Airtable
The best-known spreadsheet-database hybrid, with linked records, interfaces, automations and AI app building.
- Verified facts
- 4 of 4
- Alternatives ranked
- 7
- Approved reviews
- 0
- Visits sent from here
- 0
About Airtable
Airtable looks like a spreadsheet but behaves like a relational database: each base holds tables with typed fields, linked records, lookups and rollups, viewed as grids, kanban boards, calendars, galleries, timelines or forms. On top of the data you can build interfaces, small dashboards and data-entry screens for colleagues who never need to see the raw tables, plus automations that send emails or call scripts when records change. Recent versions push hard on AI, with an assistant that drafts apps and fields that run prompts against your records. It is popular with marketing, operations and product teams that outgrew shared spreadsheets but do not want to involve engineers. Pricing is per seat, with a free plan for individuals and very small teams and paid Team, Business and Enterprise Scale tiers that raise record limits and add permissions and admin controls. It runs in the browser with desktop and mobile apps. The main complaints are record caps per base and costs that rise quickly as a team adds editors.
Best for: Non-technical teams that want a flexible shared database with a large template and integration ecosystem.
Pros and cons
What works
- Easy to learn for anyone comfortable with spreadsheets
- Linked records, rollups and many views make real relational setups possible
- Interfaces let you give colleagues tailored screens instead of raw tables
- Large ecosystem of templates, integrations and community answers
Why people leave
- Per-seat pricing gets expensive as more people need edit access
- Record and automation limits per base can force workarounds
- No self-hosting option, so data lives only in Airtable's cloud
Top Airtable alternatives
See all 7- 1
Baserow66.5Open-source and self-hostable with a very similar grid and form experience, plus cheaper paid tiers.
- 2
NocoDB62.6Turns an existing SQL database into an Airtable-like grid, and can run on your own server.
- 3
SmartSuite59.6Covers the same database use cases with more built-in project and work-management features.
- 4
SeaTable57.2A GDPR-focused alternative hosted in Germany, with a self-hosted server edition.
- 5
Grist55.3Open-source spreadsheet-database with Python formulas and granular access rules.
Why people left Airtable
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Airtable: common questions
Is Airtable free?
Airtable has a free plan and paid plans. Free plan: Yes (checked on Airtable's own site).
Is Airtable open source?
No, Airtable is not open source. Open-source alternatives include Baserow, NocoDB and Grist.
What platforms does Airtable run on?
Airtable is available for Web, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.
What are the best alternatives to Airtable?
The highest-ranked Airtable alternatives right now are Baserow, NocoDB and SmartSuite. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.