Airtable vs Excel: Which Should Your Team Use in 2026?
A relational database with a spreadsheet face against the spreadsheet most teams already own. Here is what each costs per person, where the record limits bite, and what happens to your formulas if you switch.
By Bill Belcamino · Last updated September 24, 2026 · Our methodologyResearched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team
Free, Team from $20/seat/mo (annual)
Airtable
VS
Free (web); Microsoft 365 Business Basic $7/user/mo (annual)
Choose Excel if you mainly analyse or model numbers or already pay for Microsoft 365: Excel for the web is free and Business Basic is $7/user/mo (annual). Choose Airtable if your sheet is really a shared database that needs linked records, forms and automations; Team is $20/seat/mo (annual), and read-only collaborators are free.
Quick verdict: Excel is far cheaper: a free Microsoft account gets Excel for the web, and Microsoft 365 Business Basic is $7/user/mo (annual) with email and 1 TB of storage included, against $20/seat/mo for Airtable Team. Airtable earns its price when your spreadsheet is really a shared database: linked records, forms, automations (25,000 runs a month on Team) and interfaces for people who should not touch the raw grid. For analysis, modelling and one-off number crunching, Excel remains the stronger and cheaper tool.
Free (web); Microsoft 365 Business Basic $7/user/mo (annual)
Free plan
Yes — up to 5 editors, 1,000 records per base
Yes — Excel for the web with a free Microsoft account
Is Airtable cheaper than Microsoft Excel?
Yes, Excel is cheaper for almost every team. Excel for the web is free, and Microsoft 365 Business Basic is $7/user/mo billed annually ($8.40 monthly) against Airtable Team at $20/seat/mo annual ($24 monthly). Airtable narrows the gap only if many of your people just read the data: read-only collaborators are free on Airtable, while every Microsoft 365 user needs a licence.
100 runs (Free); 25,000 (Team); 100,000 (Business) per month
No run allowance listed on the Excel pages we checked
Who is billed
Team: Commenter and up; Business: Editor and up; read-only free
Every licensed user
Import from the other
Native Excel (5 MB) and CSV (100 MB) import
Opens Airtable’s CSV download
Single sign-on (SAML)
Business plan
Not listed on the Excel pages we checked
Verified September 24, 2026Prices recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page. See sources
Airtable prices from airtable.com/pricing; Microsoft prices from microsoft.com (Excel, Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Apps for business pages). Record, automation and billing rules from Airtable’s pricing page and billing help article; worksheet size from Microsoft’s Excel specifications page. All checked September 24, 2026. Microsoft also sells “with Copilot” bundles (Business Standard with Copilot $23.50) that are not shown here.
Both put data in a grid, but they are different kinds of tool. Excel is a calculation engine: formulas, pivot tables and charts over a sheet of up to 1,048,576 rows. Airtable is a database: each table holds records with typed fields, tables link to each other, and you build forms, automations and interfaces on top.
Who you pay for
Airtable bills per seat, but not every collaborator is a seat: on Team, anyone with Commenter access or higher is billed; on Business, only Editors and above. Read-only collaborators are free on both. Excel is not sold on its own for businesses: it comes inside Microsoft 365. Business Basic ($7/user/mo annual) gives web and mobile Excel; Apps for business ($10) and Business Standard ($14) add the desktop app. A free Microsoft account gets Excel for the web.
Limits you will actually hit
Airtable caps records per base: 1,000 on Free, 50,000 on Team and 125,000 on Business. A large transaction log that sits comfortably in one Excel sheet can outgrow an Airtable Team base. Airtable also counts automation runs (100 on Free, 25,000 on Team per month).
Moving between them
Airtable imports Excel files natively (up to 5 MB, or CSV up to 100 MB), but formulas arrive as their calculated values, not as formulas. Going the other way, Airtable exports one view at a time as CSV, which Excel opens directly.
Cost calculator: what does your team actually pay?
Airtable
$0/mo
Microsoft Excel
$0/mo
List prices checked September 24, 2026. Airtable counts only billable collaborators (Commenter and up on Team, Editor and up on Business); add read-only people at $0. Microsoft 365 prices are per licensed user and include more than Excel. Taxes and promotions not included.
