Teams look past Airtable when record caps per base, seat billing that counts commenters, or the small Free plan start to shape how they work. Most move to Baserow, NocoDB or Grist, which price by workspace, by flat seat bundle or by document, and can be self-hosted.
Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within
the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. The first three alternatives
go to challengers, vendors outside the best-known brands in a category, wherever the category has them; the
established names follow in their ranked order. How it works:
placement disclosure · editorial process.
What each alternative does differently
1. Baserow
Open source, self-hostable no-code database · Netherlands
Open source and self-hostable, with a built-in importer for Airtable bases. Row limits count per workspace, not per base: 3,000 on Free, 50,000 on Premium and 250,000 on Advanced. Kanban, calendar and timeline views need Premium, and role-based permissions plus audit logs start at Advanced.
Switch from Airtable if you want an open source database you can host yourself, with an Airtable importer.
Pricing: Free (3,000 rows/workspace); Premium $10/user/month annual; Advanced $18/user/month annual; Enterprise quoted. (free plan)
Full review: #6 of 19 in our ranking ·
Visit Baserow →
2. NocoDB
Self-deployable no-code database with an Airtable importer · United States
A self-deployed Community edition with unlimited records and seats, released under a Sustainable Use License that the vendor calls fair-code. Cloud Plus bills nine seats and adds the rest free. Its Airtable importer skips Formula fields and turns linked records into plain text when it reads a shared view.
Switch from Airtable if you have many occasional editors and want a flat, seat-bundled price or a self-run copy.
Pricing: Community free, self-deployed; Cloud Free (3 users, 1,000 records); Plus $12/seat/month annual or $108/month for unlimited seats; Business $24/seat or $216/month; Scale $45/seat annual; Enterprise quoted. (free plan)
Full review: #12 of 19 in our ranking ·
Visit NocoDB →
3. Grist
Relational spreadsheet with Python formulas · United States
A relational spreadsheet where formulas are Python, with every widget option open on every plan. Limits count records per document: 5,000 on Free, 100,000 on Pro, 150,000 on Business. Its migration tool carries over references, simple formulas and attachments, and the Community edition is Apache-2.0 licensed.
Switch from Airtable if your bases behave like spreadsheets with formulas and you want Python logic and self-hosting.
Pricing: Free (5,000 records per document); Pro $10/user/month ($8 annual); Business $30/user/month ($24 annual, 5-user minimum); Enterprise quoted; self-hosted Community free. (free plan)
Full review: #13 of 19 in our ranking ·
Visit Grist →
4. SeaTable
No-code database, cloud or on-premises · Germany
Offers a hosted Cloud edition and an on-premises Server edition that is free for three users. Rows are capped per team (10,000 on Free, 50,000 on Plus) and per base (up to 100,000 on Enterprise). Python script runs, API calls and automations are metered per user each month.
Switch from Airtable if you need a vendor with an on-premises edition and SAML or LDAP sign-in.
Pricing: Free (up to 25 users, 10,000 rows); Plus EUR7/user/month annual (EUR9 monthly); Enterprise EUR14/user/month annual (EUR18 monthly); Dedicated from 100 users; Server free for 3 users. (free plan)
Full review: #14 of 19 in our ranking ·
Visit SeaTable →
5. Ninox
German database app builder with its own scripting language · Germany
Database apps hosted in Germany, with record counts that scale per user: 50,000 per user on Team and 250,000 per user on Business. The Free plan stops at 5 users and 5,000 records. Monthly AI credits are shared across the organisation, and it can link Gmail and Outlook messages to records.
Switch from Airtable if you want per-user record allowances and your data kept in German data centers.
Pricing: Free (up to 5 users); Team EUR25/user/month annual; Business EUR40/user/month annual; Enterprise quoted. (free plan)
Full review: #7 of 19 in our ranking ·
Visit Ninox →
6. Stackby
Spreadsheet-style database with API connectors · India
A spreadsheet-style database with a Free plan for five editors and 1,500 rows per stack. Limits are per stack: 7,000 rows on Economy, 50,000 on Business. Read-only guests are unlimited from Economy up, and portals are a separate add-on charged per block of ten guests.
Switch from Airtable if your team is mostly a few editors with many read-only guests and wants lower seat prices.
Pricing: Free (5 editors); Economy $9/seat/month; Business $18; Pro $35; Enterprise quoted; annual billing is cheaper; portals extra. (free plan)
Full review: #17 of 19 in our ranking ·
Visit Stackby →
7. Knack
No-code database apps with unlimited users · United States
Builds customer-facing apps on a database, with unlimited users and roles on every plan. Price follows record volume and features instead: 20,000 records on Starter, 50,000 on Pro, where branding removal begins. The pricing page lists four tiers and a free trial, with no standing free plan.
