Notion or Airtable: which is the best solution for effective project management in 2025?
When it comes to project management, two names keep coming up: Airtable and Notion. These two no-code applications have revolutionised the way teams organise their information, collaborate and create personalised workspaces. But despite their shared reputation as flexible, modern tools, they don't always meet the same needs.
- So, should you choose Airtable for its database power and automation?
- Or Notion for its 'all-in-one' aspect with its templates, intuitive interface and extreme customisation?
📌 In this detailed comparison, we review their features, plans, integrations and use cases. The aim: to help you find the solution best suited to your team, your budget and your productivity goals.
What is Airtable?
Airtable overview
Airtable is a hybrid tool between a spreadsheet and a database. Designed for teams who want to structure their information without coding, it transforms simple tables into truly customised applications.
Where a traditional spreadsheet quickly reaches its limits, Airtable offers relationships between data, multiple views (kanban, calendar, gallery, etc.) and strong real-time collaboration. With its ready-to-use templates and wide range of integrations, it can be used for project management, content tracking and business process management.
Airtable's main features
Before delving into the details, it's important to understand that Airtable's functionalities are not limited to 'managing data'. The app offers a truly modular toolbox, where each team can create its own workflows. You can start from an existing template or build from scratch to suit your project needs.
⚒️ Here are the Airtable features that justify its popularity:
- organisation of data in the form of relational tables ;
- multiple customised views (grid, kanban, calendar, gallery, timeline);
- automation of recurring tasks without coding
- native and API integrations (Slack, Google Drive, Zapier, etc.);
- real-time collaboration with advanced permissions;
- template system to speed up project implementation.
Airtable
Advantages and disadvantages of Airtable
Like any tool, Airtable has its strengths and limitations. The aim is not to look for a 'best all-round tool', but to see in which cases Airtable brings real added value... and in which cases it can frustrate a team.
✅ First and foremost, Airtable's appeal lies in its ability to remain simple to use while remaining technically powerful. It is equally suited to start-ups and large companies thanks to :
- its many customisation options and no-code approach ;
- its great flexibility thanks to multiple views and relational databases;
- a modern, intuitive interface that's more visual than a traditional spreadsheet;
- powerful, time-saving automations;
- rich ecosystem with numerous integrations and an open API;
- suitable for a variety of cases: project management, CRM, production tracking, content, etc.
❌ On the other hand, some users note limitations that can become restrictive, including:
- the database logic can seem complex for beginners ;
- automation remains limited compared with specialised tools;
- prices rise quickly for advanced features;
- Notion is less suited to content writing or document management.
What is Notion?
Overview of Notion
Notion is an all-in-one tool that combines note-taking, task management, a lightweight database and team collaboration. Where Airtable concentrates on structuring data, Notion focuses on flexibility: each page can become a document, a wiki, a to-do list or a project tracking table.
Its minimalist, modular interface will appeal to businesses and freelancers alike. It's easy to build spaces tailored to your needs: project management, internal documentation, HR tracking, product roadmap, etc. Thanks to its varied templates and high degree of customisability, Notion has become an essential app for centralising information and improving team productivity.
Notion's main features
Before delving into the details, Notion should be seen as a kind of digital toolbox. Each user can assemble its bricks (pages, blocks, bases, views) to create its own workspace, whether it's a simple notebook or a complete project management system.
⚒️ Here are the key features of Notion:
- modular pages and blocks for creating structured content ;
- simple databases with multiple views (table, list, calendar, gallery, kanban);
- real-time collaboration with mentions, comments and sharing;
- ready-to-usetemplates to speed up the creation of spaces;
- powerful search function for browsing information;
- integrations with Slack, Google Drive, Zapier and open API.
Notion
Advantages and disadvantages of Notion
Like any tool, Notion has its strengths and weaknesses. Its modular approach makes it an extremely versatile application, but it can sometimes confuse some users.
✅ First and foremost, Notion stands out for its ease of use and potential for customisation. It's an ideal app for centralising information and streamlining team collaboration:
- all-in-one tool: notes, project management, wiki, database ;
- minimalist, easy-to-use interface;
- high level of flexibility and customisation ;
- rich library of templates;
- excellent solution for documentation and knowledge management.
❌ However, Notion isn't perfect. Certain limitations become apparent as soon as it is pushed to more complex uses:
- sometimes slow performance with large volumes of data ;
- less powerful databases than Airtable ;
- limited automation, need for third-party tools (Zapier, Make);
- offline management is still partial;
- less suited to highly structured business processes.
