Airtable vs Smartsheet: Relational Apps or Sheet-Based Projects
Airtable is a relational database you shape into apps. Linked record fields connect tables in both directions, lookups pull values across them, and Interface Designer turns a base into dashboards, forms and record-review screens for people who never see the raw data. Smartsheet keeps work in sheets with Gantt, grid, board and calendar views on every plan, then layers project controls on higher tiers: baselines, workload tracking and proofing on Business, Scenario Planning and portfolios on Enterprise. Airtable suits teams designing their own tools; Smartsheet suits teams running schedules and approvals.
Airtable
Best for: Operations, marketing, product, and creative teams that need configurable internal applications built on shared relational data.
Smartsheet
Best for: Operations and project teams coordinating repeatable workflows, portfolios, and cross-system work.
| At a glance | Airtable | Smartsheet |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $20 per user/mo (annual billing) | $9 per member/mo (annual billing) |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Free trial | Not verified | Yes |
| Market Signal | 58 / 100 | 67 / 100 |
| Built for | Solo, Small Business, Enterprise | Solo, Small Business, Enterprise |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, API | Web, iOS, Android, API |
| Founded | Not listed | 2005 |
Choose Airtable if...
your data has real relationships, such as clients linked to projects linked to invoices, and you want to give each team its own interface on top of one base.
Choose Smartsheet if...
you manage dated project plans with dependencies and need workload tracking, image and video proofing, or what-if scenarios before changing live schedules.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Dimension | Airtable | Smartsheet |
|---|---|---|
| Data model | Stronger here | |
| Project scheduling | Stronger here | |
| Custom interfaces | Stronger here | |
| Creative proofing | Stronger here | |
| Resource planning | Stronger here | |
| Automation allowance | Comparable | Comparable |
We name a winner for each dimension and never one overall winner. The right pick depends on which of these matters most for your use case.
Plans and Pricing Side by Side
Airtable
From $20 per user/mo (annual billing) · Free plan
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (mo) | Includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free |
|
| Team | $24 | $20 |
|
| Business | $54 | $45 |
|
| Enterprise Scale | Custom | Custom |
Checked October 12, 2026 on Airtable's pricing page.
Smartsheet
From $9 per member/mo (annual billing) · Free trial
| Plan | Monthly | Annual (mo) | Includes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro | Not listed | $9 |
|
| Business | Not listed | $19 |
|
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | |
| Advanced Work Management | Custom | Custom |
Checked October 12, 2026 on Smartsheet's pricing page.
Annual columns show the monthly cost when billed yearly. Vendors change prices often, so confirm on their site before you buy.
Market Signal Compared
| Score (0 to 100) | Airtable | Smartsheet |
|---|---|---|
| Market Signal | 58 | 67 |
| Market strength | 60 | 72 |
| Momentum | 52 | 47 |
| Traffic strength | 62 | 68 |
| Search visibility | 48 | 80 |
| Authority | 62 | 71 |
| Brand and market presence | 78 | 67 |
| Data confidence | Medium | High |
Market Signal measures each product's online footprint and momentum from Ahrefs and Semrush data, scored against other tools in its category (Project & Productivity (20 tracked)). It shows market presence, which is not the same as product quality. Data through September 2026. How the score works
Integrations and Support
Both connect with: Slack, Salesforce, Jira
| Airtable | Smartsheet | |
|---|---|---|
| Integrations only one lists | Google Drive, Microsoft Teams, Box, GitHub, Zendesk | Adobe Creative Cloud, Power BI |
| Support | Help center, Community forum, Live chat, Email | Help center, Community forum |
| Languages | English | English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese and 2 more |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, United States | Bellevue, United States |
From each vendor's integrations and support pages. Lists show notable integrations, not every connector.
Other Tools to Consider
If neither Airtable nor Smartsheet fits, these are the closest alternatives we list, ordered by Overall Score.
Asana
Work management platform tying tasks and projects to portfolios, company goals and team workload.
ClickUp
Work management app combining tasks, Docs, Chat and whiteboards, with separately sold AI.
Notion
Workspace combining docs, wikis, relational databases and AI agents for team knowledge and projects.
monday.com
Configurable work platform for project management, CRM and development workflows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Smartsheet have a free plan like Airtable?⌄
No. Smartsheet offers a trial and then the Pro, Business, Enterprise and Advanced Work Management plans, and Pro is open to new customers only. Pro supports up to 10 members with unlimited free contributors. Airtable has a Free plan with 1,000 records per base, 1 GB of attachments per base and two weeks of revision history.
How much data can an Airtable base hold?⌄
Airtable's plan limits are 1,000 records per base on Free, 50,000 on Team and 125,000 on Business, with Enterprise Scale set through sales. Attachment storage grows from 1 GB to 20 GB and then 100 GB per base. Revision and snapshot history runs two weeks on Free and one year on Team and Business.
Do people who only view or submit data count as paid users?⌄
Airtable bills for collaborators with edit permissions; read-only collaborators, form submissions and share links are free. Smartsheet bills Members, while Contributors are free on every plan, and Business and above add unlimited free Guests. Check which role each teammate needs before counting seats.
What does Smartsheet's Scenario Planning require?⌄
It is an Enterprise feature. Project sheets need workload tracking switched on and Start Date, End Date and Assigned To columns, and you must be an Admin on the workspace and every included sheet. A plan holds up to five project sheets and three scenarios, which you compare side by side before applying one to the live sheets.
Written by SEM Solutions Editorial Team
Last updated October 13, 2026
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