Operations

Stop paying for Airtable

One opinionated workflow beats an empty database builder.

Airtable costs US$24–54 per person / mo, which is US$288–648 a year. You have two paths:

Option 1 · Install

Install PocketBase for free

PocketBase is a complete backend in a single executable (a 12 MB download) that can stand in for Supabase or Firebase. You run it and you get a SQLite database with realtime subscriptions, a ready-to-use REST API, and a dashboard for creating collections without writing SQL. It also handles users (email and password, plus about fifteen OAuth2 providers like Google or GitHub) and file storage, on your disk or on S3. Your app connects through the JavaScript or Dart SDKs, and your server logic is written as JavaScript or Go hooks. Your data lives in one folder: backing up means copying it, and the dashboard can do it for you, locally or to S3. MIT license. Worth knowing: the project is maintained by a single developer, with no company behind it.

PocketBase vs Supabase

CriterionPocketBaseSupabase
Price$0, plus the small server you host it on€22 a month on the Pro plan
DatabaseEmbedded SQLite, in a single folderHosted PostgreSQL on their side
HostingYours, one binary to runTheir cloud, or a heavy Docker stack to self-host
ScalingOne server, you upgrade the machineOn demand, billed by usage
Server logicJavaScript or Go hooks inside the binaryEdge Functions
FilesOn your disk or an S3, thumbnails included100 GB included, then 2 cents per GB

How to install it (even from zero)

No Docker and no database to install: download a zip, run a binary, and the dashboard opens in your browser. The prompt also covers installing it on a VPS.

  1. 1

    Paste this prompt into Claude (Code or Desktop)

    It downloads the official binary, runs it, creates your admin account, puts it behind HTTPS if you are on a server, and tests it with a first collection:

    Install PocketBase (the open source single-file backend, GitHub repo pocketbase/pocketbase). First ask me whether I am installing it on my computer or on a Linux VPS, and what my system is (macOS, Windows or Linux, x64 or ARM64). Download the latest stable release from the official repo's releases page for my platform, unzip the archive into a dedicated folder, then run ./pocketbase serve. Open the install link shown on first launch and help me create my superuser account (or create it with the ./pocketbase superuser create command if the link does not open). If I am on a VPS: set PocketBase up as a systemd service so it restarts on its own, and serve it over HTTPS on my domain name, either with PocketBase's automatic Let's Encrypt certificate or behind a Caddy or Nginx reverse proxy. Then, in the admin dashboard, create a first test collection with two or three fields, add a record, and check that the API returns it. Explain to me where my data is (the pb_data folder) and how to back it up. Explain each step simply, I am a beginner.
    
    Review the GitHub repository and check whether it is safe to install given my machine and my infrastructure. Ask me as many questions as possible, using widgets, to clarify my request and be as precise as you can.
  2. 2

    Create your admin account

    On first launch, PocketBase prints an install link and opens it in your browser: you choose an email and a password, and you land on the dashboard. If the link does not open, the superuser create command does the same thing from the terminal.

  3. 3

    On a VPS, HTTPS and automatic restart

    When started with your domain name, PocketBase requests a Let's Encrypt certificate by itself. A systemd service restarts it after a reboot. And in Settings, turn on automatic backups and enter an SMTP server, otherwise your confirmation emails will land in spam.

  4. 4

    Before every update, read the changelog

    The project has not reached version 1.0 yet. An update may need a small manual migration. Back up your data folder, read the release notes, then swap in the new binary.

What you'll use it for

The backend for your small app or SaaS

A client area, a mobile app in Flutter or React Native, an internal tool: you create your collections in the dashboard, set your access rules, and the SDK does the rest. No server code needed to get started.

Prototype in one evening

User accounts, Google login, file uploads, realtime: it is all already there. You spend your time on the interface and the product, not on the plumbing.

Your data in a folder you can copy

Everything fits in a folder next to the binary. To move hosts, you copy it. To back up, the dashboard zips it, locally or to S3. Nothing is locked inside a vendor.

