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Airtable vs Coda: What are the differences?
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1. **Pricing**: Airtable offers a free tier with limited features, while Coda has a free plan with full functionality for up to 3 users.
2. **Database capabilities**: Airtable is more focused on database management, allowing users to create relational databases easily. In contrast, Coda combines the features of a spreadsheet and document editor with database capabilities, offering a more versatile platform.
3. **Automation**: Coda provides more robust automation features, allowing users to create customized automations using buttons, packs, and events. Airtable also offers automation features but may not be as advanced as Coda's capabilities.
4. **Document creation**: Coda specializes in creating interactive documents with tables, text, and interactive elements, while Airtable is more geared towards organizing and managing data in a structured format.
5. **Collaboration**: While both platforms offer collaboration features, Coda has chat and comment capabilities integrated within the documents, allowing for real-time collaboration. Airtable, on the other hand, relies more on integration with external communication tools for collaboration.
6. **Integrations**: Airtable has a wide range of integrations with other tools and services, making it easy to connect with external applications. Coda also offers integrations but may not have as extensive options as Airtable.
In Summary, Airtable and Coda differ in pricing, database capabilities, automation, document creation, collaboration features, and integrations with external tools.
I'm trying to set up an ideally "no- code" way to have a backend of 3 different tables and be able to find a value in table #3 (contains businesses & cities) by first finding a record in table #1 (7,000+ zip codes) that corresponds to a city (table #2 has the unique cities), and then finding which businesses are located in these cities ( in this specific, original zipcode lookup). And return the business and a description via an API to a front-end results page, which happens to be a WordPress page - but doesn't need to be. I've tried Airtable's API, AirPress (a finicky WordPress plugin for Airtable's API), and I've looked at Sheetsu and a similar spreadsheet as backend and a simple API. I run into the issue where they work fine when you just need to query 1 table, but when you need to use the result from that query in another query to a different table. I'm back in SQL land - where sure it could be done with SQLite - needing to probably create an intersection table or a JOIN and build an API off of that. Is there a way to accomplish what I want without going back to SQL queries and some API?
You're right that there isn't a great way to join tables with Airtable's API. The closest you can get is to use a linked record field, which acts as a pointer to another record. You still end up with the problem you mentioned of having to run another query on the second table separately.
Your best bet is to stick with an actual SQL database. Using an ORM should make your life significantly easier so you don't actually have to write raw SQL. If you still want a graphical interface to your data, BaseDash lets you view and edit SQL databases just like Airtable. A full API with join support is coming soon, so that could be your perfect solution to this problem.
Let me introduce you to integromat. It connects these services without you having to work any code. And it even has a decent database built inside it.
It makes is an easy process to develop multistep workflows with multiple services and it’s free tier is surprisingly functional.
Pros of Airtable
- Powerful and easy to use19
- Robust and dynamic8
- Quick UI Layer6
- Practical built in views4
- Robust API documentation3
- Great flexibility0
Pros of Coda
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