Best Airtable Alternative? Comparing Jestor & Airtable for Business Processes

In the evolving landscape of AI no-code software, Jestor and Airtable stand out as powerful relational database solutions for businesses seeking customizable workflows.

Best Airtable Alternative? Comparing Jestor & Airtable for Business Processes
2025 Airtable alternative

In the earlier days of software development, any company who needed customized solutions would need to either have their own tech team or hire specialized companies to develop their own proprietary software. As you can probably imagine, this was not only costly from a one-time investment perspective, but also came with a hefty sum of recurring costs in the manner of dedicated servers and development staff.

One could argue, then, that one of the most revolutionary things to happen for business was the arrival of no-code SaaS platforms, specifically customizable relational databases. It is in this context that one must see how solutions such as Airtable have impacted the industry. Gone were the days when even a simple table of receivables could cost thousands of dollars.

More than a decade later, however, one could ask themselves: how effective is Airtable in managing processes when you need more than tables? Or better yet, how well does it fare against its competitors after years of industry innovation and newly released platforms.

In this article, we’re going to compare Jestor and one of the most famous earlier no-code tools, Airtable, so you can decide which one will work best for your journey.

About Jestor

Jestor is a platform which allows you to run any sort of internal process. It contains a wide array of out-of-the-box solutions (such as task management, internal communication, templates and more,) while also allowing users to create their own internal apps with pre-built components such as kanban boards, gantt charts, tables, and customizable forms. 

As an extremely flexible solution, it’s used by companies to run anything from simple requests (such as reimbursement, procurement, or support requests) to extremely complex processes (such as manufacturing and franchise management.) Its wide array of features allow Jestor to not only natively fit into many different traditional roles in a company, such as a CRM or BPM, but also be adapted into custom solutions that are unique to the company that is using it, plugging into processes that would otherwise need software development or traditional Enterprise solutions.

Like Airtable, the heart of Jestor is its relational database structure. It is much more than that, however. Jestor has many different views and components which can plug into its databases to create intuitive but efficient processes. For example, its kanban board feature is one of the most advanced found in the industry. Apart from the most traditional features one would expect from kanban software, Jestor excels by providing features that most of its competitors don’t have, such as conditional fields and colors, customizable forms, centralized chat features and more. But, in case you need other kinds of solutions, Jestor has you covered by bringing a whole set of different tools to the table (such as Gantt diagrams and connected tables,) all of which can be combined within the platform into a single app using drag and drop features. 

All-in-all, Jestor is a tool that allows you to run everything you need in just one place, making it a very competitive solution for those who want to streamline their processes—and reduce costs—by having a single, powerful tool under their belt.

About Airtable

Airtable is one of the earliest relational database solutions, and a lot of companies’ first experience with trying to build internal processes with no-code by creating databases and automating workflows. Airtable’s approach to building processes was to provide relational databases that could be built and behave like spreadsheets, while also providing other sets of tools that one could not find in regular spreadsheets.

Because most (if not all) companies usually rely on spreadsheets for their daily activities, the software saw widespread adoption across many different industries, as it became seen as a sort of evolution to spreadsheets, bringing definite advantages to its user.

These advantages, of course, were not without its tradeoffs. While relational databases are inherently more reliable than spreadsheets for team and company-wide operations, they lack the total flexibility brought by formulas. Airtable’s approach to compensating this is by providing a myriad of different tools such as forms, dashboards, and kanban boards. All-in-all, those are very competently built features that can help mold Airtable into a suitable solution, depending on the complexity of what the user is trying to achieve.

Currently, Airtable is moving towards an app-building focus instead of its previous many-databases-in-a-workspace approach. This is, however, more of an organizational and user experience shift than a fundamental one: under the hood, it runs the same Airtable “engine” that most of its users would be familiar with in the past few years.


Feature by Feature Comparison

So, given that both tools are centered around customizable relational databases, which one would work best for you? We’ll give you a rundown of the main features so you can understand the strengths and weaknesses of each software.

Fields and Data

Jestor - Highlights:

  • 50+ types of fields.
  • Fields can be for data entry or with dynamic features.
  • True connected data.
50+ field types to chose from.

