Airtable Data Limit Reached: 3 Common Solutions

Originally published at https://www.nocobase.com/en/blog/airtable-data-limit-reached-3-common-solutions.
Lately, we've been hearing from more and more users. As their businesses grow and teams expand, many are starting to ask the same question:

Is it time to move on from Airtable to a more scalable and cost-effective solution?

To better understand the situation, I reviewed several community discussions—and it turns out, many developers are facing the same challenge.

One software engineer, for example, shared his struggle: Airtable’s 50,000-record cap is making it hard for him to build data-heavy projects.

Airtable is amazing—simple, intuitive, and quick to get started with.

For teams of around 10 people, it’s often a perfect fit: smooth to use and relatively affordable.

But as your business grows, you may start to encounter some limitations.

Let’s take a closer look at Airtable’s current pricing structure:

• Free — 1,000 records per base
• Team (\$20/user/month) — 50,000 records
• Business (\$45/user/month) — 125,000 records
• Enterprise (custom pricing) — 500,000 records

While these limits are clearly stated on the pricing page, many users don’t notice them at first. It’s only when things start to slow down, automations begin to fail, or new records can’t be added that the issue becomes obvious.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve run into something similar.

So, what can you do when you hit those data ceilings?

Different teams take different paths:

1. Some choose to upgrade their plan to extend the system's usability as long as possible.
2. Others split their data across multiple Bases and then use scripts or APIs for cross-table synchronization.
3. A third group begins to consider transitioning from "spreadsheet tools" to more robust business system building platforms—especially open-source products that support self-hosting and offer more flexible data structures.

In this article, we’ll walk through each of these approaches to help you figure out the next step that works best for you.

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1. Upgrade Your Plan

The Simplest Route.

If you believe your team's data volume won't increase significantly, then upgrading your Airtable plan is indeed the most straightforward solution.

As one Reddit user noted, most people either use fewer than 5,000–10,000 records or jump straight past 100,000—there’s rarely anything in between.

For example, in a 10-person team, moving from the Team plan to the Business plan raises the price from \$20 to \$45 per user per month. Over a year, that’s an extra \$3,000 total—giving you a jump from 50,000 to 125,000 records per base.

But as your data continues to grow or becomes more complex, the cost-effectiveness of upgrading starts to drop—you’re paying more for smaller improvements. That’s when some teams start considering another option: splitting data across multiple bases.

2. Splitting Bases + Sync Scripts

Another widely used workaround is splitting your data across multiple Airtable bases and syncing them through the API or custom scripts.

This method is often shared by developers in the community.

One developer explained:

“Most people don’t need to edit or run workflows on 500,000 records at once. I used Airtable as an editing layer and synced it with a real database via the API.”

Here’s how that works:

• Use Airtable as a lightweight front-end, only loading the subset of data your team needs for the current week.
• Keep your full data records and archives in a dedicated database (like PostgreSQL or MongoDB), syncing them with Airtable via scripts or middleware.

Technically, the setup usually involves:

• Scheduled scripts (like Node.js + cron jobs) or tools like Zapier/Make to feed relevant data into Airtable for team access.
• After team members complete their work, changes are pushed back to the main database to maintain consistency.
• High-frequency or sensitive data stays in the main database and is accessed through APIs when needed.

Here’s a simple example using Node.js, Airtable SDK, and PostgreSQL:

// Example: Synchronize updated records from Airtable back to the main database
const Airtable = require('airtable');
const { Pool } = require('pg');

// Securely retrieve API key and database connection string from environment variables
// rather than hardcoding them.
const AIRTABLE_API_KEY = process.env.AIRTABLE_API_KEY;
const AIRTABLE_BASE_ID = process.env.AIRTABLE_BASE_ID;
const DATABASE_URL = process.env.DATABASE_URL;

if (!AIRTABLE_API_KEY || !AIRTABLE_BASE_ID || !DATABASE_URL) {
  console.error("Please ensure AIRTABLE_API_KEY, AIRTABLE_BASE_ID, and DATABASE_URL environment variables are set.");
  process.exit(1);
}

const base = new Airtable({ apiKey: AIRTABLE_API_KEY }).base(AIRTABLE_BASE_ID);
const pg = new Pool({ connectionString: DATABASE_URL });

async function syncUpdatedRecords() {
  try {
    // Implement pagination to ensure all unsynced records are retrieved
    let allRecords = [];
    let offset = null;
    do {
      const response = await base('Orders')
        .select({ 
          filterByFormula: 'NOT({Synced} = TRUE)',
          pageSize: 100, // Number of records per request
          offset: offset 
        })
        .firstPage(); // Use firstPage() and manually manage the offset

      allRecords = allRecords.concat(response);
      offset = response.offset;
    } while (offset);

    for (let record of allRecords) {
      const { id, fields } = record;
      // Assuming Status and UpdatedAt fields exist
      const status = fields.Status || null; 
      const updatedAt = fields.UpdatedAt || new Date().toISOString(); 

      // Write to the main database (upsert: insert or update if exists)
      await pg.query(`
        INSERT INTO orders (airtable_id, status, updated_at)
        VALUES ($1, $2, $3)
        ON CONFLICT (airtable_id) DO UPDATE SET
          status = EXCLUDED.status,
          updated_at = EXCLUDED.updated_at
      `, [id, status, updatedAt]);

      // Mark the record as synced in Airtable
      await base('Orders').update(id, { Synced: true });
    }
    console.log(`Successfully synced ${allRecords.length} records.`);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error syncing records:', error);
  } finally {
    // Ensure the connection pool is closed after script completion, or manage as appropriate
    // await pg.end(); 
  }
}

// Call the sync function (e.g., via a cron job or other scheduler in production)
// syncUpdatedRecords(); 

// Note: This example code demonstrates core logic only. For production environments,
// considerations like comprehensive error handling, incremental synchronization,
// API rate limits, and advanced pagination are crucial.

