Airtable
Airtable is an American software company founded in 2012 that develops a low-code, cloud-based platform for building collaborative applications and managing workflows by combining the simplicity of spreadsheets with the structure of relational databases.[1] The platform allows users, regardless of technical expertise, to create customizable databases, automate processes, and integrate AI agents for tasks like data processing across large-scale records.[2] Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Airtable was established by Howie Liu, Andrew Ofstad, and Emmett Nicholas to enable teams to power critical operations through shared data and no-code tools.[1] Key features of Airtable include configurable tables for data organization, built-in automation for workflow efficiency, support for AI models such as OpenAI, Gemini, Llama, and Anthropic, and a scalable backend called HyperDB that handles hundreds of millions of records and thousands of concurrent users.[3] The platform emphasizes security with compliance to standards like ISO, HIPAA, and SOC 2, ensuring customer data privacy and offering options for data residency in regions including Europe and Australia.[3] It also provides flexible administration tools, such as role-based access control (RBAC) and identity provider (IDP) syncing, making it suitable for enterprise environments.[1] As of 2025, Airtable serves over 500,000 organizations worldwide, including 80% of the Fortune 100 companies such as Amazon Web Services, Walmart, and HBO, and employs over 700 people across six global offices.[1] The company has raised a total of $1.36 billion in funding and achieved a valuation of $11.6 billion, positioning it as a leader in the no-code application development space.[1] In October 2025, Airtable acquired DeepSky and appointed David Azose as CTO to enhance its AI-driven app building capabilities.[2][4]Overview
Platform Description
Airtable is a cloud-based, low-code/no-code platform that blends the intuitive simplicity of spreadsheets with the robust data management capabilities of relational databases, enabling users without extensive technical expertise to build and customize applications on shared data.[5] At its core, Airtable organizes information into "bases," which serve as central hubs containing interconnected tables composed of records and fields, allowing for linked data relationships that facilitate complex workflows and collaboration across teams.[6] This structure empowers organizations to create flexible, scalable tools for managing everything from project tracking to content planning, all while maintaining data integrity and accessibility in a collaborative environment.[1] In 2025, Airtable relaunched as an AI-native platform, integrating artificial intelligence directly into its foundation to streamline the creation of collaborative apps and the deployment of AI agents at enterprise scale.[7] This evolution introduces features like conversational app building and intelligent automations, transforming raw data into dynamic interfaces and proactive agents that handle tasks such as data analysis and decision support.[8] Founded in 2012, the platform has since grown to support advanced scalability, including HyperDB, a dedicated storage layer that accommodates up to 100 million records per table, enabling enterprises to manage massive datasets without performance bottlenecks.[9] Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Airtable maintains a global presence, serving more than 500,000 organizations worldwide, including 80% of the Fortune 100 companies, which rely on it to accelerate operations and foster innovation across diverse industries.[1] This widespread adoption underscores its role as a versatile tool for democratizing app development and data-driven decision-making in both small teams and large enterprises.[5]Key Use Cases
Airtable serves as a versatile platform for collaborative data management, enabling teams to build custom applications tailored to specific workflows. One primary use case is project management, where users track tasks, assign resources, and monitor progress in real time, often using linked records to connect dependencies across departments.[10] For marketing teams, it functions as a content calendar, organizing editorial schedules, asset libraries, and campaign timelines to streamline production and distribution efforts.[11] In sales operations, Airtable acts as a lightweight CRM, managing leads, customer interactions, and pipeline stages with relational data structures that facilitate personalized outreach. Operations teams leverage it for inventory management, cataloging stock levels, supplier details, and reorder triggers to optimize supply chains without rigid software constraints. In enterprise settings, Airtable accelerates business operations in product development by enabling spec generation and roadmap planning through customizable databases that integrate feedback loops.[12] For creative workflows, it supports brief creation and asset management, as seen in media organizations scaling editorial processes across millions of digital assets.[13] Companies like Red Bull use it to expedite facility and media planning, reducing coordination time for global events.[14] Over 500,000 organizations worldwide rely on Airtable for these applications, including 80% of Fortune 100 companies, highlighting its role in fostering collaborative app building at scale.[1] A key benefit is its array of customizable views—such as grid, calendar, kanban, and gallery—which allow non-technical users to visualize and interact with data in formats suited to their roles, enhancing accessibility and productivity without coding expertise.History
