Airtable Options: A Deep Dive into What Makes Airtable In style
Should you”ve spent any time exploring no-code instruments, you have most likely come throughout Airtable. Airtable has constructed fairly the title for itself. As of 2024, it is reportedly utilized by over 450,000 organizations, with groups at Netflix, Shopify, and even TIME utilizing it to arrange every part from editorial calendars to product roadmaps. It’s valued at over $11 billion. That’s not pocket change. Clearly, they’re doing one thing proper.
However let’s be sincere. The no-code world is getting greater. And whereas Airtable continues to be an enormous title, it’s not the one one price listening to. Instruments like Stackby usually are not simply maintaining, they’re providing much more, at a much better value level. So in the event you’re questioning whether or not Airtable is the correct device for you, or if you ought to be testing an alternate that does extra with much less, stick round. We’re about to interrupt all of it down.
Airtable at a Look
Launched in 2015, Airtable is a cloud-based collaboration platform that mixes the simplicity of spreadsheets with the complexity of databases. In easy phrases, Airtable helps groups construct customized apps with out writing code.
Widespread Airtable Terminology to start out with:
- Bases: Airtable’s model of tasks or databases. Each base is sort of a mini-universe of your information.
- Tables: Just like particular person sheets in Excel or Google Sheets.
- Data and Fields: Rows and columns, however with persona, like attachments, checkboxes, dropdowns, and so forth.
- Views: You’ll be able to change between Grid (spreadsheet-style), Calendar, Kanban, Gallery, Timeline, and Gantt to visualise information.
For a newbie, it’s comparatively straightforward to arrange. You create a Base, add your Tables, outline your Fields (textual content, numbers, dropdowns, attachments), and begin coming into information. Inside minutes, you’re constructing relationships between tables, organising completely different Views, and perhaps even triggering fundamental automations.
Key Airtable Options (And What They Imply for You)
1. Relational Databases with a Spreadsheet Interface
Airtable permits you to hyperlink data throughout tables, enabling relational information buildings. This implies you possibly can, for instance, join a listing of purchasers to their respective tasks.
You’ll be able to create a number of tables and hyperlink them collectively, nevertheless it seems and appears like a spreadsheet. No scary UI. No steep studying curve, no less than, not at first.
2. A number of Views
Completely different groups want alternative ways of taking a look at information. A advertising and marketing staff may love the Kanban View, whereas operations prefers Gantt. Airtable provides varied views to fit your wants:
- Grid View: The default spreadsheet-like view.
- Kanban View: Preferrred for monitoring duties by way of phases.
- Calendar View: Visualize data with date fields.
- Gallery View: Show data as giant playing cards, helpful for visible content material.
- Timeline and Gantt Views: For challenge planning and monitoring dependencies.
However here is the catch, some views like Timeline and Gantt are locked behind premium plans. So that you’ll must pay up as your wants develop.
3. Customized Fields and Wealthy Knowledge Sorts
From attachments and checkboxes to formulation and linked data, Airtable helps a wide range of area varieties. You’ll be able to even nest lookups and rollups to fetch information throughout tables.
That mentioned, it might get clunky if you’re attempting to construct extra superior logic. As an illustration, nesting formulation inside rollups inside one other formulation… yeah, it isn’t for the faint-hearted.
4. Airtable Automations
Airtable helps you to set off actions like sending emails, updating fields, or integrating with exterior instruments primarily based on particular adjustments in your base. For instance, when a brand new lead is added, ship an e-mail or replace one other document.
5. Interface Designer
Airtable launched Interface Designer to assist groups construct mini front-ends on prime of their information. It’s a drag-and-drop builder with dashboards, buttons, and visible components.
Nonetheless, the function is in beta and, actually, it exhibits. Some customers report bugs, crashes, and an absence of customizability. It’s promising, however not polished but.
6. Integrations and Apps
You’ll be able to combine Airtable with different instruments through Zapier, Make (previously Integromat), or use built-in apps. There’s an app market, however many are solely obtainable on higher-tier plans.
7. Collaboration Instruments
Actual-time collaboration, feedback, tagging, and consumer permissions are all right here. However permissions are table-level solely, not row or column degree until you’re on the Enterprise plan.
8. Templates and Use Case Library
Airtable provides a variety of templates to assist customers get began shortly. These templates cowl varied use circumstances, from content material calendars to challenge trackers.
