Airtable vs Grist Community

Fit:

Migration notes

Relational spreadsheets and Python formulas suit business trackers. Plan formula, interface and automation rebuilding; commercial self-hosted features remain gated.

Sources: www.getgrist.com · checked 2026-10-21

AirtablePaid incumbent

Entry priceUSD 20 / seat / month

Pricing modelper-seat, billed annual

OwnerBending Spoons S.p.A. (NASDAQ:BSP)

Team starts at $20/user/month billed annually; free plan available; price checked October 21, 2026. Source

Airtable plans reviewed
Team	entry	USD 240 / user / yr
Business	business	USD 540 / user / yr
Enterprise Scale	enterprise	Quote only

Grist CommunityOpen-source alternative

Fit for Airtable

License

Apache License 2.0 A permissive license whose main conditions require preservation of copyright and license notices. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. Licensed works, modifications, and larger works may be distributed under different terms and without source code. May Commercial useModificationDistributionPatent usePrivate use Must License and copyright noticeState changes No Trademark useLiabilityWarranty Summary from GitHub's choosealicense.com

Paid-feature tier C

Self-host

Paid-feature limits4 noted

Grist Community plans reviewed
Grist Community edition	free self-hosted core	Free
Grist self-hosted	paid self-hosted license	USD 30 / user / mo
Enterprise	paid self-hosted license/services	Quote only

What you may give up

Automations
Email notifications
MCP server and current AI Assistant
Advanced administration, audit streaming and multiple team sites

Tier C: Apache-2.0 community core. Current self-hosted pricing reserves both everyday automation/notifications and governance capabilities for commercial activation; qualifying smaller organizations may request a free activation key, which does not make those features OSS. License source

What running it takes

Hover or focus an icon for its name. Dashed means not established; struck through means no; grouped icons are alternatives.

Core server can run with embedded SQLite alone. Redis conditional for webhooks/notifications and PostgreSQL optional metadata alternative; no mandatory external database for basic core. Commercial automation/AI/MCP entitlements separate. Infrastructure and staff time are not priced here; this page does not compare total cost.