Founding and Early Development
Airtable was founded in 2012 by Howie Liu, Andrew Ofstad, and Emmett Nicholas, who sought to overcome the limitations of traditional spreadsheets in handling complex, relational data and collaborative workflows.[15] Liu, a mechanical engineering graduate with prior experience in startups, teamed up with Ofstad, who had contributed to the redesign of Google Maps, and Nicholas, a former founding engineer at Stack Overflow, to create a platform that would empower non-technical users.[1] Their motivation stemmed from observing how spreadsheets, while intuitive, often led to data silos and inefficiency in team-based environments, prompting a vision to democratize software creation without requiring coding expertise.[16] The initial concept centered on a collaborative tool that merged the familiar spreadsheet interface with a robust database backend, enabling users to organize and manipulate data relationally while fostering real-time teamwork.[15] This hybrid approach aimed to address the rigidity of existing database tools and the scalability issues of spreadsheets, allowing for custom applications built on shared data foundations.[1] From 2012 to 2014, the founders focused on internal development, iterating on a prototype with a user-interface-first methodology that prioritized simplicity and local storage for early testing.[16] Key milestones included the launch of an open beta in 2014, which was shared on platforms like Hacker News to gauge broader interest among early adopters, followed by the public release in 2015 featuring core "base" functionality for data organization and collaboration.[16] During this bootstrapping phase, the team operated with limited resources, emphasizing a no-code design philosophy to ensure accessibility for diverse users while refining the product through feedback from a small group of about 100 private alpha testers.[15] This deliberate, slow-build process laid the groundwork for Airtable's expansion into a versatile platform.[16]Funding and Milestones
Airtable secured its initial seed funding of $3 million in February 2015 from Charles River Ventures (CRV), enabling early development and a public beta launch later that year.[17] This was followed by a Series A round of $7.6 million in June 2015, also led by CRV, which supported platform refinement and initial user growth.[17] In 2016, the company raised $12 million in Series B funding from investors including CRV and Founder Collective, marking a shift toward scaling operations.[18] The Series C round in November 2018 brought $100 million from Benchmark and Thrive Capital, achieving unicorn status with a $1.1 billion valuation and funding global expansion and enterprise-focused enhancements.[19] Subsequent rounds accelerated growth: Series D raised $185 million in September 2020 at a $2.5 billion valuation, led by Wellington Management, to bolster infrastructure for larger organizations.[18] In March 2021, Series E delivered $270 million at $5.77 billion, followed by Series F in December 2021 with $735 million from investors including Silver Lake and Salesforce Ventures, pushing total funding to $1.36 billion and valuation to $11 billion pre-money.[20] No additional public funding rounds have occurred since 2021.[21] Key milestones include attaining unicorn status in 2018, which coincided with the introduction of enterprise-grade features like advanced security and scalability options to attract larger teams.[19] Product evolution advanced with the launch of Interfaces in November 2021, allowing users to create custom front-ends for bases without coding, enhancing collaboration for non-technical stakeholders.[22] Automations were introduced in September 2020, enabling no-code workflow triggers and integrations with tools like Slack and Google Workspace to automate repetitive tasks.[23] AI capabilities emerged in 2023 with initial integrations for data summarization and content generation, expanding through 2024 with broader model access, and culminating in a June 2025 relaunch as an "AI-native app platform" featuring the Omni AI assistant for building and deploying AI agents at scale.[24][25] User base growth reflects these developments, expanding from a closed beta in 2013 to over 500,000 organizations worldwide as of 2025, driven by adoption across industries for collaborative database management.[1] This scaling, supported by funding-fueled infrastructure, positioned Airtable as a leader in no-code platforms, with annual recurring revenue reaching an estimated $478 million in 2024.[26]Acquisitions and Challenges
