Airtable Reviews

I primarily support communications organizations using Airtable’s enterprise version for workflows involving master calendars, content and asset repositories, media CRMs, social media planning and publishing, tracking performance/metrics, and more. Additionally, I use it for managing my business (e.g., invoicing, tracking clients, etc.). It has many different use cases.

Airtable's ability to bring people from different teams and geographies together into say a master calendar, with complete control over who sees what when and in what format, is highly beneficial for communications organizations. It can serve as that single source of truth reflecting real-time updates, which is a common pain point for my clients whose communications plans are constantly shifting and evolving. It's always enjoyable when I first introduce Airtable to a group of communicators, and they have that "light bulb" moment of realizing its true potential for their workflows. However, one of the cons and pros is its flexibility and customizability, which can be overwhelming for those who don't consider themselves technically savvy or lack time to learn about all it has to offer. While there's a learning curve and setup required to make it truly useful and automated, once you overcome that, it can be a powerful tool for both small-scale and large-scale businesses.

The most valuable feature of Airtable is enabling users who might not have otherwise been interested or able to use a relational database in a way that is user-friendly and relatable. The grid view makes it feel relatable, as most users have opened an Excel worksheet at some point in their lives, and the ability to link records across tables to summarize and report on your data is the foundation of its power. Additionally, I'm a big fan of some of the newer features Airtable has added since I first started building bases: automations, record templates, default options for single and multi-select fields, and conditional formatting for interface forms. These are the features that stand out to me when proposing new builds or recommending updates to existing bases for clients.

Reporting, specifically anything involving exports, could be improved. The recent rollout of interfaces, and visual presentations of the underlying data, was a great step in the right direction to make reporting more executive-friendly. More work needs to be done to make it more user-friendly to get your data out of Airtable in simple and clean ways. It can be overwhelming for teams who may not be familiar with the backend and are faced with numerous formula fields or lookup fields to be able to summarize their data in a way that can be exported. Additionally, there is work to be done for users to be able to design exports of data groups for reporting purposes. The good news is that Airtable is actively working to improve exports. 

As I mentioned, I’m a big fan of Airtable Automations. That said, there is an opportunity to streamline duplicative automations by adding a trigger that covers both matches and updates. Currently, you need both a matches XYZ conditions trigger for an automation and an updated record trigger for an automation to capture when something is first created and then when it's updated. This means two separate automations to keep the same field/output updated. Airtable releasing a trigger that captured both the creation and future updates would be super handy and cut down the number of automations needed to maintain data accuracy for this example.

Another feature I'd like to see is an easier way to self-link within tables. When you link records across tables, the link is automatically created within both records, but self-linking within a table requires manual linking and/or the creation of a complex automation to do it for you. It took several hours to come up with a suitable workaround to capture when a parent record changed in the child record’s linked field. In an ideal world, you would use two different tables, but then you hit the challenge of plotting those two tables on the same calendar, which has its own set of more technical workarounds.

I started using Airtable in 2017. Personally, I use the Pro version, and for my clients, I’m using the enterprise version.

It is a stable solution. I would rate it a ten out of ten. 

I would rate the scalability a ten out of ten.

If you are an enterprise customer paying for a lot of licenses, I would give them a ten out of ten. That makes up the bulk of my experience interacting with their service and support. However, it is often shared across Airtable communities and forums that the level of service and turnaround time drastically varies based on how much you’re spending with Airtable.

Positive

The initial setup of buying a license and creating an account is straightforward. License pricing is reasonable. As I mentioned above, building bases is more complicated, as it takes planning and resources.

I saw an ROI. 

Several competitors were evaluated back in the day when I first started using Airtable, but none offered the flexibility, customization, and scale of Airtable at the time. More recently, one of my clients even went through a rigorous RFP process of current options and landed on Airtable for similar reasons.

Due to the flexibility and customizability of Airtable I highly recommend leaning on someone from the sales or support team to help you mockup a base example related to your use case. It appears as a blank slate when you create a new base, and a quick mockup would help with understanding how it actually works. It's in Airtable’s and the purchasers’ best interests to get to that "light bulb" moment quickly, especially for individuals who are new to Airtable or who have only worked with older versions and might not be familiar with all its capabilities. It is hard to fully appreciate the power of Airtable for your needs by clicking through their website or opening up some templates.

