Moving On from GridBuddy: A Practical Guide to Wave AI
BMW had five open deals worth $447K, and the biggest one carried ten product lines, seven of them with a quantity of zero. That's the kind of thing you only see when deals and their line items sit in one grid, which is why teams bought GridBuddy. See Wave AI build that same parent-and-child grid from one sentence, and get a practical plan for moving your grids across. Leave with the prompt and GridBuddy's published price. Recorded in a Salesforce demo org with real screens, nothing mocked up.
The short answer
- Looking for a GridBuddy alternative? GridBuddy made multi-object grids popular in Salesforce, and many teams still depend on it. Wave AI builds the same kind of grid, parent records with their children underneath, from a sentence instead of a wizard.
- Deals and line items together. Open a deal row and its products appear beneath it, editable in place.
- Bulk changes with a review. Count, current values and a dry run first, then one Yes. One Undo takes it back.
- Move at your own pace. Rebuild one grid at a time and run both side by side. Wave AI is free in public beta.
A deals-and-products grid, in one sentence
The classic GridBuddy grid is opportunities with their products underneath. Here's how we asked for it:
Wave AI looked up the account, found 5 open deals, built the grid sorted by amount with stage, probability, close date and forecast category, and attached opportunity line items as a related list on every row. It flagged the two deals whose close date had already passed in red, and explained how to open the line items: the expander at the left of each row.
Open a deal, see its products
We opened the top deal, conveyor drives for an Osaka plant. Its ten line items appeared beneath it in their own grid: product name, product code, quantity, sales price, list price and total, with totals at the bottom. And there was the problem: seven of the ten lines had a quantity of zero, so the deal's amount and its products didn't agree. In a line-item grid you fix that where you see it.
1
sentence to build a two-level grid
5
open BMW deals
10
line items under the biggest deal
7
of them with a quantity of zero
0
wizard screens
Moving from GridBuddy: a practical plan
Nobody should rip out grids a team uses every day. This is the order we suggest to beta members who run GridBuddy today:
- List the grids people actually open. Most orgs have a handful that matter and a long tail nobody uses.
- Write each one as a sentence. "Open opportunities for this account with their products as line items, sorted by amount" is a grid definition.
- Rebuild it in Wave AI and compare. Same records, same columns, same sharing. Adjust in plain words until it matches.
- Run both side by side for a cycle. Let the team use whichever they prefer, then retire the old grid when nobody opens it.
- Move the bulk jobs last. Mass updates are where the review and one-step Undo change how people work, so show them before you switch.
Today
Your GridBuddy grids
List the ones people open.
Wave AI
Describe each one
One sentence per grid.
Wave AI
Rebuild and compare
Same records, same sharing.
Your team
Run both
One cycle, side by side.
Salesforce
Retire the old grid
When nobody opens it.
GridBuddy and Wave AI: compare the jobs
GridBuddy, now owned by Validity, has 247 reviews and a 4.88 rating on AppExchange, and it earned them. Where we describe it, it's from its AppExchange listing, Validity's own guide and the acquisition announcement, linked, as they read on 23 September 2026.
| The job | GridBuddy | Wave AI |
|---|---|---|
| Who makes it | Validity, which acquired AppBuddy in June 2019.2 The Salesforce package is version 9.13.0, updated 1 July 2026.1 | Valorx. Wave AI builds grids, dashboards and matrices from a sentence. |
| Finding it | The AppExchange listing is marked private: it "can't be found by searching or browsing."1 | In free public beta, installed as a managed package. |
| Building a grid | Admins build grids in the Grid Wizard, and can let non-admins configure grids too.3 | Anyone with access asks for it in a sentence. |
| Multi-object grids | Editable multi-object grids, cross-referenced objects, grouping with subtotals, grids as related lists.1 | Parent records with child records beneath each row, editable in place. |
| Mass changes | Multi-object mass create, update and delete.1 | Described in a sentence, with a count, current values and a dry run before one Yes, and one Undo. |
GridBuddy pricing, and what Wave AI costs
GridBuddy, as published
Lowest starting price1$24 / user / month
Custom quote1through Validity
Free trial1available
From the GridBuddy AppExchange listing, read 23 September 2026. Your quote may differ.
Wave AI
Freein beta
- No card
- No seat limit
- Einstein or your own AI key
- Your data never trains a model
Pricing arrives at public launch. Beta members hear first.
What each team gets
Salesforce admins
"I own forty GridBuddy grids."
Rebuild the ones people use, a sentence each, and stop maintaining the rest.
Sales operations
"Line items and deals never agree."
See both in one grid, catch the zero quantities, and fix them in place.
Sales teams
"I live in the grid all day."
Keep a grid. Ask for changes to it in plain words instead of waiting for an admin.
IT and platform owners
"We want a plan, not a scramble."
Move on your own schedule. Run both side by side, then retire what nobody opens.
The prompt from this post
Word for word what we typed. Swap in your own account and child object.
In Wave AI
Show the open opportunities of the account named BMW with their products as line items under each deal
What people ask about GridBuddy and Wave AI
Is Wave AI a GridBuddy alternative?
Yes, for editable Salesforce grids with records and their related records together, and for mass changes. Wave AI builds them from a sentence rather than a wizard, and every bulk change is reviewed and reversible.
Is GridBuddy discontinued?
We haven't seen an end-of-life announcement from Validity. What we did see on 23 September 2026: the AppExchange listing is marked private, and Validity's website no longer has GridBuddy product or pricing pages.
How much does GridBuddy cost?
The AppExchange listing shows a lowest starting price of $24 per user per month, with custom quotes through Validity and a free trial. That's the published figure read on 23 September 2026.
Can Wave AI show line items under opportunities?
Yes. In the run above it showed five BMW deals with their opportunity products beneath each one, editable in place.
Can we run GridBuddy and Wave AI together?
Yes. They're separate managed packages, so you can move one grid at a time.
What's live in the beta today?
Grids, related line items and the fix-in-place work are live. Dashboards and matrices are in testing and rolling out to beta members.
What does Wave AI cost?
It's free for the whole beta, with no card and no seat limit. Pricing is published at public launch.
Keep the grid. Lose the wizard.
Bring your most-used GridBuddy grid. We'll rebuild it with you in a sentence, in the beta.
Wave AI builds it. Valorx Wave runs it for the whole team.
Join the betaSources
- Salesforce AppExchange, GridBuddy listing.
- GlobeNewswire, Validity acquires AppBuddy, 25 June 2019.
- Validity, GridBuddy Getting Started Guide.
The recordings were made in a Salesforce demo org on 23 September 2026. Waiting time is cut out of the videos. GridBuddy is a trademark of Validity, Inc. Salesforce is a trademark of Salesforce, Inc. BMW appears as demo data only.
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