9 Best Airtable Alternatives in 2026 (Free & Paid AI Tools)

Powerdrill Bloom·August 27, 2026

Airtable describes its AI as built for the way your business actually works, and its builder, Omni, as a conversational AI builder for complete apps. That is a wide brief, which is exactly why teams start comparing.

This comparison is built from published facts only. Every price and every capability below comes from each vendor's own pages, checked on August 27, 2026.

9 Best Airtable Alternatives: At a glance

The nine tools below answer the same question in very different shapes. Some are databases, some are app builders, and one produces documents instead of holding data.

Alternative	Best for	Starting paid price	Key difference from Airtable
Powerdrill Bloom	Turning a file into a finished deliverable	$13.27 per month, billed annually	Output is a document, deck, or sheet rather than a base
Smartsheet	Managing programmes at organisational scale	$9 per Member per month, billed yearly	Sheet-and-portfolio model with published MCP integrations
Baserow	An open-source base you can self-host	$10 per user per month, billed yearly	Cloud or self-hosted, with row ceilings per workspace
NocoDB	Putting a grid on databases you already run	$12 per seat per month, billed annually	Connects to external databases on higher tiers
Teable	A base with a chat-native agent	$10 per seat per month, billed yearly	Agent reachable from Slack, Telegram, and WhatsApp
Softr	Client-facing portals over your data	$19 per month	Priced per workspace, with separate app-user tiers
Grist	Spreadsheet formulas with database structure	$8 per user per month, billed annually	Excel-like formula coverage and a free self-host route
Stackby	A grid wired to API connectors	$4.20 per user per month, billed annually	Capacity published per stack rather than per base
Retool	Internal tools where code is expected	$10 per builder per month	Separate prices for builders and internal users

Why people look for Airtable alternatives

Airtable covers a genuinely wide brief, and for many teams that breadth is the whole appeal. One platform holds the data, the interface, and the automations.

Its AI page is specific about what the assistant does. Omni is described as an app builder, data analyst, and web researcher, and Field Agents are described as AI-powered researchers, analysts, and content creators.

Teams still shop around, usually for one of four reasons.

Record ceilings arrive sooner than expected. Airtable publishes capacity per base, at 1,000 records on Free, 50,000 on Team, and 100,000 on Business.

The metering has two speeds. Airtable states that asking Omni to build and iterate on apps "comes at no additional cost." Analysis questions about your data, it says, "cost 10 credits per response."

Self-hosting is a requirement. Some organisations need the data on infrastructure they control, which rules out a cloud-only platform.

The deliverable is a document. A base is a place to keep data. Some teams need a report, a deck, or a cleaned sheet as the actual output.

1. Powerdrill Bloom: Best for turning a file into a finished deliverable

Powerdrill Bloom is an AI data analysis workspace with memory. Its home page describes the product as "The AI data analyst that shows its work."

The provenance claim is the specific part. The same page states that "Every number comes back with the page, the row and the figure behind it."

Deployment is named there too. The page describes running "on-premise or in your private cloud, for data that cannot leave your network." The footer states SOC 2 Type 2 certification.

The input side is published as a list. The connectors page names Excel, TSV, and CSV handling alongside text-to-SQL.

How it differs from Airtable

No base to build first: The input is an uploaded file, so nothing has to be modelled before you get an answer
The artifact is the output: Plans list slides, Office documents, and Excel analysis alongside charts and summaries
Credits refresh daily: The free plan lists 1,000 daily refreshed credits rather than a monthly pool

Pros

Free plan lists uploads for Excel, CSV, PDF, and docs, plus basic slides, docs, sheets, and images
Scheduled tasks are published per plan, at 1 on Free and 20 on Pro
Team Pro is listed at the same per-seat rate as the individual Pro plan

Cons

The pricing page does not describe record storage, bases, or app building, so it is not a replacement for a base
The free plan carries a single scheduled task, so recurring delivery needs a paid tier

Pricing

Powerdrill Bloom lists Free at $0 and Pro at $13.27 per month billed annually. Plus is $26.60 and Premium is $132.67, with Team Pro at $13.27 per seat per month. Check the pricing page, then try Powerdrill Bloom on a real export.

Bottom line

This fits the case where a file arrives and a document is due. If you actually need a place to store and relate records, Baserow or NocoDB start much closer to that shape.

