August 31, 2023

We are sure you've heard about the recent Airtable pricing change announced on August 23, 2023.

At Softr, we’ve helped 200,000+ Airtable users build portals on top of their data over the years. We understand that this pricing change can be a source of concern. So we put together this resource to help you understand what changed and how it affects you.

Let’s dive in!

Understanding Airtable's pricing changes

Here is a video by no-code expert Dan Leeman breaking down all the changes:

To summarize, here is what changed in Airtable’s new pricing:

1. Introduction of Business plan: Airtable has introduced a new plan, priced at $54 per user/month.
2. Plus and Pro Merged into Team plan: Airtable has merged the Plus and Pro plans into the Team plan, which is priced at $24 per user/month. While this is more generous for Plus users, Pro users may find it more limiting.
3. Monthly API call limit: Airtable has imposed limitations on the number of API calls per month. It affects Free plan (1000 API calls per month) and Team plan (100,000 API calls per month) users.
4. Changes in Syncing and Storage: Multi-source syncing has been removed from the Team plan (prev. Plus), and storage limits have been decreased for all plans except for Business plan users.
5. Changes in Automations: The number of automations has been cut in half for Team plan (prev. Plus) users.

New: Monthly API call limits

The Airtable API is used to connect Airtable with third-party tools, such as Softr or Zapier. One of the biggest changes in Airtable’s new pricing is the monthly API call limit.

Here’s a breakdown of API call limits for new plans

1. Free plan - 1000 API call limits per month
2. Team plan - 100,000 call limits per month
3. Business plan - unlimited API calls per month
4. Enterprise plan - not disclosed publicly

If you reach this limit during a month, you won't lose access to the APIs, but your rate limit (see more below) will be lowered for the remainder of that month. Once the month ends, your rate limit will return to normal.

This limit is applied at the Airtable workspace level and is shared among all integrations.

As of today, there’s no way to monitor your Airtable API usage. According to Airtable, they will soon allow you to monitor your API usage in workspace settings.

How does this affect you as a Softr user?

Airtable has always had a 5 API calls /second rate limit for each base. However, based on Airtable’s official announcement, it is not entirely clear whether the new monthly API limit means:

A. This rate limit will be removed before you reach your API call limit each month.

B. This rate limit will stay, but an even lower rate limit will be imposed in case of overage.

If A → There is nothing you have to worry about. Softr has a system in place so that your apps will work fine with the 5 API calls / second rate limit.

If B → Your Softr apps might not work properly after the monthly API limit is hit. If you’re on a free Airtable plan, we highly recommend that you upgrade to the Team or Business plan to avoid the API limit.

Additional FAQs

Does Softr have API call limits?

Softr doesn't expose API limits on its own. But we don’t have special permissions to get around Airtable’s API limit mentioned above.

I have many users in my Softr apps. Will upgrading to a new Airtable plan blow up my bill?

No. Softr has flat-rate pricing. Each plan comes with a set of user allowances designed for a company size:

• The number of users you have in Softr does not affect your Airtable bill.
• Your teammates also don’t need an Airtable license to be added as users in your Softr app.

Is Airtable’s new monthly API limit per seat or workspace?

It’s per workspace. It doesn’t matter if you’re paying for 1 or 10 seats, your monthly API limit for the workspace will remain the same. Also, note that the quota is shared across all integrations, meaning that any 3rd-party tool can consume your quota.

We understand that Airtable’s new pricing might be good for some but challenging for others. Softr has partnered with Airtable for years to serve our shared customers. If you need advice on the optimal Softr setup to work with new Airtable pricing, how similar businesses are getting the most of Softr and Airtable, or need help selecting a new Airtable plan — just contact us via support chat.

Or if you’re new to Softr, you can also book a consultation call:

About Softr

Softr is the go-to no-code web app builder for Airtable users. It turns your Airtable and Google Sheets data into dynamic portals and internal tools.

• One app, multiple data sources: Create a frontend on top of multiple Airtable bases, as well as data coming from other apps.
• One price, many users: Each of Softr’s pricing plans come with a set of user allowances and features designed for a specific company size. Your bill will be predictable and scalable.
• Powerful user groups and permissions: Granular level permissions that let you share the right information with the right people, ensuring data security and access control.

You can build your apps from scratch or from over 70+ templates and customize them for your needs. Ready-made apps like Client Portal, Inventory Management, Sales CRM, Team Intranet, Employee Directory and more are available in our template library, check out the full list here. Your data's potential is limitless with Softr.