Given that the relational database is the core of each tool, it feels right to start this comparison by looking at their database capabilities. 

Jestor is designed to support scalable and adaptable processes, featuring over 50 customizable field types for use in its kanban boards. These fields vary from traditional data entry options, like numbers and dates, to more specialized ones, such as signature fields and YES/NO checklists.

Specific data collection like signatures and checklists.

Additionally, Jestor offers dynamic fields that interact with other fields, including Formula fields and Goal fields. Goal fields, for example, enable users to create a progression bar to quickly assess goals or deadlines. There's even a Timer field that users can activate to track the time spent on tasks.

A standout feature of Jestor's data structure is its ability to link information using Connect fields. These fields let users link one card to another via a dropdown menu, facilitating seamless navigation between connected data with just a click. More importantly, this feature integrates data across records, enabling automations in one record to utilize data from a connected one. For instance, in a CRM setting, you might have a Deal linked to a Contact. This connection allows you to send an email to the Contact directly from the Deal without the need to duplicate data.

True data connectivity across databases.

Overall, Jestor offers a comprehensive yet adaptable suite of data fields, empowering companies to handle intricate processes without resorting to additional software.

Airtable - Highlights:

  • 28 types of fields.
  • Fields can be for data entry or with dynamic features.
  • Connected data with restrictions.
About 28 different types of Fields.

Airtable, being one of the pioneering customizable relational databases, boasts a number of fields that, while not as extensive as Jestor, is above average when it comes to other tools. With 28 different types of custom fields, it is capable of fitting into most real-life scenarios, with the occasional lack of coverage of very niche operations.

It also sets itself apart from most solutions for having some of its fields being dynamic, such as having Formula and Roll Up fields, which a lot of other tools lack. Because of this, it can also be more analytical than platforms that allow for only data-entry fields.  

One thing of note is that, unlike Jestor, Airtable makes no distinction between its connection fields. The same kind of field can house either N:1 connections or many-to-many connections. While this may sound great in theory, it comes with the caveat that the platform cannot know which sort of data to expect, and as such cannot make full use of the connections. For example, when automating processes, you can select the connection field (such as Contact), but you cannot directly select a field from within the connection.

Kanban board

Jestor - Highlights:

  • Allows more than 1 kanban board.
  • Customizable behavior settings (like disabling drag and drop).
  • Customizable modal.
  • Up to 4 panels.
Jestor's kanban board includes features like conditional colors and cover buttons

One of the most sophisticated features of Jestor is its Smart Kanban view. Unlike kanban-dedicated software where a process is confined to a single kanban board, Jestor allows a process to have multiple kanban board views. This flexibility is beneficial when a team needs to focus on specific stages, or when different teams use distinct sets of stages, such as Onboarding versus Billing stages.

Jestor's kanban boards offer a wide range of advanced customization options, both in terms of appearance and functionality. For instance, you can choose to hide empty fields from the card cover or remove field labels. Additionally, you can set conditional colors to make certain cards stand out, like highlighting cards assigned to you or turning overdue bills bright red. There are also behavior settings available, such as disabling drag-and-drop for moving cards or preventing the creation of cards in certain stages.

And that's just concerning the exterior of the card. Jestor's extensive customizability extends to the contents of the card as well. You can tailor the data fields, deciding what appears and when, and how many fields are displayed per row. For instance, you can configure the Due Date field to show only in specific stages or pair the Owner field with the Stage field.

For those intensely focused on productivity, Jestor allows you to open up to four panels within a card. This means you can simultaneously access Data, Chat, SLA, and Task panels, enabling you to accomplish more and access more information in a streamlined manner.

Up to 4 panels side-by-side increases productivity

Airtable - Highlights:

  • Allows for more than 1 kanban board.
  • No customizable behavior settings.
  • Standard modal.
  • Two panels.
Airtable's kanban feature.

Airtable is also very capable in the kanban board department. It possesses a lot of features that most platforms don’t have, even kanban-dedicated ones. For example, Airtable allows for the setting of conditional colors and creating more than one kanban view per process. This makes the tool interesting to many different teams, as they are not so commonly found across platforms.

