What are updates?
Glide's pricing is based on how many updates your apps use. Updates happen whenever your published app's data is changed.
When working in the data editor and adjusting computed columns, only the visible rows will change and count as updates as you make adjustments. Scrolling will cause the newly visible rows to update as you reveal them, generating more updates.
Things that count as updates
When a user adds an item within your app, that's one update. For example, adding a new task to a to-do list.
When a user edits an item via an Edit Screen, that's one update. For example, editing an employee profile in an employee directory.
When a user deletes an item in your app, that's one update. For example, deleting an appointment from a scheduling app.
Syncing data once from an external source like Google Sheets or Airtable is one update. For example, when someone edits a Google Sheet connected to your app and Glide syncs the latest version.
When a user changes data via a component on a details screen. For example, changing a toggle—that's one update.
Set Column Values, Increment Value, Add Row, and Delete Row actions each use one update when they run.
Glide API operations—for example, adding or updating rows.
Most actions triggered with an integration.
Changes to a whole column triggered by changing a computed column configuration that results in rows being recalculated.
As a rule of thumb, every individual change to your app's data counts as one update. Glide works this way because we assume that the more data you change with Glide, the more valuable Glide is to you.
Things that do not count as updates
Adding, Editing, and Deleting data from the Data Editor, regardless of data source
Testing your app in the builder (i.e., your app is not published)
Adding tabs, computed columns, or components to your apps
Actions that do not change data (e.g., Go To Tab, Show Form, Show Notification, Open URL)
Edits on form screens, add screens, and edit screens are not counted because they don't change any data. They will create an update if the form, add, or edit screen is submitted.
What types of updates are there?
Adds: When a user in your Glide app adds a row to your data source, this counts as an Add.
Edits: When a user in your Glide app edits a row in your data source, this counts as an Edit.
Deletes: When a user in your Glide app deletes a row in your data source, this counts as a Delete.
Syncs: When Glide reloads data from an external data source that has changed (e.g., Google Sheets, Excel), this counts as a Sync.
Sometimes Glide will sync your data source and find that no data has changed. In this event, the Sync is not counted (you are not charged for Syncs that don't provide new data).
Extra Sync mode: If you select "Extra" for your app's Sync mode in Data settings, Glide will sync your data on a fixed schedule when your app is active (e.g., every few minutes) instead of only syncing when data changes. These syncs count as updates even if there is no new data.
Using Fewer Updates
If your app is using more updates than you expected, here are some suggestions about using fewer updates:
Use Add Screens, Edit Screens, and Form Screens instead of editing directly on Detail Screens because Add, Edit, and Form screens group all of their changes into one update (e.g., when the user clicks Submit).
If you want to test different computed columns like AI or Integrations, do it on a small sample set of data in a test table, rather than on your full data table.
To minimize updates that might occur automatically while you’re working in the Data Editor, consider setting up integrations as actions rather than computed columns. This allows you to decide when to test your setup on a limited sample size, thereby minimizing updates.