Airtable has pursued strategic acquisitions to bolster its no-code platform, completing five such deals with U.S.-based startups to enhance visualization, testing, internal tooling, and AI-driven user experiences. In August 2021, the company acquired Bayes, a no-code data visualization tool, to integrate advanced charting and reporting features that allow users to create interactive insights without coding, aligning with Airtable's goal of democratizing data analysis. Later that year, in December 2021, Airtable acqui-hired the founding team of Walrus.ai, a no-code software testing platform, to strengthen its product and engineering capabilities in scaling enterprise-grade solutions for collaborative app building. In January 2024, Airtable acquired Airplane, a developer platform for constructing internal tools from databases and APIs, primarily to incorporate the team's expertise into its own app development ecosystem, though Airplane's product was subsequently sunsetted. In July 2024, Airtable acquired Dopt, an AI-powered onboarding and guidance platform, to embed intelligent user activation tools that personalize workflows and accelerate product adoption for enterprise customers. Most recently, in October 2025, Airtable acquired DeepSky, a business/productivity software company, to further enhance its capabilities in AI-driven app building.[4] These acquisitions have faced headwinds amid broader economic pressures in the tech sector, including significant layoffs and valuation recalibrations. In December 2022, Airtable conducted its first round of workforce reductions, laying off 254 employees—approximately 20% of its staff—amid a slowdown in tech hiring and investment following the post-pandemic boom. This was followed by a second round in September 2023, where 237 employees, or 27% of the workforce, were let go as the company shifted resources toward enterprise-focused growth and cost efficiency. Concurrently, Airtable's valuation, which peaked at $11.7 billion after its 2021 Series F funding round, adjusted downward in secondary markets to approximately $3.8 billion by 2025, reflecting market corrections in the no-code/low-code space and investor caution toward high-growth SaaS firms. The company also navigates intense competition from platforms like Notion, Coda, and Baserow, which offer similar database and automation features, challenging Airtable to differentiate through scalability and integrations. In response to these challenges, Airtable pivoted toward AI integration in 2025, leveraging its acquisitions to enhance app-building and intelligence capabilities. The Dopt and DeepSky acquisitions, for instance, contributed to AI-driven features for user guidance and app building, while ongoing investments in AI—such as new generative tools for interface design and data summarization—aim to position Airtable as an AI-native platform for no-code development. This strategic evolution has helped sustain growth, with the acquisitions collectively bolstering AI and collaborative app functionalities to address enterprise demands in a competitive landscape.Company Information
Leadership and Headquarters
Airtable is led by its co-founders, who continue to play pivotal roles in steering the company's direction. Howie Liu serves as co-founder and CEO, overseeing overall strategy and operations. Andrew Ofstad, another co-founder, focuses on long-term product strategy and customer-centric decisions. Emmett Nicholas, the third co-founder, leads engineering efforts, including the design of the company's technical architecture.[1] The executive team includes several key leaders supporting these efforts. Ambereen Toubassy is the Chief Financial Officer, managing financial planning and operations. David Azose holds the position of Chief Technology Officer, guiding technological development and infrastructure. Paul Ohls serves as Chief Revenue Officer, driving sales and business growth. Marta Pinilla Aguilar is the Chief People Officer, responsible for human resources and organizational culture. Anthony Maggio acts as Head of Product Management, coordinating product development initiatives.[1] Airtable's headquarters is located in San Francisco, California, at 1 Front Street, Floor 28, where the company has been based since its founding in 2012. The firm maintains additional offices in Austin, Texas; New York, New York; London, United Kingdom; Paris, France (opened July 2025); and Sydney, Australia, alongside a global remote workforce to support its international operations.[1][27] As a privately held company, Airtable's governance is structured around its board of directors, which includes representatives from early investors such as Caffeinated Capital (Max Gazor), along with board observers like Raymond Tonsing. This setup provides strategic oversight from venture capital partners who have backed the company since its inception.[28][29]Workforce and Operations
