardamom buns, and Fabricate says what it changed and that it used 5 credits

Your app

The same bakery app in Fabricate's Your app view on a phone, now showing Open today 7am - 3pm above its menu
Asking for a change in chat, then trying the app. Real Fabricate screens on a phone, shown with sample data.

The other AppSheet alternatives

What each one does well, and the kind of project it suits best.

  1. Number 2

    Glide

    Best for: Team apps from a spreadsheet

    Builds business apps for your team with an AI agent, from a prompt, a spreadsheet, a document or an image, on one database per project. The free plan builds but publishes no apps; Basic, at $25 a month, publishes 2.

    • Starts from a spreadsheet
    • An AI agent builds the app
    • Apps for your team

    Where Glide beats Fabricate

    If the app is for your own team and starts from a spreadsheet, Glide is built around that, and it shows a mockup on sample data to approve first.

    From $25 a monthGlide alternatives

    Sources: glideapps.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked ; Glide docs: what is GlideOS? (opens in a new tab), checked ; Glide docs: data (opens in a new tab), checked

  2. Number 3

    Softr

    Best for: Client portals and internal tools

    Builds client portals and internal tools from a description with its AI Co-Builder, on Softr's own databases or on data you keep in Airtable or Google Sheets. Its Free plan covers up to 3 builders and 5 app users, and Basic is $25 a month.

    • Client portals
    • Google Sheets or Airtable
    • User roles

    Where Softr beats Fabricate

    If the data should stay in Google Sheets or Airtable, a Softr app can sit on it directly, with workflows built in.

    From $25 a monthFabricate vs Softr

    Sources: softr.io/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked ; Softr docs: AI Co-Builder (opens in a new tab), checked

  3. Number 4

    Airtable

    Best for: Teams that work in the records

    A database that looks like a spreadsheet, with interfaces, forms and automations on top. Free covers up to 5 editors and 1,000 records per base; Team is $24 per seat a month, billed monthly, and read-only collaborators are free.

    • Grids, boards and calendars
    • Interfaces and forms
    • Free read-only collaborators

    Where Airtable beats Fabricate

    If your team mostly works in the records themselves, sorting, filtering and editing in grids, Airtable is built for that, and read-only collaborators cost nothing.

    From $24 per seat a monthAirtable alternatives

    Sources: airtable.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked ; Airtable support: Airtable plans (opens in a new tab), checked

  4. Number 5

    Retool

    Best for: Tools over your own database

    Builds internal tools over databases and APIs you already run, and its builder now makes an app from a description too. Team is $12 a month per builder and $7 per internal user, billed monthly, and Free covers up to 5 users.

    • Your databases and APIs
    • Builds from a description
    • Internal tools

    Where Retool beats Fabricate

    If the data lives in your own database or behind APIs, Retool connects to it where it is.

    From $12 per builder a monthRetool alternatives

    Source: retool.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked

  5. Number 6

    Lovable

    Best for: Design-led web apps

    Builds web apps from a conversation, with Lovable Cloud for the database, sign-in and storage. Pro is $25 a month.

    • AI-built web apps
    • A managed backend
    • GitHub sync

    Where Lovable beats Fabricate

    Polished screens from a first description, and a lovable.app address on every plan.

    From $25 a monthLovable alternatives

    Sources: lovable.dev/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked ; Lovable docs: Lovable Cloud (opens in a new tab), checked ; Lovable docs: publishing (opens in a new tab), checked

AppSheet and its alternatives: licenses, public apps and where the data lives

AppSheet turns data you already keep, such as Google Sheets or files in cloud storage, into apps and automations, with its own AppSheet database as another option. For a team that already pays for Google Workspace, Core is usually in the plan, which makes it the obvious first try.

The cost is per person. Every signed-in user needs a license, counted once across all your apps, and guest users are counted per device. That suits a team of known size, and it adds up when the people using the app are customers.

Public apps are a separate subscription. Publisher Pro, at $50 a month per app, lets anyone open the app, with unlimited users, but it has no sign-in options or security filters, so it fits a form or a catalogue rather than a customer area.

An app built with Fabricate keeps its own data instead of a spreadsheet. The backend is written into the app's own code: server routes in a Durable Object on Cloudflare Workers, with its own SQLite database, and sign-in is built in when the app needs accounts, so customers and staff can each see their own part, and nobody who signs in takes a license.

Frequently asked questions

Is AppSheet free?
You can build prototypes with basic features for free and invite up to 10 test users, for as long as you like. Putting an app in front of more people needs a plan: Starter at $5 per user a month, Core at $10 or Enterprise Plus at $20.
Is AppSheet included in Google Workspace?
AppSheet Core is included in most paid Google Workspace plans. Starter, Core and Publisher Pro can also be bought on their own, and Enterprise Plus needs a Google Workspace administrator to sign up.
What is the best AppSheet alternative?
For a team app that starts from a spreadsheet, Glide. For a portal on data in Google Sheets or Airtable, Softr. For tools over your own database, Retool. For an app your customers sign in to, with its own data and no price per person, Fabricate, which we make.
Can AppSheet apps be public?
Only on Publisher Pro, at $50 a month per app, with unlimited users but no sign-in options or security filters. On Starter, Core and Enterprise Plus, everyone who uses an app signs in and needs a license.
Can I move an AppSheet app to Fabricate?
Not as a file, but you can rebuild it: download the sheets behind it as CSV files, describe the screens, actions and roles to Fabricate, and ask for an import page that adds your rows to the app's own database. Syncing with Google Sheets is not built in.

Sources

The pages this guide quotes, each with the day it was read.

  1. about.appsheet.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked
  2. glideapps.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked
  3. Glide docs: what is GlideOS? (opens in a new tab), checked
  4. Glide docs: data (opens in a new tab), checked
  5. softr.io/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked
  6. Softr docs: AI Co-Builder (opens in a new tab), checked
  7. airtable.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked
  8. Airtable support: Airtable plans (opens in a new tab), checked
  9. retool.com/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked
  10. lovable.dev/pricing (opens in a new tab), checked
  11. Lovable docs: Lovable Cloud (opens in a new tab), checked
  12. Lovable docs: publishing (opens in a new tab), checked
  13. fabricate.build/pricing, from our live plans

About this guide

Written by the Fabricate team. Fabricate is our product, so it is first on this page and marked "We make this". Each tool, ours or not, says who it suits best.

Each tool's card lists the pages we read about it and the day we read them. We compared the tools from their own pricing pages and documentation, not by signing up for them. Spotted something out of date? Write to info@fabricate.build.

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