Airtable Review
Airtable makes some bold claims on its website about how great its software is, and according to the company, many large brands, including Time, Spotify, and A+E Networks, use Airtable. With so many large companies using the platform, we just had to check it out. If you want to learn more, dig into our Airtable review.
Airtable is a unique project management platform that sits proudly in our roundup of the best project management software. Our findings show that there are many things to like about Airtable, and that Airtable’s approach to customization is like a breath of fresh air in a stagnant room. Still, there are a few downsides that we’ll also share with you in our full Airtable review.
Key Takeaways: Airtable Review
- Airtable’s loaded free plan is a fantastic option for teams with a tight budget.
- Airtable is one of the most user-friendly, do-it-all project management platforms around.
- The interface design brings god-like versatility to the platform.
- If you need advanced admin and security features, be prepared to step up to the Enterprise plan.
If you’ve ever wondered if Airtable is a good fit, stick around. During this review, we’ll be talking about everything from Airtable’s features and plans, to its pricing, customer support, security, privacy and more, so that you can see if it’s the right tool for you.
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05/25/2023 Facts checked
Our Airtable review has been rewritten with new information and an easy-to-read format.
Airtable is a fantastic project management tool that offers enough workflow tools to suit multiple methodologies. Airtable’s free plan is strong, and the paid tiers are affordable. Whether you work on simple or complex tasks, Airtable can handle them.
Aside from using a few uncommon technical terms here and there, and some questionable customer support decisions, there are no cons that will affect how you’ll work. Airtable is a robust platform.
Airtable is versatile enough to handle almost any project that’s thrown at it. If you manage software development teams, are involved in personal and business inventory management, or watch over marketing teams, you’ll be fine. If you need software that can manage databases, Airtable could also be for you.
Airtable is wonderful project management software. There are enough tools to suit most workflows, it’s easy to use, and Airtable is affordable.
Airtable Alternatives
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4$9.80 / month(All Plans)
- 5$15 / month(All Plans)
- 6
Airtable Review: Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Nice interface
- Very customizable
- Many task management tools
- Good free plan
- Affordable paid tiers
Cons:
- Uncommon verbiage
- Odd feature progression
- Staggered support options
- Critical tools exclusive to Enterprise plan
Features
After we completed a comprehensive evaluation of Airtable’s features, we can say you won’t be disappointed with what’s on offer. Airtable is suitable for many project management methodologies thanks to its suite of task management tools and more. There’s a lot to like about Airtable. Let’s break the features down, starting with defining them all.
Defining Airtable Features & Functions
Airtable’s terminology might be confusing, compared to other project management tools. We’ll start by providing some key definitions to reduce the confusion.
- Bases: Bases are nothing more than spreadsheets with a fancy name.
- Records: When Airtable talks about records, it’s talking about the number of rows on the spreadsheet.
- Tables: Tables are typically used to house extra information, like product information, that can be shared across records and bases.
- Sections: Sections are collapsible information segments housed in the navigation sidebar.
- Creators: Creators can create formulas, add and delete fields, create new tables, and generally have free reign in Airtable.
- Editors: Users who are designated as editors can edit spreadsheets that creators have made.
- Extensions: Extensions are plug-ins that add extra functionality to your base; they should not be confused with integrations.
- Multi-source syncing: This feature lets you sync data from multiple sources into a table in one base.
- Snapshot history: Snapshot histories are backups of your base that vary in length depending on your plan.
Airtable Free Plan Features
We’ll start things off by looking at Airtable’s solid free plan. This plan includes unlimited “bases” with 1,200 “records” that support rich fields — dropdown boxes, check boxes and attachments — for up to five team members. You can also use 1,200 records per table, and Airtable’s nifty interface designer and mobile apps are included, too.
The free version supports 2GB of storage per base and comes with a two-week snapshot. There are grid, list, calendar, form, kanban and gallery views, as well as support for one extension per base. You can use 100 automations monthly, one sync automation and automation integrations.
On-demand webinars, access to the knowledgebase and support with 48-hour response times round out the free version. This plan is ideal for individuals and small teams needing Airtable’s basic features.
Airtable Plus Plan Features
The Plus plan includes everything found in the free plan and adds support for unlimited users, 5,000 records per base and table, and 5GB of attachment space. Support for extensions and sync integrations are increased to three, and monthly automations are upped to 5,000. Automatic syncing is enabled, and you get access to custom-branded forms.