Switch from Airtable if you publish records to customers or partners and do not want to pay per user.
Pricing: Starter $59/month ($49 annual); Pro $130/month ($110 annual); Corporate from $300/month ($250 annual); Enterprise quoted; promotional first-three-month rates apply; free trial. (free trial)
Full review: #15 of 19 in our ranking ·
Visit Knack →
8. Fibery
Connected workspace of databases and documents · United States
A workspace where databases sit next to documents, whiteboards and timelines, aimed at product teams, agencies and software groups. Observers and guests are free, and only admins and members pay. Free allows 10 users and 10 databases, with 14 days of version history.
Switch from Airtable if your Airtable base is really a product or project workspace that also needs documents.
Pricing: Free (10 users, 10 databases); Standard EUR12/user/month; Pro EUR20; Enterprise EUR40 (annual billing, 25-user minimum); observers and guests free. (free plan)
Full review: #18 of 19 in our ranking ·
Visit Fibery →
9. Zoho Creator
Low-code app platform in the Zoho family · India
A low-code app platform priced per user, with a free edition for a single custom app and a 15-day trial of every feature. Customer-portal users are sold as an add-on in blocks from 250 to 100,000. Apps are delivered as native iOS and Android versions as well.
Switch from Airtable if you already run Zoho products and want portals for outside users.
Pricing: Free edition and 15-day trial; Standard, Professional and Enterprise per user; Flex quoted; plan prices not readable on the server-rendered page; portal users sold as an add-on. (free plan)
Full review: #16 of 19 in our ranking ·
Visit Zoho Creator →
10. Microsoft Power Apps
Low-code apps over your existing Microsoft 365 data · United States
Stores app data in Microsoft Dataverse and reaches other sources through prebuilt, custom and on-premises connectors. The free Developer Plan is for building and testing only, with a 2 GB Dataverse entitlement. Premium licenses a user for unlimited apps, and extra Dataverse database capacity is sold per gigabyte.
Switch from Airtable if you want app screens over Dataverse and connector data and accept per-user licensing.
Pricing: Free Developer Plan for building and testing; Premium $20/user/month annual ($12 at 2,000+ seats); extra Dataverse capacity $40/GB/month. (free plan)
Full review: #9 of 19 in our ranking ·
Visit Microsoft Power Apps →
11. Bubble
No-code builder for real, customer-facing web products · United States
Builds customer-facing web and mobile apps, not shared tables with views. Data sits in data types edited in a Data tab inside the editor. Airtable views, interfaces and automations map to pages and workflows that you build yourself, not to anything a base carries over.
Switch from Airtable if you want to turn your base into a public product with accounts and logins.
Pricing: Free plan; Starter $59/month, Growth $209/month, Team $549/month billed annually, each with a workload-unit allowance and editor seats; Enterprise quoted. (free plan)
Full review: #8 of 19 in our ranking ·
Visit Bubble →
Questions and answers
Can I import an Airtable base directly into an alternative?
Yes, Baserow, NocoDB and Grist each state they can import Airtable data. NocoDB needs a shared base or view URL, and a personal access token if you want the records of a shared base. It leaves out Formula fields, and can import schema only if you switch the data option off.
Does Airtable remove my data if I exceed a plan limit?
No. Airtable states it will never remove your data if you reach the record or attachment limits, and you can keep using your bases. You cannot add more records or attachments until you upgrade, and automations and API calls stop at the plan cap.
How does Airtable bill seats?
Airtable bills per collaborator: Team is $20 a month on annual billing or $24 monthly, Business $45 annual or $54 monthly. On Team, commenters are billable. On the self-serve Business plan, owners, creators and editors are billable and commenters are not. Read-only collaborators are free on every plan.
Which alternatives can I run on my own server?
Baserow, NocoDB, Grist and SeaTable all have self-hosted options. NocoDB's Community edition and Grist's Community edition are free of charge. SeaTable Server is free for three users, and the Grist core repository is Apache-2.0 licensed. Hosting adds upgrades, backups and scaling to your own workload.
Which tools let me keep read-only viewers free?
Fibery makes observers and guests free on all plans, and Stackby gives unlimited read-only guests from Economy up. Knack allows unlimited users and roles. NocoDB gives free commenter seats on Plus. Airtable also keeps read-only collaborators free, so the saving is mostly on commenters.
Can a small team on a webmail address buy Airtable Business?
No. Airtable states that Business and Enterprise Scale need a private email domain, so addresses at Gmail or Yahoo cannot upgrade to either. Team has no such rule. Teams that cannot use a company domain should plan around the Team plan limits or look elsewhere.