Overall, I would rate it eight out of ten.

I use it for my project management and as a mini CRM for my consultation business.

The relations and multiple-choice options are the most valuable features. For example, if I have one client but multiple projects in the same client, it's much easier to map it with Airtable than if I use a Google Sheet. The relationship between interfaces is a key feature that I use very often. And I also keep track of which features are needed for which projects. I would need to sign up, log in, do the basics, and then make payments. So each cell, I would need more than one value, which is impossible in Google Sheets. It takes a lot of work to sort or fast filter with that. But Airtable makes it super smooth. So these two are the four features that I use. Their interface is also very good. One can share this as a front end. That works like a front end for the table.

The template library is huge. I have a few suggestions with respect to that. But to complete automation, I think a bit more documentation around that would be really helpful because there are a lot of features in that which common people explore them less. And I don't know how many people are using that, but that has great potential. But product-wise, feature, expansion, it's good for now.

If they can give, you know, role-based permissions for viewing the data, that may be more interesting to work with. There are twelve fields and an editor. A salesperson can view a few areas. Whether an ops person can edit a few fields, an admin or a manager will be able to view and edit these fields but not edit the others. So you understand what I mean by user basis. So if there is user-based field-level access, that could be more interesting. I don't know if it's related to any of the new versions already, but that is something that I love trying.

I have been using the solution for four years.

It is a highly stable solution, I have not faced any bugs.

I prefer using something other than Airtable for very heavy projects. For example, if you want to maintain 10,000-20,000 rows, then Airtable will not be my first choice. But this is the best solution for anything under 2000-5000. Scalability-wise, it can handle it, but I don't prefer that.

The support could have been better with their responses.

Positive

I have Trello for my task but at a more intuitive and clean interface for a CRM level. It helps me with daily tracking. The default source and groups are beneficial. So I know which client I must contact today, which bills are pending, or which I must send the next estimate through. It's easy for me to sort and intuitive to figure out, okay, today, these are my things, and these are my things. And I don't have to keep changing it daily to automatically group sorts and everything. For my developer background, I use a lot of Google Sheets.

But when I discovered Airtable, especially when I started using it for my CRM, I discovered that it is perfect for me.

The initial setup is easy. And the templates make the job a lot easier. We can grab a template that's much closer to you. It'll already have the default connection to relationships. Just have to start customizing as per your needs and get started. So onboarding is pretty straightforward and great.

The time taken for deployment depends on the complexity and use case you are doing it for. For example, we use it as a CRM for my consulting business. I didn't have to spend more than one or two minutes customizing it. I didn't have to do it beyond that.

Using it more for internal tools or bigger projects might require more hours. But it shouldn't be beyond that. Even if you're doing scripts in automation, it should not take more than ten-fifteen hours, maybe not more than that. The scripts are really very intuitive you don't have to do it manually so that reduces a lot of manual effort here.

I have seen ROI with the use of the tool. 

It is somewhere around 10-12 USD monthly. Again, its scale depends on the depth you use. More features or more rows are costlier. There is also a free plan.

I would rate the product a ten out of ten. It depends on the use case. For example, if you want something that's more table format, timelines, or a database back end for some other front end, as long as not more than ten thousand rows, you can still use Airtable. It's a perfect tool to get started with. But if it's a very complex project that needs a lot of customization, especially if it needs very fine-tuned roles and user roles, I suggest staying away from Airtable. Customized user roles are not capable of strength for Airtable.

I use the product to manage content and an online store for my client. I also use it for my projects and apps for artificial intelligence.

Automation is the most valuable feature of the product. The product is very easy to use and flexible.

The import and export schema of the database should be improved. The product should improve the Spanish translation. Half the service is only in the USA. It would benefit me and my customers if it were in Europe.

I have been using the solution since 2018 for four years.

The solution is very stable. I rate the stability a nine out of ten.

I rate the product’s scalability a seven out of ten. There is a limitation in the number of elements in the database and the ability to back up data. Around 16 to 20 people use the product in our organization.

I am in touch with support through email.

I was using other solutions like Google One, but it was not good.

The initial setup is very easy. The implementation takes no more than two days.

The product is cheap for me. The product would be expensive for customers with only one application or database. There are no additional costs associated with the product.

