How To Build Customer Portals for Your Marketplace with Glide

In the previous posts in this series, we explored how to set up your marketplace MVP using Webflow to attract potential customers and sellers, how to use Airtable to create a database for managing your marketplace, and how to automate repetitive tasks with Make.com. Together, these tools help you build the foundation for your marketplace and streamline your processes.

Now, as your platform starts to grow, it’s time to think about improving the experience for your users. The more seamless and intuitive your platform is, the easier it will be for buyers and sellers to interact—and that’s where Glide comes in.

Glide is a no-code app builder that transforms your Airtable database into beautiful, user-friendly apps. It’s ideal for creating customer portals, managing onboarding, enabling messaging, and handling other critical marketplace features. The best part? You don’t need to write a single line of code.

At Unicorn Factory, Glide became a game-changer for handling tasks like job applications and freelancer dashboards. It didn’t just simplify things for my users—it made scaling the platform much easier for me too.

In this post, I’ll show you how Glide works and why it’s an essential tool for marketplace founders. Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Why Glide is the best tool for marketplace founders.
• Step-by-step instructions to build your first Glide app.
• Examples of essential marketplace features you can create with Glide.
• How to integrate AI, payments, and custom CSS to take your apps to the next level.

By the end of this guide, you’ll be ready to create functional, scalable apps that make your marketplace easier to use and more efficient. Let’s dive in!

‍What Is Glide and Why Should Marketplace Founders Use It?

At Unicorn Factory, I use Glide to power the customer and freelancer portals that keep my marketplace running smoothly. These portals allow freelancers and clients to interact with the platform without needing my constant involvement, making everything more efficient and scalable.

Here’s what freelancers and clients can do through their respective portals:

Freelancer Portals:
Freelancers have access to tools that make managing their profiles and applications easy:

• Profile Management: Freelancers can update their profiles with new skills, portfolio items, or other details directly from the portal.
• Job Board Access: They can browse and apply for jobs posted by clients.
• Custom CRM: Freelancers have an overview of all inquiries they’ve received, along with job introductions facilitated by the platform.
• Membership Upgrades: Freelancers can upgrade to paid plans to access premium features like additional visibility or priority job applications.

Client Portals:
Clients have a streamlined interface to manage their interactions with freelancers:

• Job Postings: Clients can post job opportunities and manage the applicants who respond.
• Application Review: They can review and manage applications directly in the portal.
• Freelancer Directory Access: Clients can explore the directory to find and directly contact freelancers who match their project needs.

What makes Glide stand out for these portals is its ability to act as an all-in-one tool for creating user-friendly interfaces.

Before Glide, I used a combination of Webflow and Memberstack to build my portals, and while it worked, that approach required a lot of extra work. Setting up automations, managing design, and connecting databases often felt like juggling multiple moving parts.

With Glide, everything happens natively within the platform. The design, database, and workflows are all integrated, which makes building and maintaining these portals faster and simpler. Glide’s intuitive tools allow me to focus on delivering a great experience for users without getting bogged down in technical details.

How Glide Works

Setting up your app with Glide is straightforward once you understand the basics. Here’s how it works:

Connect Your Data Source:
Glide apps are powered by your data, so the first step is to choose your data source. You can connect:

1. Google Sheets for simple projects.
2. Glide Big Tables (their native database) for high-performance needs.
3. Airtable for advanced use cases, which is what I chose because I already had my entire database set up there.
4. Airtable’s compatibility was a big draw for me as it allowed me to seamlessly integrate the database I’d already built.

Configure the Basics:
After connecting your data, you’ll configure the basic appearance of your app. This includes:

1. Uploading your custom branding, like logos and brand colors.
2. Choosing the overall layout of your app to suit your users’ needs.
3. Set Up Your User Table:
   If you’re building a customer portal or seller portal, your user table is likely the database containing all your buyers or sellers. This table will form the backbone of your app, as it’s where most of the app’s functionality—like profiles, messaging, and permissions—will come from.

Design Pages and Sections:
Once your basics are in place, start building out different pages and sections. You’ll pull data from your connected source (e.g., Airtable) and use Glide’s prebuilt components to design the interface. Glide offers a variety of out-of-the-box elements, such as lists, buttons, forms, and charts, to create polished and functional designs.

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Refine and Build Advanced Features:
While Glide may feel a bit tricky to learn at first, once you’ve mastered the basics, you’ll be able to create virtually any interface you want. You can refine your app’s functionality by:

1. Setting up dynamic pages that adapt to user stage (In Review, Live, Paid or Free)
2. Adding workflows for common user actions like submitting forms or sending messages.
3. Customizing interactions to make your app intuitive and efficient.

As you can see, a tool like Glide combines the best of platforms like Webflow for creating interfaces, Airtable for building databases and backends, and Make.com for automating workflows. While we don’t use Glide for everything—since all-in-one tools inevitably come with trade-offs—it truly excels for specific use cases. When it comes to building user portals, Glide is hands down the best choice, offering the perfect balance of simplicity, functionality, and scalability.

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What Marketplace Features Can You Build With Glide?

