Airtable vs ClickUp
Airtable and ClickUp side by side: what each one is, what it costs to start, and whether you can try it free. Everything below comes from the vendors' own sites and other public sources, not from hands-on testing.
At a glance
| Airtable | ClickUp | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Business & Ops | Business & Ops |
| Starting price | $20/mo (checked October 2026) | Free; paid plans from $7/mo |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Profile | Read profile | Read profile |
Prices are in US dollars unless shown otherwise. Confirm the current price on the vendor's site before you buy.
Key differences
Both list a free tier, so you can try each before paying.
ClickUp has the lower starting price ($7/mo against $20/mo for Airtable). The cheapest plan rarely has the same limits or features, so compare plans before choosing on price.
Both are in our Business & Ops category.
About each tool
Airtable
No-code database and app builder with views, interfaces, automations and AI (Omni, field agents). Free plan; paid plans are per seat, from $20 a month billed annually.
Who it is for
Individuals and teams that track structured data and build workflows or internal apps without writing code. Airtable sells Free, Team, Business and Enterprise Scale plans.
Strengths
- A free plan with up to 5 editors and 1,000 records per base
- Paid plans raise limits to 50,000 records per base on Team and 125,000 on Business (self-serve)
- Paid plans include AI credits: 15,000 per user on Team and 20,000 on self-serve Business
- One year of revision history on Team and Business, two weeks on Free
Limitations
- Paid plans are charged per seat, for each user with edit access to at least one base
- Free caps: 5 editors, 1,000 records per base, 1 GB of attachments per base and 500 pooled AI credits
- At the record or attachment limit you can keep working but cannot add more until you upgrade
- AI features use credits, and extra credit packs are sold separately and are not available on Free
- Enterprise Scale pricing is custom and not listed
ClickUp
Work management platform for tasks, docs and chat, with a free plan and per-user paid tiers from $7 a month billed yearly. The Brain AI assistant is a separate per-user add-on.
Who it is for
Teams that manage projects and tasks in one workspace, from individuals on the free plan to larger organisations on Enterprise.
Strengths
- A Free Forever plan with no credit card and unlimited members
- The free plan includes 5 Spaces, 3 Whiteboards, 5 active automation rules and 500 AI credits per Workspace
- Monthly and annual billing are both offered
- The Brain AI add-on lists unlimited fair-use Brain with standard models, AI writing and web search
- Enterprise adds SSO, custom branding and unlimited custom roles
Limitations
- Free caps: 60 MB of storage, 40 Lists per Space, 1 Form, 1 Wiki, 100 API calls a minute and 1 day of activity history
- Paid plans are priced per user, and upgrading applies to the whole Workspace
- Brain AI is a separate per-user add-on ($9 per user a month on the pricing page), not included in plan prices
- Brain excludes AI Notetaker and AI Time-Blocking, and premium-model use has daily, weekly and monthly limits
- The pricing page shows two different plan line-ups with different prices, so what you pay depends on which applies to your Workspace
