

This capability transforms Airtable from a simple spreadsheet into a relational database.

It started as a spreadsheet tool and has remained pretty much the same even after years of new features. Google Sheets is super simple to set up and use, especially if you’ve already worked with Excel. In the next sections, we’ll explore how this fundamental difference impacts what you can do with each tool. This is in stark contrast to databases, which have comprehensive structure rules, which should be followed in order to utilize them correctly. There’s no inherent organization structure to spreadsheets - you can put stuff wherever you want. These rows and columns define cells, all of which have an address that can be referred to. Spreadsheets are huge grids of rows and columns. This is not possible with spreadsheets (including Google Sheets). Airtable can also link records across different tables to represent the relationship between them, meaning it can act as a relational database. For example, Airtable lets you store images, videos, barcodes, and other data that you can’t store in a traditional spreadsheet. Databases are designed to work with large amounts of data, which can be updated programmatically. Airtable is a database-spreadsheet hybrid.That’s because, under the hood, they’re different tools: You can open either one, type in information, and store it as long as you need.įrom here, Airtable and Google Sheets offer drastically different ways to use your data. Airtable vs Google Sheets: Head-to-Head ComparisonĪt first glance, Airtable and Google Sheets look similar due to their shared spreadsheet layout.
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Specifically, you’ll learn how to build a fully customizable app with granular permissions, powered by your data in Airtable, Google Sheets, or 60+ other data sources.

That’s why, in the second part of this article, we’ll show you how to overcome these limitations with Stacker - our tool for building apps, without needing any coding or design skills. Users run into these issues in tons of scenarios, for example, when building no-code apps (e.g., portals, CRMs, project trackers) or simply trying to share parts of their data with others.

As a result, Airtable offers much more flexibility but is also harder to learn than Google Sheets, which is easier to use but limited in features. Airtable lets you connect across data in different tables, which means it can support several advanced use cases, like building mini-apps or creating app databases. Airtable is more versatile but harder to learn than Google Sheets.While Airtable and Google Sheets are two of the most popular tools for storing information, they offer vastly different ways to use your data.
