Abandoned Airtable for internal tools as the company grew → Internal Node/Python tools
“First, we partially switched to Airtable, but soon abandoned it in favour of our own internal node/python tools”
Airtable alternatives: where its users went, and why they left
Airtable (airtable.com) has 27 sourced reports on Friction, drawn from 56 public source threads (as of 2026-10-15), 9 of them describing a move away. This page reads them for one question: if you are leaving Airtable, what do its users say they moved to, and what pushed them out?
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Where Airtable users say they went
Switching reports that name a destination. A count is the number of reports naming it, not a market share: Friction only holds what people say in public.
| Named alternative | Reports naming it | Newest report |
|---|---|---|
| Notion | 2 | 2018 (over 5 years old) |
| Internal Node/Python tools | 1 | 2024 |
| Microsoft Power Platform | 1 | 2023 |
| Datasette | 1 | 2023 |
| Xano | 1 | 2022 |
| Baserow | 1 | 2021 |
| Google Sheets | 1 | 2019 (over 5 years old) |
In their words
Business-critical base became inaccessible → Datasette
“one of our business-critical AirTable bases is suddenly throwing an error and has become completely inaccessible right when we need it”
Moved off Airtable for stronger database security → Xano
“Finally we migrated to Xano for the db because it has much better security”
Airtable formulas cannot total a column like a spreadsheet → Google Sheets
“I've built out some beautiful Airtables only to find I had to switch to using Google sheets since I couldn't total up the value of”
What pushes people away from Airtable
The most-reported open problems, worst severity first. Each links to the item with its source.
Complex Airtable schemas are difficult to map during migration · Data export & migration · Blocks work
“Every time I thought I had the schema mapped, something new showed up”
Airtable is slow for client-facing and internal work · Performance · Annoyance · 2 people
“It is slow, though, and there are no native desktop or mobile clients”
Airtable data capacity becomes difficult to scale · Performance · Annoyance
“This is a problem that Airtable also faces”
Building internal tools requires technical expertise and effort · API & developer experience · Annoyance
“These tools are also all targeted at integrations-experts who have the technical knowledge to write code and spend time building the tool they want”
Airtable pricing is too expensive for individual users · Pricing & plans · Annoyance
“Airtable's pricing just didn't work for me as an individual user - $$$s per month even for a simple table with ~2000 rows”
See all 19 themes for Airtable
Other no-code and internal tools tools on Friction, and what their users struggle with
Switching trades one set of problems for another. The same evidence, for each tool Friction covers in this category:
Retool
18 reports · 26 source threads · most-discussed area: Pricing & plans
Counts and reports reflect people who post in public (developers and technical buyers are over-represented). A tool with fewer reports is not a better tool; it may only be discussed less. How the data is built.