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APITable vs. Airtable: What’s the Difference?

Both APITable and Airtable are no-code databases that blend spreadsheets and databases, allowing individuals and organizations to customize workflows and collaborate seamlessly. While the two products share many similarities, there are some differences in design concepts and their origins.

In summary, Airtable is known for its automation and integration capabilities, while APITable focuses on seamless connectivity and collaboration.

To shed some light on the comparisons between the two, you can refer to the following information or get started with APITable.com today.

What is Airtable?

Airtable is a low-code platform for building collaborative apps that enable businesses to customize workflows and collaborate on various aspects, such as project management, content management, and sales data management.

What is APITable?

APITable is an incredibly simple and powerful work management tool that allows everyone to create workflows and systems to empower teamwork. It can be customized to suit any business industry, and over 20,000 organizations rely on APITable.

From project management to CRM, sales, and marketing, APITable enables teams to create and connect the tools they need to run projects and processes in one place. APITable provides Cloud and Community editions for any security needs.

Key features and benefits of APITable

APITable is simple to use and provides a wide range of amazing features, including:

  • Real-time collaboration, which enables multiple users to edit one cell together and sync in real time
  • Automatic forms, which allow you to collect data from suppliers, freelancers, or other people outside your organization
  • Seven view types, from Grid, Gallery, Architecture, Form, Kanban, Gantt to Calendar views, provide seven tools to present your work
  • Dashboard customization, which allows you to customize your business and display them clearly
  • API-first panel, enables you to get the datasheet code in one click
  • Fine-grained Permission Control, in which columns/Rows/Files/Views can all be set with permissions as required by the role.

Among APITable’s key features are embedding, cross-table links, and record count, which make it stand out from Airtable.

What are the advantages of using APITable?

  • APITable is better for project management, content marketing, CRM, OKR management, and more.
  • APITable provides most of the organizational structure and permission management necessary for most enterprises.
  • With an open-source edition, APITable supports one-click deployment and embedding into enterprise systems.
  • It is an easy-to-use API panel in APITable that only requires a single click.
  • Based on a price comparison on the same feature level, APITable offers the best value for money.
  • APITable’s Pro plan supports up to 20 million records per space without ‘base’ limitation.

APITable vs Airtable: Incredibly Simple and Intuitive

As an innovative alternative to traditional spreadsheets, APITable boasts a sleek user interface that is both refined and intuitive.

Its file-folder structure is a familiar approach that is easily understood by anyone, simplifying the process of data management and collaboration.

Additionally, its one-click API panel offers a seamless experience for data retrieval and connectivity, making it a valuable tool for businesses seeking to streamline their workflows and improve their productivity.

With its highly flexible and easy-to-use interface, APITable empowers teams to collaborate more effectively, and offers an excellent solution for businesses of all sizes looking to optimize their data management processes.

APITable vs Airtable: Data-Flow-Friendly Directory Tree Structure

One of the most significant differences between these two products is the user interface.

Workspaces in Airtable can have multiple bases, and each base represents a project. For example, if your project is “Design Projects”, you can use multiple tables to represent different focus areas such as project overview, tasks, clients, etc.

However, if you want to check on the progress of customer delivery projects, you need to navigate away from the “Design Projects” base and switch to the “Customer Deliver” base.

This is not very user-friendly for those who need or prefer a project overview. In APITable, all projects are within the same workspace, so you can view all your projects without leaving the base.

Projects are arranged in a neat tree folder structure, which provides team leaders with better control than what Airtable can offer.

Neatly arranged projects are not the only benefit. Thanks to this data-flow-friendly tree structure, you can get more data correlations.

APITable vs Airtable: Unlimited cross-table links with no ‘base’

Are you tired of limited cross-table linking in Airtable? With APITable, you can connect tables without limitations, reshaping bases as folders within a single workspace. You can link your marketing campaigns to design projects and connect your designers to company-wide sharing events.

APITable’s magic-link feature offers unlimited connections and enables close collaboration. Plus, with no “base” limit, you can interlink as much data as you want throughout the entire space.