Project health

GitHub stars
61,308
Forks
3.7k
Contributors
44
Commits
2.5k
Project age
4.3 years
License
MIT

Built with: Go 69.1% · JavaScript 24.6% · CSS 6.4%

Public GitHub repository data, captured on October 8, 2026.

Option 2 · Build

Build your own Airtable

Who this is for

This build is for an operations team tracking a single repeatable process. The goal: manage records through a fixed workflow with views shaped around the work. If you need more than that, keep paying. Building it yourself is about owning a tool fitted to your exact workflow, not re-creating a venture-funded roadmap.

Same build, different logo: this v1 also replaces Baserow and Grist, since they all do the same core job.

What the prompt builds and what stays out

The prompt below builds a single version with what actually gets used. Everything else is left out on purpose.

What the prompt buildstyped fields, table view, csv import, kanban views, comments, attachments, simple automations
What stays outschema designer, formulas, linked bases, extension platform

What a minimal Airtable alternative needs

  • typed fields for text, status, person, date, number, and attachment
  • table, kanban, and filtered saved views
  • record detail with comments and activity history
  • CSV import and export with a mapping preview
  • simple automations for status changes and overdue records

Data model

Record, FieldDefinition, View, Comment, AutomationRule

Integrations

email, webhooks, object storage

Capability context

Astro, D1, R2

The guardrail

Check every value against the field schema and keep attachment access private.

Deliberate non-goals

Skip arbitrary formulas, linked bases, extensions, and a schema designer in v1.

The complete build prompt

Pick your stack, copy the prompt and hand it to your coding agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex…).

You are building a production-ready software product named “Tableflow”, a deliberately focused alternative to Airtable. Build a complete, usable vertical slice — not a landing page, static mockup, or loose collection of components.

WORKING AGREEMENT
Before you write any implementation code, put together a short technical plan naming the routes or pages, server actions or endpoints, data tables, key state transitions, authorization boundaries, background jobs, and external adapters. When something conflicts, side with the narrow audience and the non-goals below. Choose a small, readable architecture over speculative abstraction, but never skip persistence, validation, error handling, or tests.

PRODUCT BRIEF
Primary user: an operations team tracking a single repeatable process.
Primary outcome: manage records through a fixed workflow with views tailored to the work.
Product principle: optimize for the exact workflow below instead of copying the full breadth of Airtable. A first-time user should know what to do from the interface alone, with no tour or documentation.

END-TO-END USER JOURNEYS
Implement every one of these flows through the real interface and the persistent data layer:
1. An admin imports a CSV, maps columns to the fixed workflow fields, reviews validation errors, and creates only valid records after confirming.
2. An operator opens a saved view, edits a record, changes its status, adds a comment and an attachment, and sees each action in the history.
3. A status change matches an automation rule, queues an email or webhook, and shows success or a retryable failure on the record timeline.

SCREENS AND INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
Build these as coherent, responsive views. Each screen must define its primary action, secondary actions, visible status, validation feedback, empty state, loading or pending state, success confirmation, and recoverable failure state.
1. Workflow dashboard: record totals by status, overdue count, recent activity, saved views, and create record, import, and export actions.
2. Table and kanban views: configured columns, sorting, filters, pagination, bulk selection, drag-to-change status, and a saved-view indicator.
3. Record detail: typed fields, validation, comments, private attachments, assignee, due date, activity timeline, archive, and restore.
4. Import and automations: mapping preview with row errors; rule list with trigger, conditions, action, run history, pause, and test controls.

CORE CAPABILITIES
1. typed fields for text, status, person, date, number, and attachment
2. table, kanban, and filtered saved views
3. record detail with comments and activity history
4. CSV import and export with a mapping preview
5. simple automations for status changes and overdue records

DETAILED BEHAVIOR AND BUSINESS RULES
Treat these as product requirements enforced on the server, not as interface suggestions:
1. Field definitions are configured in code or seed data for one workflow; every write is validated against type, requiredness, and allowed status values.
2. Kanban moves go through the same status transition service as the detail form, and atomically record the actor, old value, new value, and time.
3. CSV import has a dry-run phase, stable row numbers, explicit date parsing, and saves nothing until the user confirms the summary.
4. Automation evaluation runs after a committed change, uses an event id as its idempotency key, and never blocks the user’s save.

