Airtable vs. Google Drive

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Airtable
Score 8.5 out of 10
N/A
Airtable is a project management and collaboration platform designed to enable content pipelines, product management, events planning, user research, and more. It combines spreadsheet,database, calendar, and kanban functionality within one platform.
$10
per month
Google Drive
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Google Drive is a cloud file storage, synchronization, and collaboration platform and service, that features Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for document editing and presentation.
$6
per month
Pricing
AirtableGoogle Drive
Editions & Modules
Plus
$10.00
per month (billed annually)
Pro
$20.00
per month (billed annually)
Enterprise
Contact Sales
Basic
$6.00
per month
Business
$12.00
per month
Enterprise
Contact Vendor for Quote
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AirtableGoogle Drive
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsDiscounts are available for students, educators, and non profit organizations.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AirtableGoogle Drive
Considered Both Products
Airtable
Chose Airtable
When I started collecting Data on Google Drive, I set up the spreadsheets with a specific goal in mind for what it could be.
Once I found Airtable, it fulfilled the exact abilities I wanted in organizing information.
Chose Airtable
I have tried Trello, monday.com, Meister Task, and even Google Sheets. They are all great and solid applications. Some even have really nice user interfaces. However, none of them have met my primary need of being able to view my current projects and associated deadlines at a …
Chose Airtable
Airtable is a great price and has much more than competitors offer. Very easy to use!
Chose Airtable
I find that Airtable is a ton more flexible and more intuitive in nature. If you're looking for a tool that is mainly focused in time-tracking, monday.com might be marginally better there, but in terms of customization and permissioning, Airtable seems to be a lot better on …
Chose Airtable
Airtable allows us to schedule out our planned social media posts for months at a time at no cost to our company. This is a distinct advantage over social media-specific tools we have used in the past. Currently, we use Airtable to plan our posts and Buffer to push them through …
Chose Airtable
We tried one other tool before trying Airtable, 2 years ago. I can't remember the name but it just didn't have the same ability to automate business processes with Zapier, it has since gone out of business.
Chose Airtable
Airtable is more robust than Trello yet equally intuitive
Chose Airtable
Our existing database was created for us several years ago in Filemaker. It is incredibly sophisticated but often times is proving to be challenging to operate or update for current uses. Airtable has provided a level of flexibility to create a number of workarounds outside of …
Chose Airtable
While almost all the alternatives of Airtable also collect, store and analyze data (spreadsheets), none are true databases. While Airtable, when deployed, can act from a process start to its end, automating the whole process. Airtable is more efficient than its alternatives to …
Chose Airtable
We chose Airtable because of the database-like functionality it had while still maintaining the ease of use of a spreadsheet.
Chose Airtable
It wasn't until I became aware of Airtable that we found a solution that allows us to implement the best features of a collaborative RDBMS with our staff who don't have any training. I had previously used Zoho Creator and found that it was difficult to onboard new users because …
Chose Airtable
The large range of services that Airtable provides plus the very modern interface made us chose Airtable and we are convinced that it's the best database we have ever used.
Chose Airtable
Airtable is far more flexible than Excel, much more suitable for our purposes, and much easier to learn and to train others who are not familiar with spreadsheets or databases.
We currently use Wild Apricot for our member database, but I expect we will be able to move to …
Chose Airtable
Both of these tools are helpful as databases, but Airtable far outweighs them due to the many views we can use and the custom experience we can build.
Chose Airtable
I don't intend to replace Basecamp with Airtable, rather enhance my use of it, limit it to what it does best, which isn't ongoing tracking of data.