Choose Airtable if…
Your spreadsheet is really a shared database: several teams update the same records, you need forms or automations, or you want to give read-only access to lots of people for free.
Choose Microsoft Excel if…
You mostly analyse, model or report on numbers, your data is larger than 50,000 rows, or your team already pays for Microsoft 365.
Total cost over time
Uses your selections above. Estimate excludes add-ons, overages, and negotiated discounts.
Ready to choose?
Both have a free way in: Airtable Free for up to 5 editors, and Excel for the web with a free Microsoft account. Rebuild one real workflow in each before you pay.
Airtable vs Microsoft Excel: security, offline & remote work
How Airtable and Microsoft Excel compare on compliance reports, sign-in controls, offline access and the setup details that matter for remote, hybrid and in-office teams. Every value links to the vendor page it came from.
Australia, AT, Brazil, Canada, CL, DK, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, IT, Japan, MY, MX, NZ, NO, PL, QA, South Africa, South Korea, ES, SE, Switzerland, TW, UAE, UKAdvanced Data Residency (add-on)source
Encryption
256-bit AES at rest; 256-bit SSL/TLS in transit; customer-owned keys on Enterprisesource
BitLocker disk encryption plus per-file AES-256 encryption at rest (OneDrive/SharePoint); SSL/TLS in transitsource
Self-hosting option
Not published
Not published
Offline access
Offline mode
Needs a connectionAirtable says offline access is not supported in any app; the web, desktop and mobile apps all require internet access, and data can only be exported for offline reference.source
Works offlineThe Excel mobile/tablet apps can create new workbooks and edit files offline (cloud files must have been opened online once), and pending changes sync when you reconnect.source
YesMicrosoft 365 Business Premium (or Entra ID P1)source
Device & session controls
YesBusinessAdmin-set web session length (4 hours to 1 year) on Business and Enterprise Scale; Enterprise Scale can also restrict printing, CSV downloads and copying to clipboard from apps (desktop only).source
YesMicrosoft 365 Business Premium (or Entra ID P1)Entra Conditional Access can require MFA, compliant or hybrid-joined devices, approved client apps or app protection policies; SharePoint/OneDrive can block unmanaged devices or limit them to browser-only access with no download, print or sync.source
Audit reports: both publish a SOC 2 report, and Airtable and Microsoft Excel also hold ISO/IEC 27001. Ask each vendor for the report under NDA before you sign; security reviews usually want the latest one.
Single sign-on: Airtable includes it on Business; Microsoft Excel includes it. If your team signs in through Okta, Microsoft Entra ID or Google, price the plan that includes SSO, not the entry plan.
Health data: Airtable and Microsoft Excel will sign a HIPAA business associate agreement (Airtable: Enterprise Scale).
Working offline: Microsoft Excel lets you keep working without a connection; Airtable needs an internet connection. Details are in the Offline mode row above.
Office-only access: Airtable can restrict sign-ins to approved IP ranges on Enterprise Scale; Microsoft Excel can restrict sign-ins to approved IP ranges on Microsoft 365 Business Premium (or Entra ID P1). That suits an office network or a company VPN; fully remote teams need a VPN for it to work.
Where your data lives: Airtable lets you choose US, EU; Microsoft Excel lets you choose Australia, AT, Brazil, Canada, CL, DK, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, IT, Japan, MY, MX, NZ, NO, PL, QA, South Africa, South Korea, ES, SE, Switzerland, TW, UAE, UK on Advanced Data Residency (add-on). This matters for teams hiring across the EU, UK or Australia.
Airtable: worth knowing
RemoteOn Enterprise Scale, admins can limit sign-in to approved IP addresses or CIDR blocks (e.g. office or VPN ranges). source
OfflineAirtable has no offline mode; teams needing offline access must export data (e.g. CSV) beforehand. source
SecurityCustomers can choose EU data residency, with the EU data center in Frankfurt, Germany. source
SecurityEnterprise customers can encrypt data at rest with their own keys (Enterprise Key Management). source
Microsoft Excel: worth knowing
OfflineEdits made in the Excel mobile apps while offline sync automatically once the device is back online. source
RemoteWhen access is limited on unmanaged (e.g. personal home) devices, users get browser-only access and cannot open content in the Office desktop apps. source
SecurityLocation (IP) and device rules use Entra Conditional Access, which needs Entra ID P1 licenses or Microsoft 365 Business Premium. source
SecurityTenants in 27 local region geographies (e.g. Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, UK) can buy Advanced Data Residency for stronger in-country storage commitments. source
Checked September 24, 2026 against each vendor’s own trust center, help docs and app pages. Hover or tap “source” to see the exact wording we relied on. “Not published” means we could not find the vendor saying it on its own site; it doesn’t mean the feature is missing. Plan names are the lowest plan the vendor says includes the feature. Security · Offline · Remote vs office · Download the data
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Airtable cheaper than Excel?
