Softr vs Airtable: Interface Designer, Seats and App Users

If your team already runs on an Airtable base, this is less a database contest than a question of who gets a login and how each tool bills for them. Airtable charges for every user with edit rights, and its Interface Designer puts screens on the base for those users. Softr charges per workspace, counts the people who sign in to your app as Team or Client users, and reads the same base with two-way sync on every plan, Free included. For a small group of internal editors, staying inside Airtable is simpler. For clients, partners or members behind a login, Softr fits better.

One base, two ways to put screens on it

Airtable's own page says Interface Designer is open to every Airtable user and supports as many interfaces as you need on one base, while some features, permissions among them, depend on the price tier ^[1]. Everyone using those screens is an Airtable user. Our guide to Airtable Interfaces covers what the designer can do. For this comparison, one point matters. Every screen lives inside Airtable.

Softr takes the opposite route. Airtable is a data source on every Softr plan, connected with real-time two-way sync: an edit in the app writes back to the base, and the data stays stored in Airtable. Formulas, rollups, lookups, counts and autonumbers stay read-only in Softr, and button, barcode and sync-source fields are not supported because of Airtable's API. Each Airtable table feeds its own Softr block, though one app can pull from several bases.

The ceiling on that setup belongs to Airtable. It allows 5 requests per second per base, and Softr's docs say pages with many dynamic blocks or many people online at once can hit a request-limit error Softr cannot bypass. On Airtable's Free plan the API stops at 1,000 calls a month and blocks requests until the reset. Plan for this before launch.

Paying for editors or for a workspace

Airtable bills every user with edit permissions on at least one base. Its Team plan costs $24 for each seat per month billed monthly or $20 for each seat per month billed annually, and Business costs $54 or $45 for each seat per month on the same two terms ^[2]. Read-only collaborators, form submissions and share links cost nothing on Team and Business. On Free, every user is free, with up to 5 editors, and Enterprise Scale is quote-only.

Softr prices the workspace, not the person. Basic is $25 per month billed monthly or $19 per month billed annually, Pro with 50 AI credits is $119 per month billed monthly or $99 per month billed annually, and Business is $395 per month billed monthly or $329 per month billed annually, before tax ^[3]. The app-user allowance is 5 in total on Free, Team 5 plus Client 5 on Basic, Team 10 plus Client 50 on Pro, and Team 30 plus Client 100 on Business.

The split matters more than any total. A Team user shares a business email domain with one of your builders; anyone on Gmail, Outlook or another free domain is a Client user. Softr counts unique emails across all published apps, and builders can join apps without using the allowance. Only Pro and Business can buy more users, billed monthly even on annual plans after a 7-day grace period, and if that payment keeps failing, Softr deactivates every user above the included allowance until the payment is resolved. Basic is capped. Our Softr pricing guide lists every extra-user and extra-builder figure.

The two bills react to different things. One grows with every person who edits data and ignores viewers entirely. The other stays flat until you add builders beyond the plan's included 1, 2 or 3, each costing extra every month, or your Team or Client count passes the allowance; then it grows per builder, per user on Pro or Business, or forces an upgrade from Basic. Softr's docs add that people who only use the Softr app need no license from the other side and leave that bill untouched.

Read the record row with care. The per-database caps in the right column apply only to data stored in the built-in database, which also caps each workspace at 5,000, 50,000, 500K or 1M records by plan. When an app reads an external base instead, that base's own record caps and API limits decide. Hitting a per-base cap on the left keeps your access but stops new records until you upgrade.

Clients, permissions and who sees which record

Outside users are where the two tools part ways. Softr's customer stories give the reasons in the customers' words. Altitude Marketing says it tried Airtable's Interface Designer first, found user permissioning a constant headache, and wanted gated access without paying for every seat. Strupek says it moved for more design control, granular permissions and custom code. Glitter says the designer lacked the branding and interactivity it needed.

In Softr, every plan includes email and password sign-in and two built-in groups, visitors and logged-in users. Pro adds 3 custom user groups, Email OTP and Google sign-in, advanced permission rules and removes Softr branding. Business raises custom groups to 10 and adds app-user 2FA, domain-restricted signup and global data restrictions. Rules based on a user's email or domain are checked on the server side, and Softr warns that Airtable views are not a security measure.

Single sign-on lands on different rungs. Airtable lists SAML SSO on its Business plan, while Softr keeps app-user SSO, SCIM and audit logs on Enterprise. Mobile on Softr means a PWA on Business or higher, with no App Store or Google Play apps and no offline use. Softr also exports no code and cannot be self-hosted. An app built there stays there.

Automations, Workflows and AI credits

Airtable meters automation runs per plan. Softr Workflows meter actions executed per month: triggers and flow-control steps such as Wait, Branch and Filter do not count, every action inside a loop runs once per item, and an AI step spends AI credits as well as an action. At the limit, workflows pause until the allowance renews or you upgrade. If the data stays in Airtable, Softr's Airtable trigger offers only Record updated and polls about every minute.

AI uses two unrelated currencies. Airtable allots AI credits per editor; Softr gives one pool per workspace, 5, 10, 50 or 100 credits a month from Free to Business, reset monthly with no rollover. The two credits measure different things, so neither number shows which is cheaper. When Softr's pool hits zero, AI features pause with no overage charge and the no-code editor keeps working.

Moving the base over: the October 2026 migration

In October 2026 Softr added Migrate from Airtable to Softr Studio, with two paths ^[4]. Import base copies tables, fields, records and attachments into a new Softr Database and brings automations along as draft workflows that stay off until you turn them on. Migrate app duplicates a classic Softr app that reads from Airtable and points the copy at Softr Databases. Neither path changes the original base or app. Softr also offers a free 30-minute migration call.

Not everything survives the trip. Linked records become Related record fields, and most formulas work because Softr uses Airtable-compatible syntax, though lookups and rollups may differ. Rich text turns into Markdown and loses embedded images and mentions. Button and Barcode fields are dropped, and AI fields become Database AI agent fields whose prompts you should check. Every record gets a new ID. Tools that store the old IDs need updating.

The import reads through Airtable's API, so it uses your Airtable plan's call allowance and stops if that runs out. Bases with more than 512 tables, or tables with more than 512 fields, fail. Run script steps become Run custom code steps to rewrite, and actions for tools Softr lacks, such as Microsoft Teams or GitHub, need another integration or a Call API step. Apps built before February 2025 must convert to the newer version first.

Which setup fits your team

Stay entirely in Airtable when nearly everyone who touches the data also edits it, the group is small, and internal screens are enough; viewers cost nothing on its paid plans. Layer Softr on top when outsiders need their own logins and should see only their own records, such as clients, partners, members or students. You keep the base and can test the portal on Free. Move the data into Softr Databases once Airtable's rate limits pinch. For record caps, compare per base with per database: only Softr Business, at 200K per database, holds more than Airtable's Team plan allows per base.

Treat the reviews as a map of complaints, not a verdict. Trustpilot complaints about Softr mention billing, support responsiveness and changes to older plans; Softr moved new users to new pricing in August 2024 while existing customers kept their plans. Platforms built around verified business users read warmer. Weigh both against your own case, because a portal for dozens of clients behaves nothing like an internal tool for three editors.

The bottom line

Airtable and Softr often work best together. Keep the base, let editors work in Airtable, and put a Softr app in front of everyone who only needs to sign in and see their slice of the data. Choose Interface Designer alone when your users are all editors anyway. Choose Softr when the audience is external or growing, when you need group permissions without paying for each seat, or when Airtable's API limits start to show. The October 2026 migration then lets you leave the base on your own schedule.