Airtable Alternatives 2026: 5 Free Options
Airtable alternatives: NocoDB, Baserow, Budibase, ToolJet and 1 more. Prices and licenses checked October 23, 2026.
•4 min read•Office, Docs & Presentations
Verdict:Airtable suits teams that want a shared table with forms, views and light automation, and do not want to write code. Leave it when the base grows large enough that the paid seat price matters, or when you need to host the data yourself for compliance reasons. Its Team plan is $20 per user a month billed annually, and Business is $45, so the cost scales with headcount. NocoDB is the closest move: it reads your database as a spreadsheet, so the mental model stays the same, and you can self-host it. Its cloud free tier caps records at 1,000, which is small for a real base. Baserow keeps the grid and adds an open-source core under MIT, with a free plan of 3,000 rows per workspace; choose it if you care about the license more than the template library. Budibase and Tooljet are better when your base is really a set of internal apps with approval steps, not a table people edit by hand. Appsmith suits a team that already has a database and only needs admin screens on top. The trade-off is consistent: the open-source options give you control over hosting and data, and they cost you Airtable's polish, its templates and its ready-made integrations. Test your heaviest view on each candidate before you move any data.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NocoDB | Free (Cloud Free has 3 editor seats, 1,000 records and 1 GB; the self-hosted Community edition has unlimited records, storage and seats but only 2 workflows per base); paid from $12 per seat/month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly, Plus) | Web, Self-hosted | Spreadsheet views over your own database | Docs only |
| Baserow | Free (Free plan: 3,000 rows and 2 GB of storage per workspace); paid from $10 per user/month, billed yearly ($12 billed monthly; Premium) | Web, Self-hosted | Open-source databases with a spreadsheet feel | Docs only |
| Budibase | Free (Open source plan is free and self-hosted with unlimited apps, automations and users; 1 workspace, 1-day automation log retention, community support); paid from $19 per month (Pro) | Web, Self-hosted | Internal apps on top of existing data | Docs only |
| ToolJet | Free (Cloud free plan: 2 builders, up to 50 end users, 10 apps, 500 ToolJet DB rows; self-hosted Community Edition is free); paid from $23 per builder/month (Basic) | Web, Self-hosted | Internal tools with workflow logic | Docs only |
| Appsmith | Free (Free plan: up to 5 users on cloud, 5 workspaces, 3 Git repos); paid from $15 per user/month (Business) | Web, Self-hosted | Admin panels over an existing database | Docs only |
| Notion | Free (unlimited pages and blocks for individuals but limited for workspaces of 2 or more members, 5 MB per file, 10 guests, 7-day page history); paid from $10 per member/month (Plus; check the pricing page for the billing term) | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android | Knowledge base | Docs only |
| ClickUp | Free (Free Forever plan with unlimited members, 60 MB of storage, 5 Spaces and 100 automation actions a month) | Web, iOS, Android | Project management | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want a spreadsheet-style view over a database you host (NocoDB is the pick)
- You want an open-source database with a free workspace tier (Baserow is the pick)
- You need internal apps with forms and approval steps (Budibase is the pick)
- You need an admin panel on an existing database (Appsmith is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Airtable features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Airtable today: Free; paid from $20 per user/month, billed annually (Team) (Airtable pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Why people look for Airtable alternatives
Airtable's free plan is described as meant for individual users, very small teams or lightweight needs. Once you reach the record or attachment limit of your plan you can keep using your bases, but you cannot add records or attachments until you upgrade. Automation runs and API usage are capped by plan too. Paid plans are Team at $20 per user per month and Business at $45, both billed annually, and Enterprise Scale is quoted through sales.
NocoDB
Compared with Airtable: Turns a database into a spreadsheet-style interface like Airtable, with a free cloud tier of 1,000 records and 3 editor seats. You gain a self-host option; you lose Airtable's large template library and its built-in app marketplace.
Price: Free (Cloud Free has 3 editor seats, 1,000 records and 1 GB; the self-hosted Community edition has unlimited records, storage and seats but only 2 workflows per base); paid from $12 per seat/month, billed annually ($15 billed monthly, Plus) (NocoDB pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. Sustainable Use License (source-available, not OSI open source).
