Airtable
Plane
| Feature | Airtable | Plane |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $20/mo | Free / from $7/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.2 / 5 |
| Best For | operations, marketing-teams, no-code-builders, agencies | developers, open-source-advocates, startups, engineering-teams |
| Founded | 2012 | 2022 |
| Databases | ✓ | ✗ |
| Views | ✓ | ✓ |
| Automations | ✓ | ✗ |
| Interfaces | ✓ | ✗ |
| Api | ✓ | ✗ |
| Extensions | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cycles | ✗ | ✓ |
| Modules | ✗ | ✓ |
| Pages | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hostable | ✗ | ✓ |
| Analytics | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Airtable Pros
- Powerful database views
- Great API
- Interface designer
- Automations
✗ Airtable Cons
- Expensive
- Row limits
- Complex for simple needs
✓ Plane Pros
- Open source and self-hostable
- Modern clean interface
- Jira-like power without complexity
- Active community
✗ Plane Cons
- Relatively new
- Smaller integration ecosystem
- Documentation still maturing
The Verdict
Airtable is built for operations and marketing teams, with a focus on databases and views. Plane targets developers and open source advocates and leads with cycles and modules.
On pricing, Plane is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $7/mo compared to $20/mo for Airtable. That $13/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Bottom line: Airtable has a slight overall edge — but if open source and self-hostable matters most to you, Plane may still be the right call.
