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Goddamn it's hard to build stuff with Airtable. I tried building a spreadsheet like thing with a couple of other web services for things like images and locatio

Goddamn it's hard to build stuff with Airtable. I tried building a spreadsheet like thing with a couple of other web services for things like images and locations along with user access controls and it was such a pain. Ended up push it out to a custom service in a Droplet which did most of the work.

latchkey 6y ago
Their API is impossible for even a simple CRUD app, maybe this is their solution to that problem? It would be nice.
- topher200 6y ago
  I've found their API to be the best part of the product, especially for hobby apps. I was very impressed at the work put into the suite of API docs.
  - latchkey 6y ago
    That's great, but if you need something like oh... a transaction or more than 5 RPS... nope.
ubermonkey 6y ago
I had a thing that was outgrowing Excel, and a bunch of people said "Airtable! Airtable! Airtable!" and holy cow do I ever now downgrade any technical rec those people give me. Maybe I do not understand Airtable, but given its limitations I'm 100% not sure why it exists in a world that includes Google Sheets.
- KorfmannArno 6y ago
  In contrast to Google Sheets, Airtable has an actual API. I'm not sayin Airtable is a silver bullet though.
  - fmakunbound 6y ago
    I thought google sheets had two apis: one hosted (gscript) and the other web services.
    - ghego1 6y ago
      Confirmed, Google Sheets does have an API and it works very well, see https://developers.google.com/sheets/api https://developers.google.com/sheets/api
    - LukaszWiktor 6y ago
      Google Sheets API is a nightmare compared to Airtable API. There are external services like Sheetsu or Sheety to make Google Sheets API usable.
      - KorfmannArno 6y ago
        I remember seeing an external tool from the Ruby world on hacker news not too long ago, can't remember it's name though. If the tool actually makes it easier to access the api, I would prefer Google sheets over airtable.
- kroltan 6y ago
  The good thing about Airtable for me is how it is very convenient to set up connected data and navigate that. At the company I work for we use it to encode the scripts (as in screenwriting) of interactive fiction, which allows us to have a nice schema to define information about characters, dialogues and other game elements. I also use it as the backing database for my personal website, sort of as a CMS. I'm also making an e-commerce site for my dad that will use it to store product, client and order information. Wintergatan (of Marble Machine fame) has a team of people collaborating on making a digital CAD version of their physical machine, and they use Airtable for task management and as a structured wiki. I do wish that Airtable supported some other things, but it does fill a good niche where you need a more organized and connected spreadsheet with a convenient way of visualizing data beyond charting. Google Sheets works fine, but there is no alternative for Airtable's record links, which is how one expresses relations between tables. You can get data from other tables, yes, but more often than not range syntax breaks, or someone puts the wrong data type somewhere and it's tricky to debug. For me, the main selling point of Airtable is record links and typed columns. I don't think Airtable will be replacing general purpose spreadsheets anytime soon, nor can it handle very math-y sheets well either.
  - faitswulff 6y ago
    > very convenient to set up connected data Does this include random public JSON endpoints? I might have to take a look at it for a project I just started.
    - kroltan 6y ago
      I meant data that has references to other parts of itself, not connection as in internet.
  - chenster 6y ago
    My kids love Wintergatan. Didn't know about their using AirTable. :)
    - kroltan 6y ago
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
simonswords82 6y ago
Thank goodness I bumped in to this comment. I run a software company and we use a spreadsheet for a CRM and I thought I'd try AirTable as an upgrade without taking the big step towards SalesForce. I just could not make it work with AirTable. I was seriously starting to doubt my IT abilities!
antman 6y ago
I have been using Seatable which is open source and I think easier to extend.
- chenster 6y ago
  How do you like it? Seatable looks so much like AirTable (from screenshot, didn't try it yet).

latchkey 6y ago

Their API is impossible for even a simple CRUD app, maybe this is their solution to that problem? It would be nice.

topher200 6y ago
I've found their API to be the best part of the product, especially for hobby apps. I was very impressed at the work put into the suite of API docs.
- latchkey 6y ago
  That's great, but if you need something like oh... a transaction or more than 5 RPS... nope.

ubermonkey 6y ago

I had a thing that was outgrowing Excel, and a bunch of people said "Airtable! Airtable! Airtable!" and holy cow do I ever now downgrade any technical rec those people give me. Maybe I do not understand Airtable, but given its limitations I'm 100% not sure why it exists in a world that includes Google Sheets.

KorfmannArno 6y ago
In contrast to Google Sheets, Airtable has an actual API. I'm not sayin Airtable is a silver bullet though.
- fmakunbound 6y ago
  I thought google sheets had two apis: one hosted (gscript) and the other web services.
  - ghego1 6y ago
    Confirmed, Google Sheets does have an API and it works very well, see https://developers.google.com/sheets/api https://developers.google.com/sheets/api
  - LukaszWiktor 6y ago
    Google Sheets API is a nightmare compared to Airtable API. There are external services like Sheetsu or Sheety to make Google Sheets API usable.
    - KorfmannArno 6y ago
      I remember seeing an external tool from the Ruby world on hacker news not too long ago, can't remember it's name though. If the tool actually makes it easier to access the api, I would prefer Google sheets over airtable.
kroltan 6y ago
The good thing about Airtable for me is how it is very convenient to set up connected data and navigate that. At the company I work for we use it to encode the scripts (as in screenwriting) of interactive fiction, which allows us to have a nice schema to define information about characters, dialogues and other game elements. I also use it as the backing database for my personal website, sort of as a CMS. I'm also making an e-commerce site for my dad that will use it to store product, client and order information. Wintergatan (of Marble Machine fame) has a team of people collaborating on making a digital CAD version of their physical machine, and they use Airtable for task management and as a structured wiki. I do wish that Airtable supported some other things, but it does fill a good niche where you need a more organized and connected spreadsheet with a convenient way of visualizing data beyond charting. Google Sheets works fine, but there is no alternative for Airtable's record links, which is how one expresses relations between tables. You can get data from other tables, yes, but more often than not range syntax breaks, or someone puts the wrong data type somewhere and it's tricky to debug. For me, the main selling point of Airtable is record links and typed columns. I don't think Airtable will be replacing general purpose spreadsheets anytime soon, nor can it handle very math-y sheets well either.
- faitswulff 6y ago
  > very convenient to set up connected data Does this include random public JSON endpoints? I might have to take a look at it for a project I just started.
  - kroltan 6y ago
    I meant data that has references to other parts of itself, not connection as in internet.
- chenster 6y ago
  My kids love Wintergatan. Didn't know about their using AirTable. :)
  - kroltan 6y ago
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

simonswords82 6y ago

Thank goodness I bumped in to this comment. I run a software company and we use a spreadsheet for a CRM and I thought I'd try AirTable as an upgrade without taking the big step towards SalesForce. I just could not make it work with AirTable. I was seriously starting to doubt my IT abilities!

antman 6y ago

I have been using Seatable which is open source and I think easier to extend.

chenster 6y ago
How do you like it? Seatable looks so much like AirTable (from screenshot, didn't try it yet).