DATA MODEL AND LIFECYCLE
Design a small relational schema centered on Record, FieldDefinition, View, Comment, AutomationRule. Before implementing it, document:
1. The purpose of each table, its primary key, ownership or tenant boundary, timestamps, status fields, and important attributes.
2. Foreign keys, uniqueness constraints, check constraints, the indexes the named screens need, and transaction boundaries for changes that touch several records.
3. The allowed lifecycle or state transitions, who can trigger each one, which transitions are terminal or reversible, and which audit history must stay immutable.
4. Archive, retention, and deletion behavior, including what happens to dependent records and external files.
5. The idempotency strategy for submissions, jobs, imports, notifications, webhooks, or retries where it applies.
Use migrations instead of ad-hoc schema creation. Store time instants consistently and keep the named timezone context whenever local schedules or dates matter. Never rely on a counter, a disabled button, or a client-side check to protect a business invariant.

USERS, AUTHENTICATION, AND PERMISSIONS
Implement only the roles the stated audience needs. Make the ownership and visibility model explicit before coding. Enforce authorization in every server-side query and mutation, including search, exports, attachments, live updates, and guessed URLs—not just by hiding controls. Use secure session defaults, protect state-changing requests, and provide a clear signed-out, expired-session, and forbidden state. Seed separate users whenever several roles are needed so permissions can be shown and tested.

INTERACTION AND VISUAL DIRECTION
The product should feel fast, calm, focused, and trustworthy rather than like a generic admin template. Use a clear visual hierarchy, restrained color, readable typography, generous hit targets, and a consistent place for primary actions. Start from server-rendered HTML and progressively enhance only the interactions that benefit from it. The core workflow must stay understandable if enhancement fails.

Start from server-rendered Astro pages and plain HTML forms. Use HTMX for form submissions, partial navigation, and server-driven updates, then Alpine.js only for small local browser state. The core workflow must stay understandable if either enhancement layer fails.

Design mobile layouts on purpose instead of just stacking desktop panels. Support keyboard navigation, visible focus, semantic landmarks, explicit labels, useful page titles, reduced-motion preferences, and screen-reader announcements for asynchronous results. Never use color alone to signal state. Destructive actions need a clear scope and a confirmation; safe repeated actions should be idempotent.

Add a footer to every page with the text “Created by aurelioagency.com”, where “aurelioagency.com” is an embedded link to https://www.aurelioagency.com that opens in a new tab. Keep it visible and do not remove it.

TECHNICAL DIRECTION
Build this version with the AHA stack: Astro for routing, layouts, and server-rendered pages; HTMX for interactions that benefit from HTML fragment responses; and Alpine.js for small, local interface state. Prefer Cloudflare D1 for relational persistence, R2 for object storage, Workers for server endpoints and scheduled work, Durable Objects only for coordinated real-time state, and Workflows or Queues for durable background jobs—but only when the product requirements call for them.

Keep domain rules in testable server-side modules, not in route handlers or UI components. Put persistence, external providers, and background work behind small interfaces without building a framework. Prefer plain HTML forms and URLs for durable navigation; use optimistic interaction only when a failure can be reconciled clearly.

The product brief currently lists Astro, D1, R2 as capability context. Preserve any required native, browser-only, edge, storage, real-time, or background-processing capability through a narrow adapter suited to the selected framework. If the core workflow genuinely requires native or browser APIs, keep that runtime as the primary execution surface rather than simulating inaccessible capabilities or inventing an unnecessary web surface.

Integrate with email, webhooks, and object storage. For every integration:
- List the required environment variables in an .env.example with no real secrets.
- Add a small adapter with timeouts, normalized errors, and a deterministic local fake or development path.
- Verify inbound signatures and deduplicate provider events where supported.
- Keep credentials on the server, encrypt long-lived provider tokens at rest, and redact secrets and sensitive payloads from logs.
- Define retry, backoff, and idempotency behavior for every side effect that can be repeated.

