You might have heard of Airtable, or might have even used it. It is a project manager that also supports cloud collaboration. But the subscription price is way too much for some users. And that is why we can see some users trying to shift their working from Airtable to something more affordable. Today, we are providing you a list of the best Airtable alternatives.
What is Airtable?
Airtable is a platform that allows users to manage their project database on a cloud collaboration system. It simply makes your communication with the team easier. You can assign new tasks to the group members and accordingly change the workflow whenever you want. You can even add third party plugins which can automate some tasks. Airtable can easily show what path you are using to accomplish a certain company project.
Reason people are leaving Airtable
No doubt Airtable has tons of features and a reputation. But the price is way too much for some users. Not all companies can afford to pay such amounts for a project management platform. Just, for instance, Airtable will charge 10$ per user each month.
If you have 30 people working in a startup you will need 300$ per month. This is not a small amount. And paying such an amount does not mean you have full freedom, if you run out of storage, you will have to pay extra.
List Of Best Airtable Alternatives
Just keeping the audience in mind, we have selected the best alternatives that are low-priced and provide all or almost all the features of Airtable. The softwares below will have a good interface with a database that is relational. We kept in mind that the speed, automation, plugin support, and flexibility of the softwares matter. So, without wasting any more of our time, here we have the best Airtable alternatives.
1. Asana
The first best Airtable alternative is Asana. This is a good option if you have a big team to manage but also want to use features like roadmaps, campaign handling, etc. So many things to keep an eye on your members and the progression of tasks.
One thing that puts both platforms aside is that Asana will show you the information in list format. Information such as timeline, board, calendar, workload, the progress of work, etc.
Pros
- Various views
- Does not charge for more storage.
- 3rd Party plugins are available.
Cons
- UX needs to be improved.
Price: Free for single users and 10.99$ monthly for premium.
2. Notion
If you want a platform that is very similar to Airtable then the first choice should be Notion. It is not just a platform where you manage or update your work spreadsheets, you get all the tools and features that might be necessary to handle the workload of a small or large crew. You can share docs, assign tasks, and the best thing, you can add third party plugins to make everything much easier. They even offer various templates to work with.
Notion also lets you drag and edit tasks as you move along. The UI interface is very similar to Airtable. One more thing that makes Notion a prominent choice is the feature of editing a ready-made template. You can choose and edit templates according to your needs.
Pros
- Everything is in one place.
- Automation is possible.
- Kanban view with many others is available.
- Supports the feature of dragging tasks.
Cons
- Takes new users time to understand everything.
Price: Free for single users and 4$ monthly for a Pro Plan subscription.
3. Microsoft Lists
Microsoft is a reliable company and you might be reading this article in a Microsoft operating system. The Microsoft Lists is one of the best Airtable alternatives as it has a lot to offer. You can organize events, create spreadsheets, etc. With so many templates, you just have to choose one and get going.
Pros
- Good for Microsoft users.
- Automation, lists, and multiple views are supported.
- You get extra Microsoft platforms.
Cons
- Not suitable for all the users.
Price: 5$ monthly to get Microsoft 365 Basic Business Plan.
4. Zenkit
The fourth in the list of best Airtable alternatives is Zenkit. The framework is one thing that puts this platform on the list. It provides various insights into the workflow and does not feel like a simple database. You can edit or change your task and its templates. You get reminders for tasks and various types of data views. It has Kanban view, calendar view, Listed view, Wiki view, a Map view, etc. One thing that Zenkit has which is not available on Airtable is the Gantt Chart.
Pros
- Everything is found in one place.
- Hypernotes, Collaborations, and Database features are available.
- Can be used to do bulk actions.
Cons
- Management of files needs more improvement.
Price: Free for single users and 9$ for a monthly Plus Plan.
5. NocoDB
An open-source manager that could be perfect for you is NocoDB. Without the use of any coding, you can simply turn your database into smart spreadsheets. The popularity of NocoDB is due to its robust framework that goes seamlessly with API.
