Airtable
Spreadsheet-database hybrid with apps
Airtable is a databases & spreadsheets tool for Small businesses and Enterprise, offered as freemium ($24/mo). Founded in United States in 2012. Popular alternatives include Baserow, NocoDB, Smartsheet.
About Airtable
Airtable is a cloud platform, founded in San Francisco in 2012 by Howie Liu and two co-founders, that blends the familiar interface of a spreadsheet with the structure of a relational database. Tables link to each other, fields have types such as attachments, single selects, lookups, rollups and formulas, and the same records can be viewed as a grid, kanban, calendar, gallery, form, Gantt chart or timeline.
On top of the data, Interface Designer builds dashboards and lightweight apps for people who should not edit raw tables, automations run actions on triggers and schedules, and syncs bring in data from other bases or tools. AI fields categorize records, summarize text and generate content inside the base. The free plan allows unlimited bases with 1,000 records each and five editors; Team raises limits to 50,000 records per base and adds Gantt and timeline views; Business adds 125,000 records, premium syncs, an admin panel and SAML SSO; and Enterprise Scale is custom-priced with HyperDB and enterprise APIs.
Airtable powers content calendars, product catalogs, lightweight CRMs, inventories, applicant trackers and production schedules at thousands of companies, and it shines when non-developers need a structured database they can build themselves. In recent years it moved upmarket and raised prices, which pushed small teams toward open-source or cheaper options such as Baserow, NocoDB and Grist, or to Notion databases for document-heavy work. Per-seat pricing, record limits per base and automation run limits are the main constraints to check before adopting.
Key features of Airtable
- Relational tables with 25+ field types, lookups and rollups
- Grid, kanban, calendar, gallery, Gantt, timeline and form views
- Interface Designer for dashboards and internal apps
- Automations with triggers, scripts and AI steps
- Sync between bases and external sources (Salesforce, Jira, Google Sheets)
- REST API, webhooks and extensions marketplace
Pros and cons
Pros
- Approachable for spreadsheet users yet relational
- Interfaces turn data into usable apps without code
- Rich field types and views
- Large template and extension ecosystem
Cons
- Record limits per base can block growth
- Per-seat pricing is high for large teams of light users
- Free plan shrank significantly
- Performance slows on large bases with many lookups
Airtable pricing
Airtable uses a freemium model.
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 1,000 records/base, 5 editors, 1 GB |
| Team | $24 / seat/mo | $20 billed annually; 50,000 records/base, 20 GB |
| Business | $54 / seat/mo | $45 billed annually; 125,000 records, SAML SSO |
| Enterprise Scale | Custom | 500,000 records, enterprise API |
Source: www.airtable.com · checked on Oct 20, 2026
How Airtable compares in Databases & spreadsheets
- Rank by votes
- #1 / 17
- Starting price
- $24
- Free alternatives
- 4
0 votes from members
100% above the category median ($12/mo)
Free or open-source tools in Databases & spreadsheets
Airtable ranks #1 of 17 databases & spreadsheets tools by community votes and is priced above most tools in the category.
Common use cases
- 1Content calendar with assets, statuses and approvals
- 2Product catalog or inventory with images and suppliers
- 3Lightweight CRM or applicant tracker for a small team
- 4Operations dashboard built with Interface Designer
Best for
Operations, marketing and content teams that outgrew spreadsheets but do not want a developer-built system.
Not ideal for
Very large datasets, budget-sensitive teams (Baserow, NocoDB, Grist), or engineering data that belongs in a real database.
Integrations
- Slack
- Google Workspace
- Salesforce
- Jira
- Zapier
- Make
- Zendesk
- Box
- Dropbox
Our take
Airtable is still the most polished spreadsheet-database, and Interfaces make it a genuine internal-tool builder. Check record limits and seat costs against your plan; open-source alternatives have closed much of the gap for simple use cases.
FAQ
- What is Airtable?
- Airtable is a Databases & spreadsheets tool: Spreadsheet-database hybrid with apps.
- How much does Airtable cost?
- Airtable uses a Freemium model; paid plans start at $24 per month.
- What are the best alternatives to Airtable?
- Community-listed alternatives to Airtable include Baserow, NocoDB, Smartsheet, Grist.
- What does Airtable integrate with?
- Airtable integrates with Slack, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Jira, Zapier, Make and more.
- Which platforms does Airtable support?
- Airtable is available on web, ios, android.
- Who is Airtable for?
- Operations, marketing and content teams that outgrew spreadsheets but do not want a developer-built system.
Alternatives to Airtable
See all 13More Databases & spreadsheets tools
Coupler.io
▲ 0No-code data sync from 400+ apps into Sheets, BI tools and AI
Freemium · $32Small businessesAgencies
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to share real experience.
Sign in to write a review.