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Cloudant VS Airtable

Compare Cloudant VS Airtable and see what are their differences

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Cloudant logo Cloudant

A scalable JSON document database for web, mobile, IoT and serverless applications.

Airtable logo Airtable

Airtable works like a spreadsheet but gives you the power of a database to organize anything. Sign up for free.
  • Cloudant Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-07
  • Airtable Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-19

Cloudant

Website
ibm.com
Pricing URL
-
Release Date
-
Edit details

Airtable

Website
airtable.com
Pricing URL
Official Airtable Pricing
Release Date
2013 January
Startup details
Country
United States
State
California
City
San Francisco
Founder(s)
Andrew Ofstad
Employees
250 - 499
Edit details

Cloudant features and specs

  • Scalability
    Cloudant offers elastic scaling, meaning it can handle large amounts of traffic and data without compromising performance. This is particularly beneficial for applications with unpredictable workloads.
  • Fully Managed Service
    As a fully managed database as a service (DBaaS), Cloudant takes care of database administration tasks such as hardware provisioning, updates, backups, and scaling, allowing developers to focus on building applications.
  • High Availability
    Cloudant is designed to provide high availability with its distributed architecture, which includes automatic replication and data redundancy across multiple servers and data centers.
  • Global Distribution
    Cloudant provides global distribution capabilities, allowing users to deploy databases closer to their users to reduce latency and improve performance across different geographical locations.
  • Integration
    Cloudant integrates well with other IBM Cloud services and third-party tools, providing flexibility and leveraging existing ecosystems for extended capabilities.

Possible disadvantages of Cloudant

  • Cost
    For businesses with limited budgets, the cost of using a fully managed service like Cloudant can be higher compared to self-hosting. Pricing can increase significantly with data growth and additional features.
  • Complexity
    Despite being a managed service, Cloudant's variety of features and configurations might have a learning curve for new users or those not familiar with distributed databases.
  • Limited Query Capabilities
    While Cloudant does support complex querying capabilities, it may not be as advanced or fast as some SQL-based databases when it comes to certain types of queries.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    Relying on Cloudant and integrating deeply into its ecosystem can lead to challenges in migrating to other databases or cloud providers in the future.
  • Data Consistency
    As a NoSQL database, Cloudant might not offer strong consistency by default, which could be a limitation for applications requiring immediate consistency across distributed environments.

Airtable features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Airtable provides an intuitive, visually appealing interface that makes it easy for users to create, manage, and navigate complex data sets without extensive technical knowledge.
  • Customizability
    Airtable offers robust customization options, allowing users to tailor databases and views to their specific needs, including various field types, multiple views, and linked records.
  • Collaboration Features
    Airtable supports real-time collaboration, enabling multiple users to work on the same database simultaneously while tracking changes and maintaining version history.
  • Integrations
    Airtable integrates with various third-party applications and services such as Slack, Google Drive, and Zapier, allowing for seamless workflow automation and enhanced productivity.
  • Templates
    Airtable offers a wide range of pre-built templates for different use cases, which helps users get started quickly without having to build everything from scratch.
  • Mobile App
    Airtable's mobile application allows users to access and manage their databases on the go, ensuring flexibility and continuous productivity.

Possible disadvantages of Airtable

  • Cost
    While Airtable offers a free tier, many of the more advanced features and higher usage limits are locked behind a subscription model, which can become costly for larger teams or extensive use.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users have reported performance issues with Airtable when working with very large databases, including slow load times and laggy interface responsiveness.
  • Limited Offline Access
    Airtable relies heavily on an internet connection, and its offline capabilities are limited, which may be a drawback for users who need consistent access without reliable internet.
  • Data Export Options
    Data export options are somewhat limited compared to other database management tools, making it more difficult to extract data in certain formats for use outside of Airtable.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly interface, the extensive features and customizability of Airtable can present a learning curve for new users, requiring time to explore and understand its full capabilities.
  • Lack of Advanced Features
    Airtable may lack some advanced features found in more specialized or traditional database management systems, making it less suitable for particularly complex or highly specific data management needs.

Analysis of Airtable

Overall verdict

  • Airtable is a highly effective tool for individuals and teams looking for an easy-to-use, versatile platform to manage data and collaborate. It is especially suitable for users who need more functionality than a traditional spreadsheet but don’t require a full-scale database management system.

