GlidevsFerraFerra is the Glide alternative for keeping the sheet, not building the app
Glide turns the table you keep into an app. Ferra keeps the table for you.
See how Ferra compares to Glide
| Functionalities | Ferra | Glide |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started | Part of what this tool is for. Paste a list or forward the emails, rows and columns follow. | Possible, with a step you do yourself. Prepare the table first, then build the app over it. |
| Filling the rows | Part of what this tool is for. Reads your files and forwarded emails, writes the rows. | Possible, with a step you do yourself. Whatever the source table holds, kept current by you. |
| Adding a column later | Part of what this tool is for. Add the column, describe it. It fills from the same sources. | Possible, with a step you do yourself. Add it at the source, then backfill every row. |
| An app your team taps through | A different tool's job. A shared workspace, not a designed app screen. | Part of what this tool is for. A designed app for the field, your branding on it. |
| Asking a question | Part of what this tool is for. Ask in plain English, the answer lists its exact rows. | Possible, with a step you do yourself. Find the record, a record screen shows one at a time. |
| Dashboards and reports | Part of what this tool is for. “Amount by customer” was a sentence in the chat, now it is a pinned report. | Possible, with a step you do yourself. Lay the screen out with the components the app needs. |
| Automation | Part of what this tool is for. Describe the rule, new row, changed value, missed date, then email or update. | Part of what this tool is for. Actions and workflows are part of building the app. |
| Sharing with people outside the team | Possible, with a step you do yourself. A workspace shared with the people you work with. | Part of what this tool is for. Users, roles, and an app made for people who do not work here. |
| Keeping the data right | Part of what this tool is for. The upkeep is the product: reading files, matching suppliers, filling columns. | A different tool's job. Glide's input is the table you maintain, the standing job underneath. |
Glide's input is the table you maintain
Glide builds an app on a table you keep; the table is the standing job.
Ferra takes that job, paste a list or forward the emails.
Every answer shows its rows
The panel on the left is not a summary over the data. It lists the exact rows behind the answer. When a number looks wrong, you can see which row made it.
New column, already filled in
Adding a spreadsheet field means an empty column and a lot of typing. In Ferra, describe it and it fills from the workspace's files and emails.
The dashboard arrives with the table
"Show me amount by customer" becomes a chart pinned to the dashboard, keeping up as rows change.
Frequently asked questions
What people ask before they move a table across: about Ferra, about Glide, and about which of the two fits the work you actually have.
Glide turns a table into an app. Ferra is for the table itself: columns built, rows filled, questions answered.
Yes: Ferra reads the file, builds the columns, and keeps the rows.
A shared workspace: tables, dashboards, an assistant. A designed app screen for outsiders is a different tool's job.
Yes: it watches a table for new rows, changed values or missed dates, then emails or updates.
Files you upload, emails you forward, connected apps, and public web sources.