In contrast, Airtable’s Pro plan has a limit of 50,000 records per base, whereas APITable’s Pro plan allows you to interconnect up to 20 million records of data in one space.

Choose APITable for seamless collaboration and unlimited cross-table linking.

APITable vs Airtable: Enhanced Access Control for Better Data Separation

When it comes to permissions and access control, APITable offers a more fine-grained approach compared with Airtable.

In APITable, the main administrator of the workspace has the highest authority and can assign multiple sub-administrators to assist in the management of permissions. Regular members can have different reading and editing permissions, and file operations are also managed at different levels of authority.

You can set permissions individually for a table or a column, which allows for better data separation and collaboration among team members.

In contrast, Airtable only offers permissions classified by action, including owner/creator, editor, commenter, and read-only.

This means that APITable’s granular permissions provide more detailed and customizable access control. By using APITable, your project and business data can be centralized yet independent, allowing for better collaboration and orderly management.

APITable vs Airtable: More Openness

Airtable is a well-established product with a diverse range of applications. However, it lacks a self-hosted edition, which may be a deal-breaker for some users.

On the other hand, APITable offers both Cloud and Community editions, making it a flexible option for teams that want more control over their data.

As an open-source project that gained over 7,000 stars on GitHub within 8 weeks of its launch, the APITable Community edition can be deployed in your own cloud and integrated with existing systems/apps.

Moreover, APITable has the upper hand on embedding with its open APIs and customizable dashboards. APITable offers the ability to create highly customized and personalized tables through its API, giving users the power to hide sidebars, tag bars, toolbars, and even choose a theme color.

And with the ability to create embedded links to dashboards via API, it’s easy to add a beautiful data dashboard to your system in just a few clicks. These features give APITable a clear advantage over Airtable in terms of customization and embedding capabilities.

In short, Airtable gives you inspiration for connection, while APITable gives you a deeper integration experience.

APITable vs Airtable: Affordable and Feature-packed

APITable offers a range of pricing plans that cater to teams and businesses of all sizes, making it a more flexible and user-friendly option. Additionally, for plans that are similar in price, APITable’s value for money is 200% better than Airtable’s.

Here’s a breakdown of both platforms’ pricing plans:

In summary, if you are looking for a flexible and cost-effective work OS for managing your workflow and projects, APITable is a strong alternative to Airtable. Its open-source option allows for greater control and integration with your existing systems and applications.

Additionally, the ability to fine-tune permissions and access makes it an excellent choice for team collaboration. With its more affordable pricing model, APITable is a great choice for businesses of all sizes.

With APITable, you can enhance team collaboration, streamline workflows, and boost productivity. So why not sign up for a free account today and see how it can benefit your organization?

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APITable Open-Source Community Edition: Team collaboration capabilities are fully unlocked

A new version of APITable Open-Source Community Edition has been released. Team collaboration capabilities are unlocked.

Last month we hastily released the open-source APITable Community Edition, and the market response has far exceeded our expectations, with nearly 8000 stars on GitHub so far. At the same time, many community users have given us similar feedback, that is, the APITable Community Edition can’t collaborate with their partners, and they can’t really enjoy the coolness and performance improvement of the multi-person real-time collaborative visual database.

Therefore, this release focuses on addressing the basic capabilities related to multi-person collaboration, including but not limited to:

  • Support registration by email
  • Support to change password
  • Support reset password
  • Support to invite others to join the Space by email
  • Support inviting others to join the Space by invitation link

Let’s take a look at the updates that have received the most attention from developers.

Support registration by email

You can now use email to register and log in to APITable, further improving the account system.

apitable open-source

Support to change password

In “Settings,” you can receive a verification code via the registered email and change the password you previously set.

apitable open-source

Support reset password

If you forget your password, you can receive a verification code via the registered email, reset your password, and log in.

apitable open-source

Support to invite others to join the Space by email

You can now invite others to collaborate with you in your workspace in multiple ways. One way is to add the other person’s email address and send an invitation email.

apitable open-source

After the recipient clicks the link in the email, they can enter your workspace and collaborate synchronously.

apitable

Support inviting others to join the Space by invitation link

You can also generate a public link and send it to your colleagues. Clicking on the link takes them to the page to join your workspace.

 public link

Version release details

The most eye-catching feature in this version update is undoubtedly the points mentioned above. But our development team has done a lot of work, including but not limited to feature updates and enhancements, bug fixes, etc. Click to view the version release details.

