project management tool · head to head
Airtable vs monday.com
Comparison Summary
Airtable scored 6.8 and monday.com scored 6.5 on our project management tool test script.
Airtable: Airtable is a database that makes a capable project tracker: our 40 tasks pasted in one go, CSV import and export kept every value, imports took seconds, automations fired quickly and its AI got everything right and asked before adding records. The trade-offs: no recurring tasks or real subtasks, dependencies that only flag conflicts, Gantt and timeline on paid plans, a free plan capped at 1,000 records per base, and a desktop app that greeted us with a firewall prompt and a bot check.
monday.com: monday.com did nearly everything in our script well: a clean 200- and 500-row import, working dependencies and automations, and the most accurate AI assistant in this category so far. But almost all of it ran on the automatic Pro trial. The free plan is two seats and three boards with no automations, no calendar or Gantt and no AI, so most teams will be paying.
Editor's Verdict
Choose Airtable if…
Best for: Teams who want a flexible database behind their projects, with automations and reliable CSV in and out.
- Paste a spreadsheet and the project is built, with select options created from the data
- CSV import and export kept all 200 rows identical, and 500 rows imported in about a second
- Automations fired in a few seconds, with schedules, conditions and many actions
Choose monday.com if…
Best for: Teams ready to pay for a polished, flexible work-management tool with strong imports, automations and AI.
- Excellent CSV/Excel import: 200 rows in about 10 s and 500 in about 20 s, with statuses, dates and priorities
- Strict dependencies that move dependent tasks when a date changes
- Automations fired in about a second and a half
Head to Head
Task by task
The same prompts, pasted word for word into each app on a clean Windows 11 PC. On the 8 tasks both apps were graded on, Airtable completed 4 and monday.com completed 3.
| Task | Airtable | monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| P1 · Build a project | Pass≈ 5 min | Pass≈ 15 min |
| P2 · Views | Partial≈ 8 min | Partial≈ 4 min |
| P3 · Rules | Partial≈ 15 min | Partial≈ 7 min |
| P4 · 200-row import | Pass≈ 2 min | Pass≈ 3 min |
| P5 · Scale | Pass≈ 2 min | Pass≈ 2 min |
| P6 · Permissions | Partial≈ 3 min | Partial≈ 3 min |
| P7 · AI | Pass≈ 4 min | Partial≈ 3 min |
| P8 · Leave | Partial≈ 4 min | Partial≈ 5 min |
Measured on the same PC
| Measurement | Airtable | monday.com |
|---|---|---|
| Installer | 151 MB | 97 MB |
| On disk | 552 MB | 330 MB |
| Starts with Windows | No | No |
| 40-task project | ≈ 5 min | ≈ 15 min |
| Views on the free plan | 3 / 4 | 2 / 4 |
| Cold start | ≈ 8 s | ≈ 9 s |
| Memory | 1.1 – 1.6 GB | 1.1 – 1.3 GB |
| Automation rule | ≈ 3–6 s | ≈ 1.5 s |
| Left after uninstall | ≈ 63 MB | ≈ 92 MB |
Pros and cons
Airtable
+ What works
- Paste a spreadsheet and the project is built, with select options created from the data
- CSV import and export kept all 200 rows identical, and 500 rows imported in about a second
- Automations fired in a few seconds, with schedules, conditions and many actions
- Omni, the AI assistant, answered correctly and asked before creating records
- Per-user install with no prompts and no startup entries
− What falls short
- Gantt and timeline views need the paid Team plan
- No recurring tasks or subtasks; we used a scheduled automation and a link field instead
- Dependencies only flag conflicts; nothing moved when a predecessor slipped
- Free plan: 1,000 records per base and 100 automation runs a month
- New invites default to Creator, and an editor invite link is on by default
- First launch raised a Windows Firewall prompt and a bot check
monday.com
+ What works
- Excellent CSV/Excel import: 200 rows in about 10 s and 500 in about 20 s, with statuses, dates and priorities
- Strict dependencies that move dependent tasks when a date changes
- Automations fired in about a second and a half
- Sidekick AI summarised the board, answered “what is overdue?” correctly and created real subtasks
- Instant Excel export with subitems and dependencies, plus a full account export
- Clear roles, including free view-only Viewers
− What falls short
- Free plan: 2 seats, 3 boards, no automations, no calendar or Gantt, no AI
- A new account silently starts a 14-day Pro trial
- Calendar and Gantt views showed nothing until we refreshed the app
- The import's default column types mangled our descriptions and kept tags as one label
- The installer is signed with a code-signing certificate that expired in August 2025
- Heavier than most: about 1.1–1.3 GB of memory and a 9-second cold start
Privacy and security
What we saw on our own test PC. Each review also lists what the vendor states about data handling, training and certifications.
