How to Cancel Airtable (2026 Guide) — Export Your Bases Before Downgrading

Updated 2026-02-24 · 5 min read

Airtable's paid plans cost $20/user/month (Team) or $45/user/month (Business). For a small team of 5, that's $100-225/month for what is essentially a fancy spreadsheet. With Notion, Google Sheets, and NocoDB offering similar features for free, canceling Airtable is tempting — but you need to export first.

⚠️ Export BEFORE Downgrading: When you downgrade to Airtable's free plan, bases exceeding the free tier limits (1,000 records per base, 1GB attachments) become read-only. You can't edit or add records until you delete data to fit within limits. Export everything first.

Step 1: Export Your Data

Open each base you want to save
Click ⋯ → Download CSV for each view/table
For attachments: download them individually (Airtable doesn't bulk export attachments)
Screenshot your automations — they won't export
Document your views, filters, and formulas in a separate file

Step 2: Cancel or Downgrade

Go to airtable.com/account/billing
Click Manage Plan
Choose Downgrade to Free or Cancel Workspace
For team workspaces: only the workspace owner can change the plan
Confirm — access continues until end of billing period

Airtable Free Plan Limits

1,000 records per base (was 1,200 — they reduced it)
1GB attachment storage
Single workspace only
100 automations/month
No sync, no Gantt, no timeline
No revision history beyond 2 weeks

Free Alternatives to Airtable

NocoDB (free, open-source) — Drop-in Airtable replacement. Self-hosted or cloud. No record limits. Import directly from Airtable
Notion (free for personal) — Databases + docs + wikis in one. Less spreadsheet-like but more flexible
Google Sheets (free) — Not as pretty, but unlimited rows and zero cost. Add Google Forms for data collection
Baserow (free, open-source) — Another Airtable alternative, self-hosted or cloud
Teable (free, open-source) — Newest Airtable alternative, built on Postgres
Coda (free tier) — Doc-first with database features. Different approach, similar capabilities

The Per-User Pricing Problem

Airtable's pricing gets brutal as teams grow:

3 users at Team tier: $60/month ($720/year)
10 users at Team tier: $200/month ($2,400/year)
10 users at Business tier: $450/month ($5,400/year)
NocoDB or Baserow: $0, unlimited users, self-hosted on a $5/month server
The math doesn't work unless Airtable is mission-critical and no alternative fits

Migration Path: Airtable → NocoDB

Sign up at nocodb.com (free cloud or self-host)
Use NocoDB's built-in Airtable import — it imports tables, fields, and records directly via API
Review imported data (formulas need manual recreation)
Set up automations (NocoDB supports webhooks and integrations)
Migrate team to NocoDB before canceling Airtable

🔍 SaaS Tool Audit: Airtable + Slack + Notion + Figma + Zoom — SaaS per-seat pricing adds up to $50-200/person/month. Upload your bank statement to JustCancel to see every business tool you're paying for.

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Quick Cancel Guide: Airtable

Direct cancel link + step-by-step instructions