While Airtable excels at database management, it has clear limitations—especially around pricing, flexibility, and the inability to build complete applications. If you need more than just a backend, you'll want to explore alternatives that offer full app-building capabilities.
In this guide, you'll discover:
- Why users seek Airtable alternatives
- 8 powerful alternatives for 2025
- How each tool can improve your data management and productivity
Our 8 Favorite Airtable Alternatives
What is Airtable?
Airtable is a backend builder that lets you create databases without technical or programming experience. You can integrate several third-party applications into your Airtable database, including Google Workspace, QuickBooks, Hubspot, and many more.
Airtable's third-party integrations allow seamless data transfer into your database for easy organization and manipulation. However, it remains fundamentally a database tool—not an application builder.
Why Look for an Airtable Alternative?
While Airtable provides a powerful database-building platform for some use cases, it falls short in several key areas. Here are the main reasons users seek alternatives:
- Cost escalates quickly: Airtable's cheapest paid version costs $24/month per user (billed monthly), which adds up fast for larger teams. If you need advanced features, you're looking at $54/month per user—a significant expense for a team of 10 or more.
- Backend builder only: Airtable excels at creating databases and backend logic. However, if you want to transform your data into an actual application, you'll need a separate front-end builder, meaning additional platform costs and learning curves.
- Limited flexibility: While it provides essential functions, Airtable's capabilities can feel basic for users needing complex data relationships or custom schemas. Building a sophisticated database with a unique structure often requires looking beyond Airtable.
#1 Adalo
Overview
Adalo is an AI-powered app builder for database-driven web apps and native iOS and Android apps—one version across all three platforms. With AI-assisted building and streamlined publishing, you can launch to the Apple App Store and Google Play in days rather than months.
The platform's visual builder has been described as "easy as PowerPoint," while the upcoming AI Builder (releasing early 2026) promises vibe-coding creation speed. Magic Start generates complete app foundations from simple descriptions, and Magic Add lets you add features through natural language requests. Over 3 million apps have been created on Adalo, demonstrating its production-ready reliability.
What It Does Better Than Airtable
- While Airtable only handles database and backend construction, Adalo provides the complete package: You can create an app's frontend, backend, and database on a single platform—no need to pay for or learn multiple tools.
- Like Airtable, Adalo offers extensive integrations: Connect to Mailchimp, Zapier, QuickBooks, and many more to send data to your Adalo app. Plus, Sheetbridge lets you turn a Google Sheet into an actual database for the easiest control without database-related learning.
- Ensure all users can access your app—whether a handful of internal team members or thousands of customers. Adalo enables publishing on the web, Apple App Store, and Google Play Store from a single codebase.
- Following the Adalo 3.0 infrastructure overhaul in late 2025, the platform is now 3-4x faster with modular infrastructure that scales to serve apps with 1M+ monthly active users. Paid plans include no record limits on the database—unlimited storage without usage-based charges.
Who It's Best For
Adalo works exceptionally well for freelancers, entrepreneurs, and small to medium businesses who need to build and publish apps without technical expertise. If your plan is mass distribution through the app stores' vast marketplaces, this is a strong choice versus many alternatives that only offer web apps or require complex setup.
Pricing
Start using Adalo for $36/month (billed monthly) with unlimited usage and app store publishing. Unlike competitors that charge based on workload units or record limits, Adalo's pricing is straightforward—no bill shock from unexpected usage charges.
Final Verdict
For non-technical users looking to create an app for their small or medium-sized business that they can publish across web, iOS, and Android, Adalo delivers the complete solution Airtable can't provide.
#2 Xano
Overview
Xano is one of the most powerful backend builders available. It gives you exceptional control over constructing your database, backend logic, and API endpoints.
What It Does Better Than Airtable
- Xano is Turing complete, making it flexible enough to perform any backend calculation and control all loops and conditions. If you want to build a robust, complex backend, Xano delivers capabilities Airtable simply can't match.
- Enterprises and startups looking to grow will find Xano especially useful because you can scale your backend to accommodate nearly any database size you can imagine.
Who It's Best For
Xano has a steep learning curve and is catered to technical users. If you aren't sure how to create your database schema or don't have experience with SQL concepts, you might encounter difficulties. This is a tool for developers or technically-minded builders.
