Alternatives to Airtable
What we track that does a similar job, ordered by list price, with the trade-off stated rather than implied.
Airtable: $20/mo / seat, per seat · baseline, not yet verified
Why price is the wrong first question
Two tools at the same list price rarely cost the same. One charges per seat and one charges per use; one includes the feature you need and one sells it as an add-on. Before comparing numbers, work out your effective cost for a month of your own work — the method is in what an AI tool actually costs.
What follows is ordered by headline price, which is a starting point for a shortlist and nothing more.
Otter.ai · freemium
Otter.ai
Meeting capture with the most aggressive free tier in the category.
$4.17/mo / seat, per seat
$15.83/mo / seat less per seat
Watch for: Per-seat billing on the paid tiers adds up faster than the per-minute audio cost suggests.
Miro · freemium
Miro
Collaborative canvas with AI features for sorting and summarising boards.
$8/mo / seat, per seat
$12/mo / seat less per seat
Watch for: Per-seat pricing applies to everyone invited, including occasional participants.
Make · freemium
Make
Visual automation with a steeper learning curve and a cheaper per-operation price.
$9/mo / seat, per seat
$11/mo / seat less per seat
Watch for: Operations are the metered unit and complex scenarios spend them quickly.
Fireflies.ai · freemium
Fireflies.ai
Meeting recorder that writes into the CRM, which is where the value actually sits.
$10/mo / seat, per seat
$10/mo / seat less per seat
Watch for: The CRM integration on the cheaper tiers is the thing to check before buying.
Notion · subscription
Notion AI
Assistant attached to the workspace where the documents already live.
$10/mo / seat, per seat
$10/mo / seat less per seat
Watch for: It is an add-on to an existing subscription, so the real comparison is against your current Notion bill plus a separate assistant.
Granola · freemium
Granola
Note-taking that merges your own notes with the transcript.
$18/mo / seat, per seat
$2/mo / seat less per seat
Watch for: The workflow assumes you type during calls, which not everyone does.
Where Airtable keeps its advantage
Replacing a spreadsheet that has outgrown itself.
What to watch before switching
Per-seat pricing on a database means the bill grows with the number of people who only need to read it.
What we don't know
- We record list prices. Volume discounts, education pricing and annual prepayment are not reflected here.
- Feature parity is not something a price table can show. Trial the two that survive your shortlist.