Airtable Pro costs $20/user/month. SmartSuite Team is $10/user/month — exactly half the price for a comparable feature set. But Airtable's linked records, automations, and Interface Designer pages must all be rebuilt in SmartSuite's different data model.
Airtable's pricing has become harder to justify as teams scale. Airtable Pro at $20/user is expensive for work management, and Airtable's per-record automations and API rate limits create friction for automation-heavy teams. SmartSuite includes unlimited automations, more field types, and built-in reports at half the per-seat price.
SmartSuite uses a "Solutions" and "Apps" hierarchy similar to Airtable's Bases and Tables. Linked records work similarly but have different configuration. Airtable scripts and complex API integrations may need rebuilding. For teams with straightforward use cases, migration is moderate; for automation-heavy Airtable power users, it's a significant rebuild.
For a 10-person team on Airtable Pro with moderate automation usage. Adjust for your base count and automation complexity.
| Input | Suggested Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Current monthly cost (Airtable) | $200 | Pro plan, 10 users |
| New monthly cost (SmartSuite) | $100 | Team plan, 10 users |
| Contract months remaining | 4 | Airtable annual mid-point |
| Migration hours | 32 | Structure + data + automations + interfaces |
| Staff hourly rate | $60 | Ops admin or no-code developer |
| Retraining hours / person | 4 | SmartSuite orientation |
| Staff needing training | 10 | All active Airtable users |
| Downtime hours (total) | 20 | Reduced productivity during 2-week ramp |
| Downtime cost / hour | $50 | |
| Risk buffer | 10% | Automation and interface rebuild scope risk |
Pre-filled with values above. Adjust for your actual Airtable usage and rebuild complexity.
Open Calculator with These ValuesAll values are editable. Results are estimates only.
For most Airtable use cases, yes. SmartSuite covers relational data management, multiple view types (grid, kanban, calendar, gallery, map), automations, and forms. It has more built-in fields than Airtable and stronger native reporting. Airtable has the edge in the developer ecosystem (more integrations, better API documentation) and Interface Designer polish. For power users with complex scripting, Airtable remains stronger.
Export Airtable tables as CSV (one per table). Create the matching app/table structure in SmartSuite first, defining all field types before importing. Import CSVs to their corresponding SmartSuite apps. Linked records must be rebuilt manually by selecting matching records after import. Attachments can be bulk-exported from Airtable and re-uploaded to SmartSuite via its import tool.
Plan the migration at the start of a new quarter or after completing a major project milestone. Avoid migrating mid-project when data is actively changing across linked tables. A 2–3 week migration window with a clear freeze date (no new Airtable records during final data migration) produces the cleanest results. Pilot one base/solution before migrating the full workspace.