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Founder, No Code MBA
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Airtable vs Coda

An in-depth head to head comparison

In this article, read a side-by-side comparison between two no-code tools: Airtable and Coda. We'll compare pricing, the benefits, the drawbacks, give examples of what you can and can't build, as well as our overall recommendation.

What is Airtable?

Airtable works like a spreadsheet but gives you the power of a database to organize anything.
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Learn everything you need to know about Airtable

Our in-depth course will take your from a beginner to expert

The Complete Guide to Airtable

What is Coda?

A new doc that brings together words, data, and teams together
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Pricing

Airtable pricing

  • Free plan with limited data storage
  • $10/month - $20/month per seat for more data storage, automatic table syncing, editing permissions, and more features

Coda pricing

  • Free plan with limited document size and limited integrations (called "packs" in Coda)
  • Pro - $10/month per doc maker, free editors/viewers
  • Team - $30/month per doc maker, free editors/viewers
  • Enterprise – Details on request

Benefits

Airtable benefits

  • Similar to a spreadsheet, but more user-friendly and structured as a relational database
  • Includes add-on apps and automations
  • Templates
  • Many view options (grid, calendar, etc)
  • Collaborative
  • Integrates well with Zapier
  • Great community

Coda benefits

  • Bring structured and unstructured data together in one web page.
  • Lots of templates
  • Bring in data from popular apps like Gmail, Github, Slack, etc
  • Build automations between apps (for example, send a Slack message when you receive an email)
  • Can replace both simple Google docs as well as more complex internal processes

Drawbacks

Airtable drawbacks

  • Takes time to set up your database
  • Some formulas can be tricky compared to Google Sheets

Coda drawbacks

  • Can't publish as a website or app without Coda branding

What you can build

Airtable use-cases

  • Internal apps like a CRM or project management tool
  • A database that connects to Webflow
  • Basic automations like posting to Twitter from Airtable

Coda use-cases

  • App-like, published webpages with varying levels of interactivity and a sleek interface
  • Customized workflows for everything from a design sprint to a CRM
  • A database or wiki to house team knowledge, pulling information from other docs or other tools (e.g. Jira)
  • Automations like sharing team notes to Gmail or sending time-based Slack reminders to teammate

What you can't build

What you can't build with Airtable

  • Customer facing apps or websites (check out Glide or Bubble)

What you can't build with Coda

  • A standalone app that can be published to an app store
  • A published app or website without Coda branding

Overall Recommendation

Airtable recommendation

Airtable is similar to using Google Sheets, but more structured and includes lots of features to help with productivity.

Some examples of use-cases areas a CRM for leads, a content planning tool, and a project management tool.

Another great use is as a database for a complex Webflow site. You can use Airtable as the database for your site, and use Zapier or PowerImporter to sync your Airtable database to your Webflow database.

Coda recommendation

Coda is a great tool for working collaboratively with your team, as well as for building automations for internal processes.

It has a much easier learning curve than something like Retool, but is less powerful and connects to less data sources.

It also has somewhat similar functionality to Airtable, but is less optimized for large data sets (10K+ rows).

Where I'd recommend Coda is to replace Google Sheets and Google Docs as much as possible, and build lightweight automation for internal processes.

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Unlock premium step-by-step tutorials building real apps and websites
Easy to follow tutorials broken down into lessons between 2 to 20 minutes
Get access to the community to share what you're building, ask questions, and get support if you're stuck
Access all of this with No-Code MBA Unlimited
Unlock premium step-by-step tutorials building real apps and websites
Easy to follow tutorials broken down into lessons between 2 to 20 minutes
Get access to the community to share what you're building, ask questions, and get support if you're stuck
Friendly Tip!
Companies often reimburse No Code MBA memberships. Here's an email template to send to your manager.

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