Why this product is good

  • Ease of use
    Airtable offers a user-friendly interface that combines the simplicity of spreadsheets with the power of a database, making it accessible for users without technical expertise.
  • Flexibility
    It provides flexibility in terms of creating customizable databases, allowing users to adapt it for various use cases such as project management, inventory tracking, and more.
  • Integrations
    It integrates with a wide range of third-party applications and services, enhancing its utility and reach.
  • Collaboration
    Airtable supports real-time collaboration, enabling teams to work together seamlessly and share updates instantly.

Recommended for

  • Small to medium-sized businesses
  • Project managers
  • Creative teams
  • Freelancers
  • Non-profits
  • Product development teams

Cloudant videos

+ Add

Introduction to Cloudant

More videos:

  • Review - Why Cloudant? Database clusters, Web apps & more
  • Review - Connect IBM Cloud Cloudant with Postman

Airtable videos

+ Add

Airtable Review | Features, Pricing & Team Use

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Airtable API Tutorial With cURL and JavaScript
  • Review - Airtable Blocks for Project Management
  • Review - Airtable vs. Google Sheets
  • Review - airtable review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Cloudant and Airtable)

Cloudant

Airtable

Databases
100 100%
Databases
0% 0
Project Management
0 0%
Project Management
100% 100
NoSQL Databases
100 100%
NoSQL Databases
0% 0
No Code
0 0%
No Code
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Cloudant and Airtable. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Cloudant and Airtable

Cloudant Reviews

9 Best MongoDB alternatives in 2019
IBM Cloudant is a distributed DBMS system and full management JSON document. It helps you to store web and mobile apps which allows you to maintain data access and availability at extreme scale.
Source: www.guru99.com

Airtable Reviews

  1. Sanjana Shah
    · Data Scientist at Boston Institute of Analytics ·
    Airtable: Spreadsheets + Databases = Efficiency

    Airtable is a powerful cloud-based software that combines spreadsheets and databases, offering real-time collaboration and customizable features for efficient task management1.

    Competitors: monday.com, ClickUp, Smartsheet
    Pros:    Free forever plan and affordable paid options starting at $10 per month.|Visually appealing and user-friendly interface.|Pre-made templates for easy setup and use.|Real-time collaboration and communication.|Customizable features for task management.
    Cons:    Limited project customization without a paid plan.|Top-tier accounts required for gantt tools.|May take time to learn and grasp advanced features.
The Top 7 ClickUp Alternatives You Need to Know in 2025
Benefits:Airtable's ability to integrate various data sources into one platform allows teams to maintain a centralized source of truth while leveraging powerful visualization tools6.
Source: www.ledgerteams.com
Top 10 Notion Alternatives for 2025 and Why Teams Are Choosing Ledger
Airtable blends spreadsheets with database features, offering teams a powerful way to organize structured information. While its flexibility is impressive, it's not purpose-built for communication or team collaboration at scale.
Source: www.ledgerteams.com
25 Best Asana Alternatives & Competitors for Project Management in 2024
Airtable is one of the most popular Asana alternatives. It’s project management tool that helps teams create detailed databases for their work. Users can group and sort data in custom fields with views like Grid to include only the relevant project information.
Source: clickup.com
Top 10 Microsoft Power Apps Alternatives and Competitors 2024
Airtable Pricing: Airtable offers a freemium plan with limited features for individual users. Paid plans start at $10 per user per month for additional features and functionalities. Enterprise plans with custom pricing cater to large-scale deployments.
Source: medium.com
The 10 best Asana alternatives in 2024
If you're looking for a project management app that leans more toward data management, try Airtable. Out of the box, Airtable's default view looks like a spreadsheet. It offers a few project templates based on your team type (such as marketing or sales), or you can build a "base" from scratch. From there, you can add highly customizable fields (or columns) to each row, so...
Source: zapier.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Airtable seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 132 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Cloudant mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Cloudant yet. Tracking of Cloudant recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Airtable mentions (132)

View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Cloudant and Airtable, you can also consider the following products

MongoDB - MongoDB (from "humongous") is a scalable, high-performance NoSQL database.

Trello - Infinitely flexible. Incredibly easy to use. Great mobile apps. It's free. Trello keeps track of everything, from the big picture to the minute details.

ArangoDB - A distributed open-source database with a flexible data model for documents, graphs, and key-values.

Asana - Asana project management is an effort to re-imagine how we work together, through modern productivity software. Fast and versatile, Asana helps individuals and groups get more done.

OrientDB - OrientDB - The World's First Distributed Multi-Model NoSQL Database with a Graph Database Engine.

monday.com - The most intuitive platform to manage projects and teamwork

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