No. Airtable Team is $20/seat/mo billed annually ($24 monthly). Excel for the web is free, and Microsoft 365 Business Basic is $7/user/mo annual ($8.40 monthly). Prices checked September 24, 2026.
Can Airtable import an Excel file?
Yes. Airtable imports Excel files up to 5 MB and CSV files up to 100 MB natively. Formulas are converted to their calculated values; the formula itself is not carried over.
How many rows can Airtable hold compared with Excel?
Airtable allows 1,000 records per base on Free, 50,000 on Team and 125,000 on Business. An Excel worksheet holds 1,048,576 rows by 16,384 columns.
Does Airtable charge for people who only view data?
No. Read-only collaborators are free. On Team, anyone with Commenter access or higher is billed; on Business, Editor and higher.
Do I need Microsoft 365 to use Excel?
Not for the basics: Excel for the web is free with a Microsoft account. For business use, Microsoft 365 Business Basic ($7/user/mo annual) includes web and mobile Excel, and Apps for business ($10) adds the desktop app.
Migration Guides
Already decided? Here’s how to actually switch.
Step-by-step migration guides covering what transfers automatically, what doesn’t, and how to handle the gap — in both directions.
Every “best spreadsheet or database tool” listicle tells you why to buy. Here’s the other half: the specific conditions under which Airtable or Microsoft Excel is the wrong purchase for your team.
Airtable
✓
Buy Airtable if:
Several teams update the same records
You need forms, automations or interfaces
Many people only need read access
✕
Do NOT buy Airtable if:
You mainly analyse or model numbers
Your data runs past 50,000 rows on a Team budget
Your team already pays for Microsoft 365
Microsoft Excel
✓
Buy Microsoft Excel if:
You already have Microsoft 365
You need pivot tables, heavy formulas and charts
Your datasets are large
✕
Do NOT buy Microsoft Excel if:
You need linked records and a real database structure
Non-technical colleagues keep breaking the sheet
You want forms and automations built into the same tool as the data
Canonical data for the tools on this page
Every pricing fact, rating, AI billing model and switching guide we hold on each tool, on one page, with the date each figure was last verified.
Prices on this page were recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown at the top of the page. Vendors change pricing often — check the live source before you buy.
Verified prices costed for your team size, a check against your must-have requirements, the questions to settle before you sign, and a source for every figure. Print it, or paste it into an email to whoever approves the spend.
Built for the leader who owns the selection, answers for the spend, drives the rollout, and lives with the results. HelpCompare covers the whole decision, not just the first step.
Engineer by training, operator by experience, marketer by choice. Bill spent nine years as an engineer at HP, was COO of Auctiva (the number one third-party selling platform on eBay, past 200,000 users) and ran Google’s $70M/year search syndication partnership at Alot.com. Then he spent 13 years building his own web properties with his own money at stake. He has bought, trialled, integrated and cancelled more SaaS tools than he can count, and started HelpCompare because the real cost of switching tools is the part nobody covers.
“I’ve sat on both sides of the table: the agency recommending the tool and the client paying for it.”
Researched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team. Pricing on this page was last verified on September 24, 2026. No paid sponsorships, no affiliate commissions.
Squarespace vs WordPressSep 23
Square vs StripeSep 23
Salesforce vs Zoho CRMSep 23
n8n to MakeWorkflow Automation
ZoomInfo to LushaSales Intelligence
Zoho CRM to PipedriveCRM Platforms
WooCommerce to BigCommerceE-commerce Platforms
Trello to ClickUpProject Management
Squarespace to WordPressWebsite Builders
Square to StripePayment Processing
Square to PayPalPayment Processing
