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Last updated: October 29, 2026
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Airtable vs monday.com (2027): Prices, Limits and Which One to Pick
Choose Airtable if your work is a real database: linked tables, strict fields and automation on thousands of records. It's free up to 1,000 records per base and 5 editors, and Team costs $20 per editor per month on annual billing. Choose monday.com if you want visual boards to manage team work and workflows: it's free for 2 seats and 3 boards, and paid plans cost $9 (Basic), $12 (Standard) or $19 (Pro) per seat on annual billing, with a 3-seat minimum. For a 10-person team, monday.com Standard costs $120 a month and Airtable Team $200.
- Airtable: Free (1,000 records per base, 100 automation runs/month, up to 5 editors); Team $20/editor (annual), $24 monthly; Business $45 (annual), $54 monthly.
- monday.com: Free (2 seats, 3 boards); Basic $9, Standard $12, Pro $19 per seat (annual); 3-seat minimum.
- Automation: Airtable Team 25,000 runs/month; monday.com Standard 250 actions/month, Pro 25,000.
- Records: Airtable Team 50,000 per base; Business 125,000.
- Billing: Airtable bills editors; monday.com bills seats in buckets.
Airtable vs monday.com at a glance
| Airtable | monday.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Core idea | Relational database with apps on top | Visual work management boards |
| Free plan | 1,000 records/base, 5 editors | 2 seats, 3 boards |
| Entry paid plan | Team $20/editor (annual) | Basic $9/seat (annual) |
| Most popular plan | Team $20 | Standard $12 |
| Upper plan | Business $45 | Pro $19 |
| Seat minimum | None | 3 seats |
| Automation on mid tier | 25,000 runs/month (Team) | 250 actions/month (Standard) |
| Best for | Structured data and operations | Team projects and workflows |
Pricing compared
Free plans
Airtable's free plan allows up to 5 editors, with 1,000 records per base and 100 automation runs a month. monday.com's free plan allows 2 seats and 3 boards. For a small team working on data, Airtable's free plan goes further.
Paid plans
monday.com is cheaper per seat: $12 on Standard against $20 on Airtable Team. But Airtable Team includes 25,000 automation runs a month, a hundred times monday.com Standard's 250 actions. If you automate heavily, compare Airtable Team with monday.com Pro ($19).
Who pays
Airtable bills editors (people who change data); viewers and commenters may not need a paid seat. monday.com bills seats in buckets with a 3-seat minimum.
What a real team pays per month (annual billing)
| Users | Airtable Team | Airtable Business | monday.com Standard | monday.com Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20 | $45 | $36 (3-seat minimum) | $57 |
| 3 | $60 | $135 | $36 | $57 |
| 5 | $100 | $225 | $60 | $95 |
| 10 | $200 | $450 | $120 | $190 |
| 25 | $500 | $1,125 | $300 | $475 |
3-year cost for a growing team
A team of 5 that doubles each year:
| Year (users) | Airtable Team | monday.com Standard | monday.com Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 (5) | $1,200 | $720 | $1,140 |
| Year 2 (10) | $2,400 | $1,440 | $2,280 |
| Year 3 (20) | $4,800 | $2,880 | $4,560 |
| Total | $8,400 | $5,040 | $7,980 |
How each tool works
Airtable is a relational database: tables link to each other, fields have strict types, and views (grid, kanban, calendar, gallery, timeline, forms) sit on top of the same data. Interfaces let you build simple apps for teammates. It shines when the data itself is the product: inventories, content libraries, CRMs, applicant tracking.
monday.com is a work management platform: boards with items and columns track who does what by when, with dashboards across boards and automations that move work along. It shines when the work is the product: projects, requests, campaigns and client delivery.
