The honest comparison.
Airtable is a per-seat spreadsheet-database with record caps. Tadabase AI builds a real app from a prompt — unlimited end-users, row-level security, code you own.
A spreadsheet that became a database
or an app from a prompt.
Airtable made the spreadsheet-database mainstream: relational tables, views, forms, automations and Interfaces, priced per seat ($20 Team, $45 Business per user per month, billed annually) with a record cap per base (50,000 on Team, 125,000 on Business). It is excellent for an internal team tracking content, assets or projects. The strain shows when people outside the team need to log in: guest access through Portals is a paid add-on sold in packs of seats, HIPAA requires the custom-priced Enterprise Scale plan, and every base has a ceiling. In August 2026 Airtable agreed to be acquired by Bending Spoons, with the deal expected to close later in the year.
Tadabase AI starts from the app, not the sheet. Describe what you need and the AI generates real React on Tadabase — a database with relationships, authentication, roles, row- and field-level security enforced on the backend, workflows, PDFs and file storage, hosted on your own domain. App users are unlimited on every plan, records run from 25,000 to 500,000 per app, HIPAA-eligible plans exist for healthcare work, and the code is yours to export to GitHub.
When to pick which. Pick Airtable if a small internal team wants a flexible, polished sheet with many views and light automations, and nobody outside the team has to log in. Pick Tadabase AI if customers, clients or field staff need their own accounts, if access has to be scoped by row and field, if you are near a record cap, or if you want the app as code you own.
| Capability | Airtable | Tadabase AI |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | per seat | per plan, unlimited app users |
| End-user logins | Portals add-on (packs of 15+ seats) | unlimited, built in |
| Record limits | 50,000–125,000 per base | 25,000–500,000 per app |
| Build style | grid, views, Interfaces | conversational AI |
| AI for your end-users | for collaborators in the base | Ask, Analyze, Agents |
| Approval-gated AI agents | — | ✓ |
| Workflows + automations | Automations | Visual, included |
| Row-level security | view and interface visibility | built in, to backend, field-level |
| PDF generation | extensions | ✓ |
| File uploads with RLS | 1–100 GB attachments per base | ✓, 5–250 GB per app |
| Authentication + 2FA | for seat holders | Built in for app users |
| SSO · SAML | higher plans | ✓ |
| Custom domain | limited | ✓ per published app |
| Real code output | — | ✓ React, exportable |
| HIPAA-eligible · SOC 2 guidelines | Enterprise Scale only (BAA) | ✓ HIPAA-eligible plans / followed |
The part Airtable can't match.
Generating the screens is table stakes now. What you ship on top — real AI for your end-users, agents that act, and security that holds up — is where Tadabase AI is built differently.
Your users ask. The app answers.
End-users type a question in plain English — "show me overdue invoices this month" — and get a real answer as a table, chart, or number, pulled live from your data and scoped to exactly what that user is allowed to see.
Insights, not just dashboards.
Analyze reads the numbers your users already pulled and writes the takeaway — trends, outliers, what changed since last week — grounded in the real records, never made up.
Agents that take action.
Put an AI agent inside your app to qualify leads, triage tickets, or send follow-ups. It reads, plans, and acts through your workflows — and pauses for human approval before anything high-stakes. Every action is logged.
Security as a default.
Row-level security carried by JWT all the way to the backend, 2FA, SSO and SAML, full audit logs, and a pre-deploy security pass that catches committed secrets and missing auth before you publish.
Ready for regulated work.
HIPAA-eligible plans for healthcare, controls built to SOC 2 guidelines (not independently audited), encryption in transit and at rest, per-tenant container isolation, and a DPA on request — GDPR and CCPA aligned.
A real backend, included.
Database with relationships, authentication, visual workflows, PDF generation, file uploads, schedules, and webhooks ship with your first deploy — powered by Tadabase, already running real businesses for years. Nothing to wire up.
Quick answers.
Still curious? Email support@tadabase.io — a real person answers.
Can I move my Airtable base to Tadabase AI?
What happens to my per-seat bill?
Does Airtable's acquisition change anything?
Is Tadabase AI HIPAA-eligible like Airtable Enterprise Scale?
Do my app users get AI?
How Tadabase AI stacks up
against the rest.
Same honest treatment for every tool people weigh Tadabase AI against.
Bring your business into the world of AI.
Launch a real app today.
Describe what your business needs. Tadabase AI builds it on a real backend, hosts it and puts it on a real domain, ready for your team and your customers.
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