However, while Airtable’s kanbans are more advanced than average, it might not go all the way for those who need more advanced features. Its customization features encounter some early barriers: for example, it’s not possible to change card size, hide stages, or hide field labels. On the behavioral side, it’s not possible to disable certain actions, such as drag and drop to move cards. As such, some specific behavior that may be necessary for certain processes are not easily established.

This lack of flexibility also comes to mind when talking about the records themselves. There’s no way to customize conditional viewing and editing of fields, and the modal itself (the window that pops up when clicking on a card) is not flexible. All fields will always be shown all the time, and structurally it will always remain the same: a left panel showing all the main information, and a right panel which can switch between a history of the card’s activities and comments. 

Standard modal for editing data.

As it is, it will work just fine for most processes, but some users may find it lacking when things begin to scale up in complexity.

SLA and Time Tracking

Jestor - Highlights:

  • Stage time tracking.
  • One-click to set up SLA.
  • Sequential and aggregate tracking.
Track of aggregate and sequential time.

In Jestor, setting up time tracking is as easy as clicking into the SLA panel. This feature meticulously records the amount of time a card spends in each stage, noting entry and exit dates as well as identifying who moved the card.

For instance, if you're using Jestor as a support ticket platform, you can monitor how long a ticket remains in Triage before being assigned to an agent, and subsequently track the time it takes for an agent to resolve the ticket.

An additional advantage of this feature is its ability to not only track the total time spent in each stage but also log the sequence of stage transitions. This means that if a card is marked as Done but later returned to In Progress due to unresolved issues, you can track these movements effortlessly. The total time spent in the In Progress stage is fully recorded, and you can also see how long the card spent there each time it moved to that stage.

Since time tracking is one of the most effective methods for enhancing process productivity, this feature proves valuable no matter how you're using Jestor—be it for CRM, Reimbursements, Recruiting, or any other application!

Airtable - Highlights:

  • No native time tracking feature.

As of now, there’s no native time tracking feature in Airtable. You can check stage movements in the card’s history log (called All activity), but it doesn’t present the information in a clear, concise manner, with no analytical dashboard and mixing this key information with every other update to the card as well as comments.

Airtable 'All activity' log.

More resourceful users can create their own time tracking solution with formulas and automations, but it is not trivial to implement across all processes and may suffer a bit when dealing with processes with many stages.

Forms

Jestor - Highlights:

  • Public forms.
  • Update forms.
  • Wide array of data fields.
  • Customizable appearance and blocks.
  • Conditional fields.
  • Connected data.
  • Advanced features such as URL filling (like Typeform).
Jestor's native Super Form feature.

One of Jestor's fundamental features is its customizable forms, known as Super Forms. These forms are essential because they go beyond basic functionalities, like public forms, and integrate deeply with various platform aspects. For instance, a form can serve not only as a standalone data entry page but also as the panel that appears when clicking on a card. This means the flexibility of Jestor’s custom forms enhances the kanban board, and every form feature and update simultaneously improves the kanban boards.

Support for features like cover, logos, pagination, and more

Jestor’s forms leverage the platform's diverse range of field types. In addition to traditional fields like dates, numbers, and lists, there are also unique yet highly useful fields. For example, the Signature field allows users to sign with their cursor, finger, or stylus, enabling companies to verify that a specific person has approved a record.

An exceptionally useful feature that sets Jestor apart from other software is the ability to apply conditional logic to fields. This allows fields to be shown or hidden based on specific conditions, or to be marked as required or optional. For instance, you can configure a condition to display the EIN field only when the Type field is filled as Company, or make the Date of Birth field optional depending on the selected Country.

Guide your user with conditional fields.

These are just a few of the advanced features of Jestor’s Super Forms. Additional capabilities include creating connected data simultaneously—such as adding a Booking in a kanban board along with multiple connected Guest records—and allowing information to be pre-filled using URL parameters, a capability often found in specialized form solutions like Typeform.

Forms automatically adapt to mobile.

Moreover, forms can also be used to update existing cards, not just to create new ones. For example, a school could send personalized links to students, allowing them to update their information—such as current address—without creating duplicate records.