Customer support is increased slightly in the Plus plan, too. Instead of waiting up to 48 hours to receive help, the time is decreased to around 24 hours. In addition, the revision and snapshot histories increase to six months.
Airtable Pro Plan Features
The Pro plan makes Airtable suitable for large teams working on more complex projects. All the tools mentioned before are included and are joined by 20GB of attachment space and 50,000 records per base and table. Gantt charts, timelines, personal views, locked views and sections are added, too.
A few more advanced features also make their way into the Pro plan, and you start to get some admin options with the introduction of granular interface permissions. The number of add-ons you can use increases to 10, you can run 50,000 automations per month, and the revision and snapshot history jumps to one year.
You also get a premium integration in Jira Cloud. You can sync 10 tables per base, multi-source syncing and a few more customization and advanced calendar options.
Airtable Enterprise Plan Features
Airtable’s Enterprise plan is for those who need total control over a large team. Everything mentioned before is here, and it’s joined by 1,000GB of storage, 250,000 records per base and 100,000 records per table. Automations increase to 500,000 per month, 20 tables per base can be synced and the revision/snapshot history jumps to three years.
Project managers will appreciate admin panel support for the interface designer and the SAML-based single sign-on, company account, unlimited workspaces, invoices, enterprise-wide admin panel, service accounts for external services and enhanced deletion recovery options. The goodies don’t stop there, though.
The premium Jira integration includes the platform’s server and data center. Tableau and SalesForce integrations are added, customer support response times drop to 12 hours, and depending on how much you spend, you might get access to a customer success manager, consultations with Airtable experts, custom base training and base-build services.
Workflow and Task Management Tools
Airtable started life as a more sophisticated spreadsheet alternative to the likes of Google Sheets. However, over the years, the number of workflow tools has increased. You’ll still find easy-to-use spreadsheets that are detail-filled yet manageable, but now, you can also find Gantt charts, lists, calendars, robust kanban boards, grids and timeline views.
Airtable’s workflow and task tools are intuitive and snappy, which is not always the case with a do-it-all project management tool. In fact, the kanban boards are some of our favorites to use outside of Trello (here’s our Trello review), while the Gantt charts rival those found in TeamGantt (here’s our TeamGantt review).
Interacting with tasks is straightforward. Adding due dates, assigning tasks, leaving comments, and adding dependencies and custom fields is painless. However, the real star of Airtable is the feature-rich spreadsheet tool that lets you import data from other spreadsheet platforms, as well as allows you to interact and sort your data in ways that regular spreadsheets can’t.
For example, you can see thumbnails of attachments, wrap text in cells and create recurring tasks with a single click. Every change you make is also reflected in the other tools. You can also go old-school and use formulas if you’d like. It’s hard to make spreadsheets sexy, but Airtable has pulled it off. No matter what you’re working on, you’ll have no problem keeping track of tasks with these tools.
Collaboration Tools
During our time with Airtable, we found that it falls flat when it comes to collaboration tools. You’re limited to using @mentions on task cards to communicate with your team, which, to be fair, works well. Still, it’s a far cry from the simply stunning WhatsApp-like chat functions found in Nifty (check out our Nifty review), which offers individual and team direct messages, voice messaging and more.
If you want to communicate more efficiently with your team, you’ll need to rely on integrations with third-party apps like Slack and Microsoft Teams. There are also no real-time whiteboard tools like those that can be found in ClickUp (here’s our ClickUp review) or document creation tools like those found in Notion (check out our Notion review).
Each plan does allow users to upload supporting documents and image files, which is always handy. Just be sure to make a note of your storage limits. If document collaboration is a priority, you might be better off using Google Drive, Dropbox or OneDrive. In a nutshell, Airtable could do a much better job with its chat and collaboration tools, in general.
Automations and Integrations
Airtable offers integrations for Google Workspace, Box, Microsoft Outlook, Slack and many other third-party apps. However, if you need to integrate with Jira, you’ll need to be a Pro member, while SalesForce and Tableau integrations require Enterprise membership. You can also use Zapier to add more service integrations.
Enabling integrations within Airtable is a piece of cake. You’ll have to watch how many integrations you use, though, as each paid plan limits how many integration syncs you can have, which we’re not a fan of.
Automations are also easy to implement. While Airtable’s automation builder isn’t our favorite, it’s workable. A simple dropdown menu lets you choose third-party applications you can make automations for, and the trigger-and-actions builder is a straightforward “if this trigger happens, perform this action” affair. Spend a little time with the automations builder and you’ll be golden.
