Airtable vs Blue

Airtable

• Teams that want to shape a database into their own project tracker
• Operations and marketing teams building internal apps without code
• Nonprofits and educators, who can get 50% off the Team plan

Blue

• Teams that prefer a one-time payment to per-seat subscriptions
• Tracking processes such as sales, orders, recruiting or projects as records
• Giving clients and contractors a limited view of shared data

Airtable

• The Free plan is capped at 1,000 records per base and 5 editors.
• Record limits apply per base on paid plans too: 50,000 on Team and 125,000 on Business.
• Timeline and Gantt views and extensions are not part of the Free plan.
• Two-way sync and the admin panel need the Business plan at $45 per seat / month.

Blue

• There is no free plan and no free trial; each purchase carries a 30-day money-back guarantee instead.
• Each tier caps users at 5, 30 or 150, and every role, including clients and view-only users, counts toward the cap.
• Record-level permissions, scheduled and conditional automations, saved views, audit logs and white label need the $500 a year Pro add-on.
• The vendor reserves the right to add a maintenance fee of up to $50 a year per organization, which it says is not part of current pricing.

Airtable

Relational bases

Data lives in bases of linked tables. Record limits per base rise from 1,000 on Free to 50,000 on Team and 125,000 on Business.

Eight view types

A table can be shown as a grid, form, calendar, gallery, kanban, timeline, list or Gantt view. Timeline and Gantt views need the Team plan.

Interfaces

Custom interfaces can be built from base data, giving each team a tailored app on top of the same records.

Automations and sync

Automations handle repetitive steps inside a base. Two-way sync with outside tools is included from the Business plan.

Omni and field agents

Omni builds apps from a plain-language description and field agents run AI across records. Both draw on monthly AI credits: 500 per editor on Free and 15,000 per seat on Team.

Portals

Portals let guest users from outside the organization collaborate on selected data.

Blue

Structured records

Customers, orders, candidates, projects and other items are kept as records with custom fields, up to 100 per workspace on the base tiers.

Board, table, calendar and timeline

The same records can be viewed as a board, a table, a database, a calendar or a timeline, with real-time collaboration.

Automations

Trigger-based automations are included, with a monthly allowance set by tier. Scheduled, conditional and chained automations need the Pro add-on.

Roles and permissions

Custom roles and field-level permissions decide who can see and edit each column, so clients and contractors get a restricted view. Row-level permissions need Pro.

Dashboards and forms

Dashboards chart live data and can be shared through a public link without a login, and forms collect new records.

API, webhooks and AI agents

A REST and GraphQL API and webhooks cover custom integrations, and an MCP server lets Claude, ChatGPT and other clients query and update records.

Airtable

• Free$0

  1,000 records and 1 GB of attachments per base, up to 5 editors and 2 weeks of revision history.

• Team$20

  per seat / month, billed annually ($24 billed monthly)

  50,000 records and 20 GB of attachments per base, Gantt and timeline views, extensions and 15,000 AI credits per seat a month.

• Business$45

  per seat / month, billed annually ($54 billed monthly)

  125,000 records and 100 GB of attachments per base, two-way sync, an admin panel and 20,000 AI credits per seat a month.

• Enterprise ScaleCustom

  Sold through sales, with pricing based on the organization's needs and 25,000 AI credits per paid user a month.

Blue

• Starter$99

  one-time purchase

  5 users, 5 workspaces, 50,000 records per workspace, 10GB storage, 1,000 automations a month and community support.

• Growth$299

  one-time purchase

  30 users, 25 workspaces, 100GB storage, 5,000 automations a month, 10 dashboards, 3 custom roles and email support.

• Scale$999

  one-time purchase

  150 users, 100 workspaces, 500GB storage, 50,000 automations a month, 25 dashboards and 5 custom roles.

• Pro add-on$500

  per year, on top of any tier

  Optional: 500,000 records per workspace, record-level permissions, scheduled and conditional automations, audit logs, white label and priority support.

• EnterpriseCustom

  For more than 150 users: unlimited users, workspaces and storage, dedicated infrastructure and an account manager. Priced through sales.

Airtable

• Annual discount

  Lower per-seat price with annual billing

  Team is $20 per seat / month billed annually against $24 monthly, and Business is $45 against $54, about 17% less in both cases.

• Nonprofit

  50% off the Team plan for nonprofits

  Registered 501(c)(3) nonprofits, or accredited equivalents outside the US, can apply for 50% off Team seats. Airtable AI is excluded from the discount.

• Education

  50% off Team for educators, free for students

  Employees of accredited educational institutions can get 50% off Team, and students get 6 to 24 months of free access depending on graduation date.

Blue

• Lifetime license

  One-time payment for ongoing access

  Each tier is bought once ($99, $299 or $999) with no per-seat or renewal charge, and a buyer can move up a tier later by paying the difference.