My organization used Airtable as a low-code "database" and project management tool. We weren't large enough to need "real" relational databases, and Airtable allowed our nontechnical users to easily perform CRUD operations and visualize information.
Pros
Custom views of tabular data.
Audit trails: who edited what, and when?
Custom scripts and automations.
Cons
When records are deleted, there could be more options for what happens to associated records in other tables.
Multi-select fields should be sortable.
The per-user pricing model can be cumbersome when you need to share bases with third parties but can't use a publicly accessible URL.
Likelihood to Recommend
Airtable is great when you need more than a spreadsheet but less than a SQL database. For example, we used it to organize the implementation progress of a certain type of feature in our software product.
We tried using Airtable as a substitute for a project manager, and that unexpectedly did not work well. However, the PM that we finally did onboard ended up using the PM base that I built.
We use Airtable as a project management and approvals software. We also integrate it with SalesForce to run our campaigns there. The marketing operations teams pulls the asset references from Airtable in order to sync up our Marketo and SF instances. We also use Airtable for peer review of email and digital advertising assets.
Pros
Custom views
Field customization
Parent-child hierarchy
Cons
Visual presentation
Copy/pasting filters, not just outright duplication
more comprehensive view filtering
Likelihood to Recommend
Airtable is strongly suited for project management, campaign tracking, and storing diverse content types, as well tracking approvals and version history for peer and/or manager review. It does not do as well with financial or cost tracking for campaigns, or large-scale record keeping, as there is a limit on record counts.
VU
Verified User
Employee in Marketing (Computer Software company, 1001-5000 employees)
Our marketing department uses it in a number of different ways, its versatility is one of its strong points. Our two most significant use cases are as follows: Firstly, we have a massive base containing all of our programs and channels that are broken out by individual activities/campaigns/etc. (over 1300 records) that all feed into a number of Airtable apps. Secondly, we have another base being used as a DAM that contains well over 1000 documents, images, etc. organized by a multitude of attributes. Personally, I have a number of other bases that I use for various areas of my job, all of which are incredibly customized to fit my needs and the needs of the topics. The versatility and customizability of Airtable are really, really great. You can format, structure, link, and edit to make it do (virtually) whatever you want.
Pros
Visualize data in an organized and aesthetically pleasing manner
Hide information to simplify use without having to delete or archive
Use the same data set to create a multitude of different views that cater to different needs without having to update multiple locations
Cons
Airtable's Interface functionality needs a bit of work but to be fair, it is still in beta
The graph/chart apps are great but I wish they were significantly more customizable
In my experience, Airtable is like skiing, it's easy to learn/use but it's hard to really get good at. Maybe offer formal certification courses of some kind?
Likelihood to Recommend
If you're looking for formal project management software, I think there might be better apps out there. But to be fair, I have not used it much at all for formal (marketing) project management goings-on. Otherwise, I would be hard-pressed to find a scenario that wouldn't benefit from Airtable. It's kind of like excel's much more attractive cousin that's far more personable and charming but probably isn't as smart, which is still a compliment. If my company were to drop Airtable, I would certainly have a panic attack as I spend hours every single day using it and I quite literally depend on it in so many ways to do my job.
Specific departments at my company use Airtable for project management, participation tracking, employee data, and more. Airtable helps us track data in a shareable, trackable, aesthetic way, and offers much more user-friendly options for filtering and tracking compared to Excel or Google Sheets.
Pros
Filtering and grouping data.
Offering customized views for the data you want and need to track.
Allowing you to embed Airtable data in other places.
Cons
Tracking detailed changes from yourself and other users
Easier in-product user-tutorials to help users perform different functions
Likelihood to Recommend
Well suited:
Tracking data
Analyzing data
Organizing and sharing data
Less suited
For working with one-time or limited data.
Smaller organizations that don't track much information.
