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Airtable Reviews & Product Details
Airtable is a powerful visual project management platform that synergizes data, workflows, and execution teams on a unified dashboard. Streamlining work streams, the platform provides a synced and up-to-date information database that can be accessed by all stakeholders across different departments. Customization is at the heart of Airtable, allowing teams to create personalized apps and a tailored interface allowing easy access to relevant information and giving clear sightlines to the next steps. While customization is a key benefit, it also offers ready-to-use and pre-loaded industry-agnostic templates while extensive integrations and expandability make it scalable and agile.
| Capabilities |
API
|
|---|---|
| Segment |
Small Business
Mid Market
Enterprise
|
| Deployment | Cloud / SaaS / Web-Based, Mobile Android, Mobile iPad, Mobile iPhone |
| Support | 24/7 (Live rep), Chat, Email/Help Desk, FAQs/Forum, Knowledge Base, Phone Support |
| Training | Documentation |
| Languages | English |
Workflow management is a critical part of any job. It’s what keeps a project moving, and a team motivated to see it through. But, how do you support effective workflow management?
You start with understanding better what tools, platforms, and software are out there that can support your team’s ability to effectively manage workflow and collaborate within their teams and beyond.
To that end, we’ve identified Airtable as a strong market leader in workflow management software. So, let’s dive into Airtable’s features, capabilities, and price points to help you better understand your options.
What Is Airtable?
Airtable is a workflow management application with highly customizable database management tools used predominantly for collaborative project management.
The focus on having accessible, easy-to-use software to help with project management is increasing, and Airtable is a top choice. It features a familiar spreadsheet interface, but unlike traditional spreadsheet software that only records data, Airtable can also help you organize, sync, and manage your data and customize exactly how you need it.
For example, let’s say you’re using Airtable to manage vendor management workflow for an event. This would entail designing the database to include fields for:
- Vendors’ contact details
- Links to their websites
- Inputting key information, such as lead times, product availabilities, and prices
- Uploading order confirmations
- Uploading invoices
- Important notes and comments about the vendor
The option to invite collaborators to this database is also critical so individual users can easily update data in real-time. Having all these features in a single platform means users can clearly follow the progression of a particular project and keep everyone in the team up-to-date on their tasks and next steps.
How Much is Airtable
Airtable’s interface is very flexible and is ideal for numerous industries. While it has been marketed to larger corporations, most users who have had hands-on experience with the platform say that it is just as useful for smaller businesses.
This is reflected in Airtable’s pricing, which follows a monthly subscription model. This subscription cost increases depending on the number of features and ‘seats’ you choose to purchase, making it highly scalable depending on your organization’s needs.
Airtable’s features are grouped into four levels, and the price per seat rises accordingly. A breakdown of each level can be found below:
Free
- Designed for very small teams or individuals
- Up to 5 editors and unlimited ‘read-only’ users
- 1200 records per base
- 2GB of attachments
Plus
$10 per seat – Billed annually
$12 per seat – Billed monthly
- For small to medium-sized organizations
- Eliminates information silos within a team by connecting applications
- More advanced collaboration features
- 5,000 records per base
- 5GB of attachments
Pro
$20 per seat – Billed annually
$24 per seat – Billed monthly
- For medium to large organizations who need to streamline and collaborate on top-priority data
- More advanced features
- 50,000 records per base
- 20 GB of attachments
Enterprise
- Price is customized to your organization’s needs
- Enterprise-wide admin panel
- For organizations who need a scalable product to keep up with workloads
- Unlimited workspaces per organization
- 250,000 records per base
- 1,000 GB of attachments
How Airtable Works
Airtable was built to be as customizable as possible, giving users the ability to display their data in a way that meets their specific needs—whether that means a simple presentation or a more complex one.
Getting started is simple.
You start with an empty Airtable, which is essentially your ‘base.’ From here, you just fill it with your data. You can either use a template and bring in data from another source or construct a database from scratch. Whatever the case, you can leverage Airtable’s features to tailor the platform to meet your needs. For example, you can use the Interface Design feature to visually present data in a way that makes the most sense to you and your team.
Familiarizing and understanding all of Airtable’s features and capabilities may require some effort, but the payoff is worth it. Taking the time to learn the platform will ensure users have full control over their data and workflow management.
Features
Access to Airtable’s numerous features will depend on your subscription and, subsequently, the scalability of your projects. However, all subscription options should include:
- Unlimited bases
- Sync integrations
- The ability to add attachments
- Revision and snapshot history reporting
- Field and editing permissions
- Extension add-ons (e.g., data visualization or reporting extensions)
Airtable also provides:
Customizable Views
With a click of a button, this feature gives users the flexibility to switch between different data views. Users can view project timelines via the Timeline View, and easily switch to managing team tasks on the collaborative Kanban View. Other viewing options are also available ensuring that you can customize your viewing experience so you can maximize the platform.