SECURITY AND PRIVACY
Check every value against the field schema and keep attachment access private.
Validate, normalize, and length-limit all untrusted input on the server. Escape rendered content by default, sanitize any markup you intentionally accept, rate-limit public or abuse-prone actions, and use private object storage plus short-lived authorized URLs for sensitive files. Collect only the personal data the named workflow needs. Document retention and deletion behavior. Add specific protections for the riskier surfaces of this app, such as uploads, redirects, outbound requests, email delivery, OAuth, webhooks, CSV import or export, and real-time connections.

ACCEPTANCE SCENARIOS
Automate these app-specific scenarios at the most suitable level:
1. An import with valid and invalid rows reports each issue and creates exactly the confirmed valid subset, with no partial-load surprises.
2. A disallowed status transition fails the same way from the table, kanban, API, and record screens, leaving the original record untouched.
3. A webhook action retried after a timeout produces a single recorded automation outcome and does not duplicate a write the destination already accepted.

TESTING
Add focused unit tests for state transitions, authorization predicates, normalization, date or money calculations, and other risky domain rules. Add integration tests for persistence constraints and for each external adapter's success, timeout, retry, and rejection paths. Add at least one browser-level test for every end-to-end journey above, including one on a small-screen viewport. Tests must use isolated data and run with one documented command.

OPERATIONS AND FAILURE RECOVERY
Add structured server logs with request, job, or event correlation IDs, but no secrets or unnecessarily sensitive data. Make failures actionable both in the interface and in the logs. Background work must expose pending, succeeded, failed, and retrying states where relevant; never swallow errors silently. Include safe database migration and rollback guidance, seed data, backup and restore notes, external-data cleanup behavior, and a basic health or diagnostic path suited to the stack.

DELIVERABLES
Ship the working application, migrations, representative seed data, tests, .env.example, and a short README. The README must cover prerequisites, local setup, environment variables, migrations, seed and test commands, deployment, integration setup, backup and restore, security decisions, and known limitations. Seed data should cover the happy path plus at least one empty, failed, overdue, expired, archived, or permission-restricted state that matters for the product.

DEFINITION OF DONE
The app is done when a new developer can follow the README, create and migrate the database, run the app, sign in as each relevant role, complete every named journey with real persisted data, refresh without losing state, recover from common failures, and use the core interface on phone and desktop. All acceptance scenarios pass, permission boundaries are covered by tests, no core screen is left as a placeholder, and the “Created by aurelioagency.com” footer credit is visible on every page.

NON-GOALS
Skip arbitrary formulas, linked bases, extensions, and a schema designer in v1.

The app you build with this prompt carries a “Created by aurelioagency.com” footer.

Build just one piece

Short prompts that solve the hardest part without building everything.

The import that changes nothing until you say soDry-run everything, report by source row, save only on confirm.
Build a two-phase CSV importer for a workflow tracker: a dry run that finds every problem, then a commit with no surprises.

Phase one reads the file and maps columns to the workflow's typed fields, previewing the first rows after mapping. Validate every row against the schema: required fields, allowed status values, dates parsed with an explicitly chosen format (never guessed), numbers, and person fields matched to known users. Every error carries a stable row number from the source file, so an unknown-status error on row 847 can be checked in the original spreadsheet.

Nothing is saved during the dry run. The summary says exactly what will happen: how many rows are valid and will be created, how many are invalid and will be skipped, all listed out. Only explicit confirmation commits the data — atomically, and only the valid subset. If the process dies mid-commit, either everything landed or nothing did.

Make the error list exportable, because fixing the file and running again is the natural workflow.

Done when: a file with mixed valid and invalid rows reports each issue with its source row number, nothing is saved before confirmation, and a crash mid-commit leaves zero partial rows.
One status service to rule the kanban, the table, and the formEvery surface calls the same transition function, or the audit log lies.
Build a single status-transition service that every surface of a record tracker shares: table inline edit, kanban drag, record detail form, and any API caller.

One function owns the rules: which transitions are legal from each status, what each one requires (a record cannot reach Done with required fields missing), and what happens on success. It validates, applies the change, and writes an activity event — actor, old value, new value, timestamp — in the same transaction. No caller can skip the validation or the event: the kanban drag handler is a thin wrapper that works out the target status from the destination column and calls the exact same code path as everyone else.

