Self-Hosted Alternatives to Airtable
Why Replace Airtable?
Airtable’s free tier caps you at 1,000 records per base and 1 GB of attachments. The Team plan costs $20/user/month — for a team of 10, that’s $2,400/year for what is essentially a fancy spreadsheet with a database backend. And Airtable’s pricing has only gone up: they removed the Pro plan in 2023, forcing many users to the more expensive Team tier.
Beyond cost, Airtable stores all your data on their servers. If your base contains customer records, internal project data, or anything sensitive, you’re trusting Airtable’s security practices and data retention policies. They also impose API rate limits (5 requests/second) that can bottleneck automation-heavy workflows.
Self-hosted alternatives give you unlimited records, unlimited storage (bound only by your hardware), no per-user pricing, full API access without rate limits, and complete data ownership.
Best Alternatives
NocoDB — Best Overall Replacement
NocoDB connects to any existing MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, or SQLite database and layers a spreadsheet-like UI on top. This is its killer feature: you can point it at an existing production database and get an Airtable-like interface without migrating data anywhere.
It supports views (grid, gallery, kanban, form, calendar), field types that map to Airtable’s (single/multi-select, attachments, links, rollups, lookups), and a REST API that’s compatible with Airtable’s API structure — making migration of automations straightforward.
| Feature | Airtable | NocoDB |
|---|---|---|
| Records per base | 125,000 (Team) | Unlimited |
| Attachment storage | 100 GB (Team) | Unlimited (your storage) |
| API rate limit | 5 req/sec | None |
| External DB connection | No | Yes (MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, SQLite) |
| Views | Grid, Calendar, Gallery, Kanban, Form, Timeline | Grid, Calendar, Gallery, Kanban, Form |
| Automations | Built-in | Webhooks + external (n8n, Activepieces) |
| License | Proprietary | AGPL-3.0 |
NocoDB runs as a lightweight Node.js app. Pair it with PostgreSQL for production use.
Read our full guide: How to Self-Host NocoDB
Baserow — Best for Non-Technical Teams
Baserow is purpose-built as an Airtable replacement rather than a database overlay tool. Its interface is the closest to Airtable’s UX — drag-and-drop field creation, real-time collaboration, and row-level permissions feel natural to anyone coming from Airtable.
Baserow’s all-in-one Docker image bundles PostgreSQL, Redis, and Caddy into a single container, making it the easiest self-hosted database tool to deploy. For production, a multi-service deployment separates backend, frontend, Celery workers, and the database.
| Feature | Airtable | Baserow |
|---|---|---|
| Real-time collaboration | Yes | Yes |
| Row-level permissions | Enterprise only | Built-in (premium) |
| Webhooks | Yes | Yes |
| Templates | Yes | Yes |
| Plugin system | Extensions marketplace | Plugin framework |
| License | Proprietary | MIT (open core) |
| Self-hosted pricing | N/A | Free (premium features require license) |
Read our full guide: How to Self-Host NocoDB | NocoDB vs Baserow
AppFlowy — Best Lightweight Option
AppFlowy combines Notion-style document editing with basic database/spreadsheet capabilities. It’s lighter weight than NocoDB or Baserow but also less feature-rich for pure spreadsheet-database use cases. Choose AppFlowy if you need documents and databases in one tool; choose NocoDB or Baserow if you need a dedicated Airtable replacement.
Migration Guide
Exporting from Airtable
- Open your Airtable base
- Click the base name dropdown → Download CSV for each table
- For attachments: use the Airtable API to programmatically download files (CSVs only include URLs, not file contents)
- Export automations separately — document each trigger, condition, and action manually
Importing to NocoDB
- Deploy NocoDB with PostgreSQL (setup guide)
- Create a new project → click Import → select Airtable
- Enter your Airtable API key and base ID
- NocoDB imports tables, fields, records, and views automatically
- Review field type mappings — most translate directly, but rollups and some formula fields may need adjustment
- Re-create automations using webhooks + n8n or Activepieces
Importing to Baserow
- Deploy Baserow (setup guide)
- Create a new database → Import → upload CSV files
- Map columns to field types during import
- Baserow does not have a direct Airtable import — CSV is the primary path
- Manually recreate views, filters, and sorts after import
Cost Comparison
| Airtable (Team, 10 users) | Self-Hosted (NocoDB) | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $200/month | ~$5/month (VPS) |
| Annual cost | $2,400/year | ~$60/year |
| 3-year cost | $7,200 | ~$180 |
| Records limit | 125,000/base | Unlimited |
| Storage limit | 100 GB | Unlimited (your disk) |
| API rate limit | 5 req/sec | None |
| Privacy | Airtable’s servers | Full control |
The breakeven point is immediate. Even a single user saves money self-hosting versus Airtable’s Team plan.
What You Give Up
- Airtable’s automation builder. NocoDB and Baserow support webhooks but lack Airtable’s visual automation builder. Pair with n8n or Activepieces for equivalent functionality.
- Third-party integrations. Airtable has a large extensions marketplace. Self-hosted options have fewer native integrations — you’ll use APIs and webhooks instead.
- Timeline and Gantt views. Airtable’s timeline view is polished. NocoDB has a basic calendar view; Baserow has a Gantt view in premium.
- Mobile apps. Airtable has excellent native apps. NocoDB and Baserow work via mobile browser but don’t have dedicated apps with offline support.
- Zero maintenance. Airtable is fully managed. Self-hosting means you handle backups, updates, and uptime.
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