Is Airtable really free?

Yes. Airtable's Free plan is genuinely free forever with no credit card required. It includes unlimited bases, up to 5 editors, 1,000 records per base, 1 GB of attachments, and the Interface Designer. For individuals and very small teams with modest data needs, the Free plan can be sufficient indefinitely. The main limitations that trigger upgrades are the 1,000-record ceiling and the 100-automation-run monthly cap.

How much does Airtable cost for a mid-size team?

For a team of 15 people on the Business plan (the most common paid tier), the cost is $45/seat/month billed annually: $8,100/year. This includes 125,000 records per base, 100,000 automation runs, SAML SSO, and premium integrations. Add-ons like Portals ($150+/month for 15 guests) and AI credit overages can increase costs.

Can Airtable replace Excel?

For most use cases involving structured data with relational logic, yes — and it does so with far more power. Airtable handles linked records, multi-view data presentation, automations, and permissions in ways Excel cannot match. However, Excel still wins for complex formula chains, offline work, pivot tables, and financial modeling. Many organizations use Airtable as their operational database and export to Excel for advanced analysis.

What are Airtable's AI credits and how do they work?

AI credits are Airtable's consumption-based pricing for AI features (Omni, Field Agents, and AI-powered field suggestions). Free users get 500 credits/month, Team users get 15,000/paid user/month, Business users get 20,000/paid user/month, and Enterprise Scale users get 25,000/paid user/month. Credits are consumed per AI operation — a Field Agent analyzing one record might use 1 credit, while Omni generating a complex app might use 50-100. Unused credits don't roll over.

Does Airtable have an API?

Yes. Airtable provides a REST API with comprehensive documentation, rate limits that scale with your plan tier, and official client libraries for JavaScript, Python, and Ruby. The Enterprise API unlocks higher rate limits, webhooks, and metadata endpoints. Airtable also supports OAuth 2.0 for building public integrations.

How secure is Airtable?

Airtable maintains SOC 2 Type II certification, GDPR and CCPA compliance, and offers HIPAA-compliant environments on Enterprise plans. Data is encrypted at rest (AES-256) and in transit (TLS 1.2+). Enterprise features include SAML SSO, audit logs, data loss prevention (DLP), and granular permission controls down to individual fields and views.

Can I migrate from Google Sheets to Airtable?

Yes. Export your Google Sheet as CSV and import into Airtable — the platform will intelligently detect field types (dates, numbers, etc.). The migration path involves: (1) export CSV, (2) import into Airtable, (3) review and adjust field types, (4) set up linked records to replace VLOOKUP relationships, and (5) create views, automations, and interfaces. For complex spreadsheets with many tabs, plan on 1-2 days for a thorough migration.

What's the difference between Airtable and a traditional database?

Airtable is built on a relational database engine but abstracts away SQL, schema design, and server management behind a visual interface — making it dramatically more accessible than PostgreSQL or MySQL. However, for applications requiring complex SQL queries, ACID-compliant transactions, or sub-millisecond performance on billions of rows, traditional databases remain superior. Airtable's sweet spot is the 80% of database use cases that don't require a DBA.

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