Airtable - Highlights:

  • Public form.
  • Set, standard internal form for creating/updating cards.
  • Advanced features such as URL filling (like Typeform).
Airtable's Form feature.

Airtable has a dedicated feature for building public forms. As form features go, it is also of the many features Airtable has quite competently built. If what you need is a public form with a few advanced features you can’t find in the average tool, it will work quite nicely. 

For example, it is possible to use URL encoding to prefill a form, something that is not usually seen apart from dedicated form software like Typeform. This already sets Airtable apart from most competition, as general purpose SaaS tools are usually lacking in this department. 

However, there are some areas where Airtable’s form feature might leave you uncovered. For example, there’s no way to use a form to natively update a pre-existing record (the recommended way being using intermediary tables and automations.)

Also, there are no internal customizable forms either. When creating cards or updating cards, the standard Airtable panel is brought up showing all existing fields at once.

Automations and Integrations

Jestor - Highlights:

  • About 400 automations and integrations.
  • No-code and low-code available.
Jestor's dedicated automation tool.

Jestor offers around 400 different automations and integrations, complete with customizable triggers and actions for automating processes both within and beyond the platform, including with Airtable.

About 400 automations to power up your processes.

These automations range from standard functionalities commonly found in most no-code platforms, such as "When a record reaches X stage, create a new record in Y board," to more specific and niche scenarios not typically supported by other software. For example, in Jestor, you can automate your CRM to generate a variable number of Receivables if a deal is structured to be paid in installments.

With Jestor's extensive integrations with numerous external platforms like MailChimp, DocuSign, and Google Docs, teams often find no need to use third-party automation solutions such as Zapier or Make, helping to keep costs down and avoid software sprawl across processes. For instance, if you want to set up an automation to generate an agreement from a Google Docs template and send it to a customer via DocuSign, you can achieve this entirely using Jestor's native integrations without relying on external tools.

Additionally, Jestor supports the creation of low-code automations, allowing tech-savvy users to write custom scripts for specific situations. If there's a need that isn’t met by Jestor’s native automations—either due to a missing integration or a particularly niche or complex use case—users can enhance Jestor's native capabilities to address those scenarios.

Airtable - Highlights:

  • Automations with around 40+ triggers and actions.
  • Low-code features through Scripts.
Creating automations in the Automations tab.

Airtable allows users to create automations either through its Automations tab or through Button fields. With this feature, for example, it’s possible to set up a rule that updates the card’s name as soon as it’s created, or sends an e-mail at the click of a button.

It also covers a useful, albeit small, range of commonly used software, such as Jira, Slack, and Google Calendar. While it is not in the top range of different software integrated, it is certainly above average and can be useful across many different scenarios.  

One thing that sets Airtable apart from other no-code software is that it does allow for some low-code capabilities, allowing automations to run custom scripts coded by its users.

Low-code

Jestor - Highlights:

  • Custom low-code automations.
  • Support to Python, PHP, and .NET.
  • Custom webhooks.
Craft custom scripts with low-code.

Jestor’s low-code feature empowers users to create custom automations by scripting their own solutions triggered by data events, such as when a card is created or updated, or invoked in specific scenarios, like pressing a button. These low-code automations can be developed in Python, PHP, or .NET, giving users the flexibility to work in their preferred programming language. In addition to standard language functions and methods, Jestor offers native methods that simplify actions like creating cards or generating PDF documents.

Moreover, Jestor enables users to create custom endpoints for receiving webhook information. These endpoints can be linked to custom low-code functions, facilitating direct connections between Jestor and external platforms without needing intermediary solutions or servers. For example, a hospitality company could receive bookings from their Property Management Software into their Jestor account and execute various actions, such as creating cards or updating information in the PMS itself. Thus, low-code becomes a powerful tool for companies requiring integration with industry-specific software that may lack flexibility but can connect to external platforms.

Dedicated low-code area to boost your team.

Airtable - Highlights:

  • Runs custom scripts in automations.
  • Development area for creating custom extensions.
Airtable allows for custom scripts when running automations.

Airtable allows for some low-code capabilities, letting users code custom scripts that can be invoked through buttons or amidst automation chains. As such, it’s possible to make Airtable more flexible by covering more scenarios which aren’t contemplated by its standard no-code automations.

