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Airtable vs Knack
March 17, 2025 | Author: Michael Stromann
21★
Part spreadsheet, part database, and entirely flexible, teams use Airtable to organize their work, their way.
6★
Knack makes it easy to build your own custom online databases and web apps. Easy tools for defining the data your app will use. Import records straight from a spreadsheet. Add visual elements like tables, forms, and calendars to display and update your database records. Publish your app to any website and device. Set user roles to define who can access your app.
Airtable and Knack are both cunning little beasts, designed to make databases palatable to humans who would rather eat their own keyboards than write SQL queries. They allow people to create custom applications without really knowing what they’re doing, which, in many cases, works out surprisingly well. Both provide delightful drag-and-drop interfaces, APIs for those who like to pretend they can code and enough collaboration tools to ensure that at least one person on your team is always confused about who changed what.
Airtable, which sprang into existence in 2012 somewhere in the vast consumer-tech wilderness of the USA, has a particular fondness for creative types who think in spreadsheets but wish they didn't have to. It masquerades as a friendly, color-coded wonderland of templates and automation, seamlessly linking up with all the modern distractions like Slack and Google Drive. It’s great for tracking projects, planning campaigns and making lists of things you fully intend to do but never will.
Knack, which beat Airtable to the punch by launching in 2010 (also in the USA, because that’s where these things seem to happen), is more interested in the serious business of structuring databases like a proper grown-up. It caters to those who want to build business applications but don’t have time for all that “learning to code” nonsense. With a keen focus on data security, role-based access and even built-in payment processing, Knack is what you’d get if a database put on a tie, polished its shoes and decided to handle all your internal operations while you have a nice cup of tea.
See also: Top 10 Low-Code Platforms
Airtable, which sprang into existence in 2012 somewhere in the vast consumer-tech wilderness of the USA, has a particular fondness for creative types who think in spreadsheets but wish they didn't have to. It masquerades as a friendly, color-coded wonderland of templates and automation, seamlessly linking up with all the modern distractions like Slack and Google Drive. It’s great for tracking projects, planning campaigns and making lists of things you fully intend to do but never will.
Knack, which beat Airtable to the punch by launching in 2010 (also in the USA, because that’s where these things seem to happen), is more interested in the serious business of structuring databases like a proper grown-up. It caters to those who want to build business applications but don’t have time for all that “learning to code” nonsense. With a keen focus on data security, role-based access and even built-in payment processing, Knack is what you’d get if a database put on a tie, polished its shoes and decided to handle all your internal operations while you have a nice cup of tea.
See also: Top 10 Low-Code Platforms
