Airtable alternatives to review in 2022

by Kaylyn McKenna in softaware on August 19, 2022, 9:06 AM PDT

Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel and similar tools can be used as alternatives to Airtable. Review their features to see if they are right for your business.

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Airtable is one of the most popular project management software options, but that doesn’t mean that it’s the right choice for every team. Check out the top alternatives to Airtable to find the right project management tool for your business.

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Best Airtable alternatives

monday.com

Image: monday.com

The monday.com Work OS is a project management software with a flexible yet feature-rich platform. Compared to other project management tools, monday.com gives users greater flexibility in configuring different visualizations and project views.

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monday.com’s unique features

Ability to visually display project data through a variety of views including Gantt chart, kanban, charts and dashboards
WorkForms feature for customizable data collection
Log of all changes made by users for better project tracking and visibility
250+ pre-built workflow automations
Extensive integrations available for developer tools, CRM and more

Pricing

monday.com offers five plans to choose from:

Individual: A free plan that supports up to 2 users, 1,000 items, and 500 GB of storage.
Basic : For $8/month per user billed annually or $10/month per user billed monthly, organizations can have unlimited items, boards, and free viewers.
Standard : For $10/month per user billed annually or $12/month per user billed monthly, organizations can access timeline, Gantt and calendar views as well as automations and integrations.
Pro : For $16/month per user billed annually or $20/month per user billed monthly, organizations can gain access to the chart view, time tracking features and more.
Enterprise : Enterprise pricing is customized based on business needs. This plan provides premium support and enterprise security among other benefits.

Smartsheet

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Smartsheet is a highly rated cloud-based project management software that can meet the needs of teams of various sizes, focus areas and technical skill levels. The software tool makes it easy to organize, visualize and communicate clearly about ongoing projects. Like Airtable, Smartsheet displays project data on a spreadsheet-like interface.

Smartsheet’s unique features

Data visualization through grid, Gantt, card and calendar views
WorkApps, Smartsheet’s code-free tool for building web and mobile apps
Activity log for tracking projects changes and updates
Pre-built project and automation templates

Pricing

Smartsheet is the only software vendor on this list that does not offer a free plan, but you can do a free trial before picking one of the three available plans:

Pro : For $7/month per user billed annually or $9/month per user, organizations can access basic collaboration and project management functions. This plan has a maximum of 10 editing users but allows unlimited viewers.
Business: For $25/month per user per month billed annually or $32/month per user billed monthly, organizations can add unlimited editors.
Enterprise : Custom plans and pricing available for Enterprise companies.

Wrike

Image: Wrike

Wrike is a leading project management software vendor. The software offers high-level project planning and management as well as seamless collaboration across teams. Wrike offers project management features targeted towards IT project teams, marketing teams, creative teams and service delivery teams. The platform can serve businesses of all sizes and features specialized offerings tailored towards the needs of enterprise clients.

Wrike’s unique features

Intuitive displays with table, list, board, Gantt, timelog and analytics dashboard views
Project templates available for IT, project management, marketing and other teams
400+ integration options with a wide range of apps and software tools
Premium security and data privacy features for enterprise users

Pricing

Free : Users can sign up to the free plan to use the basic task management functions at no cost.
Professional : For $9.80/month per user, organizations can add on shareable dashboards, interactive Gantt charts and integrations.
Business : For $24.80/month per user, organizations can access advanced customization features.
Enterprise : Businesses that want enhanced reporting and security tools can inquire about the Enterprise package. Pricing is customized.

Asana

Image: Asana

Asana is another project management software that has been adopted by many organizations. Its main emphasis is on task management. Asana has a very clean and simple interface that works well on desktop and as a mobile app. As opposed to Airtable’s spreadsheet-style layout, Asana has a more classic to-do list layout. Users can view their task lists in a to-do list format where tasks can be checked off or on a calendar layout.

Asana’s unique features

Offers extensive communication and collaboration tools including messaging tools, shared calendars and the ability to comment within specific tasks
Integrates well with business intelligence programs like Tableau
Subtasks can be assigned to different users with staggered deadlines

Pricing

Asana has four different pricing tiers:

Basic : The free plan supports unlimited projects and tasks for up to 15 users.
Premium: For $10.99/month per user billed annually or $13.49/month billed monthly, organizations can add unlimited users and gain access to the Workflow Builder.
Business : For $24.99/month per user billed annually or $30.49/month billed monthly, organizations can add on advanced reporting, a portfolio view, advanced workflows and personalized support.
Enterprise : Customizable plans for enterprise companies. Pricing varies.

Zoho Projects

Image: Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects is a well-rounded project management tool for tasks management, process automation and team collaboration. It is part of Zoho’s extensive software product catalog, making it an especially good choice for organizations that already use a Zoho product or are looking for multiple easy-to-integrate business tools.

The software offers a ton of data visualization options including traditional spreadsheet view, a simple list, a Kanban board or a Gantt chart. Users can also automate mapped workflows with the Blueprints tool.

Zoho Projects’ unique features

Project tracking in spreadsheet, list and kanban views.
Integrations with other Zoho products as well as Google and Microsoft
Project baseline feature to help compare expected against real progress on tasks
Ability to track and analyze time spent on each task

Pricing

Zoho Projects is an affordable option with three pricing levels:

Free : Teams with three users or less can use the software for free and create two projects.
Premium : For $4/month per user billed annually or $5/month per user billed monthly, teams with up to 50 users can access unlimited projects, 20 project templates and 100 GB of storage space.
Enterprise : Teams with over 50 users will need to opt for the Enterprise plan. For $9/month per user billed annually or $10/month per user billed monthly.

What are the pros and cons of Airtable?

Airtable is one of the most popular project management software tools. This is partially due to the versatility of the software. Airtable provides solutions for teams of all sizes from small businesses to large enterprises. There is even a free plan for smaller teams or individuals. Airtable also offers an intuitive user interface and seamless data importing process, making it a very user-friendly option.

SEE: Hiring kit: Project manager (TechRepublic Premium)

However, there are a few reasons that users may seek alternatives to Airtable. The first one is simply that many people have different preferences when it comes to the task management interface. Airtable’s interface is intuitive for most users, but it does feel more like a spreadsheet. Excel enthusiasts will like this, but others may prefer a layout list Asana’s which often feels more like a standard to-do list.

Enterprise users may also choose to go with an Airtable alternative as many competitors offer more comprehensive enterprise integrations. There are also limited extensions for many of the subscription plans.

Choosing between Airtable and its alternatives

Airtable is a popular choice for project management software. It offers a wide range of strong project management and reporting features. However, it isn’t the best fit for all organizations as it does have some weaknesses in its task management features.

There are plenty of alternate project management software options available. These competitors may offer better task management features or a preferable user experience compared to AirTable. To compare these tools and others, check out our round up of the best project management software.