This makes Airtable more flexible than most no-code SaaS tools, as more tech-savvy users can use custom scripts to extend Airtable’s capabilities with ease.

It’s also possible to craft custom extensions that can be invoked by your Airtable account to offer things like custom views and interfaces. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that this is not exactly a dedicated area of Airtable: the extension must be traditionally coded and hosted by your own development team. As such, it’s more reminiscent of traditional software development than the rest of the platform.

Access levels and Permissions

Jestor - Highlights:

  • Easy to set up customizable permissions.
  • Enterprise-grade, granular access levels through Advanced Permissioning.
Set up custom access levels with Roles and Seats.

Jestor's approach to access management and permissions is implemented through its Seats and Roles features. Seats determine the system-wide user type: Builders can create processes and boards, Members have the ability to create and update cards, and Viewers are limited to viewing cards.

In addition to Seats, each user is assigned a customizable Role, which defines the specific boards they can access. For instance, you can create a Salesman role with full access to the CRM, read-only access to Leads, and no access to other boards.

For those requiring more detailed control over user actions, Jestor's Advanced Permissioning enables the creation of custom rules for filters and data fields.

Advanced Permissioning gives you full data control.

For example, you might configure the Salesman II role to view only Leads assigned to them, restrict access to phone numbers, and provide read-only access to Leads' email addresses. Advanced Permissioning allows such rules, ensuring your company maintains data security without needing to separate processes due to inadequate access controls.

This level of granular control is typically found in Enterprise-grade solutions, which are usually more costly and less flexible or quick to implement.

Airtable - Highlights:

  • Standard access levels based on boards.
  • Any user with access to a board can edit and see everything.
Airtable's standard access levels.

Airtable takes a more traditional approach to access levels. Instead of access being something inherent to the user and their role in the company, access is entirely based on a table basis. 

Tables may be set as public or work on an invite basis. When invited to a table, a user can have one of four roles: Creator, Editor, Commenter, and Read only. In this hierarchy, Creator is the person who can do anything on the table (such as creating fields), and each successive role has more restrictions applied to it. 

There’s very little customizability when it comes to permissions and access. For example, there’s no native way to hide fields from specific users, and even hiding cards is not straightforward. It’s possible to set which role can edit certain fields, but because there aren’t custom roles this is a very wide-scope setting. As such, Airtable may not be suitable for processes where custom filters are absolutely necessary for data security, narrowing its possible scope.

As one might imagine, this simplified approach streamlines the process and makes it incredibly easy to understand, but has a downside of lacking flexibility to encompass more complex processes. While this may work for simpler processes or small teams, it can become a problem as things begin to scale up.

Dashboards and Analytics

Jestor - Highlights:

  • Powerful dashboards with 20+ components, including calendar, Gantt diagrams, map, tables and more.
  • Dashboards can pull information from any board.
  • Dynamic filters.
  • Interactive and analytical components.
  • Customizable positions and mobile/desktop settings.
Create personalized dashboards and filters.

As Jestor is essentially a tool for building internal apps, it brings a lot more customizability to how users can see and interact with data in the platform. This means Jestor is not only flexible when it comes to building analytical dashboards, but that dashboards can be more than just numbers.

With 7 different types of charts, simple and complex indicators, calendars, and other types of components, companies can build dashboards that present data in the best possible way. Not only that, it is possible to set up dynamic filters so you don’t have to change the components settings when you want to segment data. For example, you may have an indicator showing Total Sold ($) in This Month, but also have a button right next to it allowing you to select the Salesperson, so that the indicator updates to see how much that specific Salesperson has sold. 

Sometimes, it's beneficial for a dashboard to include more than just analytical data. For instance, you might want to place a Form, a Gantt Diagram, or even a Kanban Board alongside your charts and indicators. Jestor makes this integration of operational and analytical components possible, providing all necessary tools on a single page.

More than 20 components to choose from.

Additionally, Jestor allows for customization of component positioning, as opposed to having fixed layouts. Components can be resized and placed anywhere on the page, whether large or small. You can also tailor different layouts for mobile and desktop access, ensuring an efficient and user-friendly arrangement across devices.