Airtable vs Notion: compare features
| Features | Airtable | Notion |
| Powerful, relational, multi-view | Powerful, relational, multi-view | Simple, adapted to small needs |
| Project management | Kanban views, timeline, automation | Tables, to-do lists, calendar, Kanban |
| Collaboration | Advanced permissions, real-time monitoring | Simple sharing, comments, mentions |
| Templates | Wide choice of business-oriented templates (CRM, HR, etc.) | Varied, often focused on personal organisation |
| Automation | Native, visual workflows, open API | Limited, dependent on third-party tools (Zapier, Make) |
| Documentation | Not very suitable | Excellent solution (wiki, pages, blocks) |
| Integrations | Rich (Slack, Google, Zapier, etc.) | More limited but API available |
| Interface | More visual, similar to a spreadsheet | Minimalist, with a focus on writing and wikis |
Focus on project management
Airtable excels at structuring:
- sales pipeline
- editorial calendar,
- product roadmap.
Multiple views (kanban, timeline, Gantt) and automation make workflows fluid.
Notion 's flexibility makes it easy to mix :
- tasks
- documents
- and notes in a single space,
but sometimes there 's a lack of rigour when it comes to complex projects.
💡 Verdict: Airtable has the edge for structured project management-oriented teams, Notion remains ideal for more flexible and collaborative projects.
Focus on the database
Airtable is a true relational database:
- links between tables,
- powerful filters,
- large volumes of data.
Notion offers a simplified database, practical for managing lists or a small HR follow-up, but it quickly reaches its limits as soon as you need to model complex relationships.
💡 Verdict: Airtable wins out for advanced database uses. Notion is suitable for simple or personal needs.
Focus on templates
Airtable 's templates are highly business-oriented (CRM, product tracking, HR, marketing). They enable rapid deployment of ready-to-use systems.
Notion offers flexible and varied templates, ideal for :
- documentation
- project management
- or personal organisation,
but often need to be adapted for corporate use.
💡 Verdict: equal. Airtable appeals to pros with its business-oriented templates, Notion seduces with its flexibility and creativity.
Focus on collaboration
Airtable offers an advanced system of permissions:
- roles,
- access by level,
- real-time monitoring.
It's a tool designed for structured teams.
Notion, which is simpler, focuses on fluid co-editing:
- page sharing,
- comments,
- mentions.
Perfect for content creation and collective documentation.
💡 Verdict: slight advantage to Notion for intuitive, creative collaboration; Airtable remains more robust for large, hierarchical teams.
Focus on automation
Airtable natively integrates automated workflows:
- notifications
- automatic updates,
- robust API.
Notion, on the other hand, relies heavily on external tools (Zapier, Make) to automate. This adds cost and complexity.
💡 Verdict: Airtable largely dominates on this point thanks to its native automations and more comprehensive API.
Airtable vs Notion: compare prices
Here's the Airtable vs Notion price comparison table, based on official information posted in September 2025.
| Plan | Airtable | Notion |
| Free | Yes :
|
Yes :
|
| Basic | Team - €16.93/user/month :
|
Plus - €9.50/user/month :
|
| Intermediate | Business - €38.10/user/month :
|
Business - €19.50/user/month :
|
| Enterprise | Enterprise Scale - on quotation :
|
Enterprise - on request:
|
Airtable vs Notion: which interface is more intuitive?
| Criterion | Airtable | Notion |
| Easy to use |
|
|
| Customisable |
|
|
| Mobile accessibility | High-performance mobile application, but more suited to consultation than creation | A fluid, comprehensive mobile application designed for note-taking and day-to-day management |
| General ergonomics |
|
Minimalist, elegant interface |
| Learning | Takes some getting used to |
|
⚖️ Verdict:
- Airtable seduces with its visual power and multiple views, but requires a learning curve for novices;
- Notion is simpler and quicker to learn, making it more accessible to a wider audience.
Airtable vs Notion: compare integrations
The better a solution integrates with your IT or CRM stack, the more it becomes a central pillar of your software architecture. For IT managers or tech decision-makers, the breadth of the integration catalogue, ease of configuration and depth of automation are key criteria.
👉 Number of available integrations
- Airtable: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Over 1,000 integrations via Airtable Apps, Zapier, Make and APIs. Native connections with Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox, Gmail, HubSpot, Salesforce, Jira, Trello... Airtable has established itself as an open solution, capable of connecting to the majority of business tools.
