Airtable vs. Microsoft Power BI

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
Microsoft Power BI
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Power BI is a visualization and data discovery tool from Microsoft. It allows users to convert data into visuals and graphics, visually explore and analyze data, collaborate on interactive dashboards and reports, and scale across their organization with built-in governance and security.
$10
per month per user
Pricing
AirtableMicrosoft Power BI
Editions & Modules
Plus
$10.00
per month (billed annually)
Pro
$20.00
per month (billed annually)
Enterprise
Contact Sales
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AirtableMicrosoft Power BI
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AirtableMicrosoft Power BI
Considered Both Products
Airtable
Chose Airtable
Intuitive, easy to use, fast, great for attachments (uploading in behind other processes - the app actually really works while it finishes uploads)
Microsoft Power BI

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
AirtableMicrosoft Power BI
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Airtable
8.0
221 Ratings
6% above category average
Microsoft Power BI
-
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
BI Standard Reporting
Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Airtable
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.3
138 Ratings
12% below category average
Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings6.5118 Ratings
Customizable dashboards00 Ratings8.0138 Ratings
Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings7.2126 Ratings
Ad-hoc Reporting
Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Airtable
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.0
139 Ratings
15% below category average
Drill-down analysis00 Ratings7.2138 Ratings
Formatting capabilities00 Ratings6.4137 Ratings
Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings7.5102 Ratings
Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings7.0134 Ratings
Report Output and Scheduling
Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Product A and Product B
Airtable
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.8
133 Ratings
7% below category average
Publish to Web00 Ratings8.2128 Ratings
Publish to PDF00 Ratings8.1121 Ratings
Report Versioning00 Ratings7.3101 Ratings
Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.6103 Ratings
Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings6.873 Ratings
Data Discovery and Visualization
Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Product A and Product B
Airtable
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.6
135 Ratings
6% below category average
Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings7.5130 Ratings
Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings7.8121 Ratings
Predictive Analytics00 Ratings7.4101 Ratings
Access Control and Security
Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Product A and Product B
Airtable
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.2
126 Ratings
5% below category average
Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings8.2120 Ratings
Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings8.8102 Ratings
Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings8.4110 Ratings
Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings8.694 Ratings
Mobile Capabilities
Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Product A and Product B
Airtable
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
7.9
117 Ratings
1% below category average
Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings8.0111 Ratings
Mobile Application00 Ratings7.493 Ratings
Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings7.4112 Ratings
Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Product A and Product B
Airtable
-
Ratings
Microsoft Power BI
8.4
80 Ratings
6% above category average
REST API00 Ratings8.172 Ratings
Javascript API00 Ratings9.656 Ratings
iFrames00 Ratings8.055 Ratings
Java API00 Ratings7.946 Ratings
Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings8.263 Ratings
Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings8.344 Ratings
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AirtableMicrosoft Power BI
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SAP Ruum
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User Ratings
AirtableMicrosoft Power BI
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(225 ratings)
8.0
(140 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(3 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(22 ratings)
9.0
(56 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.2
(29 ratings)
8.0
(52 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
AirtableMicrosoft Power BI
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
Microsoft
In operations we use the tool for many different topics, from factory quality systems to high level reviews. We have created kind of an internal "App Store" based on Power BI where you have a lot of different dashboards for different solutions (cost, cash, health and safety, sales, factories, distribution centers...) and you as an user just need to get in that "App Store" and enter in whatever tool can be useful for you. It is open to all the operations employees and can use on demand. Also it has raised the imagination of our colleagues, as they are not only working by themselves creating new reports, but also raising fantastic ideas that can be extended for the usage of all the community.
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
Microsoft
  • Quickly filter and view granular data sets with easily configurable reporting figures.
  • The ability to quickly switch between tabs allows for historical data comparisons and progress tracking.
  • It's helpful to dive into the data and break it down from high levels to small.
  • Achieve actionable insights faster by using real-time data. It's incredible to have online access to reports.
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
Microsoft
  • The desktop app is great but needs a lot of performance improvements
  • No MacOS Version for the Desktop app, this is a big limitation for business since executives prefer Macs
  • Premium Cloud Version of Power BI is awfully expensive
  • On-Premise Version of the Power BI Reports Server is bundled only with SQL Server Enterprise License and cannot be purchased separately and requires Software Assurance Subscription
  • On-Premise Power BI Report Server doesn't support ADFS, AzureAD or any Claims-Based authentication platform, a sad disadvantage for enterprises
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
Microsoft
I find it helpful and easy to use
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
Microsoft
At this point, I think we all know who has taken the lead in the business intelligence and analytics market worldwide. With fresh new updates every other day on top of an already robustly built product with all features that one can dream of is a no brainer, I feel. Microsoft will invariably be synonymous with quality and professionalism.
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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
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
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
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
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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Microsoft
I can't really speak to the support overall, [but] I will say that in the almost three years I have used the system, I have only needed to contact their support team once. I think the team was helpful, but it did take some time for us to resolve the issues/ request that they had. I guess the good news is that the system is pretty stable, and I personally have rarely needed to contact their technical support team.
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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
Microsoft
No answers on this topic
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
Microsoft
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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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
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.
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Microsoft
[Microsoft] Power BI is practical and effective, like a hammer for a nail, it is easy to use and produces very quickly the results that in most cases are urgently required by clients (nice reports to share on the web). To start using [Microsoft] Power BI you need a business email address, with that you create an account in Power BI Service and in less than 1 hour you will have installed Power BI Desktop, a report will have been created and it will have been published on the web .
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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
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
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.
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Microsoft
  • It helps us track and achieve company goals.
  • It shows us [our] performance in areas we could not previously track and allows us to see and work on how to improve their performance.
  • Quick easy access for executives to use in helping teams and addressing issues.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Airtable Screenshots

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Microsoft Power BI Screenshots

Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Turns insights into impact for business usersScreenshot of Power BI integrates easily with Microsoft 365Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - AI-Powered CapabilitiesScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Copilot can be used to create reportsScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Data HubScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Scales as organizational needs grow