Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!
Airtable vs SharePoint: What are the differences?
Developers describe Airtable as "Real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid *". Working with Airtable is as fast and easy as editing a spreadsheet. But only Airtable is backed by the power of a full database, giving you rich features far beyond what a spreadsheet can offer. On the other hand, *SharePoint** is detailed as "Content collaboration for the modern workplace". It empowers teamwork with dynamic and productive team sites for every project team, department, and division. Share and manage content, knowledge, and applications to empower teamwork, quickly find information, and seamlessly collaborate across the organization.
Airtable belongs to "Spreadsheets as a Backend" category of the tech stack, while SharePoint can be primarily classified under "File Storage".
Some of the features offered by Airtable are:
- Attachments
- Link Tables
- Fully mobile
On the other hand, SharePoint provides the following key features:
- Authentication
- Business Intelligence
- Web Content Management
According to the StackShare community, Airtable has a broader approval, being mentioned in 57 company stacks & 108 developers stacks; compared to SharePoint, which is listed in 19 company stacks and 20 developer stacks.
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?
BaseDashYou'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.
IntegromatLet 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 Layer5
- Practical built in views4
- Robust API documentation3
- Great flexibility0
Pros of Microsoft SharePoint
- Great online support2
- Perfect version control1
- Stable Platform1
- Seamless intergration with MS Office1
- Secure1
Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions
Cons of Airtable
Cons of Microsoft SharePoint
- Rigid, hard to add external applicaions2
- User interface. Steep learning curve, old-fashioned1
Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions
What is Airtable?
What is Microsoft SharePoint?
Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!
What companies use Airtable?
What companies use Microsoft SharePoint?
Sign up to get full access to all the companiesMake informed product decisions
What tools integrate with Airtable?
What tools integrate with Microsoft SharePoint?
Sign up to get full access to all the tool integrationsMake informed product decisions
Blog Posts
+17