When I first started research for this Airtable review, one of the first things that stood out to me was how difficult it was to actually “define” the platform. On a broad scale, it’s definitely a solution for agile project management—but it’s not just project management software, either.
Airtable is a relational database tool, a comprehensive product and app development system, and a collaboration tool in one. You can use it to manage work, track inventories, plan events, and more. Airtable even recently introduced a new solution, “Product Central,” designed to align teams around data and product roadmaps.
I think the best way to define this platform is as an end-to-end solution for “digital operations.” But I’ll let you be the judge. In this review, I’ll try to give you all the insights you’ll need to decide whether Airtable can make your team more productive, creative, and efficient.
Quick Verdict: Pros and Cons
Airtable is a highly versatile tool, ready to adapt to just about any business need. The overall system is highly customizable, making it a great choice whether you’re managing marketing campaigns, building products or apps, or just handling day-to-day work.
The platform has many great features, from built-in AI capabilities to versatile task and project management views. The biggest downsides are that some of the tools have a high learning curve, and the paid plans can be pretty expensive.
Pros:
- Exceptional app building and development tools
- Integrated AI for intelligent workflows
- Fantastic automation and interface design
- Excellent range of views for projects
- Reporting, governance, and security built-in
- Generous free plan
Cons:
- Learning curve for advanced features
- Expensive premium plans
Airtable Review: Overview and Pricing
Airtable describes itself as a next-generation app-building platform. However, it’s also a cross-functional relational database tool, collaboration app, and project management solution. For the most part, I’m going to be looking at this platform based on its potential for workplace, task, and project management, but it’s worth remembering that Airtable can adapt to virtually any business need.
One of the things that sets Airtable apart from competing platforms, is its generous free plan. This plan supports up to 5 editors, unlimited “bases”, with 1GB of attachments per base and 1,000 records per base, and includes Airtables interface designer.
Unfortunately, when you do need to upgrade, the paid plans are a lot more expensive than those offered by other project management tools. Options include:
- Team: $20 per seat per month: All the free plan features, plus 50,000 records per base, 25,000 automation runs, 20GB of attachments per base, timeline and Gantt views, extensions, expanded formatting options, and more.
- Business: $45 per seat, per month: All the Team plan features, plus 125,000 records per base, 100GB of attachments per base, 100,000 automation runs, premium sync integrations, two-way sync, admin panels, app sandbox tools, and verified data.
- Enterprise Scale: Custom pricing: All the features of Business, plus 500,000 records per base, 1,000GB of attachments per base, 500,000 automation runs, app libraries, enterprise hubs, API access, integration management, audit logs, and more.
It’s also worth noting that other tools do cost extra. For instance, the ProductCentral solution is a “standalone” system, that you’ll need to pay a custom price for, based on your needs. The Airtable AI solution also has an extra price tag – which varies based on your company’s size.
Airtable Review: Key Features
I’ll admit I was a little overwhelmed when I started this Airtable review. Compared to some other simpler project management solutions, Airtable really does have features by the bucketload. For instance, it’s a world away from something like Trello.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it may mean you need to spend a little extra time learning how to use the platform, and training your teams. Here are the key features that really stood out to me when I was experimenting with Airtable.
Airtable Views
The “Views” on Airtable are the heart of the platform’s project management capabilities. You can choose from a wide range of customizable view options that allow you to organize data and projects however you like. In fact, the wide range of view options is why I disagree with some people who suggest Airtable is basically just an “upgraded” version of Microsoft Excel.
There are list views for organizing everything in a straightforward, easy-to-read format. The timeline view lets you visualize your data, tasks and projects on a calendar-style timeline, making it great for complex projects and resource tracking.
There’s a Kanban board, similar to what you get from Trello, with a drag-and-drop interface that lets users manage their workflows in a visual, interactive way. Plus, you get a Cantt view to keep on top of processes and meet deadlines dependencies, milestones, and deadlines.
You can also experiment with a calendar view option (which you can share with teams or customize to suit your specific needs). There’s a grid view for grouping, sorting, and enriching data during projects. Gallery views allow you to display imagery with data—ideal for designers and creative teams.
Finally, the form view allows you to create shareable forms that populate the records in your Airtable base automatically. Obviously, there are a lot more views to choose from here than you’d get from something like Hive or even Jira. However, it is worth mentioning that Gantt and timeline views are only available on paid plans.
Airtable Automation, Integrations, and Extension
Automation capabilities are a must-have in any project management platform. When you log into Airtable, you can click on the “Automations” tab to access a drag-and-drop workflow builder.
You can go as complex or simple as you need with automations. For instance, you could simply trigger Airtable to send a user a notification when they’re tagged on a project. Alternatively, you could set up multiple triggers and connectors in a single workflow. The great thing about these automations is not only do they require no coding knowledge, but they integrate with your tech stack.
You can link Airtable with Google Workspace, Facebook, Twitter, Slack, and various other tools. In fact, Airtable offers dozens of one-click integration options for every type of app. Plus, Airtable supports Zapier, so you can create your own custom connections with webhooks.
Beyond integrations, Airtable also offers a wide range of “extensions.” These are “extra features” for the platform designed by Airtable and third-party companies.
You can add extensions to automated workflows, such as creating triggers that update files with CSV imports and sending customer emails based on user actions. The comprehensive extensions marketplace is brimming with unique tools, like page designers, scripts, and flowcharts.
Plus, there are a tone of templates you can use for project management, product development, marketing, HR, and recruitment. Using one of these extensions or templates is as simple as clicking on the tool you want, and within seconds it will be ready to use.
Connected Databases, the Interface Designer, and The App Builder
I wanted to group these three tools together in this Airtable review, because they’re all connected to things you can “create” with Airtable. Let’s start with the “Connected Database” option. This allows you to pull data from a wide range of different platforms into the platform, so you can build apps on top of your existing information or share critical datasets across your organization.
There’s a built-in sync function to ensure all your team members have access to the latest, updated information. Plus, you can still take advantage of integrations to share your connected data with the other apps you’re using, like Salesforce.