The core idea: Airtable handles interaction, the database handles storage, and sync logic connects the two.

In the right context—such as managing SKUs, media catalogs, or approval flows—this kind of “front-end/back-end split” can work really well.

But it’s not without downsides:

• You’ll need technical skills: Writing scripts and maintaining sync requires comfort with coding and database operations.
• Things get complex fast: As systems fragment, maintenance becomes harder, and onboarding new team members gets tougher.
• Permissions are tricky: Managing user roles, views, and approvals across multiple bases requires custom work or manual processes, making unified control difficult.

So if you’re already deep into scripting, syncing, and managing scattered bases—it might be a sign that you’re stretching Airtable beyond what it was designed to do.

3. Build a Self-Hosted, Scalable System

If the second solution (splitting Bases and using sync scripts) is something your team can handle, it often suggests you possess the technical expertise to consider even more flexible options. This includes building a self-hosted system that offers customizable data structures and scalable workflows.

Moving from "using a tool" to "building a system" means you're no longer trying to force your processes into a rigid table format. Instead, you're leveraging a platform that supports complex structures to truly construct your business model step-by-step.

This approach brings several significant advantages:

✅ More Flexible Data Structures

Why split one process into five bases and tie them together with scripts, when you could use a relational modeling platform to define your entities properly from the start?

With support for multi-table and many-to-many relationships, you can easily model nested records, status changes, sub-flows, and more—without fighting against tool limitations.

✅ Stronger Process Automation

While Airtable's Automations are light and handy, they may fall short when you require:

• Multi-level approvals
• Conditional branching logic
• Multi-step sequential actions (e.g., "approval granted → update customer status → automatically assign task → send notification")

In such cases, a platform equipped with a workflow engine is far more suitable. You're no longer "writing scripts" to patch gaps in your processes; instead, you're "configuring" comprehensive flowcharts.

✅ Greater Data Control, More Scalable System

Choosing a self-hosted platform means:

• Your data is entirely within your control (e.g., deployed locally or on a private cloud).
• You can extend the system with any functionality you need using plugins and APIs, without being constrained by the limits of a SaaS solution.
• Crucially, you no longer pay per user per month. Instead, you build your system once, on demand, tailored to your specific needs.

Who Should Consider These Platforms?

Not every team needs to take this step.

I've seen users switch to other platforms only to eventually return to Airtable, believing its functionality, ease of use, and flexibility are unparalleled.

However, if you and your team are encountering any of the following challenges:

• Your data structure is growing increasingly complex, with a proliferation of tables and chaotic permission management.
• Approval workflows, task assignments, or granular role control are difficult or impossible to implement within Airtable.
• You handle sensitive data or have stringent compliance requirements for deployment (common in finance, healthcare, education, etc.).
• You aim for long-term cost control, seeking to avoid escalating prices as your team expands.

If any of these resonate, then exploring these alternative platforms might be worthwhile.

You don't need to migrate everything at once. Instead, you can start with a single module, such as a subset of your CRM functionalities or a lightweight ticketing system.

If you're interested in learning more about these types of platforms, I've compiled some options frequently adopted by other teams. Each tool has a slightly different focus and scope, so your specific choice will depend on your team's structure, technical background, and intended use.

All the tools listed above are open-source projects that support self-hosted deployment. You can choose the most suitable solution based on your specific business requirements, deployment environment, and engineering capabilities.

If you're interested in exploring more open-source alternatives to Airtable, you might find this article helpful:

Top 7 OSS Airtable Alternatives Ranked by GitHub Stars

Final Thoughts

For many teams, Airtable marked the beginning of their digital transformation journey. It made building internal tools more accessible and reshaped how we think about data visualization and collaborative workflows.

But as systems grow more complex, we inevitably need to consider how well our tools scale, how much control we have, and whether the costs make sense in the long run.

Each team will chart its own course—there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. What truly matters is understanding the challenges you're solving today, and how your choices will shape what’s possible tomorrow.

We hope this article has offered a helpful lens for your thinking.

Related reading:

• AppSheet Alternative: Build a Many-to-Many Task System No-Code
• Top 7 OSS Airtable Alternatives Ranked by GitHub Stars
• The Best Open-Source Alternatives to AppSheet in 2025
• 7 Best Data Integration Platforms: Reviews & Top Picks
• 6 Open-Source Firebase Alternatives for Self-Hosting and Data Control
• 4 Powerful Open Source Alternatives to Salesforce (With Cost Comparison You’ll Love)