Uniform failure matters as much as uniform success: a disallowed transition returns the same structured error everywhere, and the kanban moves the card back to its origin column and shows the message, not a silent snap-back.

Handle concurrency with a version check: two simultaneous moves of the same record end with one winner, and the loser finds out the record changed.

Done when: an illegal transition fails identically from all four surfaces, every status change has exactly one activity event with old and new values, and a lost concurrent move reverts visibly.
Automations that fire once, even when retried twiceEvaluate after commit, key by event id, retry without re-firing.
Build the automation runner for a record tracker: rules like when-status-becomes-Shipped-call-this-webhook, fired exactly once per change and never making the user wait.

Evaluation happens after the triggering change is committed, not inside the save: the transition writes an event with a unique id, and a queue consumer evaluates rules against those events. The event id doubles as the idempotency key — if a consumer crashes and the message is redelivered, it re-evaluates, finds the run already recorded, and skips it.

Each rule execution is a run with states: pending, succeeded, failed, retrying. Webhook calls include the event id so receivers can dedupe; a timeout schedules a bounded backoff retry, and the ambiguous case — a timeout after the request may have landed — retries with the same key instead of creating a fresh delivery. Email actions check for an existing send record before sending.

Every run shows up on the record's activity timeline with its outcome, and terminal failures offer a manual retry.

Done when: forced redeliveries produce one recorded run per event per rule, a webhook retry after a timeout cannot double-deliver to a dedupe-aware receiver, and a slow automation never delays the user's save.
Typed fields without a schema designerOne schema in code, one validator, every write path obeys.
Build a typed-field engine for a fixed-workflow tracker: field definitions declared in code, and one validator enforcing them everywhere.

Each definition declares a key, a type (text, number, date, status, person, attachment), requiredness, and constraints: allowed status values, number ranges, text lengths. From this single source derive everything — form inputs, table cell renderers, sort behavior, and above all one validate-and-coerce function that every write path calls: the detail form, inline table edits, CSV import, and automation actions.

Coercion rules live here too: trim text, turn a numeric string into a number for number fields, resolve a person by email or id, normalize dates to one canonical stored form. Reject unknown keys outright so stray columns never creep into records.

Errors come back structured — field key, rejected value, reason — so each surface can render them natively instead of parsing message strings.

The payoff test: change a field's allowed statuses in the definition and watch every surface update without touching any of them.

Done when: an invalid value fails identically via the form, inline edit, and import, coercion is consistent across all paths, and no write can bypass the validator.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Airtable cost if I keep subscribing?

Airtable costs $24–$54 per person per month on its public paid plans, which is $288–$648 per year for each person on your team. A focused self-built replacement costs your build time plus almost-free hosting.

What stack should I use to build an Airtable alternative?

The build prompt on this page comes in four flavors: the AHA stack (Astro, HTMX, Alpine.js), Next.js, Laravel, and Ruby on Rails. The capability context for this product is Astro, D1, R2. Choose the stack you already know — the scope matters more than the framework.

What features does a minimal Airtable replacement need?

A useful v1 needs: typed fields for text, status, person, date, number, and attachment; table, kanban, and filtered saved views; record detail with comments and activity history; CSV import and export with a mapping preview; simple automations for status changes and overdue records. Everything else is scope creep until you truly miss it.

What should I deliberately not build?

Skip arbitrary formulas, linked bases, extensions, and a schema designer in v1.

Does this build also replace Baserow and Grist?

Yes. Airtable, Baserow and Grist all do the same core job — manage records through a fixed workflow with views tailored to the work. The scoped v1 on this page covers what most people use any of them for, so one focused build replaces whichever one you pay for today.

How is it different from Airtable?

PocketBase does most of what Airtable does, without a subscription, and your data stays with you. The point-by-point comparison is on the page.

Do I own my data?

Yes. With an open source tool installed on your side, your files stay on your machine or your server. Nobody can close your account or change the price.

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If you'd rather have someone install it, connect it to your tools and keep it running, that is exactly what we do at Aurelio.

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