{
    "title": "Airtable Alternatives 2027: 10 Paid, Free & Open-Source",
    "url": "https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/airtable/",
    "summary": "The best Airtable alternatives in 2027 are Notion (best overall, $10/member/mo), Fibery (best free plan: 10 users, 10 databases) and Baserow (best open source, MIT). Airtable itself starts at $20/user/mo billed yearly. Zekai checked these prices on vendor pages on 11 Nov 2026; 7 more are compared below, including 2 with a free plan and 4 open source.",
    "tool": {
        "name": "Airtable",
        "starting_price": "$20/user/mo billed yearly",
        "free_plan": "1,000 records per base, 1 GB attachments",
        "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
        "pricing_url": "https://www.airtable.com/pricing"
    },
    "task": "AI project management and work database",
    "prices_checked": "2026-11-11",
    "date_modified": "2026-11-11",
    "alternatives": [
        {
            "name": "Notion",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$10/member/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "Unlimited solo blocks, 5 MB files, 7-day history",
            "best_for": "Docs and databases in one workspace",
            "difference": "Databases live beside pages and wikis in one workspace, with limited charts (one per database on Free) and Notion AI; Airtable is database-first with interface and automation tools.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.notion.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://www.notion.com",
            "zekai_score": 9.2,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/notion/"
        },
        {
            "name": "monday.com",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$9/seat/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "2 seats, 3 boards, 3 docs",
            "best_for": "Board-based work management for teams",
            "difference": "Sells separate work management, CRM, service and dev products by seat, and its Free plan stops at 2 seats and 3 boards; plans start at three users.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://monday.com/pricing",
            "zekai_score": 7.8,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/monday-com/"
        },
        {
            "name": "ClickUp",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$9/user/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "60 MB storage, 500 AI credits per workspace",
            "best_for": "Tasks, docs and custom fields cheaply",
            "difference": "Core gives unlimited storage and custom fields for $9 per user, against Airtable Team at $20; Free Forever caps storage at 60 MB and custom fields are a trial.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://clickup.com/pricing",
            "zekai_score": 7.8,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/clickup/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Smartsheet",
            "type": "Paid",
            "starting_price": "$9/member/mo billed annually",
            "free_plan_limit": "No free plan",
            "best_for": "Spreadsheet-style project plans and reporting",
            "difference": "Grid-first sheets built around project plans, with Pro at $9 and Business at $19 per member billed annually; there is a 30-day trial and no free plan.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.smartsheet.com/pricing",
            "zekai_score": 7.5,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/smartsheet/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Fibery",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$12/user/mo billed annually",
            "free_plan_limit": "10 users, 10 databases, 1 GB storage",
            "best_for": "Linked databases across teams on a free tier",
            "difference": "Free allows 10 users and 10 databases with unlimited entities, 1 GB storage, 250 automation runs a month and EU data residency.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "pricing_url": "https://fibery.io/pricing",
            "zekai_score": 7.6,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/fibery/"
        },
        {
            "name": "AppFlowy",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "AGPL-3.0",
            "best_for": "Open-source Notion-style notes and boards",
            "difference": "An AGPL-3.0 workspace built in Flutter and Rust with kanban boards and task databases, aimed at notes and wikis more than relational data.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "repository": "https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/appflowy/",
            "zekai_score": 8.6,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/appflowy/"
        },
        {
            "name": "NocoBase",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "Apache-2.0",
            "best_for": "Self-hosted no-code business apps",
            "difference": "An Apache-2.0 no-code platform for building custom business systems on your own server, with a data model you design before choosing the interface.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "repository": "https://github.com/nocobase/nocobase",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/nocobase/",
            "zekai_score": 7.7,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/nocobase/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Baserow",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "MIT",
            "best_for": "Spreadsheet-style database you can self-host",
            "difference": "Open-core with an MIT-licensed core, self-hosting with no storage restrictions or sign-up, and Docker, Helm and one-click installs; premium features sit behind separate licences.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "repository": "https://github.com/baserow/baserow",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/baserow/",
            "zekai_score": 7.8,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/baserow/"
        },
        {
            "name": "NocoDB",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "Sustainable",
            "best_for": "Spreadsheet UI over your own database",
            "difference": "Describes itself as a self-hostable Airtable alternative and can run on SQLite or Postgres, but its Sustainable Use License is source-available, not OSI open source.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "repository": "https://github.com/nocodb/nocodb",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/nocodb/",
            "zekai_score": 8.3,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/nocodb/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Grist",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "Apache-2.0",
            "best_for": "Relational spreadsheet with formula columns",
            "difference": "A relational spreadsheet whose named columns hold one data type and can be filled by formulas, with direct import from Airtable.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-11",
            "repository": "https://github.com/gristlabs/grist-core",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/grist/",
            "zekai_score": 8,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/grist/"
        }
    ],
    "faq": [
        {
            "q": "What is the best alternative to Airtable in 2027?",
            "a": "Notion is the best overall Airtable alternative on this page ($10/member/mo). For no cost, Fibery has a free plan (10 users, 10 databases, 1 GB storage). To self-host, Baserow is open source (MIT)."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is there a free version of Airtable?",
            "a": "Yes. Airtable has a free plan: 1,000 records per base, 1 GB attachments. Paid plans start at $20/user/mo billed yearly, checked on 11 Nov 2026."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is there a 100% free alternative to Airtable?",
            "a": "Yes. AppFlowy, NocoBase, Baserow, NocoDB, Grist are open source and free to self-host. Notion, monday.com, ClickUp, Fibery have a free plan with limits, shown in the table."
        },
        {
            "q": "What is cheaper than Airtable?",
            "a": "ClickUp starts at $9/user/mo billed yearly, against $20/user/mo billed yearly for Airtable, as listed on each vendor's pricing page on 11 Nov 2026."
        },
        {
            "q": "How much do Airtable alternatives cost for a team of 5?",
            "a": "If each of 5 people buys the entry paid plan, at the prices Zekai checked on 11 Nov 2026, the monthly cost is monday.com $45/mo, ClickUp $45/mo, Smartsheet $45/mo, against Airtable $100/mo for Airtable. Team and business plans can cost more per seat. The Zekai Cost Finder on this page recalculates for any team size."
        },
        {
            "q": "Which is better, Notion or Airtable?",
            "a": "Databases live beside pages and wikis in one workspace, with limited charts (one per database on Free) and Notion AI; Airtable is database-first with interface and automation tools. Choose Notion if your tables are mostly notes, wikis and lightweight trackers that belong beside written pages. Stay with Airtable if you rely on large relational bases, automations and interfaces rather than documents."
        },
        {
            "q": "Why are people leaving Airtable?",
            "a": "The documented reasons are: Airtable's August 2023 plan changes renamed Pro to Team at $20 per user billed annually ($24 monthly), cut Pro automation runs from 50,000 to 25,000 and capped API calls at 100,000 per workspace a month (23 Aug 2023); Airtable's Free plan is capped at 1,000 records per base and reaching the record or attachment limit blocks new records or attachments until you upgrade (11 Nov 2026). Each is sourced in the section above."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is there an open source alternative to Airtable?",
            "a": "Yes. Baserow and Grist are the closest to the spreadsheet-database model, and NocoBase suits building internal apps. NocoDB is source-available rather than strictly open source."
        }
    ],
    "publisher": "Zekai (zekaiwork.com) — independently reviewed; prices read on vendor pages on the dates shown.",
    "licence": "Free to quote with a link to https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/airtable/. Bulk copying or republishing the dataset is not permitted."
}