Features that decide the choice
| If you need… | Better choice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Linked tables and strict data types | Airtable | Relational database |
| Thousands of records and heavy automation | Airtable Team | 50,000 records, 25,000 runs |
| Project and team workload management | monday.com | Work-first boards and dashboards |
| The lowest price per seat | monday.com | $12 vs $20 |
| A free plan for 3 to 5 editors | Airtable | monday.com free is 2 seats |
| CRM and project delivery together | monday.com | monday CRM on the same platform |
Three real-world scenarios
A content team managing 2,000 articles
Articles linked to writers, topics and clients, with automations on status changes: Airtable Team at $20 per editor fits the data model.
A 12-person agency managing client projects
Timelines, workload, client boards and dashboards: monday.com Standard (about $144 a month) or Pro (about $228) fits better.
An operations team tracking inventory and orders
Linked products, suppliers and orders with low-stock automations: Airtable. If the team mainly coordinates tasks around that data, monday.com can sit on top for workflow.
Try Airtable free → Free for up to 5 editors · Affiliate link
Hidden costs to watch
- Airtable record limits: 1,000 per base on Free, 50,000 on Team.
- monday.com's 3-seat minimum and seat buckets.
- monday.com Standard's 250 automation actions a month.
- Airtable editors: count who really needs to edit.
- Monthly billing costs more on both.
Alternatives worth comparing
| Tool | Entry price (annual) | Why consider it |
|---|---|---|
| ClickUp | Core $9/user | Tasks, docs and dashboards |
| Notion | Plus $10/seat (monthly price) | Docs with light databases |
| SmartSuite | Team $15/user | Airtable-like at lower cost |
See Airtable pricing, monday.com pricing, Airtable vs ClickUp, Airtable alternatives and monday.com alternatives.
Who should choose which
Choose Airtable when your work is structured data that needs relationships, strict fields and heavy automation. Choose monday.com when your work is projects and workflows that people move forward together, and you want dashboards and an easy start. Many companies use both: Airtable as the database, monday.com for team execution.
How to choose in 5 steps
- Describe your work: data records or team tasks.
- Count editors or seats and monthly automations.
- Price both for two years.
- Build one real workflow in each free plan.
- Choose the tool your team updates without reminders.
Terms explained
- Base: an Airtable database of linked tables.
- Record: one row in Airtable.
- Editor: an Airtable user who can change data; the billing unit.
- Seat bucket: monday.com's packs of seats.
- Automation run or action: one execution of an automated rule.
Our verdict
monday.com is the better choice for most teams managing projects and workflows: cheaper per seat and easier to adopt. Airtable is the better choice when your work is a real database, especially with heavy automation, where Team's 25,000 runs a month far exceed monday.com Standard. Choose by the shape of your work, not by the price per seat alone.
How we compiled this page
We compared Airtable's and monday.com's official pricing pages on October 29, 2026, using annual billing, and included monday.com's 3-seat minimum in team costs. SmartSuite's price comes from its official page on the same date.
FAQ
Is Airtable cheaper than monday.com?
No: monday.com Standard costs $12 per seat versus $20 per editor for Airtable Team. Airtable includes far more automation runs.
Is Airtable better than monday.com?
For structured data and automation, yes. For project and team work management, monday.com is usually better.
Which has a better free plan?
Airtable for small teams (up to 5 editors); monday.com's free plan covers 2 seats and 3 boards.
Can monday.com replace Airtable?
For simple tracking, yes. For linked data and thousands of records, Airtable is stronger.
Does monday.com have a seat minimum?
Yes, 3 seats on paid plans.
Can Airtable manage projects?
Yes, with kanban, timeline and calendar views, but monday.com offers more project management features out of the box.
Which integrates better with other tools?
Both connect with Slack, Google Workspace and many apps, and both work with Zapier and Make. Airtable also offers scripting for custom logic.
Which is easier to learn?
monday.com is quicker for project boards; Airtable is quick for simple tables but takes longer to design linked bases.
Which is better for agencies?
monday.com for client projects and workload; Airtable for agencies managing large content or asset libraries.
Is there a free trial?
Both have free plans, and monday.com offers trials of its paid plans.
Sources
airtable.com/pricing, monday.com/pricing and smartsuite.com/pricing, checked October 29, 2026.
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