Spreadsheet familiarity, database power
Take a quick tour of the Grist interface, customizable widgets, and relational capabilities.
Lightweight CRM Example
Spreadsheet comparison for modern data management
Grist vs Airtable
Drowning in spreadsheet chaos? Airtable and Grist solve fundamentally different data problems. Find out which solution solves your data challenges.
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Choose Grist when: You’ve outgrown spreadsheets and need database power. Your data relationships are complex, you need Python-powered analysis, granular access rules, or the security of self-hosted data control.
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Choose Airtable when: Your main challenge is organizing siloed workflows with visual appeal. You need more aesthetic spreadsheets with templates and basic collaboration, not deep data transformation.
| Airtable | Grist | |
|---|---|---|
| Spreadsheet interface | ✔ | ✔ |
| Relational data | ✔ | ✔ |
| Data visualizations | ✔ | ✔ |
| Reporting | ✔ | ✔ |
| Real-time collaboration | ✔ | ✔ |
| Automations | ✔ | ✔ |
| AI assistant | ✔ | ✔ |
| Data types / structured data | ✔ | ✔ |
| REST API / webhooks | ✔ | ✔ |
| Forms | ✔ | ✔ |
| Integrations | ✔ | ✔ |
| Drag-and-drop layouts | ✔ | ✔ |
| Customer support | Paid customers report having to rely on community forums, vs communicating with a real person. | Priority email support (Business/Enterprise plans). |
| Interactive API console | X | Developers can explore, test, and experiment with the Grist API. |
| Python support | X | Native python support for advanced calculations and data manipulation. |
| Granular access controls | Table and field-level permissions (paid plans); view-level sharing. | Access controls down to the individual cell level. |
| Self-hostable | X | Self-hostable. open-source, open core model. No data lock-in. SQLite format. |
Airtable vs Grist
Drowning in spreadsheet chaos? Choosing between Airtable and Grist depends on your key challenge: organizing workflows or escaping the limitations of spreadsheets.
Airtable transforms workflow organization with beautiful interfaces and templates that are perfect for project management and consolidating simple tasks.
Grist transforms data management itself. It is purpose-built for SMBs outgrowing spreadsheets who need database power and data standardization, and technical users requiring advanced capabilities such as native Python support and complete data control through self-hosting.
How Airtable compares to Grist
When unstructured data is causing workflow issues, or collaboration simply isn’t working, businesses require more than prettier organization.
Airtable excels at consolidating workflows. Teams love its polished interface for basic project tracking and simple data organization.
But if you’re working with complex data relationships, need granular access controls, or require analytical power, Airtable may fall short. Users report expensive pricing, limited formulas, insufficient permissions, and data lock-in frustrations.
Grist unlocks true database power. Python formulas, cell-level permissions, complete data ownership, and self-hosting capabilities solve the data management challenges that slow business growth.
Why businesses choose Airtable
Visual design and user experience
- User praise the “visually appealing” and “clean” user interface. It is modern and polished.
- Mobile app capabilities (although some users have reported negative experiences such as frequent crashes).
- Intuitive on-boarding for non-technical teams with an extensive library of templates (Grist also includes templates).
Ecosystem maturity
- Extensive third-party integrations and automations.
- User community and marketplace for templates, scripts, and solutions.
- Extensive documentation and learning resources.
Collaboration features
- Real-time collaboration for simultaneous users.
- Notification system for tracking changes (Grist supports audit logs)
- Portals add-on to collaborate outside of your organization.
Ease of use
- Simple setup for basic project management and CRM use cases.
- Approachable for teams and non-technical users with little to no database management experience.
Data visualization
- Built-in view types, such as Kanban, Grid, Calendar, and Gallery that users find intuitive and valuable.
What are the disadvantages of Airtable?
Data export limitations: cannot export full relational structure, only individual CSVs.
No self-hosting options: businesses with vendor lock-in or data privacy concerns cannot self-host using Airtable.
Limited formula power: technical users may find they need more robust calculation capabilities, such as native Python support.
Hierarchical data handling: users reporting struggling with parent/child relationships.
Sharing limitations: Portals add-on for external collaboration requires paid account.
High cost: businesses cite the high cost of Airtable compared to alternative solutions as a disadvantage, in particular for accessing advanced features and scaling users.
Why businesses choose Grist
Cost-effectiveness
Grist’s Pro plan at $8/user/month is significantly cheaper than Airtable’s Team ($24) and Business ($54) plans (Airtable Pricing, Grist Pricing).
Technical power
Full Python support + Excel-like functions. Built-in drag-and-drop dashboards and support for custom-coded views — all while maintaining a relational SQLite file. Trigger formulas for automation and data integrity. Enforced data standardization.
Granular access control
Evolved from traditional CRUD permissions, users can define who can view and edit specifics parts of a document — down to the individual cell level.
Data ownership
Businesses with data privacy concerns or who would prefer not to host their data on US servers can fully self-manage Grist.
Flexibility + customization
Custom widgets, column customizations, conditional styles, and integrations allow SMBs and technical users to build exactly what they need.
Database power
Grist combines the convenience of a spreadsheet with robustness of a database. Documents are automatically backed up, and snapshots are easily exported in full. Data restoration is supported.
“I love Grist. It’s crazy powerful. I still can’t believe what we’ve been able to achieve in it. It’s the dream that low-code was sold as for years – we can do incredible things in each column with Python and we can build our own widgets to run on those! Wild!”
Elliot Lee
User Researcher
“The more I use Grist, the more I LOVE it. I have been surveying self-hosted database GUI tools, and I was consistently disappointed with their shortcomings or bugginess. Grist is the first to have tilted the balance the other way.”
Stephen S.
Publications, Personal City Guides
“Grist has given us incredible flexibility to solve data problems and find solutions, whether it is for a small team at the district, or at scale with the entire district staff. We’re really excited about the different ways we can use it going forward.”
Director of Product
EdTech Company
“What I like about Grist the most is its focus. It appears simple, but it’s very powerful in a focused way. Grist has really improved our workflow and communication.”
Chris Scott
Co-founder in Digital Marketing
“If people spend some time learning a new tool they’ll have more power to do their work and research. I said to one of my students, ‘You will be very very happy using Grist because you are miserable using Excel!'”
Eduardo Dalcin, Ph.D.
Biodiversity Informatics Expert
“Most CRMs don’t work the way Grist works. Grist’s layouts are simple and do exactly what we need.”
Jennifer Bledsoe
IT Tech at Law Firm
“I recently discovered Grist after becoming frustrated with the limitations of traditional spreadsheets like Excel and Google Sheets. Grist has been a breath of fresh air, especially with its ability to handle structured data in a way that feels familiar to anyone with experience in relational databases, but with the added flexibility of Python.”
Will Bailey
Small Business Manager
How businesses can get started with Grist
Easily import existing XLSX and CSV files to start using Grist right away.
Grist’s incremental imports feature allows users to import new activity to existing data and Grist intelligently combines it without creating duplicates or needing manual cleanup.
Pre-built templates
Jump right into Grist’s spreadsheet-like interface with these pre-built templates:
The evolution of spreadsheets
Excel set the standard . But it’s too simple for complex data, and too rigid for modern workflows.
Airtable modernized spreadsheet aesthetics with sleek interfaces, drag-and-drop views, and visual project tracking.
Grist rebuilt spreadsheets from the ground up: spreadsheet familiarity powered by a true relational database. Built for businesses drowning in data complexity, not just visual organization.