The Timeline View
The Kanban View
Automations
Airtable Automations lets users streamline their work processes and boost team efficiency by providing customization options for notifications and creating multi-step workflows. The feature is helpful in terms of tracking project timelines and helping eliminate manual, repetitive tasks. Additionally, it can also minimize the risk of user error.
Syncing
Airtable’s ability to synchronize data means users have a central repository of information that is updated in real-time across all users and departments. It’s a useful tool that promotes seamless collaboration and data integrations, allowing everyone to enjoy a comprehensive understanding of project status or workflows at the speed of need.
Reporting
To enhance your project’s reporting capabilities, Airtable’s powerful reporting tools and extensions let users create highly customized reports that visualize your data in a simple understandable way. You can choose from a variety of charts, graphs, and tables to ensure that information is presented in a way that is easy to understand.
Integrations
Airtable offers robust integration that lets you connect the platform to a wide range of software; ensuring that all the project management tools that you use operate seamlessly. Airtable’s integrations mean multiple applications can be streamlined to automatically sync data, share information between different platforms, and automate tasks so workflows can be further improved.
Templates
Airtable’s templates can be used to effectively organize every aspect of your project’s workflows. Their pre-designed databases can be used as a great starting point for your projects. Conveniently, Airtable templates are also organized into several categories and industries, which helps you save time and effort from creating a new one from scratch. As always, these pre-populated grids are highly customizable.
Airtable Pros and Cons
Pros
- Facilitates easy collaboration between teams with company-wide visibility of plans, calendars, and workflows.
- Both Google and non-Google users can take advantage of all the features and integrations to support workflow management and collaboration
- Highly customizable bases and effective reporting features
Cons
- The platform’s user interface can be complicated for beginners
- Requires a significant learning curve
Airtable Alternatives
A great way to decide whether Airtable is the right software for you is to compare it to other options in the workflow management space.
Eliminate the hassle of comparing options by choosing from your top choices below. With the ability to review features and relevant information in one place, you can utilize our comprehensive product reviews to gather the necessary data you need to make well-informed decisions.
ClickUp
An all-in-one project management application, Clickup is designed to be used across any industry. From solo users to larger organizations, Clickup focuses on task management to help teams streamline their workflow.
ClickUp offers numerous workflow features and data views, including a built-in Table View to ensure your team always has access to a condensed, actionable snapshot of your projects.
Notion
Designed for smaller teams or individuals, Notion is an all-in-one SaaS note-taking app and database for streamlined project management. Some features include:
- A web clipper so you can easily save images and sites
- A real-time messenger feature
- Allows for category and page hierarchy organization
Hive
With a focus on automation tools, Hive aims to simplify overly complicated work processes through email and task automation. Boasting a user-friendly dashboard, Hive aims to help teams of all sizes automate time-consuming work tasks to give time back to a project’s creation and growth.
A Final Findstack Opinion
Overall, Airtable is a highly comprehensive and customizable workflow management application.
Airtable’s app offers flexibility by allowing you to switch views and integrate reporting extensions, ensuring your data is suitable for various applications. Additionally, its extensive list of integrations enables you to consolidate all your preferred tools and their data in one convenient location.
It’s important to keep in mind, however, that these features are only useful for those willing to take the time to learn them. Airtable’s interface can be quite overwhelming for new users so our advice is to scale to higher subscription packages only after you’ve taken the time to learn the app’s features and familiarize yourself with them.
Compare Airtable with other popular tools in the same category.
I like the attractive, intuitive interface as we as the ease of onboarding new users.
Some of the simplicity leaves further customization off the table, but I think it is worth it to keep things clean and easy to use.
Airtable helps our team manage our workload, no matter where they are. We can make quick updates on the fly, which keeps the tool super fluid and relevant.
- data architecture - easy automations - easy interfaces for KPI's - always live data - everyone can work at the same time - you only need a browser, no instatllation
- you cannot color single cells or columns or lines
- reduce a huge number of Excel spreadsheets in one Airtable base - easy combination with softr (website builder) and make automation to other SW API's - the business performance increases significantly - you can save manpower that did not add value to your work (you don't need to copy/paste anymore)
It easily acts as a single source of truth so that everyone on a project's team has the visibility they need. It prevents duplicate work from being done and makes it simple to go back and get data when you're looking to evaluate the impact of your efforts.
Honestly, the pricing is the worst part. I think you all should move away from charging by the user because it's not realistic for agencies or large companies who have teams of people hopping in and out of airtable even if it's just to QA or get visibility into something, or peek at a branding doc, etc. Also, I think that Airtable has amazing capabilities but charging by the seat put all the pressure of maintenance on a single person or a few people. I bet AirTable is very underutilized by customers.
Keeping multiple projects for multiple client accounts organized. Unfortunately, because of the seat pricing, my clients are reluctant to use it and getting buy-in for them to utilize it is hard. It would work so much better is both were invested in it. Also, it makes running a content calendar so easy, and is great to catalog resources like ebooks, whitepapers, etc.
