Wood glue and alternatives

I went down the Paul Sellers rabbit hole - someone was playing in their helicopter over our house at 3am and I couldn’t get back to sleep.

I’m using a big table I made last year from plywood and trestles. It was a stop game solution as I intended to build a workbench. I have a book or two on the subject but the designs are pretty advanced and more like upgrades for a seasoned pro.

Paul on the other hand has an excellent Tutorial which is well within my capabilities and definitely fits my needs. He does however use a lot of glue. The main working surface is made of 2 by 4’s laid on edge, clamped and glued. This is pretty common practice and produces a big solid stable lump of wood. I’m currently thinking I would do the same but wanted to explore alternatives first. I have a few ideas but that’s all they are. I could dive back down the rabbit hole but my experience so far tells me that won’t give me an answer in the same ball park as Paul Sellers and there’s probably a Permie here who knows exactly what to do, has done and it is happy to share.

Im unclear on what you want this bench to accomplish? Is this a woodworking bench that will see mostly hand tool use, or an all purpose build and fix everything work surface?