Airtable popularized the idea of a spreadsheet that behaves like a database — grids, forms, and kanban views over structured data, no SQL required. It works well, but as teams grow, per-seat pricing adds up fast, and some teams would rather keep their data on their own servers than in Airtable's cloud. Here are four real alternatives worth checking out, including options that are free and open source.
The short version: want a free, self-hosted database with instant REST APIs running on your own Postgres or MySQL? Go with NocoDB. Want AI to generate apps and automations from plain English, with far more generous free-tier row limits than Airtable? Try Teable. Budget-driven and just need a simple, open-source no-code database? Baserow is the most direct swap. Lean on spreadsheet formulas for access control? Grist's formula-based permissions are the differentiator.
NocoDB
NocoDB puts a spreadsheet UI over your existing Postgres or MySQL database, with instant REST APIs, forms, kanban views, and role-based access control. It's free to self-host under a source-available Sustainable Use License, with paid plans for the hosted cloud version.
Good for: ops teams, internal-tools builders, and non-technical collaborators who want Airtable's UI without per-seat pricing or Airtable's cloud. Watch out for: it's less polished than Airtable out of the box, and the license, while free, isn't OSI-approved open source.
Teable
Teable is a spreadsheet that understands plain English — describe what you want to track or automate, and it turns that into a working database, app, or workflow without code. It's open source and self-hostable for free, with a Pro plan at $10/seat/month offering row limits far above what Airtable gives at the same price point.
Good for: teams juggling data across scattered spreadsheets who want a no-code database with AI-generated automation, and developers who want to self-host an open-source Airtable alternative. Watch out for: AI features run on a credit system that can run out fast under heavy use, and migrating an existing Airtable base is real work.
Baserow
Baserow is an open-source no-code database platform, positioned as a cheaper, self-hostable alternative to Airtable. It's free to run yourself, with a hosted Pro plan starting around €49/month.
Good for: teams that want the simplest, most direct open-source swap for Airtable without a steep learning curve. Watch out for: the interface is reported as more rustic than Airtable's, and documentation has room to improve.
Grist
Grist is a relational spreadsheet with formula-based access control and a portable, self-contained file format — meaning a whole Grist document, data and all, is one file you can move or back up on its own. It's Apache-2.0 licensed with a full-featured free plan.
Good for: teams that specifically need to control who sees what using formulas rather than static roles, and want their data portable rather than locked into a cloud account. Watch out for: it's less well known than the others here, so community resources and integrations are thinner.
All four, side by side
| Tool | Model | Pricing | Self-hosted |
|---|---|---|---|
| NocoDB | UI over your own Postgres/MySQL | Free self-hosted; paid cloud plans | Yes |
| Teable | AI-native no-code database | Free self-hosted; Pro $10/seat/mo | Yes |
| Baserow | Open-source no-code database | Free self-hosted; Pro from ~€49/mo | Yes |
| Grist | Relational spreadsheet, formula-based access | Free tier full-featured; paid tiers unpublished | Yes |
All four of these can be self-hosted for free, which is the main lever Airtable doesn't offer. If you want the closest thing to "just use it," NocoDB or Baserow get you there fastest. If you want AI doing more of the work for you, Teable is the pick. And if fine-grained, formula-driven permissions matter more than anything else, Grist is worth the smaller community.