Comparison between Airtable and Notion

No code has truly changed the face of entrepreneurship forever. It has given birth to game-changing tools that cheaply and effectively implement databases, especially for on-looking entrepreneurs, project managers, and creators alike.

Two of which are Airtable and Notion, respectively. Before Airtable’s 2015 release, such exclusive databases were the only domain programmers and "sysadmins ."If they can afford it, they can get their hands on Oracle or SQL servers.

Therefore, nowadays, anyone can easily create CRMs, invoice systems and product management roadmaps using no code tools. Among all no code tools, Airtable and Notion are popular ones. They have cool features which make building apps easy. Also Airtable Notion integrations allow users to integrate third-party services in their apps. However, when it comes to Airtable vs Notion which one to choose becomes an important question. Therefore, in this blog, we will compare and contrast the two most popular no code tools: Airtable vs Notion.

Airtable

What is Airtable Used For?

Airtable by-default allows you to store and display data in the form of simple spreadsheets. You can add columns or fields then input data in each row.

Compared to traditional spreadsheets, Airtable is a database that allows customizable types for each area. Aside from your simple text inputs, Airtable also has fields of dates, attachments, single selects, and many more.

Unique Features

Airtable stands out among the crowd of no code tools because of these two distinct features:

Views – This feature offers flexibility. Airtable views allow the look and feel of data transformation to match your workflow. Create project management board views or calendar views for tracking deadlines using the same data for all.
Linked Records – Airtable has three main components such as tables, fields, and records. This allows the creation of multiple sheets. It uniquely enables the linking of records across all your tables. Airtable’s Linked records similarly resemble a database to a spreadsheet.

Linked records in Airtable

Airtable: Strengths and Weaknesses

Strong Points:

Extremely powerful in organising almost anything
Features a massive array of tools used for information organisation such as checklists and tables
Creates multiple base-typed views and shares personal work with colleagues through numerous users or groups.
Comes with an API that is rich in letting integration of an assortment of third-party services possible
Powerful database capabilities that allows building amazing database-focused applications

Weak Points:

Compelling database application yet comes with some complexity
Multiple features and functionalities confuses users and stops them to get started without being guided
Learn the basics before being enabled to do anything with data organisation, filtering, sorting, and calculation

Also Read : Google Sheets VS Airtable : A Game of Sheets and Tables

Notion

What is Notion Used For?

Quoting Notion's rhetoric, they are a “single space where you can think, write, and plan.” All-in-one in a workspace, Notion allows thought capturing, project management, tasks addition, and total collaboration.

Unique Features

Notion is one of the no code frontrunners because of its two vital differentiating features:

Blocks – ideal for writing, defaults to a blank text editor; however, each line is termed as a “block” – many options that can be a line of text, a heading, an image, or a tweet, among others. Also, you can arrange these blocks in multiple ways. Additionally, dragging and dropping blocks can create highly customizable layouts suitable for your needs.
Databases – Notion’s compelling database-like structure dominates the no code scene. Using a different organisational structure, Notion treats each document like a database record, capable of having its database. Although it can be hard to grasp at first, demos are available for self-learning.

Notion treats each document as a database

Notion: Strengths and Weaknesses

Strong Points:

Offers a sleek and user-friendly interface that creates an enjoyable experience for all
Provides all required tools in one place, including task lists, notes, checklists, and many other organisational features
Provides APIs for integrating third-party services, enabling the embedment of such contents directly on a given Notion page
Allows extreme flexibility and versatility, configuring it to do pretty much anything
Provides endless possibilities to create processes like project and task management, web page hosting, database management, Kanban boards and Gantt charts and different calendars
essentially a bunch of customizable building blocks you can configure to suit any need

Weak Points:

Makes things a bit confusing, especially for beginners with their many features
Becomes quite daunting for newbies to get started as it’s a blank canvas in essence with endless customizability
Expects you to learn the basics before you can have an excellent application, extending or adapting to your ever-changing needs
Offers a ton of pre-made templates to help you jump-start or inspire you

Airtable Vs Notion: Features

It can be a tad challenging even to start comparing Airtable and Notion since they are not direct competitors, to begin with at all. However, a fair comparison of their features should start stirring the proverbial pot of differences, emphasising the no code tool that’s suitable for your particular niche.

