Airtable

Airtable review! A bit disappointing for individual use, but excellent as a productivity tool for team collaboration.

There are many productivity apps out there, but one app stands out for its early release and its focus on the spreadsheet format, which has made it popular despite the proliferation of competitors. This is Airtable. Initially, I didn’t have a good impression of it, but as the app continued to evolve, it gradually improved. I will write about it more.

• official website
• Android Market Link
• app store link

Table of Contents

• Airtable
  • Airtable review! A bit disappointing for individual use, but excellent as a productivity tool for team collaboration.
    • The fact that Airtable’s default format is in spreadsheet form is its biggest characteristic.
    • Airtable also had several drawbacks, but it is constantly being improved.
      • It used to be a rather crude app.
    • Airtable has many shortcomings when used alone.
      • Of course, if you use different apps for different purposes, this can even be an advantage.
    • I hope the app continues to gain popularity.
      • The app was surprisingly popular… even featured on Forbes.
    • Airtable Conclusion
      • Good point
      • Bad point

The fact that Airtable’s default format is in spreadsheet form is its biggest characteristic.

 Airtable의 가장 대표적인 특징은 앱이 기본적으로 스프레드시트 형태로 되어있다는 것입니다. 이는 트렐로가 칸반으로 되어있는 것과 비슷합니다. 하지만 스프레드시트 형태가 기본 모양이라서 데이터를 저장, 정돈하거나 혹은 다른 사람들에게 작업 환경을 보여줄 때 더 좋은 기능을 하는 도구입니다. 하지만 단순히 표로 되어있는 것이 전부라면 엑셀을 쓰지 이 친구를 쓰진 않겠죠. 표 형태를 기초로 칸반이나 달력, 그리드 등 여러 생산성 도구로 바꾸는 것도 가능합니다. 작업 환경에 따라서 표 등을 여러 개를 만드는 것은 당연히 가능합니다. 또 자동화 기능도 있어서 가령 데이터를 입력했을 때 어떤 동작이 작동하도록 만드는 식으로 만들 수가 있습니다. 이런 기능은 처음 설정할 때는 많이 번거롭지만 한번 제대로 설정해두면 생산성이 확 올라가서 좋습니다. 

 다만 제가 아직 익숙하지 않은 것인지는 몰라도 새 base(Workspace라는 큰 작업공간 안에 Base라는 것을 만듭니다.)를 만들면 다소 어색하고 비어있는 공간이 많아 어떤 식으로 만들어야 할지 좀 어려운 문제가 있습니다. 물론 ClickUp 등 많은 생산성 도구들이 비슷한 문제점을 갖고 있습니다. 개발진들도 그 점을 인지했는지 기본으로 주어지는 템플릿들도 많은 편이고 별도의 페이지에서 여러 업체들이 사용하는 템플릿들을 별도로 받아서 활용할 수도 있습니다. 템플릿 퀄리티가 특히 좋은 편이어서 혼자서 맨땅에서 템플릿처럼 만들려면 매우 시간이 오래 걸릴 듯합니다.

Moreover, since the app has been around for a while and has gained recognition, there are numerous usage examples available, with new ones being continuously added. “In particular, there are examples used by actual companies like Expedia, and with so many ‘bases’ available, it really gives you a sense of how these companies utilize the platform. As a result, it serves as a great example where you can learn about the productivity methods of actual companies while also understanding the true capabilities of Airtable. Personally, I wonder how they create something like this. It would take several days just to create something like this…

Airtable also had several drawbacks, but it is constantly being improved.

It used to be a rather crude app.

To be honest, I didn’t think much of this app in the past. This is because the interface was rather crude. I was particularly disappointed with the Android version, as the design was very rigid. Many productivity tools, especially Excel, which has a similar design to Airtable, have pretty good mobile designs. However, the design aspect has been improved in many ways, and I particularly like the ability to differentiate between work and presentation designs (which can be configured in the “Interface” window). I find the “Interface design” particularly well-done, and I personally wonder how it would have been if tasks could be performed in the new design as well.

Airtable, on the other hand, used to be quite expensive and not very cost-effective. The paid version is quite expensive at $20 per month. Instead, they are gradually increasing the benefits of the free version. Previously, there was a limit of three Workspaces that could be created, but nowadays, while you can create multiple Workspaces, there’s a reasonable limit on the number of tables that can be created, but there’s no longer a limit on the Workspaces themselves. This has both advantages and disadvantages, but in my opinion, it means that individual users can effectively use it for free unless they are highly specialized experts. Of course, some features, such as extensions, Gantt charts, and timeline views, are only available in the paid version, in addition to the number of bases. Gantt charts can be quite useful for some people, but as expected, this kind of feature is only available in the paid version.

On the other hand, updates are quite frequent and they often share news through newsletters and other channels. Many apps are slow to update, and it’s often difficult to know if they’ve been updated at all. However, Airtable not only frequently updates its features but also shares news about new template additions, which constantly leaves a good impression. Oh…

Airtable has many shortcomings when used alone.

Of course, if you use different apps for different purposes, this can even be an advantage.

Another downside of Airtable is that its app structure is more geared towards displaying and organizing documents for others to see, making it great for simple data organization but somewhat limited if you primarily want to use it for that purpose alone. Nowadays, there are so many productivity apps available, so it’s a bit disappointing if you’re only using it for basic data management. Of course, Airtable is convenient for data organization, but these days, most popular apps have appropriate templates, so they’re not too difficult to use initially. Other apps handle both data organization and document creation, while this one is solely focused on data organization…

Of course, some people prefer using multiple tools tailored to specific purposes. In such cases, if people handle document tasks in other apps and use this one solely for data organization, it could actually improve productivity. Ultimately, it varies depending on the user’s preferences. However, personally, I prefer having more features available upfront.

I hope the app continues to gain popularity.

The app was surprisingly popular… even featured on Forbes.

This app has more users than I thought, it’s even listed on the prestigious Cloud 100 by Forbes. As you can see, the list includes various companies such as OpenAI, Notion, ClickUp, Grammarly, Canva, 1Password, Automattic (the parent company of WordPress), and Webflow (a website-building tool). This shows that Airtable is a fairly large app, especially considering that it was listed in 2023. Despite having quite a number of competitors, Airtable seems to be operating just fine. I hope it will continue to improve, and I will use it more in the future.

Airtable Conclusion

Good point

1. It’s highly specialized in data organization and tidying up.
2. While spreadsheets are its basic form, Airtable surprisingly offers a wide range of features.
3. With a large user base, Airtable boasts a wealth of use cases and templates of remarkably high quality.

Bad point

1. The premium version is quite expensive.
2. There are many formidable competitors out there.
3. It might be disappointing for personal use.