What are Updates?
Updates are one way Glide tracks usage in apps. They are mainly consumed when Glide interacts with external systems or services, not when data changes inside Glide itself.
Most actions that operate entirely within Glide do not consume Updates.
What consumes Updates?
Updates are consumed when Glide:
Runs actions that use third-party services
Syncs changes from external data sources (like Google Sheets, Airtable, or Excel)
Runs Glide AI actions
Uses Glide APIs to read or modify data
What usually does not consume Updates?
In most cases, Updates are not consumed when:
Adding, deleting, or editing rows in Glide Tables
Adding, deleting, or editing rows in Glide Big Tables
Running internal app logic that only affects Glide-managed data
Note: A small number of teams on legacy plans may see different behavior.
How Updates work with external data sources
When you connect an external data source like Google Sheets, Updates are tied to sync activity, not to individual cell changes.
1. Syncs only happen when data changes
Unless Extra Syncs are enabled, Glide only syncs when it detects changes in the external data source.
2. One Update is used to sync inbound changes
When data changes in the external data source, Glide uses a single Update to sync all detected changes into your app.
This means:
Multiple row or cell changes in the external source are bundled together
They count as one Update when synced into Glide
3. Outbound changes sync per change
When Glide sends changes from your app to the external data source, each data change triggers its own sync to the external source.
This behavior is different from inbound syncing and can result in more frequent syncs.
4. Form submissions bundle changes
When a Glide Form is used to update data:
All changes made in that Form submission are bundled together
They are sent as one sync to the external data source
This helps reduce sync activity when collecting multiple inputs at once.
Why Update counts can change unexpectedly
Update usage can increase when:
Large batches of changes occur in an external data source
Apps send frequent outbound updates to external systems
Third-party or AI actions run more often than expected
If your Update usage changes suddenly, reviewing external integrations is usually the best place to start.
Legacy plan behavior
Some teams are on legacy plans with different Update rules. If your usage doesn’t match what’s described here, your team may be on a legacy plan with different allowances.