Airtable is a popular project management software that works like Excel or Google Sheets, with a spreadsheet-like interface. It’s great for businesses that prefer the familiarity of spreadsheets and want to track their projects in a similar way.

But, Airtable does have its limitations. Its structured views and spreadsheet format may not be suitable for scaling your company, and it doesn’t offer as many features as some other options available in the market.

Why Consider an Alternative to Airtable?

1. Task Management Features: While Airtable allows you to create a spreadsheet grid for task assignment, it lacks built-in task management features. This means you'll have to manually edit the grid, which can become tedious, especially if you regularly assign tasks to your team.

2. Communication Features: In today's remote work environment, effective communication and collaboration are crucial. Airtable's only collaboration option is through comments, which may be sufficient for basic feedback but falls short for complex discussions.

3. Workflow Automation Tools: Workflow automation is an essential feature in project management tools. Unfortunately, Airtable lacks comprehensive automation capabilities.

4. Cost: Airtable's pricing can be expensive, especially for larger teams. The Plus plan starts at $12 per month per user, meaning a team of 10 would cost $120 per month.

Fortunately, we have researched and found the best Airtable alternatives that address these limitations.

What to Look for in a Project Management Tool

When searching for a project management tool, several key factors can make a significant difference in your workflow. First and foremost, the tool should be user-friendly with an intuitive interface that allows team members to navigate and use it effortlessly. This ease of use is crucial for ensuring that everyone on your team can quickly adapt to the tool without a steep learning curve.

Robust collaboration features are another essential aspect. Look for tools that offer real-time commenting, @mentions, and file sharing to facilitate seamless team collaboration. These features help keep everyone on the same page and ensure that communication flows smoothly, even in remote work environments.

The ability to manage projects of varying sizes and complexity is also vital. Whether you’re handling large-scale projects with multiple tasks, deadlines, and team members, or smaller projects with fewer requirements, the tool should be versatile enough to accommodate your needs. Advanced features such as customizable workflows, automated reporting, and integration with other tools and apps can further streamline your project management processes, reducing manual work and boosting productivity.

Affordability is another critical consideration. The tool should offer flexible pricing plans that cater to different business needs and budgets. Additionally, advanced security features like data encryption, two-factor authentication, and access controls are essential to protect sensitive project data.

Key Features

When evaluating project management tools, several key features can significantly enhance your ability to manage projects effectively. Task management is at the core of any project management tool, allowing you to create, assign, and track tasks, including setting deadlines, priorities, and dependencies.

Tracking project progress is another crucial feature. The tool should provide insights into the percentage of work completed, remaining tasks, and overall project timelines. This helps in monitoring the project’s status and making informed decisions to keep everything on track.

Team collaboration features are indispensable for fostering a collaborative work environment. Real-time commenting, @mentions, and file sharing enable team members to communicate and collaborate efficiently, ensuring that everyone is aligned and informed.

Customizable workflows allow you to tailor the tool to your specific project needs and requirements. This flexibility can help streamline processes and improve efficiency. Automated reporting is another valuable feature, providing insights into project progress, team performance, and other key metrics without the need for manual data entry.

Integration with other tools and apps, such as Google Sheets, Trello, and Slack, can further enhance the tool’s functionality, allowing you to create a seamless workflow across different platforms.

Top 11 Airtable alternatives in 2024

Looking for alternatives to Airtable? You’re in luck! We’ve compiled a list of top Airtable alternatives for 2024. If you feel limited by Airtable’s features, it’s important to find a solution that suits your business model and makes you comfortable. Many of these alternatives allow users to automate tasks with just a few clicks, making them more efficient and user-friendly.

1. AFFiNE

If you're seeking a recommendation for an app to help manage ADHD,AFFiNEcould be a strong contender. AFFiNE is an innovative application crafted to facilitate organization, task management, andcollaborationon various projects and information sets, particularly useful when overseeing a project. The standout feature of AFFiNE is its commitment to accessibility and inclusivity; it is a complimentary, open-source platform that leverages offline capabilities, ensuring that it remains accessible to users regardless of their internet connectivity status.

Key Features:

• Write, Draw, and Plan All-in-One: Enjoy your all-in-one KnowledgeOS solution for effortlessly writing, drawing, and planning on a hyper-fused platform. It supports kanban, table, and rich-text paragraphs as building blocks to form pages or whiteboards. It carries out integrated processing here in document editing, data processing, or brainstorming.

• Collaborative Capabilities: For group work, the app should have collaborative features, making it easy to share and coordinate projects with others in your group work.

  

• Offline Accessibility: The best task management tool should allow users to access their essential details offline. This feature is particularly valuable when going outside with limited internet connectivity.