Extensions
Airtable offers users of all plans access to extensions, with the caveat that each plan limits how many extensions you can use. The extensions are varied and powerful, though. You’ll find everything from reporting tools to time-tracking features, relationship management tools and an advanced calendar view. You can choose what you need to make Airtable work for you.
Once you have selected your extensions, you access them by clicking the extension button on the main window. You’re then instantly shown whatever data you have configured to display. We wish Airtable allowed more extensions per plan, as they can quickly become vital, so keep this in mind when choosing which plan to sign up for.
Reporting Tools
Airtable will quickly become a favorite for project managers who like visual reports. You can create dashboards effortlessly in Airtable that display a wide range of information from your projects. Your data is visualized as pie charts, bar graphs, large text and more.
You can create as many report dashboards as needed, and each can show a myriad of information that’s easy to digest. You can also download and use many reporting extensions from within airtable that support pivot tables and charts. If you can think of a way to display data in Airtable, you can create it easily.
Admin Tools
For project managers who look after a large team, you’ll want to ensure that you — or your company — use the Enterprise plan, because Airtable has annoyingly locked almost all admin tools to this tier.
Free, Plus and Pro members have little access to admin tools. Owners of these plans can invite users, rename workspaces, add and delete workspaces, adjust billing options and grant owner permissions. You can also edit a few permissions per base, like who can edit fields, and you can impose base sharing restrictions, but that’s about it.
If you want more advanced user permissions that give full control over team members, you’ll have to pay for the Enterprise plan. Most other platforms, like Asana (here’s our Asana review), give more granular user controls in each tier. In Asana’s case, the admin console is available from the first paid plan. Locking these tools to the Enterprise plan is, in our estimation, a major misstep on Airtable’s part.
Desktop and Mobile Apps
Airtable provides native desktop apps for Windows and macOS, and mobile apps for iOS and Android devices. Like many other platforms, Airtable’s native desktop apps operate identically to the web version. The apps are slick, smooth and fuss-free. We highly recommend them. Unfortunately, Airtable’s mobile apps leave a lot to be desired.
The mobile interface looks nice, but there are hardly any features, and you’re limited to kanban and grid views. On the iOS version of the app, you get a warning saying Gantt and timeline views aren’t available. You also cannot see any custom interfaces. You can perform basic task management duties like leaving a comment, assigning tasks, changing due dates and so on, but that’s it.
We hope Airtable continues to develop the mobile app. As it stands, it’s a long way behind Scoro (here’s our Scoro review), which offers one of the best mobile project management experiences. Download the desktop app, but skip the mobile offering.
Airtable Features Overview
 | |
|---|---|
| Management Views | |
| Kanban board | |
| List | |
| Calendar | |
| Timeline | |
| Spreadsheet view | |
| Gantt charts | |
| Workload planning | |
| Long-term planning | |
| Management Features | |
| Multiple project management | |
| Dependency management | |
| Native scrum management | |
| Set user permissions | |
| File storage | |
| Time-tracking | |
| Built-in integrations | |
| Reporting features | |
| General Features | |
| Free plan | |
| Free Trial | 14 days |
| Web app | |
| Windows | |
| MacOS | |
| Android | |
| iOS | |
| Support | |
| Ticket-based support | |
| Tutorials | |
| Knowledgebase | |
| Forum | |
| Live chat | |
| Phone support |
Pricing
Airtable keeps it simple regarding its plans and pricing. As mentioned above, you have the free plan, which offers a great starting place. The first paid tier, which is called Plus, costs $12 per user per month if you pay monthly and $10 per user per month if you pay for a year upfront.
Next is the Pro plan, which doubles in price. You can expect to pay $24 per member per month monthly, or $20 per user per month annually. After Pro, you jump into the Enterprise plan. You’ll need to contact Airtable to receive an Enterprise plan quote. Based on our experience, we can say this plan will be costly, so be prepared to pay for it.
Airtable Cost-Benefit Analysis
Overall, Airtable’s pricing isn’t bad. Airtable is cheaper than ClickUp (here’s our ClickUp pricing guide) when you pay monthly and is in line with Wrike (check out our Wrike pricing guide), but your money will get you fewer features. If Airtable has what you need and you like its toolbox, these prices are very palatable.
Remember, you can always try the free account, and Airtable also offers a 14-day trial of its Pro Plan.