Not wanting to build this in something like Access, which I've used previously, I did a search for services like Airtable that …
Chose Airtable
Airtable is a modern data management tool. It doesn't bring in baggage from when technology was restricted to your local hard drive like other spreadsheet and database software. I don't have to deal with version control or 100 different files...and then figure out how to share …
Chose Airtable
So much better! It's not even a competition. That being said, it would be great to have more developed user profiles within Airtable like Facebook Workplace.
Chose Airtable
This tool has 100x the functionality/usability of Excel or Google Sheets, is much more flexible and user-friendly than Salesforce if you don't have the technical know-how on your team to customize (Salesforce does have far more advanced and intelligent CRM capabilities).
Chose Airtable
Airtable is in a class of their own making. I don't know of another product that compares to them. They look like a spreadsheet and act like a database. It's perfect.
Chose Airtable
SAIC is a gSuite campus and Airtable is a very good companion to the gSuite. The Airtable gDrive integration is quite good and Airtable solves problems that gSuite simply does not solve. Though it does not replace them, Airtable also plays well with our Project Management …
Google Drive
Chose Google Drive
I have not used any competitors because I have been using Google products for the longest time.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
AirtableGoogle Drive
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Airtable
8.0
221 Ratings
6% above category average
Google Drive
-
Ratings
Task Management8.3185 Ratings00 Ratings
Resource Management9.0181 Ratings00 Ratings
Gantt Charts7.881 Ratings00 Ratings
Scheduling9.2154 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow Automation8.4131 Ratings00 Ratings
Team Collaboration9.3204 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology8.6100 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology8.174 Ratings00 Ratings
Document Management8.9158 Ratings00 Ratings
Email integration6.8106 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Access3.5180 Ratings00 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking8.188 Ratings00 Ratings
Change request and Case Management8.196 Ratings00 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management8.3117 Ratings00 Ratings
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Airtable
-
Ratings
Google Drive
8.6
202 Ratings
2% above category average
Versioning00 Ratings8.3178 Ratings
Video files00 Ratings8.0171 Ratings
Audio files00 Ratings8.1165 Ratings
Document collaboration00 Ratings9.2199 Ratings
Access control00 Ratings8.9197 Ratings
File search00 Ratings8.9201 Ratings
Device sync00 Ratings9.0188 Ratings
Cloud Storage Security & Administration
Comparison of Cloud Storage Security & Administration features of Product A and Product B
Airtable
-
Ratings
Google Drive
8.3
196 Ratings
4% below category average
User and role management00 Ratings8.3185 Ratings
File organization00 Ratings7.9195 Ratings
Device management00 Ratings8.799 Ratings
Cloud Storage Platform
Comparison of Cloud Storage Platform features of Product A and Product B
Airtable
-
Ratings
Google Drive
8.7
196 Ratings
3% above category average
Performance00 Ratings8.7194 Ratings
Reliability00 Ratings9.1196 Ratings
Storage Reports00 Ratings8.587 Ratings
Best Alternatives
AirtableGoogle Drive
Small Businesses
FunctionFox
FunctionFox
Score 8.3 out of 10
SugarSync
SugarSync
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SAP Ruum
SAP Ruum
Score 9.0 out of 10
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Score 9.6 out of 10
Enterprises
Quickbase
Quickbase
Score 9.2 out of 10
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Druva Data Resiliency Cloud
Score 9.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
AirtableGoogle Drive
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(225 ratings)
8.8
(203 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(3 ratings)
9.9
(5 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(22 ratings)
8.7
(36 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(7 ratings)
Support Rating
8.2
(29 ratings)
7.7
(48 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(2 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(1 ratings)
6.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.0
(1 ratings)
5.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(1 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
AirtableGoogle Drive
Likelihood to Recommend
Airtable
Airtable is very well suited for a niche environment that finds other project tracking or collaborative tools to be limiting. The ability to build out a single pool of information to best suit each team member's visual or functional needs is amazing. While the setup time can be lengthy, depending on your particular needs, it is really worth it when it's finally ready.
Read full review
Google
It is possible to share files and folders with up to 200 email addresses, as well as with persons outside the company.Use the drop-down arrow to select who may see, comment on, or change the file or folder before sending out an invitation.I am very much impressed with this feature
Read full review
Pros
Airtable
  • I can create tables, create and customize fields
  • Airtable has capabilities commonly found in spreadsheet applications, but also has some of the features found in databases.
  • The ability to filter fields. I set up a filter on the status field, so when a project is marked, complete, on hold, or canceled, that record is hidden from my current projects table view. If it is marked complete, the record is moved to the completed projects table view. In this way I can easily access a record of past projects
  • Being able to duplicate tables and create alternate views
  • Collapse and expand records. When I collapse the rows, I can easily scan current projects, next steps, project status, and due dates. When I expand the row, or field, I can see more detailed information about that field or record very easily. I can also expand or open the entire record. This is is helpful, when I am entering a lot of information to multiple fields in that record.
Read full review
Google
  • Any user with access can store a file using different platforms like Android, IOS, Windows, or Ubuntu (Desktop version)
  • You can share files with any number of different users with different access rights or you can even keep it public by providing the access link and assign different rights for public access
  • You can open Excel/Word files using google software Sheets/Docs in the browser environment without having to install software like Microsoft Office etc on your Windows OS
Read full review
Cons
Airtable
  • While working on the Airtable I have noticed that it is not open to uploading of the files for large sizes, most of the time files are not uploaded or links may get broken.
  • In addition, they do not talk much about the time tracking tool and how we can calculate our hours, I still do it with just estimation and by the calendar.
Read full review
Google
  • Having a little bit more control and clarity over what is shared and how it is shared would be a useful improvement.
  • Could be more robust and flexible as far as assigning restrictions.