Pricing: Free! If you are interested, please check the specific Pricing plan.

2. Monday.com

Monday.comis one of the top Airtable alternatives if you are looking for a functional yet clear way to manage your projects. While Airtable uses tables to store and manage data, Monday.com is guided by tasks. The platform offers task management, dependency tracking and several app integrations, such as Slack, Jira, Asana and HubSpot CRM.

Key features:

• Boards & Columns

• Tasks automation

• Checklists

• Apps Integration

• File views, Kanban views, form views, chart views

Pricing: Monday.com has a free plan for up to 2 users with some feature limitations. Basic plans start at $8/user/month. Get a 14-day free trial.

3. ClickUp

ClickUp is an alternative to Airtable with a highly efficient dashboard view and collaboration features. The platform free version offers features that you only get in the paid plan of Airtable, such as goals, embedded emails, conditional automation, task checklists, custom task statuses, sprints, and 24/7 support. ClickUp also offers native email, several templates and free integrations, which makes it one of the top Airtable alternatives.

Key Features:

• Workload view

• Team chat

• Smart Notification

Pricing: ClickUp has a free plan, with paid plan options starting at $5 per member, per month.

4. Notion

Notion is another one of the most popular Airtable alternatives because it offers spreadsheet-styled project management capabilities using its ‘tables’ feature. From there you can adjust the functions of the columns and rows similarly to how you would in most other spreadsheet applications. Notion also allows you to view your table in a calendar and list view, giving you the ability to approach your spreadsheet from different perspectives quickly.

Key Features:

• Create calendar and list views of your table

• Save your table as a template button for future use

• Includes several other useful project management tools

Pricing: You can try Notion for free with limited features and they offer paid plans for small teams and big companies starting at $8/user/month.

5. Jira

Jira is a project management tool geared specifically towards Agile and Scrum software development teams.

Originally created as a bug-tracking tool, Jira evolved over the years to become a highly customizable management software.

Features

• Flexible Agile views with a customizable Scrum and Kanban board

• Detailed reports including velocity charts, burn up charts, burndown charts, etc.

• Customizable project dashboards

• Power search to find a specific task

Pricing: Jira offers free plan includes basic agile project managementfeatures for up to 10 team members, with premium plan that cose for $14/month per user that has additional functionality and unlimited storage.

6. nTask

Another one of the top Airtable alternatives is nTask, a project, task and team management application that helps track and organize your company’s workflow. The software has risk management and issue-tracking features to monitor risks that can derail a project. nTask offers meeting management tools to coordinate agendas with your team members and clients. Like Airtable, nTask also offers Gantt charts and Kanban boards for different views of tasks within a single interface and for tracking the project’s performance as it develops.

Key features:

• Gantt Chart and Kanban board

• Time-tracking & timesheet

• Risk management

Pricing: There is a free version for anyone who would like to use the software with limited features, then you have the option to access more tools starting at $3/user/month.

7. Zoho Sheet

Zoho Sheet is a free collaborative spreadsheet tool that you can consider as an alternative to Airtable. The cloud-based software allows users to organize data with an automated processor and use AI-assisted analysis for data handling and management. It also includes interactive application building tools with automatic data cleaning features.

One thing to note is that while Airtable has a bigger customer base, Zoho Sheet offers customer support via phone, which can be a great help depending on the type of issues you’re trying to fix. Zoho Sheet also has the ability to import data from a variety of sources, including Google Drive, Dropbox, and Excel spreadsheets making it easy to bring all of your data together in one place (another reason it’s one of our favorite Airtable alternatives).

Key Features:

• Advanced formulas and over 350 functions, with advanced functions like VLOOKUP and XMATCH

• Visualize data with charts, graphs, and pivot tables to analyze and identify patterns or trends

• Multiple users can collaborate on a single document in real-time and share data

• Mobile app that allows users to access their spreadsheets on-the-go

Pricing: Zoho Sheet is free to use if you sign up for a Zoho account. They offer paid plans to unlock more features for small teams and big companies starting at $8/user/month.

8. Stackby

Stackby is an excellent task management alternative to Airtable due to its highly customizable design. Like Airtable, it offers spreadsheet-style databases that make it easy to manage and organize data.

Stackby has the ability to connect with various business APIs allowing for real-time updates within your spreadsheets and databases, eliminating the need for manual updates, a feature not as flexible in Airtable. Stackby doesn’t have a steep learning curve, facilitating onboarding and adaptability.

Key Features:

• Advanced database features like data linking between tables and data grouping for organized views

• Custom API integrations with services like YouTube, Google Analytics, etc.