2. Smartsheet: Best for managing programmes at organisational scale

Smartsheet keeps the sheet as the unit of work and builds portfolio management around it. Its pricing page lists Gantt, table, board, and calendar views on the entry tier.

The AI features are named rather than implied. The Pro plan lists conversational AI features including Smart Assist, Smart Columns, and AI-powered dashboards.

Interoperability is published as a feature. The Business tier lists connecting Smartsheet to external AI tools through MCP-enabled integrations.

How it differs from Airtable

Members and Contributors: Paid seats are Members, and Contributors are unlimited and free on every plan
Programme layer: Higher tiers add Scenario Planning, Portfolios, and an Enterprise Plan Manager
Automation as a tier gate: Pro caps automations per month, and Business makes them unlimited

Pros

Unlimited free Contributors on every tier, including the entry plan
Unlimited sheets, forms, and reports listed from Pro upward
Business lists 1 TB of attachment storage

Cons

Timeline view and Workload tracking begin on Business rather than Pro
Pro is limited to 1-10 Members, and Pro lists 250 automations per month

Pricing

Smartsheet lists Pro at $12 per Member per month billed monthly, or $9 billed yearly. Business is $24 or $19, with Enterprise and Advanced Work Management priced on request.

Bottom line

Smartsheet suits organisations coordinating many workstreams at once. For a small team that wants a flexible database, its programme layer is weight you will not use.

3. Baserow: Best for an open-source base you can self-host

Baserow offers the same product in two deployments. Its pricing page splits cleanly into a cloud option and a self-hosted one.

Capacity is published per workspace rather than per base. The free plan lists 3,000 rows and 2GB of storage per workspace.

Automation is metered in credits. Free lists 2,000 automation credits per month, and the paid tiers list 100,000, 500,000, and 2,000,000.

How it differs from Airtable

Self-hosting is first-class: The pricing page presents self-hosted as a peer option, not an enterprise exception
Rows per workspace: Capacity is stated per workspace instead of per base
Views as a tier gate: Grid, Form, and Gallery are free, and the rest arrive on paid plans

Pros

Free tier includes 500 external app users
Row change history is published per tier, at 14, 90, 180, and 180 days
A library of more than 65 templates is listed on the free plan

Cons

AI features are listed starting on the Premium plan
Kanban, Survey, Calendar, and Timeline views are not on the free tier

Pricing

Baserow lists Free at $0, Premium at $10 per user per month billed yearly or $12 monthly, and Advanced at $18 or $22. Enterprise is on request.

Bottom line

Baserow is the straightforward pick when the data must sit on your own infrastructure. If you never plan to self-host, its main advantage does not apply to you.

4. NocoDB: Best for putting a grid on databases you already run

NocoDB approaches the problem from the database end. Rather than asking you to import records, it aims to put an interface on top of what already exists.

That capability is tier-gated, and the page says so plainly: "External database connections aren't supported on the Plus plan. Choose the Business plan to continue using it."

The self-hosted route is unusually open. The Community option is listed at $0 forever with unlimited records, unlimited storage, and unlimited seats.

How it differs from Airtable

External databases are the point: Business lists 10 external database connections
Commenter seats are separate: The free tier lists 3 editor seats alongside 10 commenter seats
API calls are metered: Plans publish 1,000, 100,000, 1,000,000, and 5,000,000 API calls per month

Pros

Community self-hosted edition lists unlimited records, storage, and seats
An unlimited-seat flat rate is published alongside the per-seat price on two tiers
The free cloud plan requires no credit card

Cons

External database connections require the Business plan or higher
The free cloud tier is capped at 3 users and 1,000 records

Pricing

NocoDB lists Free at $0 for up to 3 users. Plus is $12 per seat per month billed annually, Business is $24, and Scale is $45. Self-hosted Community is $0.

Bottom line

NocoDB is the right call when your data already lives in Postgres or MySQL. If you have no database yet, you are paying for a bridge you do not need.

5. Teable: Best for a base with a chat-native agent

Teable pairs a familiar grid with an agent you reach from a chat app. Its pricing page names that agent CuppyClaw.

The description is specific about scope. Teable calls it "a chat-native Teable agent for Slack, Telegram, and WhatsApp with full data CRUD support."

Credits are published per seat rather than per workspace. Free lists 200 credits, Pro lists 1,000 per seat, and Business lists 2,000 per seat.