Best for: Spreadsheet views over your own database.
Worth knowing: Self-hosted use is under a source-available license, not an OSI-approved open-source one.
Baserow
Compared with Airtable: Open-source core under MIT, with a free plan of 3,000 rows and 2 GB per workspace. Compared with Airtable you get a self-hostable base and a lower paid rate at $10 per user per month billed yearly, but fewer third-party integrations.
Price: Free (Free plan: 3,000 rows and 2 GB of storage per workspace); paid from $10 per user/month, billed yearly ($12 billed monthly; Premium) (Baserow pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. MIT (core) (open source).
Project activity: 6.2k GitHub stars · latest release 2.4.1 (Oct 13, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Open-source databases with a spreadsheet feel.
Budibase
Compared with Airtable: Open-source low-code builder that puts forms and internal apps on top of your data. Against Airtable it is stronger for app screens and weaker for simple table views, and the open-source plan is free and self-hosted with unlimited apps.
Price: Free (Open source plan is free and self-hosted with unlimited apps, automations and users; 1 workspace, 1-day automation log retention, community support); paid from $19 per month (Pro) (Budibase pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. GPL-3.0 (client and component libraries MPL-2.0; paid features under BSL) (open source).
Project activity: 28.4k GitHub stars · latest release v3.50.0 (Oct 19, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Internal apps on top of existing data.
ToolJet
Compared with Airtable: AGPL-3.0 low-code platform with a cloud free plan of 2 builders, 50 end users and 10 apps. Compared with Airtable it targets internal tools with business logic rather than shared tables, so you gain app building and lose the simple grid.
Price: Free (Cloud free plan: 2 builders, up to 50 end users, 10 apps, 500 ToolJet DB rows; self-hosted Community Edition is free); paid from $23 per builder/month (Basic) (ToolJet pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 41.1k GitHub stars · latest release v3.20.251-lts (Oct 27, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Internal tools with workflow logic.
Worth knowing: Fully offline operation needs a self-hosted Enterprise air-gapped add-on with no listed price.
Appsmith
Compared with Airtable: Apache-2.0 internal tool builder whose cloud free plan allows up to 5 users. Against Airtable it builds dashboards and admin panels on your own database, but it does not replace Airtable's table-first editing for teammates who want a spreadsheet.
Price: Free (Free plan: up to 5 users on cloud, 5 workspaces, 3 Git repos); paid from $15 per user/month (Business) (Appsmith pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. Apache-2.0 (open source).
Project activity: 41.1k GitHub stars · latest release v2.5.1 (Oct 21, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Admin panels over an existing database.
Worth knowing: Self-hosted accounts get a 15-day Business trial, then can continue on the Free tier.
Other popular options (paid)
Notion
Compared with Airtable: Docs and wiki first, with databases built in, a different shape from Airtable's spreadsheet-style bases. Free for individuals with unlimited pages, and Plus is $10 per member per month.
Price: Free (unlimited pages and blocks for individuals but limited for workspaces of 2 or more members, 5 MB per file, 10 guests, 7-day page history); paid from $10 per member/month (Plus; check the pricing page for the billing term) (Notion pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
ClickUp
Compared with Airtable: Project management first. The Free Forever plan has unlimited members, 60 MB of storage, 5 Spaces and 100 automation actions a month, which suits small teams that want tasks as well as tables.
Price: Free (Free Forever plan with unlimited members, 60 MB of storage, 5 Spaces and 100 automation actions a month) (ClickUp pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Which one to pick
- You want a spreadsheet-style view over a database you host: NocoDB
- You want an open-source database with a free workspace tier: Baserow
- You need internal apps with forms and approval steps: Budibase
- You need an admin panel on an existing database: Appsmith
Limits of this review
Docs-only for NocoDB, Baserow, Budibase, ToolJet, Appsmith: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Airtable. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-23: Airtable, NocoDB, Baserow, Budibase, ToolJet, Appsmith, Notion, ClickUp. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.