What is Airtable?

Airtable is a relational database with a spreadsheet UI; this means that it has the ease of use and navigation of an Excel or Google spreadsheet, but powerful features of a relational DB (data validation, links and relationships across data tables). Additionally, a set of add-on "plugins" to Airtable, called Blocks, allow you to deploy mini-apps on top of a database. Finally, Airtable has a number of native integrations, and a fairly powerful API.

Airtable can be used as an individual tool, but it's most powerful when you have some or all of the following needs:

• Maintaining data integrity in a way that spreadsheets aren't cut out for
• Lots of real-time collaboration on the data (particularly when different people need different cuts on the data)
• Need for integrations with 3rd party tools
• A visual (and colorful) UI that allows you to intuitively keep up on what's going on in a given database

People often use Airtable to build lightweight internal tools and apps with a table-like interface:

• Sales CRM
• Applicant Tracking System
• Inventory Management System
• Project Management Tracker
• Etc.

Airtable is NOT good for:

• An internal wiki (it doesn't work well for notes, visual embeds, etc.)
• A pure document store
• Extensive modeling (e.g., financial models) or for power users of formulas

A few examples of what you can do with Airtable that are not possible with a spreadsheet:
- Define constraints and validation for data (e.g., this column is a date field, or URL)
- Lookups and functions that span different tables (e.g., if you have a "product category" table, with each category tagged with a given employee as "product owner"; you can set up a second "product SKU" table; when you tag the product category to the SKU, then the SKU table can pull in the owner and other attributes of the product category; and the product category table can display "rollups" like total sales of all SKUs in that category)
- Maintain auto-calculated fields (autonumber for a unique ID for each record; created and modified data that is auto-updated, etc.)
- Set up "views" for different purposes people to have their own custom workspace. For example, in a project management tracker, you could have a "month of May" view, an "operations" vs. "product" view, etc., for different purposes. You can also set custom permissions for each kind of views (personal views vs. locked views vs. collaborative views)
- You can share a table or view, publicly or with password protection
- You can also create Kanban boards and Forms -- so that you can visually handle records as "cards" or gather information or conduct surveys in a pinch (though these aren't the primary intended use case for Airtable, so it won't be as powerful as a specialized Kanban tracker or survey tool)
- There is also an extensive audit log of every change made to a table and even specific recoreds

Blocks add a whole dimension of functionality
---- The Page Designer Block allows you to lay out various data fields on a PDF sheet and produce beautiful documents, such as reports, invoices, etc.
---- The Maps Block allows you to map out an address column, so that you can see where all your customers or warehouses are located
---- The Org Chart block allows you to instantly generate your company's org chart
---- The Dedupe Block allows you to compare and merge duplicate or similar records
---- The SendGrid Block allows you to programatically send emails to contacts in a table
---- The Gantt Chart table allows you to visualize your project timeline
---- The Scripting Block allows you to write custom code on top of Airtable as well

Airtable is free for unlimited bases and essential features, including 1,200 records per base, 2GB of attachment storage, 2 weeks of revision and snapshot history, and more.

Plus: $12/user/month ($10 paid annually) unlimited bases plus 5,000 records per base, 5GB of attachment storage, 1 year of revision and snapshot history, and more.
Pro: $24/user/month ($20 paid annually)unlimited bases plus 50,000 records per base, 20GB of attachment storage, 1 year of revision and snapshot history, Blocks, customization and access options, and early access to new features. This plan also features priority support.
Enterprise: includes unlimited bases plus "increased" records per base, 1000GB of attachment storage, 3 years of revision and snapshot history, and more, including SAML SSO, additional admin and billing features, and dedicated customer service and individualized onboarding and training.

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