Baserow vs Stackby

Baserow is an open-source no-code database and one of the most complete Airtable alternatives. It is developed by a company based in the Netherlands and offered both as a hosted cloud service with EU data storage and as a self-hosted application you can run with Docker on your own servers. The core of the product is MIT licensed.

Data lives in tables with typed fields, links between tables, lookups, formulas and rollups, and can be viewed as a grid, gallery, form, kanban or calendar. On top of the database Baserow adds an application builder for simple internal tools and portals, automations, an AI field that generates or classifies content from a prompt, row comments, and a REST API with webhooks. The free self-hosted edition has no artificial row limits; paid Premium and Advanced tiers, priced per user, unlock extra views, AI, admin controls, audit logs, SSO and role management.

Baserow suits teams that like the Airtable model but need data ownership, GDPR-friendly hosting or predictable costs at large row counts. It falls short on ecosystem: Airtable has far more integrations, templates and a more mature Interfaces layer, and its community is larger. NocoDB is the closest rival, source-available rather than open source since 2026, and sits on top of an existing SQL database, while Grist is stronger for spreadsheet-style formulas. For many European organizations Baserow is the easiest open-source option to adopt.

Stackby is a spreadsheet-database tool in the Airtable mould, combining the familiar grid of a spreadsheet with typed columns, linked records and multiple views. What sets it apart is a set of API column types that pull live data from services such as YouTube, Google Analytics, Facebook Ads and other APIs directly into table cells.

Tables can be viewed as grid, kanban, calendar, gallery and form views, and automations send notifications or update records when data changes. A template library targets marketers and agencies: content calendars, social media trackers, SEO keyword lists, CRM pipelines and campaign reports. API columns refresh metrics such as views, subscribers or ad spend on a schedule, and a REST API and Zapier integration connect Stackby to other tools. Plans are priced per seat: a limited free plan, then Economy, Business and Business Plus plans with more rows, API calls and automation runs.

Stackby suits marketers, content creators and small agencies who want a cheap, flexible database that enriches itself with live marketing data. It is less known than Airtable, with a smaller ecosystem of integrations and extensions, less depth in automation and interfaces, and slower performance on large tables. Airtable is the more powerful mainstream choice, SeaTable and NocoDB offer self-hosted alternatives, and Smartsheet suits project-heavy enterprises.