As of 2025, Airtable employs over 700 people worldwide, a figure reduced from a pre-layoff peak of around 1,100 following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023.[1][2][30] The company's employees are distributed globally, with primary offices in San Francisco, Austin, and New York in the United States, as well as locations in London, Paris (opened July 2025), and Sydney in Europe and Asia-Pacific, supplemented by remote roles in regions including Germany.[1][31][32][27] This structure supports a diverse operational footprint across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, enabling collaboration on a cloud-based platform. Airtable's company culture emphasizes innovation and flexibility, particularly through remote-friendly policies that accommodate a distributed workforce.[33] Following the 2023 restructuring, the organization has sharpened its focus on enterprise clients, fostering a collaborative environment geared toward scaling no-code solutions for large-scale deployments.[34] Employee reviews highlight a supportive atmosphere with strong emphasis on work-life balance, though some note challenges in remote communication.[35] Operationally, Airtable delivers its services via a reliable cloud infrastructure, committing to 99.9% monthly uptime for Enterprise and certain Business plan customers through its service level agreement.[36] The company supports nonprofits and educational institutions with a 50% discount on Team plan licenses for qualifying users, facilitating accessible data management for mission-driven organizations.[37] Dedicated customer success teams assist Fortune 100 clients, contributing to adoption by over 80% of these enterprises for workflow optimization.[1][38] Diversity and inclusion initiatives at Airtable are overseen by Chief People Officer Marta Pinilla Aguilar, who leads efforts to build an equitable workplace, though specific metrics on representation remain undisclosed publicly.[1]Product Features
Core Components
Airtable's core platform revolves around bases, which serve as the primary workspaces for organizing and managing data. A base functions as a centralized database that can contain multiple interconnected tables, akin to spreadsheets but with relational capabilities. Each table holds records as individual rows representing unique data entries, such as a project task or customer profile, while fields act as columns that define the type and structure of data within those records.[39] Supported field types include single-line text for short entries like names, long text for detailed notes with rich formatting, email and phone number for contact information, attachments for uploading files, and linked records to connect data across tables, such as associating employees with departments.[40] This structure enables users to build flexible, relational data models without coding, supporting up to thousands of records depending on the plan.[39] To visualize and interact with data, Airtable offers views and interfaces as customizable displays. Views allow users to filter, sort, and present the same underlying table data in various formats, including grid for spreadsheet-like editing, form for data collection, gallery for visual layouts like image catalogs, kanban for workflow tracking, and calendar for time-based scheduling.[41] Building on views, the Interface Designer provides a drag-and-drop tool to create polished, app-like experiences from base data, enabling users to combine elements like charts, lists, and record details into shareable dashboards or forms without development skills.[42] These tools facilitate tailored presentations for different team needs, such as executive summaries or public submission portals. Syncing ensures real-time data integration, allowing seamless updates across bases and external sources. Users can configure one-way syncs to import data from platforms like Google Sheets or Jira into an Airtable table, with automatic refreshes occurring periodically. For two-way syncing, changes propagate in near real-time between connected sources, maintaining consistency without manual intervention, though subject to plan-based limitations on frequency and volume.[43] This feature supports dynamic data pipelines, such as mirroring CRM updates into project trackers. Collaboration is built into Airtable through role-based permissions and sharing mechanisms. Workspace owners assign roles like creator (full edit access), editor (modify records), commenter (add notes without changes), or read-only (view-only), controlling what users can edit, share, or delete within bases and interfaces.[44] Bases can be shared via invite links with specified permissions, and all plans support unlimited read-only users alongside limited editors, enabling broad access for stakeholders like clients or reviewers.[45] The free tier imposes constraints to encourage scaling, limiting each base to 1,000 records and allowing only 5 editors per workspace, while providing 1 GB of attachment storage.[46] These restrictions apply across bases but do not affect read-only collaborators, making the plan suitable for small teams or prototypes.[47]Advanced Features and AI