Data, Data, Data

After picking on Airtable for quite a bit, we now praise one of its strengths. Managing data sets becomes ideal with its database-like backends, including customer data, to-do lists, etc., and gets the job done. Formatting data through columns and rows becomes very easy with Airtable.

Notion’s "database block," on the other hand, resembles quite the same as the features of Airtable. Database blocks create mini-Airtables within a Notion doc, but technically not the same.

Airtable has the thing for data management, while Notion incorporates it out of their many. Airtable databases lead in speed, but Notion handles more.

In addition, both also allow the setting of primary fields to any field type, but Notion has primary areas restricted to only text. In the end, Airtable takes this item with a clean sweep.

Airtable makes data management easy

Knowledge Management

Notion is a clear leader In terms of knowledge management and is pioneering in the combination of ‘docs and database.' This is the reason why Notion’s designing standards are also copied across the SaaS realm.

Although Airtable’s “long text” field holds possible for multiple paragraphs, it's pretty incomparable to Notion’s free docs. Notion gives customizable individual pages and organizable docs. This flexible trait fits perfectly both for personal and company wikis.

On the contrary, Airtable has better-structured data procurement.

Knowledge management in Notion is very easy.

Utilising Templates

No code tools like Airtable and Notion give users a hard time since they often don’t know where to start even if they’re flexible. This dilemma comes down to both tools offering pre-built templates suitable for specific case usage.

Such templates allow users to build apps like habit tracker, blogging site, content calendars faster without building them from scratch. Both tools provide a multitude of templates, ranging from categories like Engineering and Marketing down to Real Estate, to name a few.

Particular templates vary across specific tools, but overall, template offerings are on equal footing impressively. With that said, we give a tie for this item.

Notion provides a huge variety of templates

It's All in the View

You can sort, filter and group data in your database using Airtable and Notion. Features like this make data identification easier, most importantly, anytime. The feature of creating “views” in Airtable and Notion allows you to make more transformative changes. Views enable work using the same data through different means.

Notion’s almost identical view options as that of Airtable, like grids, calendars, galleries, Kanbans, and Gantts, still come a bit shorter than expected. Airtable’s Form view leaves Notion in its dust, generally making switching between views easier with Airtable.

Given the similarities between Airtable and Notion in their viewing options, all boil down partially to one’s preference. Airtable takes advantage of this category but only by a bare minimum.

Views in Airtable

Everything’s Automated

Functioning as the nucleus of most companies, Airtable and Notion allows the flow of vital information in and out, often helpful in creating automation-based workflows.

Recently, Airtable built automation directly into their product to better facilitate this behaviour. Create and manage Slack messages or Twitter posts automatically using a sidebar with data changes based on your spreadsheets.

Similarly, Notion achieves results with others, but functionality is loyal to its natives. With a lot of room for improvement, Airtable takes advantage of automated functions over Notion by default.

Automated functions in Airtable

Airtable & Notion Integrations

As we are talking about Airtable vs Notion, integration is an important point to discuss. It allows you to integrate third-party services in your app or website. Well, Airtable does have integrations but Notion doesn’t have it because it does not have the feature of API.

Although both no code tools have built a lot of features already, they cannot make everything. Insert APIs. Since its conception, Airtable has prioritised APIs, becoming the best spreadsheet and database worlds.

Their APIs are some of the most detailed documentation available, like code snippets pre-filled specifically to your given base.