One of the things about Glide is that it is incredibly versatile, and will give you enough flexibility to build features that you will commonly see in marketplaces like:

• In-App Messaging: Allow buyers and sellers to communicate directly within your app through private 1:1 messaging.
• Custom Onboarding: Guide users through account creation, profile setup, or job posting with custom workflows and forms.
• Dynamic Job Boards: List active client projects and allow sellers to apply, while buyers can track submissions and manage responses.
• Seller Portfolios: Give sellers tools to display skills, testimonials, and case studies. Buyers can browse these profiles to find the right fit for their projects.
• Integrated Payments: Process payments directly within your app using Stripe, creating a secure and seamless transaction experience. More on Stripe payments in the next post.
• Project Management Tools: Help users manage tasks, track progress, and update statuses in real time—all in one place.

In short, anything you would expect to see in a marketplace platform, you are likely able to build in Glide, which makes Glide a great tool for marketplace founders.

But there is even more...

Using AI to Create Magical User Experiences

One of Glide’s most powerful features is its native AI integration, which makes adding AI-driven functionality to your app intuitive and impactful. Over the last year, Glide has invested heavily in enabling users to leverage AI to create smarter, faster, and more user-friendly apps.

At Unicorn Factory, I’ve used AI in several ways to improve user experiences and streamline operations:

• High-Quality Job Listings: AI helps clients create polished job postings by transforming basic inputs like project details and budgets into professional descriptions that attract top freelancers.
• AI Application Evaluations: AI mimics my decision-making process to evaluate incoming applications and provide tailored recommendations, helping clients find the best candidates quickly.
• AI-Powered Support Agents: AI responds to common queries from clients and freelancers, speeding up response times and reducing the need for manual intervention.

These use cases barely scratch the surface of what Glide’s AI can do. You can get started with their built-in AI tools or connect your own OpenAI key to expand functionality. Here’s how you can use AI in your Glide-powered marketplace:

For Content Creation:

1. Generate detailed job descriptions or profile suggestions.
2. Help buyers and sellers craft better listings or resumes.

For Application Reviews:

1. Analyze applications, resumes, or proposals to recommend the most relevant options.
2. Automate the ranking process to save time and improve decision-making.

For Support Tools:

1. Add chatbots or automated agents to handle FAQs or escalate complex queries.
2. Provide real-time support based on your app’s knowledge base.

For Personalized Experiences:

1. Match buyers with sellers based on preferences.
2. Recommend projects or services tailored to individual users.

Glide’s AI tools give you the ability to streamline workflows and enhance user interactions, making your marketplace easier to use and more efficient. Whether you’re improving content, automating reviews, or delivering better support, AI provides a competitive edge—all while reducing the workload for your team. Best of all, Glide makes these tools simple to implement, so you can focus on building a smarter, more user-friendly marketplace.

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Start Building Your Glide Apps with MVMP Labs

Interested in getting the step-step walkthrough with Glide? With MVMP Labs, you’ll have everything you need to confidently create user-friendly, scalable apps with Glide.

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At Unicorn Factory, Glide helped me automate workflows, simplify user management, and scale faster than I thought possible. But figuring it all out took time—and that’s why I created MVMP Labs: to make the process faster and easier for you.

Here’s what you’ll find:

• Step-by-Step Tutorials: Learn exactly how to build a professional user portal for your marketplace. Whether it’s a buyer dashboard, seller profile, or admin tool, I’ll show you how to make it functional and scalable.
• Pre-Built Templates: Save hours with ready-made templates for essential features like onboarding workflows, messaging, and job boards.
• Exclusive Community: Join other marketplace founders who are sharing ideas, solving problems, and learning together. You don’t have to figure it all out on your own.

If you’re ready to skip the trial-and-error phase and start building with confidence, MVMP Labs is for you.

Join MVMP Labs today and start creating apps that take your marketplace to the next level.

Customize Your Branding with Custom CSS

Glide apps are easy to build because there is less to configure than in something like Webflow, but sometimes you want a little extra to make your app stand out.

That’s where Custom CSS comes in.

If you’re on Glide’s Business or Enterprise plan, you can use CSS to create a fully branded, professional look that matches your marketplace’s identity.

Here’s how I’ve used Custom CSS to enhance Unicorn Factory:

• Unique Freelancer Profiles: I customized freelancer cards to match my branding, making every profile visually distinct and consistent with the rest of the platform.
• Brand Typography: Updating the fonts across my app ensured the design aligned perfectly with my brand’s style, creating a seamless experience for users.
• Improved Onboarding Experience: CSS allowed me to add engaging elements to the onboarding process, making it more dynamic and professional for new users.

So, whilst you might get the same design freedom as in Webflow, custom CSS does allow you to customize you app enough to add your own touch and flare to the app.

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Your Turn: Start Building Scalable Marketplace Apps with Glide

Now that you’ve seen how Glide works, it’s time to put it into action. Start with your data, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can create an app that’s both functional and user-friendly.

Here’s how to get started:

• Sign Up for Glide: Head over to Glide and create an account. The Maker plan is perfect for beginners and lets you explore the app builder at no cost.
• Start with One Portal: Pick a single user group—like buyers or sellers—and design a simple portal tailored to their needs. Starting small makes it easier to stay focused.
• Play Around with Features: Use Glide’s drag-and-drop builder to add interactive components like forms, buttons, and workflows. Experiment with layouts to find what works best for your marketplace.
• Test and Improve: Launch your app and gather feedback from real users. Use their insights to fine-tune the design, workflows, and features as you go.

Creating your marketplace app doesn’t have to be complicated. Glide makes the process straightforward, even if you’re new to no-code tools. Focus on building one feature at a time, keep things simple, and iterate as you grow.

Your marketplace deserves an app that’s as dynamic and user-friendly as the community you’re building. Glide gives you everything you need to bring that vision to life.