Just like others, invite your team members and give them work so you can track all the progression throughout the campaign.
Pros
- Completely free and good for open-source users.
- You can create a smart spreadsheet from SQL data.
- Easy to track tasks and 3rd party plugins are available.
Cons
- Has to be installed manually.
Price: Completely free for everyone.
6. ClickUp
Just like Airtable, this platform also doesn’t force you to learn about coding. It is simple to use and has all the features that can help you manage the workflow of the company or business. ClickUp also supports dragging and dropping of tasks. The information in ClickUp can be viewed in multiple views.
It has a feature called Goals where you can keep an eye on the progress of your project on the roadmap. Relational database features will allow you to just derive data from a database to another database. You can automate by using 100+ third party plugins.
Pros
- Reminder for Goals and Live reporting.
- Relational database feature and support of API.
- The data view can be customized.
Cons
- Some features might take time to respond to.
Price: Free for single users and 5$ monthly for the premium subscription.
7. Baserow
This is an open-source platform and is much cheaper than Airtable. Not just cheap, but you can also get it on your personal server for usage. This simply means you don’t get locked and can shift from server to server. You have a lot of customization options for plugins, rows, templates, etc.
Talking about the UI, the platform looks a lot like Airtable. Just in case you choose Baserow, you won’t have to suffer the changes that much.
Pros
- Manager is open-sourced and could be self-hosted.
- Speed and flexibility are great.
- Cheap compared to Airtable.
Cons
- Need to be installed manually.
Price: Free for self-hosted users and 5$ monthly for a premium plan.
8. Coda
Coda is a famous platform where you can start your management journey by just uploading your document. Again, it is a no-code platform, you can simply convert docs into databases for instant use. A feature called Lookup lets you join various data and tables together. More than 100 templates can be used to create your roadmap, campaign, or progress tracking.
Pros
- Relatively cheap
- Supports database
- Supports cross-table
Cons
- The UI interface needs to be improved.
Price: Free for single users and 10$ monthly for Pro Plan.
9. SeaTable
It is another self-hosted platform that comes very close to Airtable. If you were using Airtable and now want something more affordable then go for SeaTable. It has a cloud solution and the framework is so polished that you will forget about Airtable.
You have the ability to control where your data gets stored and who can open it. It supports both Linux and Windows servers. If you want to use this platform for free you will get 1GB worth of data with 2000 rows.
Pros
- Affordable and a good self-hosted platform.
- Everything is robust and fast.
- You can add more rows in SeaTable than Airtable.
Cons
- Some features in APIs need to be updated.
Price: Free for single users and 7$ monthly for Plus Plan.
10. Trello
If you have a small business or company then Trello is a better choice than Airtable. This is simple yet clever collaboration software, where you can add people with a few clicks and start your working journey. Trello is cheap because it won’t provide all the features that can be found in Airtable. But, being simple with perfection is necessary.
It has basic things like calendar sharing, task scheduling, task prioritization, etc. Both the platforms offer Kanban views and the task interface manager is simply outstanding. Overall, it is a simple-to-use application that is perfect for small groups.
Pros
- Good for small groups.
- ProsKanban view is available.
- Simple to use.
Cons
- Does not have many features.
Price: Free for single users and 5$ monthly for a Pro Plan subscription.
Final Words
So, these were the best Airtable alternatives. You can choose any and start your work. Using these tools can really boost the productivity of your work. If you are looking for the best open-source alternative to Airtable, Baserow is our top recommendation. It’s relatively cheaper than Airtable, and you can install it on your own server without any extra cost.
It also means you will not be locked into a vendor and can move from one server to another. You can create custom plugins and templates, extend rows to as much as you want, and use its own hosted SaaS version as well.
Yes, ClickUp is better than Airtable.
Yes, you can use ClickUp as a database.
No, they have unique features and serve different customer bases.