Grist
lastmod 2022-03-02created 2022-03-021 edits
Grist is the evolution of spreadsheets.
Open-source alternative to Airtable and Google Sheet
Features
- A hybrid of a DB and a spreadsheet
- Python formulas. Supports the standard library and full syntax. Includes Excel functions
- Based on SQLite
- Incremental Import: can update only the changed parts
- Integrates with REST API, Zapier, n8n, and more
- Provides a variety of templates
- Access control options: sharing (document/workspace/team site), per-row/column/table permission management
- Open Core model
Grist vs Airtable
They also run a SaaS service, so I used it for a few hours and also got support, and it definitely feels different from Airtable. It feels like the relationship between Linux and Mac.
- Grist feels like, if you are a developer, you can implement whatever representation you want, but operations are somewhat cumbersome, and if you don't have a solid grasp of the whole data set in your head the data can get badly tangled, so it needs to be handled with care.
- Airtable doesn't need careful handling, and even if you use it however you like you can implement the features you want to some extent, but it's hard to implement exactly what you wanted in detail and it seems to have many feature limitations.
And if you send an inquiry to Grist support, they answer more kindly than you could imagine.