Airtable vs Zapier

Airtable is an incredibly flexible tool that can be used from something as simple as a Google Sheets replacement, all the way up to a no-code builder.

At a core, it's really just a user-friendly database, similar to that of Coda and even Notion (although those 2 apps both started as more of knowledge base tools first, whereas Airtable has always been first-and-foremost a user-friendly database).

When To Use It

If your team is still using Google Sheets (for things outside of company finance reporting like balance sheets, etc.), then we fully encourage you to check out Airtable and to give it a try. In most cases, it will completely replace the need for Google Sheets, Google Forms, Typeform, Jotform, and other Form software.

Believe it or not, over the past 8+ years, we've actually entirely replaced every single internal Google Sheet with Airtable alternative. Sometimes the structure needs to change slightly, but doing so unlocks so much additional functionality.

We've done this because it provides way more structure (it being a proper database), while also having an incredibly powerful API (for integrating and automating).

And that's where it has some no-code builder functionality, which means with the right guidance, it can even replace more complicated apps lite Submittable (more of an application management software).

When Not To Use It

As much as we don't recommend using Airtable as your CRM, we do believe it serves a place in just about every business. For instance, Airtable can serve as a fantastic database extension of your lead and customer info.

That said, we actually named Airtable as one of our 5 Best Copper App Integrations of 2023, so it still serves a purpose even when you're seeing how it might fit alongside your CRM needs.

Airtable is also not a project manager—please stop trying to use it as one 😅

On that note, if you're super tempted to use Airtable as your CRM and don't want a more fully-fledged CRM like Copper, you might want to try out Folk instead.

API

We love working with the Airtable API. It just does most everything you could want it to do, and it incredibly flexible and easy to work with.

You can simply create a new view within an Airtable Base, add filtered logic to it, and set it up so when a new record enters that view, an automation can be triggered. This allows it to be incredibly flexible.

Final Thoughts

With it ultimately just being a database at the end of the day and having such a powerful API, it is the most core tool in our stack. I don't think there's one customer we've taken on that we haven't used Airtable with for at least some aspect to their business.

Even if it's just more in the background as an intermediary database, doing data manipulation, allowing for us to more easily pass data between software.

With all of that said, there's a fine line between what it is good for, and what it's not good for. So it brings with it the same issues we've seen arise with tools like Notion and Coda. Determining when you should and shouldn't be using it is probably the most important thing to nail down when determining if Airtable is the right fit for your needs.