I love too many things about Airtable. Firstly I find it quite useful to organize and relate data. Sometimes you have to work with abstract connections between different data, and Airtable allows me to set a reference and define the rest of the parameters around them. Also, it's so helpful to have different ways to display the same information. In my office, we use personal and 'grouped' views to customize the content each person has to see. And of course being able to set a calendar, gallery or kanban view it's great to optimize some other tasks through a visual display. I wouldn't stop talking about features that I like...the extension for graphs, automations, the link with Miro, the general customization, the drag and drop function, filters, etc.
As I said before, I love the software so much...that's why sometimes I even expect (maybe) too much from it. But one of the things I find a bit tricky is that you can't create a group of blank records at once. In my job, sometimes I have to create 300 records which I will later be filling up, so creating them one by one it's a bit annoying. Also, I've seen the software change through time and evolve a lot; I've noticed it has many new functionalities and options that sound amazing (I know about them by reading the e-mails you send). In this aspect, it's a pity that my colleagues and I barely have time to check and investigate these new features, even if we are interested in them. So I think it would be helpful to have a more attractive, engaging and simple way to discover them without making a considerable effort (I know it could sound too picky, and it is! haha, I'm just trying to tell you how our experience is with the updates on the software).
As I said it before: organization and visualization of data. But also helps to manage our team and products (specially when talking about tech products). Airtable allowed us to scale up our production by helping to classify the information, connect data from the search along the whole process. From the research phase till the final publication and delivery to our users.
Airtable is incredibly easy to use. We're using the Airtable API to connect our backend to it - and then it so effortlessly allows us to connect to a multitude of other apps via Zapier. Saving us a lot of development effort. It syncs data on a live basis and allows us to feed that data into other applications. It is quick and easy to access, and can easily set up new workflows or tables. In addition, Airtable is a great software because it allows you to create custom applications without having to code. It also has a robust set of features that allow you to do everything from managing your to-do list to tracking your inventory.
There can be a little learning curve and there are just so many use cases for Airtable across the whole business, at times it can feel like you're spending your whole life on the platform. The possibilities are endless. Sometimes getting some integrations to work through Zapier can be a little tricky however. The UI can sometimes also be a little complicated, taking several steps to complete a simple task - and the dashboard is also not very customisable.
Allows us to connect and sync our data with numerous apps very quickly. We can also edit, update or add more data very easily. Airtable acts as our one source of truth for important data across the company.
Airtable gives me the ability to collect critical information from my geographically dispersed sales team and turn that information into actionable data - at a fraction of the cost of similar alternatives for my use case. And I love how easy it is to generate a virtually infinite variety of views of my data without having to worry about creating a problem with the underlying data.
Airtable doesn't handle printing well. Most of the time, it's not a big deal, but there are times that it's been very frustrating. And some elements of their subscription model are frustrating - two people who each have a Pro level account and have their own "workspace" cannot collaborate without one or the other paying for an additional user license.
I use my entire travel agency "back office" on Airtable. I use it to record sales for myself and my entire team, keep track of commissions from nearly 100 different suppliers, and track commission payments to sales agents.
User friendly. Most of it is self explanitory. I am able to streamline some of my work issues using Airtable. But I am still missing a few things that would make it even more user friendly. The interfaces needs some updates.
In order to send a form that is prefilled you need to change the whole address that you send to customers. But not everyone gets that link and you can't copy and paste it. You have to recreate it each time. super annoying.
We needed a CRM and it is working great for that. I'm still waiting for the forms to be able to view from right to left and that would be even better. But i see they are always improving.
Airtable gave me the opportunity to upgrade my small business operations from a pile of spreadsheets to an integrated ERP tailored to our needs for a fraction of the price of dedicated, ready-made software. It makes my work and my staff's easier, quicker, more organized and productive and on top of all that, with automations and integrations it takes lots of tasks off of our hands plus avoids mistakes
I wish there was an intermediate plan before enterprise to access more functionality.
From Bill of Materials for cost an price calculation and instant quotes on custom-made products, to planning and reporting of marketing actions and assets, through inventory, sales and purchases. Easy to use and create interfaces for every staff member
The degree to which I can customize anything I build in Airtable is incredible. I use it for archiving and workflows in my career, for budgeting and retaining documents at home, and even for organizing client portfolios when I freelance. It is incredible!
Like all powerful tools, Airtable requires a lot of experimentation to use it to its fullest capacity. While you can jump right in and create something useful in minutes, it takes considerable time to get the most value out of it.
My favorite use for Airtable is for saving information and documents that overlap into multiple categories so that no matter what grouping I'm looking at, I can find the information I need quickly and without having to search in half a dozen folders and subfolders. It saves me so much time!
Super easy to get started with and useful for so many things that you want to put everything in it
You will need to allow yourself some time to really think about your data -- both how to connect it (relationships) and how to pull it apart (normalizing it).
Gives us one unified source of truth for all our product data, and all our geographically-distanced team members easy self-serve access to that data.
