Airtable
Summary
Airtable is a spreadsheet-database hybrid, with the features of a database but applied to a spreadsheet.
Type of organisation: Privately-owned company (or group)
Market share: One of the leading products
Pricing: Free-$20/user/month
Factors driving pricing: Additional features, Ability to whitelabel or customise, More audience (e.g. more subscribers, traffic)
Skills needed to set-up: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Skills needed to use: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Type of organisation: Privately-owned company (or group)
Market share: One of the leading products
Pricing: Free-$20/user/month
Factors driving pricing: Additional features, Ability to whitelabel or customise, More audience (e.g. more subscribers, traffic)
Skills needed to set-up: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Skills needed to use: Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it)
Pros
Open Source alternatives available
Releases new features regularly
Plain English TOS
Clear data policies
Allows data export
Allows data deletion
Shares diversity data
Cons
Lack pricing transparency
Lacks accessibility statement
Full Product Data Collection
Data collected January-February 2020
| Product name | Airtable |
| Product URL | airtable.com |
| Parent organisation | N/A |
| Workflow category | Collaboration & editing |
| Date product founded | 2015 |
| Product description | Airtable is a spreadsheet-database hybrid, with the features of a database but applied to a spreadsheet. |
| What type of company or organisation is the product owned by? | Privately-owned company (or group) |
| Is the company profit-making? | No, loss-making |
| How is this product funded? | VC investment, Subscriptions |
| What market share does the tool have? | ‘One of the leading products’ (#3-7) |
| Is there an Open Source alternative in this product space? | Yes |
| When did the company last release new features? | OCT-2019 – “Web clipper block” allowing users to send links, images, and more from all over the web directly into a base structured to fit your specific needs. |
| Have they shared details of the product roadmap? | No |
| Is there talk of the product raising further investment? | Yes, revenue looks like it will be enough to make for a healthy IPO, according to the CEO. |
| Is there talk of the product being acquired? | No |
| Have there been any newsworthy business issues or challenges in the last 12 months? | No |
| Is there a pricing model listed on the website? | Yes |
| How clear & transparent is this pricing model? | Partly: some pricing listed; must speak to salesperson to confirm some options |
| What is the range of prices offered? | Airtable offer a Free plan, then Plus ($10 per user per month, billed annually), Pro ($20) and Enterprise options offering greater amounts of storage. |
| What factors drive higher pricing? | Additional features, Ability to whitelabel or customise, More audience (e.g. more subscribers, traffic) |
| What skills are needed to get this tool set up & usable? | Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it) |
| What skills are needed to USE this tool day-to-day? | Plug & play (any non-technical user can do it) |
| Does this tool use proprietary file formats for saving documents & outputs? | Has proprietary file formats but offers open options |
| Is the product reliant on 3rd-party APIs or interoperability to function? | No |
| Have there been any newsworthy technical issues in the last 3 years? | No |
| How clear is the Terms of Service for users (i.e. publishing customers)? | Simplified, plain English TOS or explainer available |
| Does the product have a data collection & usage policy on its website? (Can be a GDPR statement)? | Yes, comprehensive. |
| Is their data policy “GDPR everywhere”? | No GDPR policy information available |
| Does the product require your audience to sign-in to use it? | N/A not an audience-facing tool |
| IF SIGN IN REQUIRED: Does audience sign-in use 3rd party platforms? | N/A not an audience-facing tool |
| Does the public product website mention how to export or transfer your data to another service? | Yes: Audience can data export |
| Does the public product website mention how to delete your data? | Yes: for publisher data only |
| Have there been any newsworthy security breaches with this product in the last 3 years? | No |
| Does the company have an accessibility statement on its website? | No / cannot find |
| Does the company release information on the diversity of the workforce? | Yes |