Pricing
After the free version, Xano's first plan is $99/month (billed monthly) and provides 3 workspaces and unlimited records. If you sign up for Adalo's Business Version, you'll get free access to this plan—a powerful combination of visual frontend building with enterprise-grade backend capabilities.
If you need more power, the $225/month (billed monthly) plan allows unlimited background tests and includes an option to make your backend HIPAA compliant.
Final Verdict
For advanced users looking to scale their backend with maximum flexibility, Xano provides capabilities that exceed Airtable's. However, it requires technical expertise and still needs a separate frontend solution.
#3 Coda
Overview
Coda is a collaborative platform that integrates several functionalities into one versatile workspace that multiple team members can access simultaneously.
What It Does Better Than Airtable
- While Airtable builds your database from one source, Coda lets you integrate several data sources into one, allowing you to streamline workflows effectively. This is a significant advantage for teams working with multiple databases.
- Coda also has a simple frontend component that allows you to create and send forms via a link. The completed form data is then stored in your database—ideal for businesses seeking feedback, conducting research, or gathering customer information.
Who It's Best For
Teams who need to collaborate on databases and workflows will find Coda a viable option. It's particularly strong for document-centric workflows that need database functionality.
Pricing
Coda's pricing starts at $12/month per user (billed monthly), which gives you 5GB of attachment space and custom-branded forms. The $36/month per user (billed monthly) tier allows you to assign specific permissions and editing access and provides unlimited attachment space.
Final Verdict
Businesses with several people updating and editing their databases, those who need to gather information through forms, and budget-conscious teams will find Coda a solid Airtable alternative. However, it won't help you build and publish mobile apps.
#4 Smartsheet
Overview
Smartsheet is a robust work management platform designed to unify collaboration, workflows, and content management for enterprise teams.
What It Does Better Than Airtable
- Several Fortune 100 companies use Smartsheet because the platform is built to scale to hundreds of thousands of users. If you're operating at enterprise scale, Smartsheet offers more scalability power than Airtable.
Who It's Best For
Due to its scaling capabilities and multi-functional collaboration tools, Smartsheet excels as a functional platform for large teams across several locations—or continents. It's built for enterprise project management, not app development.
Pricing
For $12/month per user (billed monthly), Smartsheet gives you 250 automations and unlimited sheets. The $36/month per user (billed monthly) version allows 1TB of attachment storage and unlimited automations.
Final Verdict
Smartsheet is the optimal Airtable alternative for large organizations with multiple locations or remote teams that need to handle, automate, and organize large amounts of data. It's a project management powerhouse, though it won't build customer-facing applications.
#5 Backendless
Overview
Backendless is an app builder that allows you to create all three parts of your app: frontend, backend, and database.
What It Does Better Than Airtable
- While you'll need some technical experience, Backendless provides a powerful platform allowing you to customize your database and backend precisely, with much more customization control and flexibility than Airtable.
- Backendless includes a feature Airtable doesn't provide: a frontend builder. This means you can create an app from one platform without paying for both a backend and a frontend builder.
Who It's Best For
Users who know their way around database design and backend customization will find Backendless a much more feasible option than Airtable. It requires technical knowledge but rewards it with flexibility.
Pricing
Backendless's pricing starts at $15/month (billed monthly). While you're limited to 100 database tables with 100,000 objects per table, you can purchase features at individual prices. For instance, get an extra 200,000 database objects for $10/month or 50 database tables for $25/month.
If you want to run your app off your own server (on-prem), Backendless allows you to do so starting at $10,000 per year—which can be a good deal for large enterprises with specific compliance requirements.
Final Verdict
Offering pricing options for small businesses and enterprises, Backendless is a tech-heavy Airtable alternative that lets you create a scalable, highly customized app. The learning curve is steeper than visual builders like Adalo.
#6 SmartSuite
Overview
SmartSuite is a platform that allows you to create multiple databases to organize your business's processes and data.
What It Does Better Than Airtable
- Get your building started quickly by selecting from one of SmartSuite's 150+ templates (which SmartSuite calls "Solutions"). You can customize these to your needs and preferences.
- SmartSuite knows security is a top priority, so it has several features to keep bad actors away from your data. Notable security features include SOC Type II and GDPR compliance, 2-factor authentication, and additional lockdown features.
