Notion, similar to Evernote, works as a second digital brain for you. Airtable’s approach is slightly different. It allows you to create a custom database of information based on your preferences. It’s identical to Google Sheets but way more flexible and easier to use. Let’s talk about them in detail.
Cross-Platform Availability
Notion is available on iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, and Web. However, Notion mobile apps are a major letdown. They are simply web-wrapper and not native. There are performance issues, and you will have a hard time completing simple tasks on the go. Airtable is accessible on Android, iOS, and Web. Airtable mobile apps are better than Notion. Visit Notion Visit Airtable
User Interface
Both the Notion and Airtable allow you to create a Workspace at the start. However, the overall approach couldn’t have been different. Let’s start with Notion. On Notion, you can create a workspace and start adding pages and sub-pages to it. All the options are on the left sidebar. By default, Notion creates a blank white page. It’s all up to you to create a personalized Notion page from scratch. Airtable allows you to create multiple workspaces from the left side. Create a base (similar to pages in Notion) and add information. Unlike Notion, Airtable offers rows and columns to create a page. It’s identical to Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. The software is suitable for handling project management and creating a custom database. You shouldn’t opt for Airtable as a note-taking tool.
Templates
Templates play a major role in any modular software. You can create a page from scratch in Notion and Airtable, but most users prefer a template to get started. Notion’s template gallery is full of hidden gems. The company does offer a few templates to use in the software. But the real jackpot is with the Notion’s community-made templates. The company has a passionate community that translates into ready-to-go templates for each use case. One can select a Notion template for Project Management, Wikipedia, habit tracker, finance tracker, and more. Airtable isn’t behind either. Select Start a base, and you can create one using built-in templates. There are hundreds of templates to choose from, such as Content Calendar, Project Tracker, Bug Tracker, User Research, Noval Planning, Art Gallery Management, and more.
Features
Here is where things get interesting. Notion is more versatile with many features such as text formatting, color background, integration with Google apps, Figma, InVision, and more. You can also create a custom template in Notion to reuse the same data again. Although not supported by the company, you can add custom third-party widgets such as Weather, Progress bar, Clock, etc., to a Notion page. In short, users have all the tools to create an eye-catching Notion page with emojis, widgets, banners, and more. As for Airtable, it allows you to create unlimited columns with several types. For example, you can add single line text, checkbox, Collaborator, date and time, and more. One can also color-code a category for better visualization. Airtable’s killer feature is automation. You can create custom automation rules such as Send a weekly digest, Post to Twitter, Send a Slack Messages, Create a new record in Google Calendar, and more. Airtable’s third-party apps integration is also richer than Notion. The software plays perfectly fine with dozens of third-party apps such as Jira, Miro, Pexels, AirFlow, and more.
Project Management
Notion and Airtable are getting popular among small teams and startups due to their robust project management capabilities. You can import a project management template to the software and add relevant tasks, comments, and details. One can also invite other users and give them admin access to handle project tasks. As for features, Notion allows you to add comments, date, time, assign a user, and view the whole database in multiple views, including Timeline, Calendar, Lists, Kanban board, and more. Project management is flawless on Airtable as well. It edges out Notion with the automation feature. You can create a rule like, if a user change status from ongoing to complete in Airtable, the system sends a message in a specific Slack channel.
Price
Notion is free for personal use with unlimited blocks. When it comes to project management, you can invite up to 5 members. After that, be prepared to pay $5 per member per month. Airtable paid plans cost $10 per seat per month. It allows you to integrate more records and 5GB of attachment per base.
Create a Digital Brain
You can’t go wrong with Notion or Airtable. Notion is better at note-taking, has richer templates, and free of cost. Airtable has automation and excellent third-party apps support. Most GT team members slide with Notion. What about you? Sound off in the comments below. Next up: Looking to finalize your choice on Notion? Read the post below to learn about the top eleven Notion tips and tricks to get started. The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