What’s next for APITable: APITable Roadmap

Many of you are very interested in knowing the future feature plan of the APITable Open-Source Community Edition and Cloud Edition, so we have seamlessly embedded and made public the product roadmap built on APITable through our highlight feature “Embed” on the official website.

Currently planned until the first half of 2023, you are welcome to learn about.

apitable roadmap

The specific location of the product roadmap is at the bottom of the APITable.com official website. Please feel free to pay attention:

If you have any questions or suggestions about APITable, please contact us on Github / Discord / Twitter, or go to www.apitable.com for more information.

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How to migrate data from Airtable to APITable in one click

It is very important to choose the right software tools because once you begin to use them, it is almost impossible to switch to another tool, regardless of how much education the team members receive.Data migrate is a scary thing.

However, you don’t have to worry about data migration when you consider switching from Airtable to APITable. Not only because the interface and usage habits are similar, but also because APITable offers a seamless migration experience for users who transfer their data from Airtable to APITable.

With just one click, you can effortlessly move all of your information from Airtable to APITable, saving you time and ensuring a smooth transition. This unique feature eliminates the need for manual data entry and reduces the risk of errors, making it easy for you to switch to APITable and take advantage of its advanced features.

Here, we will outline the general workflow and the steps that should be taken to ensure this process runs smoothly.

What you need

  • An APITable account
  • Widget in APITable: Import Data from Airtable
  • An Airtable account

Step-by-step guide

1. Install the widget

Log in to your APITable account,open widget center and click the widget 「Import Data from Airtable」.

migrate data from Airtable

2. Open the widget

Open the widget, You will find that you need to fill in the API key, base ID, table ID and view ID (optional) of your Airtable account. As a next step, we will do the following.

widget

3. Get Airtable Credentials

Retrieve API Key

You can look through Airtable’s official documentation or click to this website Airtable Account to directly get it.

Retrieve base ID , Table ID and View ID

Base ID, Table ID and View ID (optional) can usually be obtained from the Airtable link.

4. Run the widget

After filling in the corresponding parameters, run the widget to migrate data easily.

Common problems

In the process of data migration, you may encounter the following common problems:

1. Authentication failed

If you receive the following error messages while running the widget:

  • unauthorized, invalid authentication token
  • authentication_required

It means that you provide invalid API key. The solution is to check if the API key used is the same as the API key provided on the Airtable Account page.

2. Permission issues

If you receive the following error messages while running the widget:

  • invalid_permissions
  • Invalid_permissions (field or table operation limits)

It means that you don’t have related permission to import data. The solution is to check if your account is configured with all permissions needed to import the table.

3. Data souce problems

If you receive the following error messages while running the widget:

  • NOT FOUND
  • BASE NOT FOUND
  • MODEL ID NOT FOUND
  • TABLE NOT FOUND:Could not find table tblxxxxxxxx in application appxxxxxxxx
  • VIEW NAME NOT FOUND

It means that corresponding base, table or view are not found. The solution is to check if the base ID, view ID, table ID used are correct.

4. Field types supported for importing

Not all field types are supported for migration.

There are only slight differences between most of the field types in APITable and Airtable. Before importing the data, you have the option of changing the field type. These fields can be modified in Airtable and imported into APITable as text or number.

In APITAble, the following Airtable field types will not be imported:

  • Formula
  • User
  • Lookup
  • Rollup

In contrast, the following Airtable field types will be imported:

  • Attachment
  • Single line text
  • Long text
  • Multiple select
  • Number
  • Rating.Default rating symbol is star.
  • Checkbox
  • Date.Default format is ‘YYYY/MM/DD’
  • URL
  • Currency
  • Percent, with retained 2 decimal places.
  • Phone number
  • Email
  • Single select

Bottom Line

The one-click migration from Airtable to APITable offers a fast, easy, and reliable way to transfer your data, so you can get up and running on APITable in no time.