Airtable
Signed installer
Signed by Formagrid, Inc.; the certificate had expired but the signature was timestamped.
Firewall prompt
First launch asked to accept connections on public and private networks; declining did not affect the app.
Generous sharing defaults
Invites default to Creator and an editor invite link is on until you turn it off.
AI asks first
Omni showed new records and waited for Approve before creating them.
monday.com
Expired signing certificate
The installer is signed by monday.com Ltd with a certificate that expired in August 2025, so Windows reports the signature as not valid.
No background services
The app added no startup entry, services or listening ports.
Admin by default in sign-up
The sign-up wizard's invite step sets new members to Admin and allows automatic sign-ups from your domain unless you change it.
EU data storage
Our account's admin page showed data stored in the European Union.
Features & Pricing
| Airtable | monday.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| macOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | — | — |
| iOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Paid from | $20/mo | $9/mo |
Airtable plans
- Free$0
- Team$20/seat/mo
- Business$45/seat/mo
- Enterprise ScaleContact sales
From Airtable's pricing page, checked Oct 31, 2026.
monday.com plans
- Free€0
- Basic€9/seat/mo
- Standard€12/seat/mo
- Pro€19/seat/mo
- EnterpriseCustom
From monday.com's pricing page, checked Oct 30, 2026.
Cost for your team
- monday.com$540per year
- Airtable$1,200per year
Cheapest paid plan × seats × 12, at list price. Annual discounts and volume deals not included. Airtable and monday.com also have a free plan.
Who makes them
- Company
- Airtable:Formagrid, Inc. (Airtable)
- monday.com:monday.com Ltd.
- Headquarters
- Airtable:San Francisco, California, USA
- monday.com:Tel Aviv, Israel
- Founded
- Airtable:2012
- monday.com:2012
- Funding
- Airtable:Venture-backed private company.
- monday.com:Public on Nasdaq (MNDY) since 2021.
Timelines, official links and sources are in each review: Airtable · monday.com.
Read the full reviews
This page compares the two side by side. Each full review has the complete test log, every screenshot, the scoring notes, pricing, security and company details.
Airtable reviewSituational 6.8 Airtable is a database that makes a capable project tracker: our 40 tasks pasted in one go, CSV import and export kept every value, imports took seconds, automations fired quickly and its AI got everything right and asked before adding records. The trade-offs: no recurring tasks or real subtasks, dependencies that only flag conflicts, Gantt and timeline on paid plans, a free plan capped at 1,000 records per base, and a desktop app that greeted us with a firewall prompt and a bot check. Read the full review → monday.com reviewSituational 6.5 monday.com did nearly everything in our script well: a clean 200- and 500-row import, working dependencies and automations, and the most accurate AI assistant in this category so far. But almost all of it ran on the automatic Pro trial. The free plan is two seats and three boards with no automations, no calendar or Gantt and no AI, so most teams will be paying. Read the full review → Project Management Alternatives
ClickUp Recommended Small teams that want lists, boards, Gantt charts, automations and AI in one free workspace and do not mind a busy, heavy app 7.4 Read reviewReview 
Notion Situational Individuals and small teams who want tasks living next to their docs and wiki, and who are happy to build their own setup 6.9 Read reviewReview 
Asana Situational Teams ready to pay for Starter or Advanced who want a polished, fast-to-learn project tool with strong import and export 6.7 Read reviewReview 