Airtable's automations feature enables users to build no-code, rule-based workflows that automate repetitive tasks across bases and integrated tools. These workflows are initiated by triggers, such as when a new record is created or a specific field is updated, and can execute a series of actions, including sending email notifications, updating data in linked records, or syncing information with external services like Slack or Google Sheets. Automations allow for complex sequences while remaining accessible to non-technical users, and the Team plan permits up to 25,000 runs per month to handle moderate-scale operations.[48][49][46] To extend functionality beyond native tools, Airtable provides a scripting extension that lets users write custom JavaScript code directly within the platform. This capability is particularly useful for advanced operations, such as bulk-editing field values, applying complex filters, or generating custom reports from queried data, thereby reducing manual effort on intricate data manipulations. Complementing this, Airtable's RESTful API allows developers to programmatically access and modify base data using JSON payloads, facilitating seamless integrations with external applications and custom software solutions.[50][51][6] Airtable has integrated AI-driven tools to enhance productivity and decision-making, positioning it as an AI-native platform. Omni serves as a conversational app builder, where users can describe desired applications in natural language to generate production-ready interfaces and logic, streamlining the transition from idea to deployment. Field Agents function as AI-powered fields embedded in records, automating high-value tasks like retrieving web-based research, analyzing datasets for insights, or generating tailored content such as summaries or reports at the individual cell level. Additionally, Airtable AI incorporates generative capabilities to produce structured outputs, including project briefs, technical specifications, and workflow documentation, directly within bases to support collaborative content creation. In October 2025, Airtable acquired DeepSky to further enhance its AI agent capabilities, integrating superagent technology for advanced business task automation.[8][52][53][4] In 2025, Airtable relaunched with enhanced scalability for AI agents tailored to enterprise needs, combining intuitive "vibe coding"—a prompt-based development approach—with robust infrastructure to ensure reliability across thousands of records and large teams. This update emphasizes deploying AI at scale for operational workflows, such as automated analysis in marketing or product management, while maintaining enterprise-grade controls.[7][54] Security remains a cornerstone of Airtable's advanced features, with the platform achieving SOC 2 Type 2 compliance to verify controls over security, availability, and confidentiality. Data is protected in transit via 256-bit SSL/TLS encryption and at rest using 256-bit AES encryption, alongside features like granular permissions and two-factor authentication to safeguard sensitive information in automated and AI-enhanced environments.[55][56]Business Model
Pricing Structure
Airtable offers a tiered pricing structure designed to accommodate users from individuals to large organizations, with plans ranging from a free tier to custom enterprise options. As of November 2025, the free plan provides basic access suitable for small projects or testing, while paid plans unlock higher limits on data storage, collaboration, and automation capabilities. Pricing is per user (or collaborator with edit permissions) and varies based on billing cycle, with annual commitments offering discounts over monthly billing.[47][46] The free plan includes up to 1,000 records per base, 1 GB of attachment storage per base, support for up to 5 editors, and 100 automation runs per month, making it accessible for solo users or small teams without cost.[47] This tier emphasizes Airtable's freemium model, allowing unlimited read-only collaborators but restricting advanced features to encourage upgrades as needs grow.[46] For growing teams, the Team plan is priced at $20 per user per month when billed annually or $24 per user per month when billed monthly. It supports 50,000 records per base, 20 GB of attachment storage per base, and 25,000 automation runs per month, enabling more robust collaboration and workflow automation compared to the free tier.[47] The Business plan, targeted at mid-sized organizations, costs $45 per user per month on an annual basis or $54 per user per month billed monthly. It offers 125,000 records per base, 100 GB of attachment storage per base, along with advanced features such as syncing capabilities and dynamic filters that enhance data management and interface customization, plus 100,000 automation runs per month.[47] At the enterprise level, the Enterprise Scale plan features custom pricing negotiated through sales, providing unlimited records per base, comprehensive admin reports, dedicated support, and security options like SAML single sign-on (SSO). This plan is tailored for large-scale deployments requiring high customization and compliance, with custom limits for storage and automations.[46]| Plan | Annual Pricing (per user/month) | Monthly Pricing (per user/month) | Records per Base | Attachment Storage per Base | Key Limits/Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 1,000 | 1 GB | 5 editors, 100 automations/month |
| Team | $20 | $24 | 50,000 | 20 GB | Unlimited editors, 25,000 automations/month |
| Business | $45 | $54 | 125,000 | 100 GB | Unlimited editors, 100,000 automations/month, advanced syncing, dynamic filters |
| Enterprise Scale | Custom | Custom | Unlimited | Custom (scalable) | Admin reports, dedicated support, SAML SSO |