Pricing-Tied Function Limits
Airtable’s pricing construction has advanced over time, and as of 2025, it provides 4 primary plans:
Free Plan: Designed for people or very small groups, this plan contains:
- As much as 1,000 data per base
- 1 GB of attachments per base
- 100 automation runs monthly
- Interface Designer
Crew Plan: Priced at $20 per consumer monthly (billed yearly), this plan provides:
- 50,000 data per base
- 20 GB of attachments per base
- 25,000 automation runs monthly
- Entry to superior views like Gantt and Timeline
- Expanded colour and formatting choices
- Granular interface permissions
Enterprise Plan: At $45 per consumer monthly (billed yearly), this plan contains:
- 125,000 data per base
- 100 GB of attachments per base
- 100,000 automation runs monthly
- Limitless API calls per workspace monthly
- Two-way sync and premium sync integrations
Enterprise Scale Plan: With customized pricing, this plan is tailor-made for big organizations and provides:
- 500,000 data per base
- 1,000 GB of attachments per base
- 500,000 automation runs monthly
- Enhanced safety and admin controls
- Enterprise API and extension administration
- Audit logs and information loss prevention
As groups develop and their information wants improve, the prices related to higher-tier plans can escalate shortly. It is necessary to evaluate the particular necessities of your group to find out probably the most cost-effective plan.
Who Makes use of Airtable?
Airtable is utilized by a whole lot of completely different groups. It is versatile, visible, and feels acquainted and that is why so many individuals begin utilizing it.
- Advertising groups use it to handle social calendars, content material pipelines, influencer lists, and marketing campaign timelines. The visible views like Kanban, Calendar, Gallery, work rather well for them.
- Product and engineering groups construct roadmaps, monitor bugs, handle function requests. They use linked tables to attach every part.
- Content material creators and companies manage their purchasers, deliverables, property, and briefs. They typically use templates to hurry issues up.
- Even nonprofits and HR groups can use it. For donor lists, volunteer data, hiring pipelines, onboarding, and so forth.
- Occasion planners use it too. They arrange every part from venues to RSVPs to vendor contacts.
So, Airtable is greatest for groups who like construction however don’t wish to code. It seems straightforward at first, however as you scale, you’ll most likely discover limits. File caps. Automation limits. Pricing jumps.
That’s when individuals begin wanting round.
Limitations and Challenges
When you’ve been utilizing Airtable for some time, just a few limitations begin surfacing, not essentially deal breakers, however undoubtedly issues that make you pause in the event you’re scaling or getting extra formidable together with your setup.
Scalability hits a wall
Airtable feels mild and quick, till it does not. When your base crosses just a few thousand data, or in the event you’re attaching too many recordsdata, issues begin slowing down. Efficiency drops, load instances improve, and organizing information turns into extra cumbersome than it must be. It’s not all the time instant, nevertheless it creeps up.
Pricing escalates fairly shortly
Plenty of core options, like Gantt view or customized permissions are locked behind higher-tier plans. Going from Free to Professional at $20/consumer/month (simply to entry views it’s possible you’ll genuinely want) can really feel like an enormous soar, particularly for small groups or these managing a number of collaborators.
Interface Designer nonetheless feels… unfinished
Considered one of Airtable’s most hyped options – the Interface Designer, helps you to construct customized dashboards or layouts. It seems promising. However even now, in 2025, it nonetheless has some beta-like tough edges. You get restricted logic management, it’s a bit clunky for advanced use circumstances, and it’s not as intuitive as the remainder of Airtable.
Nonetheless not probably the most versatile app market
Airtable has a market for extensions (previously referred to as Airtable Apps), nevertheless it’s not very lively anymore. Many apps have not been up to date shortly, and the variability is restricted.
Briefly, Airtable works rather well for an outlined group of customers: small to mid-sized groups who need a collaborative database that’s straightforward to grasp and visually interesting. However in the event you’re searching for one thing extremely scalable, automation-heavy, or extra customizable, there’s a degree the place Airtable begins feeling like a very good starter device, not an influence device.
And yeah, that’s type of the tipping level the place Stackby comes into the image.
Stackby: A Fashionable, Scalable Airtable Different
Now let’s discuss Stackby. If Airtable appears like a sophisticated downtown studio condominium, Stackby feels extra like a spacious, still-under-the-radar loft with twice the storage, and you’ll knock down partitions in order for you.
Now, Stackby isn’t simply “one other Airtable various.” It’s a totally succesful, no-code work administration platform that mixes the most effective of spreadsheets, databases, and no-code automations. Constructed for flexibility, Stackby empowers groups to construct their very own instruments, workflows, and dashboards.
However earlier than diving into options, let’s discuss how Stackby’s structured.
Workspace → Your staff’s digital HQ. It holds all of your Stacks. Groups typically arrange completely different workspaces by operate – say, Advertising, Gross sales, Operations – to maintain issues organized.
Stacks → Your challenge hub the place every Stack can embody a number of Tables. Consider it as the general setup for one challenge, division, or workflow.
Tables → Structured datasets that reside inside a Stack. Like sheets in a spreadsheet, however with far more performance and construction.
Views → Other ways to slice, cube, and take a look at your information. Stackby helps a number of view varieties.
Column Fields → The constructing blocks of your tables, these columns outline what sort of information lives in every area.
However it takes a extra open-ended strategy to flexibility.
