We believe there are better options available in this category, read below to learn what this software does well, and what they could do better. ⤵
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The CRM space is probably the largest software category in the world, just ahead of project management. That said, there's 2 types of CRM categories:
Okay, let me explain. Most software will eventually get to a point where they need to determine if they should tack on the "CRM" category to their product offering. And because a CRM at the end of the day is really just a database, most software will justify "adding it" to their toolset.
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The CRM for enterprise teams (1,000+) with highly complex processes.
Salesforce is the 800lb gorilla—and if you're considering using it, we're hoping you have a myriad of reasons for it.
If you're a startup—you should not be using it.
If you're trying to stay lean and don't already know your business processes inside-and-out—you should not be using it.
If you're being pressured by your investors or others to get on Salesforce "because that's what successful businesses do"—you still, most likely should not be using it.
You should be using it if... you have highly complex business processes and have set aside a couple hundred thousand dollars to invest in a proper Salesforce consultant to help map these processes to it.
Most teams can actually just get away with HubSpot (when they are considering Salesforce).
And of those same teams, most can actually scale Copper + Pipedrive to be just as powerful, with a better UI/UX (that your team prefers), and all at a lower cost by simply using a team like us.
For teams of all sizes looking for a flexible and user-friendly database (spreadsheet replacement) that can easily connect with other tools.
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).
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).
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.
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.
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.
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