How it differs from Airtable

The agent lives in chat: Read and write access is offered through Slack, Telegram, and WhatsApp
Credits scale with seats: Allowances are stated per seat, so a bigger team gets a bigger pool
Add-on pricing is explicit: Extra credits are sold per space with a stated zero markup

Pros

AI chat, AI field, and the app builder are all listed on the free plan
Row ceilings are published at 1,000, 250,000, and 1,000,000 per space
The credit add-on states that credits are billed at cost with no markup

Cons

The free plan is limited to 1,000 rows per space and 1GB of attachments
All field types arrive on Pro, and single sign-on arrives on Business

Pricing

Teable lists Free at $0, Pro at $10 per seat per month billed yearly or $12 monthly, and Business at $20 or $24. A 2,000-credit add-on is listed at $20 per space per month.

Bottom line

Teable fits teams who want the base reachable from the chat app they already live in. If nobody will use that surface, a plainer database is less to learn.

6. Softr: Best for client-facing portals over your data

Softr is built for the layer above the data, not the data itself. Its pricing is organised around who logs in.

The billing model is the first thing to understand. Plans are priced per workspace per month, with builders and app users counted separately on top.

AI is metered in monthly credits. Basic lists 10 per month, Pro lists 50, and Business lists 100.

How it differs from Airtable

Priced per workspace: The plan fee is not a per-seat charge
Two kinds of users: App users are split into Team and Client counts with separate ceilings
Portal-first: The output is an application other people log into

Pros

Softr API and MCP access are listed from the Basic plan
Basic lists more than 38 integrations
Additional builders are priced explicitly per tier rather than quoted

Cons

AI credits are capped at 10, 50, and 100 per month by tier
Builder seats beyond the included count are billed separately at every tier

Pricing

Softr lists a free plan, Basic at $19 per month, Pro at $99 per month, and Business at $329 per month. Extra builders are $5, $10, and $20 per month by tier.

Bottom line

Softr is the pick when outside users need a polished way in. If everything stays internal, you are paying for a portal nobody visits.

7. Grist: Best for spreadsheet formulas with database structure

Grist sits deliberately between a spreadsheet and a database. Its comparison table states that most Excel-like spreadsheet functions are supported.

Capacity is published per document. Free lists up to 5,000 records per document, Pro lists 100,000, and Business lists 150,000.

There is an unusual free route worth knowing about. Grist states that individuals and organisations with less than $1 million in total annual income may request free access for qualifying self-hosters.

How it differs from Airtable

Formulas are the interface: Excel-like function coverage is a headline claim rather than an add-on
Records per document: Ceilings are stated per document instead of per base
An income-based free tier: Free self-hosting is offered against a published revenue threshold

Pros

Unlimited documents on every plan, including the free one
Snapshot history is published at 30 days on Free and three years on Pro
An open-source Community edition is listed at $0

Cons

Free AI Assistant credits are one time only rather than monthly
The Business plan states a minimum of 5 users

Pricing

Grist lists Free at $0 and Pro at $10 per user per month, or $8 billed annually. Business is $30 or $24, with a five-user minimum. AI credit packs are listed at $10 and $29 per month.

Bottom line

Grist suits people who think in formulas and want referential structure underneath. If your team prefers building screens to writing formulas, Softr or Retool fit better.

8. Stackby: Best for a grid wired to API connectors

Stackby organises work into stacks and connects columns to outside services. Its free plan lists API connectors with a manual refresh method.

Capacity is published per stack. Free lists 20 stacks at 1,500 rows each, and Enterprise lists unlimited stacks at 250,000 rows each.

Guest access is handled through a separate product. Portals are listed as an add-on, priced from a stated figure per ten guests per month on each paid tier.

How it differs from Airtable

Per-stack capacity: Row limits apply to each stack rather than to a base
Connector refresh as a tier gate: The free plan lists manual refresh only
Portals as an add-on: External guest access is priced separately from the plan

Pros

Free plan lists 5 editors plus 50 read-only users per workspace
Read-only guests are unlimited from the entry paid tier
Interface Designer is listed on the free plan

Cons

The free plan's connector refresh method is listed as Manual
Portals are a paid add-on at every tier rather than an included feature

Pricing

Stackby lists Free at $0 for up to 5 users. Economy is $4.20 per user per month, Business is $8.30, and Pro is $12.50, each billed annually. Enterprise is on request.

Bottom line

Stackby fits teams whose grid needs to stay in sync with outside services. If you only need internal tables, the connector model adds moving parts.