Why Stackby Stands Out
Should you’re taking a look at Stackby, you’re most likely evaluating it to Airtable. And hey, it is honest. Airtable is clean. However Stackby brings its personal distinctive edge. Right here’s what suggestions the size in Stackby’s favor:
30+ column varieties:
Column varieties transcend simply textual content, attachments and checkboxes, you get score columns, progress bars, time trackers, button fields, and even real-time API columns. Meaning you possibly can hyperlink a column on to a third-party service, outline parameters, and fetch values on the fly.
So, say you are managing YouTube campaigns, you possibly can pull within the newest view counts or subscriber stats immediately into your desk. And it’s all native, no patchy workarounds.
Highly effective Views:
Entry and visualize information in grid, kanban, calendar, gallery, checklist, and timeline views. You’ll be able to filter, type, group: all the usual stuff, however extra powerfully layered.
Inside Automations:
Stackby’s automation engine isn’t the flashiest available on the market, nevertheless it’s stable. And most significantly, it doesn’t always make you are worried about what number of “runs” or “actions” you’ve used up for the month.
You’ll be able to:
- Set triggers on type submissions, document adjustments, or particular dates.
- Ship emails, replace values, or push notifications inside Stackby.
- And now, with inner automations, you possibly can create multi-step workflows, completely inside your Stack, with out counting on any exterior apps.
It’s nonetheless enhancing, positive, nevertheless it’s already an enormous assist in order for you fundamental automation baked proper into your workspace.
Apps Market:
Improve performance by including mini-tools (apps) to your Stack like: charts, pivot tables, purpose tracker, time tracker, web page designer, maps, and extra.
1000+ Pre Constructed Templates:
Must whip up a content material calendar? A shopper tracker? A manufacturing dashboard?
Stackby’s bought 1,000+ templates you possibly can clone and use immediately. And never simply half-baked samples both, these are actual, useful templates throughout industries: Advertising, Gross sales, HR, Undertaking Administration, Actual Property, even Legislation Corporations.
50+ API Connectors linked to your columns:
In contrast to Airtable, the place you typically must hook up instruments like Zapier or Make to fetch information from different platforms, Stackby helps you to join on to over 50+ companies, Google Analytics, YouTube, Mailchimp, Fb Advertisements, Shopify, and extra.
And it’s not simply one-way. You’ll be able to pull reside information proper into your tables, refresh it manually or mechanically, and construct real-time dashboards with out juggling a number of platforms.
5000+ App Integrations:
Simply join Stackby with over 5000 apps utilizing Zapier, Pabbly, or Integrately, no matter fits your workflow greatest. Automate throughout instruments with out the standard setup problem.
Granular Sharing & Permissions:
With granular management entry on the desk, column, views ranges, you possibly can:
- Lock down complete views or stacks.
- Disguise particular columns from sure collaborators.
- Limit modifying rights per column, per consumer.
This issues particularly in the event you’re working with exterior groups, purchasers, or freelancers and don’t need everybody poking round delicate stuff.
Responsive Help:
Stackby provides devoted assist through chat, e-mail, and assist middle sources. Whether or not you are caught with automation or simply exploring templates, assist’s often a click on away.
Compliance & Safety:
Knowledge is encrypted in transit and at relaxation. Stackby follows industry-standard safety protocols, role-based permissions, and provides fine-grained entry controls to maintain your information protected.
Clear & Scalable Pricing:
In contrast to Airtable, Stackby’s pricing doesn’t shoot up as your staff or information grows. You get entry to highly effective options, even on the free and starter plans, with out hidden surprises.
Airtable vs Stackby: Function Comparability Desk
Airtable is clear and easy, nice in the event you’re simply getting began. However as you develop, limits present up quick.
Extra data? Improve. Extra automations? Improve. API work? Not so versatile.
Stackby provides you extra room to develop. Extra options. Higher management. And no paywall surprises each different step.
In contrast to Airtable, Stackby doesn’t throw you from free straight into an costly tier, there are in-between plans that really make sense for various staff sizes and wishes. So the soar by no means feels steep.
It’s higher for:
- Groups utilizing spreadsheets however needing automation
- Ops groups counting on exterior APIs
- Companies juggling purchasers or workflows
- Anybody carried out with Airtable’s limits
Last Ideas
Airtable bought lots of people into the no-code mindset. It modified how groups take into consideration working with information. However it’s not all the time the long-term resolution, particularly for rising groups or these needing deeper integrations and management.
That’s the place Stackby has actually discovered its stride. It’s not attempting to be Airtable 2.0. It’s extra like an influence device for individuals who’ve hit the bounds of what Airtable can provide, and wish one thing extra customizable, with out blowing the funds.
So, in the event you’re in that in-between house, the place Airtable’s been good however not fairly nice recently, it’s most likely time to present Stackby a glance.
You is perhaps stunned by how far you possibly can go when the device doesn’t maintain you again.