VU
Verified User
Manager in Human Resources (Internet company, 501-1000 employees)
Airtable is mainly used across my Account Management Department for the organization. We use it to keep track of all RFP's that come in from sales, status updates, revenue, wins/losses, etc. We also use it to keep track of reservations for homepage takeovers, newsletters, etc. It is also a great way to keep track of PTO and vacation days.
Pros
Great organization tool for project management.
Variety of customizations.
Very use friendly, especially on mobile.
Cons
There is limited options on the free version.
Big learning curve for beginners.
Likelihood to Recommend
Airtable is extremely helpful for teams to stay organized and keep track of project management—both internal and external. It's a great alternative to Excel when you are constantly making changes and are concerned about working off of the wrong version.
Airtable is being used by the Sales and Marketing department to track an overview of our best leads and sales data. It allows us to see where we should put more (or less) of our efforts in regards to leads.
Pros
More features than Sheets or Excel
Cloud-based
Customizable
Cons
Create an easier functionality for users who aren't good at math or coding.
Likelihood to Recommend
Airtable is great for reporting and tracking numerical data.
Our organization uses Airtable for managing database spreadsheets, which is the best way to manage the data and tasks. Our organization uses it throughout all the departments. It addresses the major business problems of managing the data and CRM for managing customers and projects. All the uses can track the progress, and deadlines can be set accordingly.
Pros
Airtable is an excellent CRM tool. Helps in managing data in the form of spreadsheets and task management. All tasks are well managed with all details and deadlines.
It is used for Project Management, where all team members can track project progress and work within defined deadlines.
Another major strength is that data is managed by key values, one to one or one to many relations.
Cons
One significant missing functionality is the lack of communication modes for internal communication using Airtable.
Synchronization of data sometimes results in a violation of integrity.
Airtable has its application version for both android and IOS; IOS application needs major revisions as it has a lot of crashes.
Likelihood to Recommend
Airtable is best suited, where multiple members are managing a single project. In this case, all members are working, and different commit versions. Also, each member needs to track the progress of another member, and a review of the deadline is essential for every task. In this case, Airtable is very well suited. Airtable report generation is in business format, i.e., ready to use.
Airtable is used as a project management software among the developers in our application development department. Airtable facilitates the communication between our team and the supervisors. It is a great tool to assign tasks and monitor the progress of our projects. The customization spreadsheet is very useful in reporting data and pulling reports.
Pros
Useful for project management and data analysis.
Improved calendar feature.
A nice mobile application that is accessible at any time.
Using complex formulas.
Cons
It takes time to fully understand using the platform.
It needs better visualization tools, like making charts and graphs.
Likelihood to Recommend
Airtable is suitable for organizing a database through its flexible spreadsheet system. It works very well for improving the flow of working for people who have report data, records, or codes on a daily basis. Overall, it makes project management easier and simpler when it comes to a group of people working together.
Airtable is used as an organization tool in a couple of different ways by my company. The product team uses it to keep track of our missions and themes for the work we are aiming to accomplish. We also use it to keep track of the status of items as well as the reasoning behind doing them. We also use it to communicate the status and reasoning of those items to the rest of the organization. Our services team uses airtable to help manage the onboarding of our largest clients as well as sharing product priorities and current work with them.
Pros
Great customization options that allow you to do many different things with it.
The ability to link different parts of a base to one another. This has allowed us to quickly and easily link teams to PMs to epics to missions to themes.
Customizable slack notification options.
Cons
I don't like that once you link an item to another element you can no longer color code the item. Instead you have to put a color marker on the row overall which is much less noticeable. It makes it harder to see the status of a given thing at a glance.
Not sure if this is just my org or their overall pricing structure as I was not part of the purchasing team but making it a cost per user hampers the ability to share with other people outside of the product organization.
Likelihood to Recommend
If you need a very customizable tracking tool with a lot of custom fields this is a great solution. It allows broader product teams to stay aligned and informed about what everyone else is working on. It also allows other parts of the organization to dig into what is in progress down to the specific pm/team if they want to to get the information they need.