Airtable - Highlights:

  • Simpler dashboard with about 10 types of components.
  • Gallery, Calendar, Gantt, Table and more views.
  • Information restricted to a single source.
Dashboards through Interfaces.

Airtable also allows you to create dashboards, though in a simpler capacity. You can activate a Dashboard View in its Interface feature at any time, and this will allow you to create charts and indicators to see analytical information from the board. 

As of the time this article is being written, there are currently 10 types of components available in Airtable, comprised mostly of indicators and charts.

One downside users may encounter when using Airtable’s dashboards is that components can only pull information from a single source (that is, all components in a dashboard pull information from the same table.)  This means the dashboard created in the Content Calendar board, for example, can show you the number of cards in that board, but not the number of cards in the Leads board, which would be useful information to compare and contrast to understand how effective a marketing strategy is. Also, it’s not possible to freely resize and move components around.

Another issue one might encounter is that, while Airtable allows for the creation of many types of views, those are always created as separate sections, so it’s not possible to see a calendar and a chart on the same page.

Task Management

Jestor - Highlights:

  • Dedicated centralized Tasks feature.
  • Tasks can be created without being assigned to cards.
  • You can keep track of tasks assigned to others, deadlines and progression.
Native task features to keep deadlines in view.

In addition to Jestor's flexibility for creating custom processes, there's a dedicated feature for managing Tasks that enables the creation and assignment of tasks to various users and workflows.

When setting up a task in Jestor, you can assign it to yourself or others, and define priorities, deadlines, and to-do lists essential for task completion. All of this is centralized in a dedicated section of the platform, just one click away, allowing you to easily track tasks you're currently working on as well as those you have assigned to others.

Delegate tasks through teams and projects.

Tasks can be created as standalone items, like personal reminders, or attached to cards, where they can even be generated directly from the card itself. As both a subfeature of kanban boards and a comprehensive feature of the platform, tasks can be created easily with a single button press, no matter where you are in the system.

This centralization helps teams collaborate more effectively and assists individuals in managing their daily activities with greater efficiency.

Airtable - Highlights:

  • No dedicated Tasks feature.
There's no centralized task section on Airtable.

As of now, Airtable has no dedicated Task feature. The platform encourages users to create tables and shape them so that each record is a task.

While this gets most of the job done, having records themselves be tasks has its complications. This is because users can either use one single centralized database of tasks (which can be cumbersome depending on company size,) or they can create many different tables to be used for different types of tasks (but then there’s no easy way to see all tasks at the same time.)

It’s often the case that the latter option is chosen and, with every task needing to be a record on a table, users may end up needing to multiply structures just to have the ability of creating their own personal to-dos, which may end up cluttering the account. 

Internal Communication

Jestor - Highlights:

  • Centralized chat feature.
  • Chat works in three levels: DMs, Channels, and Comments on cards.
  • Advanced features such as AI speech-to-text and thread-based conversation.
Jestor's Chat houses DMs, Channels, and Comments/E-mails.

Jestor offers robust communication capabilities through its Chat feature, which supports three levels of interaction:

  1. Direct Messages: Users can engage in one-on-one conversations by sending direct messages to each other.
  2. Channels: These are private or public groups designed for discussing specific topics, such as Finance or Marketing-related matters.
  3. Comments: Users can leave comments or send emails on cards within kanban boards or other processes.

This Chat feature centralizes all communication on the platform. For example, if a user is tagged in a card comment, they receive a message in Chat, where they can view the entire conversation along with data from the related card. By consolidating information from cards while also supporting open-ended communication, this feature can serve as a comprehensive hub for company-wide communication and idea exchange.

AI speech-to-text, threads, and other advanced features.

Additionally, Jestor's Chat includes features typical of communication software, such as thread-based conversations, emoji reactions, and valuable tools like audio messaging and AI-powered speech-to-text for summarizing or transcribing audio messages.

Airtable - Highlights:

  • Standard comments-on-cards feature.
Airtable allows for commenting on records.