I am using the latest version of the product. I have a lot of customers. I love the tool. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

I use the solution for project tracking. I use it as an ERP. 

I am impressed with the tool's continuous improvement. Every six months we get to see a completely different product.  You can build a new product using no-code applications. We are able to scale up with the product. 

The tool has changed the syncing time between the tables which has affected our multiple systems. I would like the product to add more calls per second to the API. It also needs to improve data storage. The tool starts to have problems after having huge amounts of data. 

I am using the solution for more than five years. 

The tool is very stable. They always notify us to expect some problems whenever they carry out any updates. 

The tool is scalable. 

I have contacted the support four times since using the product. The support team was very helpful and polite and responded to me in the next hour though we were in different time zones. 

Positive

Other applications have features that are very specific. Airtable has many features. We can use the same solution for different departments of the company. 

The tool's setup is difficult for those who don't understand column-based infrastructure. For someone familiar with Google SIP or Microsoft Excel setup is like enjoying coffee. However, there is a helpful community for the tool with all kinds of information. I was able to do whatever I wanted after reading through their documentation for one to two days. The tool's deployment time depends on the project requirements. There was a complex project where the product's deployment took one week to complete. 

The tool's pricing is based on the number of users. The product's pricing is okay for personal use. For large organizations, pricing can be a pain. As per the first-rate plan, you need to pay 10 USD per user. The next plan would cost you 20 USD per user. If you are looking for enterprise-type plans, then you need to contact the sales team. 

I would rate the tool a ten out of ten. We don't have any other product in the market combining data storage functionality and interface design simultaneously. There is no specific version for the solution. The tool gives out updates that apply to all users by default. 

We use Airtable to manage and track weekly site visits and monitor progress and improvements over time.

The product helps us track activities, address complaints, and make improvements.

Airtable has valuable features for automation.

The product's AI feature needs improvement. There could be an option to share the data with others without inviting them to the platform. They should allow us to duplicate the data to share it with others.

I have been using Airtable for five months. At present, I am using the latest version.

The initial setup is easy. I rate the process a nine out of ten.

Airtable generates a return on investment for us.

The product's price is good.

It is a good product. I rate it an eight out of ten.

I use the solution for creating a database for an applicant tracking system.

The solution makes it easy to structure data into simple data tables. The solution has custom formulas to register records. It also allows us to add to the different life cycles of the database.

The product should improve the mobile interface. The user interface should be more intuitive.

I have been using the solution for eight to nine months.

The product is very stable. I rate the stability a ten out of ten.

Around 50 people in my client’s organization use the solution.

The initial setup was straightforward.

The deployment took four months.

The product is a little bit expensive.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

I use the product for operational processes. I use it to create user interfaces for my business teams. 

I am impressed with the product's user interface and integrations. It helps me to ship products very fast. 

The product is slow when I try to add data to a table using API. There is also a limit on the databases. 

I have been using the product for about an year. 

The solution is stable. 

The tool has scalability issues and I use it for only small processes. The tool is for small enterprises that don't have much data. My company has 8-10 users for the tool. 

The tool's setup takes a couple of minutes to complete. 

The solution is not expensive. 

Check out project management solutions that are specific to your industry. 

We have successfully finalized our workflows using Airtable. Airtable serves as the optimal tool for capturing data from the web, particularly in the context of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). The ongoing management of this data, including its expiration and relevant processes, is handled efficiently by our product management team.

They should align the price with the value. We feel that it has limited value, possibly even less than anticipated. This prompts a consideration of whether there is room for improvement in the offered services or if a reevaluation of the pricing structure itself is warranted.

It's a stable product.

It is scalable.

It is relatively cheap. 

The primary rationale behind our decision is rooted in our status as a startup. Given our financial constraints, we are inclined to allocate a substantial portion of our budget to the essential components of our operations, necessitating a cost-effective solution. As we aim for stability in our learning processes, there is a focus on optimizing available resources. Consequently, we have undertaken testing on the learning front to ensure its efficacy. In this context, it is deemed imperative to proceed with the installation of the solution.

The determining factor rests on the financial aspect, specifically the budgetary considerations. Given the context of being a startup with limited financial resources, there is a necessity to seek solutions that are both cost-effective and offer a range of functionalities.