Meanwhile, launched in 2021, API for Notion is still in its infancy. And with API and documentation improvements, it still has a lot of hard work to gain even more. This fact gives Airtable a considerable vantage point.

Integrations in Airtable

Level Up with Apps

Airtable has a marketplace for apps rich in power-ups developed by Airtable and hosts 3rd party apps.

Pivot tables, lead enrichment, QR code creation, and many more become possible using these so-called apps. This ability extends Airtable’s core functionality quite effectively.

Notion still has a lot of development to do with the app marketplace of their products. Even though expected to make one in the future eventually, Notion has yet to move. Airtable takes advantage in terms of apps.

Marketplace for apps in Airtable

Growing Community

Communities in no code make or break a product’s success. With a lot of sharing and building experience in the no code scene, these sensations top the innovations unlike any other.

Airtable has a strong and growing community following, while the “Notioneers” of Notion is a passionate community.

Airtable’s Community

Revolves on fairly traditional forums users utilise in Q&A
Filled with dozens of freelance Upwork and LinkedIn users that are deemed as “Airtable experts”
Well connected with remarkable communities outside the exclusive communities such as BuiltOnAir which have Airtable enthusiasts who meet and swap creative ideas
Happy and thriving community of users, unlike most other platforms/products

Notion’s Community

Labelled as "devoted" critical factors to their community’s explosive growth
Location-based groups in more than 40 countries that bring fans united personally
Local groups exist across every major social media platform
Abundantly found on Twitter, their experts become fashionable in coming up with avatars true to Notion’s patented style
Allows users launch a whole lot of template packs on ProductHunt

Based on the overall community essence, Notion leads on this particular item.

Notion community

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Competitive Advantages

Airtable Over Notion

Gives a more refined database overall experience
Provides bases that are quick and handle more data compared to the database block Notion has
Makes easy switching between views, with a Form view exclusive to it
Allows setting primary keys to any desired field types, creating a seamless linking of records across tables
Provide better extensions and the whole process of integrating other tools to Airtable is simple and easy
Offers beautiful API docs best for developers.
Allows users to easily manage data especially if they are working with rows of data
Focuses on the database that makes everything better every time data can stand alone

Note: Better when used in cases that stem from its views and automation

Notion Over Airtable

Comes with database blocks that make the creation “mini-Airtable” within a doc possible
Provides database-doc hybrid that allows data input in the context of the company’s wiki
Permits “Notion maximalists” to customise Notion for handling any case of usage
Allows users to compensate anything sacrificed in the specialisation through centralising and limiting tool sprawls
Provides a top-tier community of users eager to share techniques and extensive templates for any use case possible
Offers a very approachable option for newbies and small groups through their community
Comes with non-database features that suit every user, making them quite distinct
Provides the feature of knowledge management that makes creating and managing content very easy and doable

The Million-Dollar Verdict

After discussing the topic, Airtable Vs Notion, it’s time to encounter the million dollar verdict on which one to choose between the two.

Well, biases will come and go every once in a while in the attempt to compare these two no code tools, Airtable, and Notion. Their template galleries lean towards showcasing both pros and cons of these tools.

Airtable has more inclination towards structured data and applications that are used for tracking campaigns, producing schedules, managing inventories or managing financial aspects like invoices and payments.

Meanwhile, Notion covers these applications without any other integrations and forms. However, it has expanded extensively, reaching processes such as journal creation, corporate wikis development, personal web pages conception, and knowledge management utilisation.

Airtable gives a cutting edge in coming up with "enterprise" answers using their APIs and integrations. Like websites updated with real-time, live data, Airtable has this idea for their thing nowadays. While Notion gives out a more consumer-focused approach, you can still eliminate needing a lot of apps for daily productivity.

Whether it’s a use-case basis or not, both Airtable and Notion are remarkably powerful in giving users the level-up they need for objectives both for personal and professional intentions. Everything now is for you to decide and explore.

Airtable Vs Notion: Which One is a Better Option?

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