• User-level permission settings

**Pricing:**Stackby has a free forever plan, with the only limit being the number of rows and attachment storage you can get per stack. Paid plans start at $4 for single users and $8/user/month for teams.

9. Smartsheet

Smartsheet is one of the best Airtable alternatives, but it also provides some additional features that you don’t get with Airtable. With its powerful tracking functions and a built-in resource management tool, Smartsheet gives its users great customization options and excellent project management tools.

Key Features:

• Team portals to connect users

• Built-in resource management tool

Pricing: Available to try for 14 days for free, you can try this program out without the obligations of a monthly fee. If you want to upgrade to the paid version, individual plans start at $7/month, and enterprise businesses should call to get a price.

10. Podio

Podio is a task management alternative to Airtable with simple interface, efficient automation, strong integrations and affordable plans. While Airtable offers more flexibility in terms of customization, including formulas, pivot tables, and custom views, it can also have a steep learning curve. It’s quite common to need an Airtable consultant coming in to teach your team how to use the platform or to build specific automation on the platform.

With Podio, you might not have this extra cost, but also might have limited capabilities. But if you have a large team, Podio might not be a solution for you. Their free plan allows only five users. While it’s on our Airtable alternatives list, this is something to consider when evaluating tools.

Key Features:

• File sharing

• Extensions

• Feature Index

• Mobile Apps

• Task Management

Pricing: Podio’s paid plan starts at $11.20 per month.

11. Podio Trello

Trello is a popular project management tool known for its simplicity and effectiveness. It uses a Kanban-style board to visualize tasks and projects, making it easy to track progress and identify bottlenecks. Trello’s robust collaboration features, including real-time commenting, @mentions, and file sharing, make it an excellent choice for teams looking to enhance their collaborative efforts.

One of Trello’s standout features is its intuitive interface. Even team members new to project management will find it easy to navigate and use. Trello offers a range of customization options, including custom boards, lists, and cards, allowing you to tailor the tool to your specific project needs.

In addition to its user-friendly design, Trello provides advanced features such as automated reporting, integration with other tools and apps, and customizable workflows. These features help streamline project management processes and improve overall productivity. Trello also offers a range of pricing plans, including a free plan, making it an affordable option for businesses of all sizes.

Choosing the Right Airtable Alternative for Your Business

Selecting the right Airtable alternative for your business involves considering several factors, including your project management needs, team size, and budget. Start by evaluating the type of projects you manage, their size, complexity, and specific requirements. Look for a tool that offers features and functionalities that cater to these needs.

Consider the size of your team and the number of users who will be using the tool. It’s essential to choose a tool that offers flexible pricing plans and can scale to meet your growing needs. Budget is another critical factor. Look for a tool that provides affordable pricing plans and consider the cost of any additional features or functionalities you may require.

Popular Airtable alternatives like Trello, Asana, and ClickUp offer a range of features, including task management, project progress tracking, team collaboration, and customizable workflows. By carefully considering your specific needs and evaluating the available options, you can choose the right tool to enhance your project management processes.

Factors to Consider

When choosing an Airtable alternative, several factors can help you make an informed decision. First, consider the project management features you need, such as task management, project progress tracking, and team collaboration. These features are essential for managing projects effectively and ensuring that your team stays on track.

Customization options are also important. Look for a tool that allows you to create custom boards, lists, and cards to tailor the tool to your specific project needs. Integration with other tools and apps is another crucial factor. Ensure that the project management tool you choose can integrate with the tools and apps you already use, such as Google Sheets, Trello, and Slack.

Pricing is a significant consideration. Evaluate your budget and look for a tool that offers affordable pricing plans. Additionally, consider the security features of the tool, including data encryption, two-factor authentication, and access controls, to ensure that your project data is protected.

By considering these factors, you can choose the right Airtable alternative for your business and improve your project management processes.

Start your project management journey with AFFiNE

While there are numerous free alternatives to Airtable, one tool that stands out is AFFiNE. With its user-friendly interface and powerful features, AFFiNE elevates your project management experience. It offers a diverse array of customizable templates and elements, enabling you to bring your ideas to life.

Whether you’re taking notes, creating your yearly plan, or designing a daily routine, AFFiNE has you covered. It provides the flexibility to incorporate images and text, enhancing your overall productivity.

Now that you have learned about the definition and creation of a storyboard, it’s time to put your knowledge into action. And what better way to do that than with AFFiNE? Commence improving your plans by using AFFiNE’s user-friendly tool. Presently, AFFiNE has launched its Stable Version Come and join us on our journey over on our media platforms.