Airtable allows for users to comment on cards, which is the standard practice when amongst all similar software. Users get notifications when they are tagged in comments, and though there aren’t any advanced features (like formatting or threads,) it will get the job done in simpler use case scenarios.

One thing to keep in mind is that there is no centralized area where one can keep track of conversations so, if the account grows in complexity, with many different tables and processes, it can be hard to keep track of everything that is happening in parallel.

Mobile

Jestor - Highlights:

  • Customizable mobile apps.
  • More mobile-friendly ways of handling processes apart from kanban boards.
Mobile interface for work on-the-go.

Jestor's interface is designed to adapt seamlessly to any screen size. This ensures an optimized user experience on desktops, with processes automatically rearranging components for enhanced usability on mobile devices.

Customize Jestor's mobile experience.

If you prefer more control over the mobile layout, Jestor offers the option to manually arrange the mobile view. You can resize and reposition components as desired without affecting the primary desktop layout.

Adaptive mobile experience.

One of Jestor's significant advantages is its capability to support various process types beyond kanban boards, enabling the creation of alternate views that are more mobile-friendly. For example, in an approval process, you can set up a list with Approve/Deny buttons instead of using cards and stages, which can be cumbersome on smaller screens.

Airtable - Highlights:

  • Decent mobile app that has limited coverage of features.
Mobile app on Google's Play Store.

Airtable offers an app that brings most of the standard Airtable experience to mobile devices. Interface-wise, it is very similar to what users are used to on the desktop version, with some adaptation to better fit into smaller screens. 

One downside of Airtable’s mobile version is that it doesn’t support all of Airtable’s features and views. For example, according to Airtable’s documentation, Calendar views are not supported on iOS either as Interfaces or Table Views. This is a distinction that is important to keep in mind when implementing processes because it may be the case that workflows require a certain type of view that isn’t supported by iOS or Android devices.

Flexibility

Jestor - Highlights:

  • More varied ways of handling different processes.
  • Extremely customizable (including menus and navigation.)
Combine views for the optimal workflow.

One of the key advantages of Jestor is its exceptional flexibility, enabling it to accommodate a wide array of use cases. Unlike tools that are restricted or highly specialized in one feature, Jestor functions as an internal app builder. While some processes fit perfectly with kanban boards, others are better addressed with Gantt diagrams, tables, forms, or even lists with action buttons.

Jestor further enhances customizability by allowing users to modify parts of the platform that are typically fixed in other tools. For example, you can create custom menus to optimize processes that involve multiple apps or kanban boards. These menus can be positioned at the top, side, or bottom, or even combine all three for a tailored navigation experience.

Multiple ways to interact with your data.

This flexibility enables the creation of apps optimized for specific teams. For instance, you can design a menu featuring all the processes relevant to the Marketing team while keeping unrelated elements out of sight. This approach fosters a more seamless and efficient user experience and enhances the optimization of daily activities.

Airtable - Highlights:

  • Standardized app building via Interfaces.
  • No mixing of different views.
App building with Interfaces.

Airtable has a lot of different views which can be used to run processes. For example, kanban boards and calendars may be used to better present the information to users during daily activities.

With its current focus on the Interface feature, Airtable incentivizes users to create custom apps, which are a collection of interfaces bound together by a single side menu. By allowing users to group all these interfaces in a single panel, it’s possible to create a more comfortable experience without having to hop back to the list of databases all the time.

Not everything is perfect, though. It should be noted that while the apps built by the Interface feature look very nice out-of-the-box, they are not very deep when it comes to flexibility and customization. For example, it’s not possible to mix different views in the same page (such as having a Calendar and a Kanban sharing the same page,) and the side menu itself is standardized: it’s possible to create folders and add pages, but not much else. 

On a final note, apart from the standard side menu, there’s no way to further customize navigation.

Email

 Jestor - Highlights:

  • Email-to-board feature.
  • Allows e-mail communication directly from cards.
Create cards with e-mail-to-database features.

Jestor offers an email-to-database feature, enabling you to create a dedicated email address linked to a specific table. This setup ensures that any email sent to this address automatically generates a card on the database, capturing essential details like the sender's information and any attached files.

Additionally, Jestor supports two-way communication directly within cards. This means that whether a card is created via email or manually (with the necessary information filled out), you can send emails back to the sender through a Chat-like interface.