- All views (except Gantt), 1,200 record, 2GB file storage
- 5,000 records, 5GB storage
- Gantt view, 50,000 records, 20GB storage
User-Friendliness
Based on our testing, we can confidently say that Airtable is one of the most user-friendly project management tools on the market. The slick interface and training materials make it easy to hit the ground running. Even signing up for Airtable is straightforward. The only thing making it confusing is its terminology. Below, we’ll break things down further.
User Interface
Out of the box, Airtable is a delight to use. You’ll find approachable tools that are easy to find thanks to well-designed menus. The fonts used are easy on the eye, and there are clean templates that can get you up and running quickly. Teams, whether new or experienced, will take to Airtable like a duck to water.
What makes Airtable unique is that you don’t have to settle for the interface that Airtable designed. Instead, you can make your own that better meets the needs of your team. The interface designer, which is available in every plan, is fantastic. If you’ve ever used a website builder like Squarespace or have used the Gutenberg update in WordPress, you’ll feel at home.
The interface tool provides premade templates, or you can start with a clean slate. You can drag and drop elements like charts, graphs, statistics, tasks, image galleries, calendars and almost every tool Airtable offers in your workspace. You’ll then find your custom interface sitting alongside the regular views. You can make Airtable work for you, and that’s priceless.
Learning Curve and Training Tools
After trying Airtable, we found it to be very approachable. There’s nothing too foreign about the way the platform works that will throw you for a loop. Perhaps the hardest thing to overcome is the terminology that Airtable uses, but you’ll soon become accustomed to words like records bases, tables and extensions.
Regarding training, Airtable has an extensive knowledgebase, a handy AI chatbot and on-demand webinars. The help documents are easy to read and have excellent supporting images and GIFs. There are also videos and plenty of FAQs. Enterprise members have access to some custom training options, too. If you get stuck, you’ll find what you need quickly.
Security & Privacy
After evaluating the security options in the software, we’re confident that your data can be secure. We say it can be secure because a lot depends on your plan and how you sign up for the service.
On the server side, all is well. Airtable uses Amazon Web Services to store data. The platform has ISO, IEC and SOC 2 certifications. Security scans are performed daily, and staff complete annual training. Airtable also employs 256-bit TLS encryption for data in transit and AES-256 encryption for data at rest.
On the software side, things could be better. Most advanced security features, like SAML single sign-on and password-restricted shares, are reserved for Pro and Enterprise Plans. All plans can use two-factor authentication, but you must sign up for Airtable using an email address and password. If you sign up using Google or another platform, you must rely on that platform’s 2FA features.
After sifting through Airtable’s privacy policy, we can report that there’s not much to worry about. Like other platforms, Airtable collects the standard gamut of user information from you, but does not pass it along to third parties.
Airtable is GDPR compliant and follows local laws for California in the form of CCPA compliance. Airtable also has separate policies for members living in Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Nevada, Utah, Canada and Switzerland. Of course, we still recommend you read the privacy policy before signing up, but Airtable is in line with the rest of the industry.
Customer Support
Airtable’s options for customer support are OK, but again, they could be better. Airtable offers ticket-based support but no live chat or phone support. Unfortunately, Airtable staggers different levels of support across its various plans. All plans have access to in-product support during business hours, and all customers have access to the Airtable community, which is excellent.
Our issue is that Airtable’s response times vary greatly. Free members get help within 48 hours. Plus and Pro members can get help from Airtable within 24 hours, while Enterprise customers can receive assistance within 12 hours. The Enterprise plan also receives 24/5 support. This situation is not ideal. Still, we sent a help request and did receive solid help within 24 hours.
We’re not questioning the quality of Airtable’s support. It was fine. However, Airtable could benefit from taking a look at what Plaky (here’s our Plaky review) and Leantime (check out our Leantime review) are doing to support their customers. You’ll get support from Airtable, but your mileage will vary based on your plan.
The Verdict
Airtable is a solid project management platform that deserves its place on our list of the best project management software. You can quickly create projects and project tasks. There are plenty of features that are wrapped in a user-friendly interface that, if you don’t like, can be replaced with one you design yourself.
Airtable’s free plan offers a great introduction to the software, while the paid plans won’t break the bank. We wish customer support was a little better and that so many advanced features weren’t reserved for the Enterprise plan. Still, overall, Airtable is versatile and user-friendly. What do you think of Airtable? Let us know in the comments below, and as always, thank you for reading.