  • Google Sheets could be enhanced because Excel really is not there yet as a product with equal capabilities as there are still quite a few limitations to the functionality.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Airtable
We will 10/10 renew the use of Airtable because it has brought great value to our team. Not only is Airtable affordable, but it's also user-friendly and helps our team be efficient. We no longer need to rely on Excel spreadsheets being passed from person to person via email. Furthermore, we aren't dealing with corrupt Excel spreadsheets and the need to salvage data when a file is accidentally altered.
Read full review
Google
For its compatibility, easiness, quick responses, user interface, storage capacity, files management and file listings. These are some of the reasons for giving higher ratings and Google Drive has become an integral part of my professional life. We use this software on daily basis and most of the time saving lot of time.
Read full review
Usability
Airtable
Airtable has fantastic usability. I personally am fair when it comes to most technologies off the bat. I can understand a lot after being taught but most take me a little when I am teaching myself. Airtable was EXTREMELY easy to use off the bat. It was easy to understand or quickly figure out answers to my questions if i ever felt confused. Someone who has little technological experience could figure out Airtable quite easily.
Read full review
Google
It's easy enough to use for computer users of all ages and skill levels. I am an advanced user, and I think the hardest part might be showing someone how to download and set up the app on their device if they weren't too familiar with computers, but overall it is very easy to understand.
Read full review
Reliability and Availability
Airtable
I have rarely experience downtime, compared to other tools, and given how much time we spend on the tool. Even if there were to be, their updates on it are very timely, and our support team are able to provide any questions regarding
Read full review
Google
Always available
Read full review
Performance
Airtable
I never had any issues with load time, even with the integrations that we use today (google sheets) However, I'm curious if adding additional layers of integrations would slow down performance. We do carry quite a bit of data in Airtable, but, again, no impact on overall performance
Read full review
Google
The documents load fairly quickly and also update in real time, especially given the fact that multiple people can be using it at once. The "Offline" feature works great to allow the user to make edits and access the document without access to the internet, and then sync changes later once they're back.
Read full review
Support Rating
Airtable
I haven't contacted customer support yet, so I wouldn't be able to give a fair response. We also use the free version of the app. They do have document files, which we have looked at to answer key questions. Because it looks like there are a lot of people that use airtable, we've been able to find a lot of resources online.
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Google
It takes a few days for customer support to get back to you. Although, I have not had to use support too often. Once you get an email back, they are very thorough and work hard to fix the problem quickly. It is a really great resource and a great way to get the help you need if you're stuck. A phone call also works quickly but you have to call during specific times.
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In-Person Training
Airtable
This training was done in-house, but the Airtable team provided resources and how to guides to ensure that we covered all components of the system
Read full review
Google
The effective google workspace using training that my organization received and was conducted by me (as a team lead of the ICT team) was mind-blowing and as a result, our staff is performing well in terms of using the application for their daily jobs than before. Now, in my institution, all teachers and all the administrative personnel are very much interested in cloud storage facilities, in previous my institution was afraid of losing all important documents in the cloud storage. But, after having received the training they are now realized that if anyone has only one google account then he or she can use 15GB of cloud storage freely and they are now happy because now it is not necessary for anyone to carry the traditional pen drive.
Read full review
Online Training
Airtable
Recorded trainings were provided by the Airtable team. Great as an evergreen resources to new team members and for anyone that wants to refresh their Airtable knowledge
Read full review
Google
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Airtable
Training all users was an important part of the implementation, which did take considerable time and effort. At first glance without training, the content calendar can be overwhelming because of the amount of data. The features within Airtable seem to be endless but our team was able to identify the most important to be successful.
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Google
It's an extremely easy software to implement, once you sign up for a google account you automatically have access to google drive with a set amount of storage space. The business or Google Suite accounts have more storage space than a regular free account, but setting up and accessing google drive is very easy in both cases
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
Airtable
Airtable exceeds all competitors I’ve seen. The feature set is full and only growing. The UI is intuitive for non-tech employees. Any competitors that match Airtable are really operating in a different space. Airtable is the industry leader in this category. Period.
Read full review
Google
In short, Google Drive is better for independent users who store a normal amount of stuff. OneDrive makes more sense for businesses and teams that are doing heavy-duty storage or large-scale syncing. Realistically, though, most users will fall somewhere in between the two, where either platform would meet their needs.
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Scalability
Airtable
There are TONS of opportunity to scale, but I think it's a matter if you have the time and resources to do so because the initial setup can be fairly time consuming and prioritized dedication
Read full review
Google
I have always been able to access
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Return on Investment
Airtable
  • The performance of the platform has been key to generate revenue and compensate for the investment we made at the beginning.
  • Since the results were good, we proceeded to continue using the software, and in this way we obtained a large amount of profits, increasing our ROI to 5.
Read full review
Google
  • It has given our operation remote capabilities
  • Easier to access and understand client's need through collaborative enviroment
  • availability to digital resources fast and easy
  • saved our operation hundreds of dollars in physical storage (both investment and maintenance)
  • our operation became easier for new staff to get onboard: small learning curve to use it
Read full review
ScreenShots

Airtable Screenshots

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Google Drive Screenshots

Screenshot of Google Drive PriorityScreenshot of Comment on Microsoft Files in Google DriveScreenshot of Shared drives