To enhance this functionality, Jestor includes advanced features such as automatic replies when creating cards and time-sensitive Undo buttons, which let you cancel a sent email within a specific time frame to prevent accidental replies.

Improve customer experience with two-way communication.

This combination of email-to-database functionality, two-way communication, and advanced features makes Jestor an ideal solution for processes like Support Tickets or CRMs, where seamless interaction between clients and users is crucial.

Airtable - Highlights:

  • No email-to-table feature.

As of the writing of this article, there’s no native email-to-record feature in Airtable. Users can rely on external tools like Zapier to create this sort of functionality, but it’s an added cost and it will not allow for two-way communication.

AI

Jestor - Highlights:

  • App building.
  • Text and image generation.
  • Dedicated automations (such as autocategorizing)
  • Speech-to-text transcribing.
  • Native integrations to main AI providers (OpenAI, Gemini, etc.)
Jestor's App Builder is powered by AI

Jestor offers an AI-driven app builder that allows you to effortlessly create functional applications featuring forms, kanban boards, dashboards, databases, and even tailored menus. By simply describing your needs and providing supportive files like flowcharts or spreadsheets, you can establish new workflows in just seconds. These AI-generated workflows can be further refined using Jestor's comprehensive native features, combining AI capabilities with robust customization options.

Also, Jestor enables automations that can produce text or images, which is particularly useful for activities such as managing Content Calendars. For instance, a marketing team can submit an idea and instantly receive a complete draft for a blog post along with a cover image. Users can choose to employ Jestor’s built-in AI automations for tasks like automatically categorizing support tickets, or they can integrate popular AI tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google Gemini through Jestor's many native integrations.

Integrate with popular AI tools.

The platform is enriched with numerous AI features designed to boost team productivity. For example, you can send audio messages through Jestor's internal chat, and an AI-generated transcription will accompany them.

Communication made easier with AI.

Although AI requirements vary across industries, Jestor's extensive range of scenarios ensures every team can utilize AI to optimize their daily operations.

Airtable - Highlights:

  • App building.
  • AI text generation.
  • Data autofilling and summarizing.
Building Airtable apps with AI.

Like Jestor, Airtable also features an AI-powered app builder that allows you to create apps by providing descriptions and files. This app builder will analyze such instructions and create databases and views as necessary within the scope of Airtable's Interface features.

Users may also use AI within automations, for things such as generating texts, which can be useful for drafting documents or summarizing content. By being a little creative with your requests, you can also do more niche things like translating text in foreign languages.

Airtable's Generate with AI automation.

One interesting thing Airtable allows you to do is to create fields with AI built into them. So, for example, you can create a field that is automatically filled by AI given specific instructions.

All-in-all, Airtable provides capable AI features that may help alleviating what users are used to doing by hand.

Pricing

Jestor:

Jestor’s standard "Jestor" plan includes all the features discussed in this article. It's important to note that, given Jestor's extensive range of capabilities, many companies find they can consolidate operations and eliminate the need for other software tools.

While a Jestor subscription costs $10 per user per month on an annual plan, it can actually be a cost-saving measure for businesses that choose to replace other solutions like Slack, Zapier, and/or Zendesk. Depending on your company's specific requirements, Jestor's pricing becomes not only competitive but also a potential net positive when considering overall cost savings.

Airtable:

Airtable’s first paid tier comes at $20/user/mo. 

We chose the Team plan for this comparison as it allows for the usage of a more complete set of features (such as Calendar and Table views.)

Which works best for you?

It really depends on your needs! Jestor offers a broader range of features and numerous out-of-the-box functionalities, including tasks and chat features, all at a significantly lower starting price. Since Jestor's built-in capabilities often meet needs typically addressed by specialized software, you might discover that Jestor is not only more affordable but also helps reduce costs across various software solutions.

If you need specific things that Airtable covers, such as more functions in its formula field or the ability to use custom coded and externally hosted extensions, then you may find that Airtable is better suited to your needs. It also has one of the largest communities in the SaaS space, which might be a plus for people who don’t want to rely on the company’s support staff.