- Notion : ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
A rapidly expanding catalogue of integrations, but even more limited than Airtable. Native integrations with Slack, Google Drive, Figma, GitHub, and above all an API that lets you use Zapier or Make to extend the possibilities. Sufficient for most use cases, but less exhaustive than Airtable.
👉 Ease of configuration
- Airtable: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Most integrations are plug & play and easy to set up. The open API allows technical teams to take things further. For standard use, no advanced skills are required.
- Notion: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Integrating Notion with other applications is simple if you use external connectors (Zapier, Make). On the other hand, native integrations remain basic. Technical teams sometimes have to invest a little more time to build solid workflows.
👉 Customisation and automation
- Airtable: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Thanks to its integrated automation engine, Airtable can trigger actions (notifications, synchronisations, data updates) directly linked to integrations. Coupled with Zapier/Make, a high level of customisation is achieved.
- Notion: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Notion shines less brightly on this point: you have to go through third-party tools to automate (Zapier, Make). The API offers some nice possibilities, but the depth remains limited compared to Airtable.
💡 Conclusion:
- Airtable clearly has the advantage thanks to its rich catalogue of integrations and its native automation engine. It's a strategic choice for teams that want to centralise their data and automate their workflows.
- Notion, on the other hand, is lighter but effective for standard needs (documentation, collaboration, personal productivity). It is suitable for companies that prefer simplicity and don't need to orchestrate dozens of business tools simultaneously.
When should you choose Airtable or Notion?
The choice between Airtable and Notion depends not only on functionality, but above all on your specific needs. Each tool is better suited to certain scenarios. Here's how to choose between the two.
Example of an Airtable use case
Airtable is essential whenever a team needs to handle a lot of data and maintain a structured view of its projects. Its relational database-oriented approach and automation features make it an invaluable ally for organisations looking to optimise their workflows. Here are just a few of the applications in which Airtable excels:
- sales pipeline tracking and lead management (light CRM) ;
- editorial calendar or marketing content production tracking;
- managing a product catalogue with enriched data sheets (e-commerce, SaaS, retail);
- organising events with several speakers, venues and sponsors;
- complex project planning with dependencies and visual timelines;
- centralising data from several applications via API.
👉 Verdict: choose Airtable if your priority is data rigour, structured collaboration and process automation.
Examples of Notion use cases
Notion is designed for teams looking for a flexible, collaborative workspace. Its strength lies in its ability to centralise documentation, facilitate collaboration and adapt quickly to different uses without the need for heavy configuration. Here are some use cases for which Notion is the optimal choice:
- creating an internal wiki to centralise company documentation ;
- personal organisation (to-do lists, note-taking, planning) ;
- creative project management (roadmap design, brainstorming, idea tracking) ;
- collaboration on living documents (texts, specifications, briefs);
- simple monitoring of team tasks using Kanban or calendar views;
- structuring a training or onboarding area for new employees.
👉 Verdict: choose Notion if your priority is simplicity, centralising information and creative collaboration.
The final verdict on the best project management software
The Airtable vs Notion duel doesn't really have an absolute winner: it all depends on your needs and your team.
👉 Airtable is the logical choice for companies that need to manage lots of data, automate their processes and benefit from a structured view of their projects. It's a true visual database, ideal for results- and efficiency-oriented organisations.
👉 Notion, on the other hand, is seductive in its simplicity and all-in-one approach. It's the perfect app for creating a collaborative workspace, centralising documentation and boosting the productivity of a creative team.
If you're not sure, the easiest thing to do is to try out the free versions: they give you a clear idea of the interface and features, and show you which tool best suits the way you work.
FAQ - Airtable vs Notion
Can Airtable and Notion be used together?
Yes, and it's even common practice. Many teams use Notion for documentation and collaboration, and Airtable as their main database. Thanks to integrations via Zapier, Make or API, you can synchronise the two tools.
What's the best choice for a small team?
For a small team whose main need is to centralise its notes, documents and projects, Notion is generally more suitable, thanks to its simplicity and low cost. Airtable can be a good complement if the team already handles a lot of data.
Can Notion be used as a CRM?
Yes, but with limits. Notion can be used as a simple CRM thanks to its databases and templates. However, for managing large volumes of leads or automating complex workflows, Airtable (or a dedicated CRM) is more effective.
Airtable or Notion: which is better suited to large companies?
Large companies often prefer Airtable for its scalability, rich integrations and advanced permissions. Notion remains an excellent choice as a document and collaboration space, but is less robust for large-scale data management.
Article translated from French