Airtable vs SmartSuite
We give Airtable a 3.0 GPA and SmartSuite a 2.4, out of 4.0. Airtable grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. SmartSuite grades higher on value for money. They get the same grade on the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Airtable
Relational database platform for building team workflows and apps
SmartSuite
No-code work platform built on linked tables, views and automations
How we grade them
| 3.0GPAAirtableVery good | 2.4GPASmartSuiteFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DTeam is $20 a seat a month billed annually, or $24 monthly, and the dearest tenth of this category starts at exactly $20 against an $8 middle. Business, where two-way sync and the admin panel live, is $45 a seat. | CTeam is $15 a seat a month billed yearly, $20 monthly, above this category's dear quarter but short of its dearest tenth. It bills at least 3 seats, so you pay for three even on your own. Viewers, commenters and people filling in forms are free, which softens it. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree covers up to 5 editors with 500 AI credits each, then the caps show up: 1,000 records and 1 GB of attachments per base, 2 weeks of revision history, and no timeline or Gantt view at all. | CNo free plan, but a 14-day trial of Professional with no card and no automatic charge. If it ends without a plan, the account is switched off, though your data is kept. |
| Features | AIt covers the whole job, and what the others here haven't got is the database underneath: linked tables shown as grid, form, calendar, gallery, kanban, timeline, list or Gantt, with custom interfaces built on top so each team gets its own app. Portals and Omni are its own too. | BThe whole job and more: 40+ field types in linked tables, grid, kanban, calendar, timeline, Gantt and map views, dashboards, multi-step automations, branded forms and an AI copilot that builds tables from a prompt. Team does cap a Solution at 5,000 records. |
| Ease of use | A4.8 from about 25,000 App Store ratings, the top band. Be clear what you're signing up for, mind: you're designing your own tracker here, not opening a ready-made one, so there's work before there's anything to tick off. | CNo rating on record, and this is a kit you build before you use: tables, links, views and automations. The 200+ templates and the copilot get you a first draft quickly. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, with Slack, Google Drive, Salesforce, Jira, Zendesk, GitHub, Box and Tableau among the integrations and a public API for the rest. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Salesforce, HubSpot, Gmail, Zapier and Make, and a REST API. No desktop app, which is what keeps it off an A. |
| Best for | building your own tracker from a database | building your own tracker from tables |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Airtable and SmartSuite. How we grade
Price against what you get
Airtable starts at $20 a month for each person and scores 4.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. SmartSuite starts at $15 a month for each person and scores 2.7.
Airtable scores higher, and starts $5 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other project management tools on the chart, none scores higher than Airtable for less, and 26 score higher than SmartSuite for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Airtable starts at $20 per seat / month, billed annually ($24 billed monthly). SmartSuite starts at $15 per seat / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly).
- Airtable has a free plan. SmartSuite does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Airtable lists macOS and Windows apps.
- Airtable also covers calendar.
- SmartSuite also covers no-code.
At a glance
| Airtable | SmartSuite | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $20 per seat / month, billed annually ($24 billed monthly) | $15 per seat / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | 1,000 records and 1 GB of attachments per base, up to 5 editors, 500 AI credits per editor a month and 2 weeks of revision history. | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial of the Team plan when a new account is created | 14-day free trial of Professional, no credit card required and no automatic charge |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Airtable (Formagrid Inc) | SmartSuite Holdings, Inc. |
| Price read from | airtable.com | smartsuite.com |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
SmartSuite
- Teams that want Airtable-style tables with project views and automations
- Risk, compliance and IT teams starting from ready-made templates
- Organizations with many viewers and form submitters who should not need paid seats
Worth knowing
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.
SmartSuite
- There is no free plan; Team needs at least 3 billable users and Professional at least 5.
- Team is capped at 5,000 records per Solution; at the limit you cannot add records until you upgrade.
- Two-factor authentication starts on Professional, and SSO, SCIM, audit logs and HIPAA support are Enterprise only.
- When the trial ends without a plan, the account is disabled, though its data is kept.
Key features
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.
SmartSuite
- Solutions and linked tables
- Model work as tables of records with more than 40 field types and links between tables, grouped into Solutions that can start from 200+ templates.
- Grid, kanban, Gantt and other views
- Show the same records as a grid, kanban board, calendar, timeline, Gantt chart or map, and build dashboards from widgets.
- Automations
- Triggers, conditions and multi-step actions run routine work; plans allow 25,000, 100,000 or 500,000 automation runs and API calls a month.
- AI copilot and agents
- The Workflow Builder Copilot creates tables, fields and views from a written prompt, and AI agents can make choices and generate content inside workflows.
- Forms and collaboration
- Branded forms collect records from people who are not billed, and comments with @mentions, record following and notifications keep discussion on the record.
- Permissions and history
- Account, Solution and record permissions on every plan, field and view permissions from Professional, and change history kept 1, 2 or 3 years by plan.
Plans
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.
SmartSuite
Team$15
per seat / month, billed annually ($20 billed monthly)
Minimum 3 billable users. 5,000 records per Solution, 50 GB of storage, 25,000 automation runs and API calls a month, 1 year of history.
Professional$32
per seat / month, billed annually ($36 billed monthly)
Minimum 5 billable users. 100,000 records per Solution, 100 GB, 100,000 runs a month, folders, Gmail and Outlook, advanced permissions.
EnterpriseCustom
400,000 records per Solution, 500 GB and 500,000 runs a month, with SSO, SCIM, audit logs, DLP, EU data residency and a HIPAA BAA.
SignatureCustom
Priced per solution rather than per user, for organizations rolling a solution such as GRC or ITSM out to hundreds or thousands of people.
Ways to pay less
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.
SmartSuite
- Annual discount
Lower per-seat rates on annual billing
Billed annually, Team is $15 per seat a month instead of $20 and Professional is $32 instead of $36.