- Starting at $12/month per user (billed monthly), SmartSuite is a budget-friendly alternative to Airtable.
Who It's Best For
Businesses needing to build workflows from databases to optimize internal processes will find SmartSuite's features well-suited to their needs. It's a work management tool, not an app builder.
Pricing
SmartSuite starts at $12/month per user (billed monthly), which gives you unlimited solutions (templates) and up to 5,000 records per solution with 50GB of total storage—billing starts after the 14-day free trial. The $24/month per user (billed monthly) version provides 50,000 records per solution and 100GB of storage.
Final Verdict
SmartSuite is a budget-friendly alternative to Airtable with the template selection to get your workflow building done quickly. It won't help you create customer-facing mobile apps, but it excels at internal process management.
#7 Stackby
Overview
Stackby is a flexible database-building platform combining the functionalities of spreadsheets, databases, and automations into one interface.
What It Does Better Than Airtable
- With pricing starting at $6/month per user, Stackby is one of the most budget-friendly Airtable alternatives available.
- Stackby is a seriously customizable alternative to Airtable. It provides over 300 templates with 25 different record types, allowing you to configure your data to your precise specifications.
Who It's Best For
Stackby is best suited for small- to medium-sized businesses looking for a customizable way to manage their operations, marketing, content management, and project tracking.
Pricing
Stackby starts at $6/month for a single user (billed monthly), granting you up to 15 "stacks" (Stackby's term for databases) with up to 3,500 rows each. If you have a team, the $10/month per user (billed monthly) plan provides up to 25 stacks of 7,000 rows each.
Final Verdict
Stackby is the Airtable alternative for solopreneurs to medium-sized teams needing a cheap, simple, no-frills application for managing and customizing their data. Like Airtable, it's a database tool—not an app builder.
#8 SeaTable
Overview
SeaTable is a versatile collaborative database application that combines a simple spreadsheet interface for seamless data management with the capability to handle more complex data relationships and structures.
What It Does Better Than Airtable
- With over 20 different column types, SeaTable provides more customization than Airtable, allowing you more versatility in viewing, storing, and marking up your data.
- If you've got your own servers, SeaTable's enterprise version lets you run your app on-prem. This gives you granular control over your app's security and might even satisfy your IT team's compliance requirements.
Who It's Best For
SeaTable has database solutions for nearly anyone, with affordable pricing for smaller teams and enterprise solutions for large organizations.
Pricing
SeaTable starts at €9/month per user (billed monthly—yes, that's Euro, as SeaTable is based in Germany), providing unlimited tables with 50,000 rows and up to 50GB of file storage. For €14/month per user (billed monthly), you get unlimited tables and rows with 100GB of file storage.
Final Verdict
SeaTable is a strong choice for those who need more customization than Airtable but still seek ease of use. It's affordable enough for companies on a budget while also providing robust enterprise options. However, like most alternatives on this list, it's a database tool rather than an app builder.
How Adalo Compares to Other App Building Alternatives
When evaluating Airtable alternatives, it's worth understanding how Adalo stacks up against other platforms that actually build applications—not just databases.
Bubble offers more customization options but comes with trade-offs. Its web and mobile wrapper offering starts at $59/month with usage-based charges and limits on records due to Workload Units—calculations that can be unclear and lead to unexpected bills. Bubble's mobile solution wraps the web app, which can introduce performance challenges at scale. One app version doesn't automatically update web, Android, and iOS deployments. While claims of millions of MAU are possible, they often require hiring experts to optimize performance.
FlutterFlow is "low-code" rather than "no-code" and targets technical users. Users need to manage and set up their own unrelated database, which requires significant learning complexity—especially when optimizing for scale, as suboptimal setup can create problems. Their builder is limited in view (slow speed to see more than 2 screens at once), whereas Adalo can display up to 400 screens at once on one canvas. Pricing starts at $70/month per user for easy app store publishing, but that still doesn't include a database, which users must source, set up, and pay for separately.
Glide is heavily format-focused and restricted to set templates. This makes it fast to build and publish with, but creates generic, simplistic apps with limited creative freedom. Glide works well for spreadsheet-based apps, but Adalo's Sheetbridge offers similar convenience—turning a Google Sheet into an actual database—with more flexibility. Glide pricing starts at $60/month for custom domain capability, but it's still limited by app updates and data record rows that attract additional charges. Critically, Glide does not support Apple App Store or Google Play Store publishing.