9. Retool: Best for internal tools where code is expected

Retool assumes a developer is involved and prices accordingly. Its plans are split across two axes rather than one.

Builders and internal users are billed separately. The free tier lists $0 for both, and paid tiers list a builder rate alongside a lower internal-user rate.

Agent usage is metered in time. The free plan lists up to 20 hours per month of Agents and 250 AI credits per month.

How it differs from Airtable

Two pricing axes: Builders and internal users carry separate rates
External users tiered by volume: Published bands run from free up to a per-user rate above 500
Code is expected: The product assumes custom logic rather than configuration alone

Pros

Unlimited web and mobile apps on every tier, including free
The first 50 external users are listed as free
Enterprise lists source control through Git and audit log streaming

Cons

The free plan is capped at 5 users
Agent usage on the free plan is limited to 20 hours per month

Pricing

Retool lists Free at $0, Team at $10 per builder and $5 per internal user per month, and Business at $50 and $15. Enterprise is custom.

Bottom line

Retool is the strongest option when your internal tool needs real logic. If nobody on the team writes code, its central assumption works against you.

How we compared these alternatives

This is a documentation comparison, not a hands-on review. That distinction changes what you should trust here and what you should verify yourself.

Every fact above comes from the vendor's own published pages. Prices are the figures displayed on each pricing page on August 27, 2026, and promotional framing has been left out because it expires.

Where a capability is not described on a vendor's pages, we say the pages do not describe it. We do not claim a product cannot do something. Every entry is held to that same standard, including the Cons block.

We also do not cite third-party rating platforms. Six dimensions guided what we looked for on each site.

Unit of capacity: Records, rows, documents, stacks, or storage
Deployment: Cloud only, or self-hosting offered
AI metering: Credits, hours, message counts, or included in the plan
Seat model: Per user, per builder, per workspace, or flat
Published ceilings: Row limits, user caps, and history retention
Output shape: A base, a portal, an app, or a finished document

Two candidates were checked and dropped. Zoho Tables and SeaTable did not yield a verifiable dollar figure on the pages we could reach, so neither could be reported accurately.

How to choose the right Airtable alternative

Match the tool to where your data lives and what has to come out the other end.

Choose	If you
Powerdrill Bloom	Start from a file and need a document, deck, or sheet as the output
Smartsheet	Coordinate many workstreams and need portfolio-level reporting
Baserow	Must host the data on infrastructure you control
NocoDB	Already run Postgres or MySQL and want a grid on top
Teable	Want the base readable and writable from Slack or WhatsApp
Softr	Need outside clients to log into something polished
Grist	Think in spreadsheet formulas but need real table relationships
Stackby	Want grid columns kept in sync with external APIs
Retool	Have a developer and need custom logic in the tool

Final verdict

Four clusters emerge once the pricing pages are lined up.

The database cluster is Airtable, Baserow, NocoDB, Teable, and Stackby. All five hold records, and they differ mainly in deployment, connector reach, and whether capacity is counted per base, workspace, or stack.

The interface cluster is Softr and Retool. Both assume the data exists somewhere and price the layer people log into. Smartsheet sits on its own, closer to programme management than to either group.

The fourth cluster does not hold data at all. Powerdrill Bloom and Grist both start from something you already have, a file or a formula, rather than from a base you build first. That is the group to look at when the thing you owe someone is a document rather than a table.

Our Powerdrill Bloom vs. Airtable comparison covers that pairing head to head.

Frequently asked questions

Which Airtable alternative is cheapest to start with?

Several have a free tier, including Powerdrill Bloom, Baserow, NocoDB, Teable, Grist, Stackby, and Retool. Among the paid entry plans, Stackby at $4.20 per user per month billed annually is the lowest listed here.

Which ones can I self-host?

Baserow, NocoDB, and Grist all publish a self-hosted route, and Grist adds a free option for qualifying organisations below a stated income threshold.

Do I need to write code to use these?

Not for most of them. Retool assumes custom logic, and Grist expects comfort with formulas, while Softr, Stackby, and Teable are built around configuration.

How should I compare credits, rows, and seats?

Convert everything to a monthly cost for your actual volume first. Records per base, rows per workspace, AI credits, agent hours, and builder seats are not interchangeable units.

What if I do not need a database at all?

Then most of this list is overhead. If the output is a report or a deck rather than a stored table, start with the tools that take a file directly.