Best Self-Hosted Alternatives to Airtable
Airtable put a spreadsheet interface on a real database: linked records, grid, kanban and calendar views, forms and an API, billed per user once you leave the free plan. What sends teams looking elsewhere is paying for every editor, record caps per base, and keeping operational data on a vendor's servers. The self-hosted tools below give you the same grid-over-a-database with views, forms and a REST API, and neither caps records on a self-hosted install.
Airtable costs about $288/year and keeps your data on its servers. These researched, open-source alternatives give you the same workflow on hardware you own — here's what each needs to run.
The alternatives
What you give up by leaving Airtable
Leaving Airtable means giving up its interface polish, its extension and integration ecosystem, and a service you never have to patch. The two alternatives split along the licence and the free feature set. NocoDB keeps grid, gallery, form, calendar, kanban and map views free and can sit on an existing PostgreSQL or MySQL database, but its Sustainable Use License is source-available, not open source, and reserves offering it to external customers. Baserow has an MIT core with 2FA, an application builder and automations free, but its kanban, calendar and timeline views and row comments are paid Premium features. SSO, audit logs and fine-grained permissions sit in the paid tiers of both.
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Head-to-head
Common questions
Is self-hosting actually cheaper than Airtable?
Airtable costs $288/year. A VPS from $23.59/mo covers any of the 5 alternatives below, saving roughly $5/year.
Are these Airtable alternatives really free?
The software is open-source and free to run. Your only cost is the server it runs on — often a few dollars a month, less than most SaaS subscriptions.
How much server do I need to self-host one?
Most of these run comfortably on a small VPS — 1–2 GB of RAM is enough for a single-user or small-team setup. Each app's page lists its minimum RAM.
Will I lose features by leaving Airtable?
It depends on the app. The alternatives below cover the core workflow; polish and integrations vary, so check each one's stack and difficulty before you commit.