Softr pricing starts from $167/month to publish a Progressive Web App, which is still restricted by records per app and records per datasource. Softr does not support Apple App Store and Google Play Store publishing or native iOS and Android app creation. It's useful for spreadsheet app building within web app restrictions at a higher price point.
Thunkable offers an AI-draft of an app build, but getting access to a Progressive Web App that can be published requires a $59/month plan with usage restrictions. Responsive app capabilities require custom pricing beyond their advertised $189/month Advanced tier.
Adalo: A Complete Airtable Alternative
Are you looking for a platform that provides database capabilities and lets you build complete applications? Adalo delivers both.
Adalo is an AI-powered app builder that lets you create your frontend, backend, and database in one platform. When you build with Adalo, you won't need to pay for and learn multiple tools.
While you won't need technical or coding skills to create your app, Adalo doesn't compromise on power. You'll have near-granular control over your app's design, access to performance-boosting components, and thousands of third-party integrations. The X-Ray feature identifies performance issues before they affect users, helping you build apps that scale.
Following the Adalo 3.0 infrastructure overhaul in late 2025, the platform is 3-4x faster with modular infrastructure that scales to serve apps with millions of monthly active users. Paid plans include unlimited database records with no usage-based charges—straightforward pricing without bill shock.
Publish your app to the web, Apple App Store, and Google Play Store to reach as many users as possible. Try Adalo today and start building your app for free.
FAQ
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Why choose Adalo over other app building solutions? | Adalo is an AI-powered app builder that creates true native iOS and Android apps. Unlike web wrappers, it compiles to native code and publishes directly to both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store from a single codebase—the hardest part of launching an app handled automatically. |
| What's the fastest way to build and publish an app to the App Store? | Adalo's drag-and-drop interface combined with AI-assisted building lets you create apps quickly without coding. The platform handles the App Store submission process, so you can go from idea to published app in days rather than months. |
| Why do some users look for Airtable alternatives? | Users seek Airtable alternatives primarily due to cost concerns (pricing starts at $24/month per user and can reach $54/month for advanced features), the fact that Airtable is only a backend builder requiring a separate frontend platform, and its lack of flexibility for complex data relationships or sophisticated database structures. |
| What's the difference between backend-only tools and full app builders? | Backend-only tools like Airtable let you create databases and backend logic, but you'll need to pay for and learn a separate frontend builder to create a user-facing app. Full app builders like Adalo provide everything in one platform—frontend, backend, and database—eliminating the need for multiple subscriptions. |
| Which is more affordable, Adalo or Airtable? | Adalo starts at $36/month with unlimited usage and app store publishing. Airtable starts at $24/month per user but only provides database functionality—you'd need to pay for a separate frontend builder to create an actual app, making the total cost higher. |
| Can I build a complete app with both frontend and backend without coding? | Yes, with Adalo you can build a complete app with both frontend and backend without any coding experience. Unlike Airtable which only provides backend and database functionality, Adalo gives you the total package to create fully functional apps ready for deployment. |
| Does Adalo support publishing to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store? | Yes, Adalo enables publishing to the web, Apple App Store, and Google Play Store from a single codebase. Many alternatives like Glide and Softr don't support app store publishing at all, limiting your distribution options. |
| How does Adalo handle database scaling? | Following the Adalo 3.0 infrastructure overhaul in late 2025, paid plans include unlimited database records with no caps. The modular infrastructure scales to serve apps with 1M+ monthly active users with no upper ceiling. |
| What integrations does Adalo support? | Adalo supports extensive integrations including Mailchimp, Zapier, QuickBooks, and many more. You can also integrate with Xano for advanced backend capabilities—signing up for Adalo's Business Version includes free access to Xano's first paid plan. |
| Is Adalo better than Bubble for mobile apps? | Adalo creates true native iOS and Android apps from a single codebase, while Bubble's mobile solution wraps the web app. Adalo's pricing ($36/month) is more straightforward than Bubble's ($59/month with usage-based Workload Unit charges), and Adalo has no record limits on paid plans. |
