If you've heard of Kanban, you've heard of Trello. If you've heard of databases, you've heard of Airtable. How can you compare a Kanban app and a database tool?

Dig a little deeper, though, and the similarities surface. Both can be used to store data, track processes, collaborate with your team, and view your work in different ways.

Which tool is best for you will depend on the scale of your projects, the level of customization you need, and your budget.

I spent time tinkering with both of these apps, and here, I'll walk you through the differences—and how to know which one is right for you.

Airtable vs. Trello at a glance

The short answer is that Trello is great for simpler projects with less data, while Airtable is better for more complex projects with more data. Here's a quick summary of some of the main differences, but keep reading to learn more about each of these apps.

Airtable is a database tool (with a spreadsheet vibe); Trello is a project management app 

When it comes down to it, Airtable is a database (that feels like a spreadsheet), where you can store huge volumes of data and tackle complex projects. Trello is mostly a digital Kanban board. 

In Airtable, you store data in records (like rows in a spreadsheet). You can include basically any kind of data and can import it from almost anywhere. Because you can add countless customizable fields (columns) to your records, you can do anything you'd do with a standard project management app: assign tasks to team members, include due dates, and add attachments. Just like that, you have a way to track projects with lots of varied data.

Because it's a database, the type of data you'll store in Airtable isn't limited to text, numbers, or dates. There are currently 29 field types to choose from: barcode, checkbox, URL, single select, currency, percentage, audio file, the list goes on. It's extremely flexible, and you can customize it however you want.

With Trello, you're mainly using Kanban boards to move work across a series of steps: drag a card (task) from one list to another as it progresses through the workflow. You could use Trello for storing data—and you can even add attachments to each card—but that's not what Kanban boards are really for.

Similarly, Trello doesn't have a whole lot of data options to choose from. Free members can add text, numbers, images, and documents to their cards, while paid users can add a few custom fields, like dropdown lists, dates, and checkboxes. It's more than enough for basic project management—which is exactly what it's meant for.

Airtable offers more ways to view data than Trello

Airtable not only stores more types of data—it also lets you view that data in more ways: grid, calendar, gallery, Kanban, timeline, list, Gantt, and form. And within each Airtable view, you can filter, sort, group, and customize data in ways that make it more digestible and actionable. 

Trello offers some similar views, but they don't come close to offering the same level of customization or insights into your data as Airtable. The timeline view is much less customizable, for example. And it doesn't offer Gantt, gallery, form, or list view at all. At best, you can view resource allocation, due dates, and card activity through Trello's views. This type of data might be helpful for tracking small projects, but not for analyzing projects on a large scale. 

The one advantage Trello has is its map view, which plots cards on a map by location. But there's a workaround on Airtable to do this too (the map extension).

Airtable is more customizable than Trello

The different views in Airtable already make it a more advanced tool than Trello, but it goes beyond that: Airtable allows you to build fully customizable interfaces for your team or external collaborators—complete with tables, charts, calendars, buttons, and filters. This is where it becomes an internal tool builder.

For example, an interface might allow employees to submit status updates or for managers to leave feedback on work—all that data would then be pulled into the database. Or maybe you want to create an interface to showcase weekly progress, or a dashboard to display sales information for your executive team. 

You can make your interface as interactive as you want. Add forms, reports, and tables from your existing Airtable data, and trigger complex workflows with the click of a button.

The most you can do to customize your Trello experience is change the background and themes. There's no way to dictate how much or in what form users will see your Trello data (other than inviting users only to certain boards). 

Trello is easier to use

For all its bells and whistles, Airtable has quite the learning curve. The basic stuff is simple: importing data, creating tables, adding simple views. And there are plenty of great templates to get you started. But the more you want to customize, the more tinkering you need to do. Be prepared to wade through a bunch of help articles and watch a tutorial or twenty to successfully tackle all that Airtable has to offer.

Trello is more intuitive. Setting up your Kanban boards is a breeze, and even the more advanced features, like automations, are pretty straightforward. You might need some help to configure a few integrations, but that's about as tough as it gets.

So if ease of use tops your list of priorities—and you don't care as much about customization—definitely go for Trello.

Trello's paid plans are more affordable 

Airtable free plan vs. Trello free plan 

Both Trello and Airtable offer competitive free plans, but both miss some critical features that the other app offers for free. If you need a free option, take a look at both offerings to see which fits your needs better.

Once you get past free, though, Trello is a lot more affordable. For $5/user/month (billed annually), you get unlimited boards, custom fields, and advanced checklists, and for $10/user month, you get basically everything except the most enterprise-y features. To get literally everything, it's just $17.50/user/month—and the price per user goes down the more users you have.

Airtable's cheapest plan is more expensive than Trello's most expensive plan: $20/user/month, billed annually. It moves up to $45/user/month for the Team plan, and past that, you're looking at enterprise prices.

If price matters to you, Trello is your choice.

Both apps offer automations and integrations—and both connect to Zapier

Both Trello and Airtable offer automations that have a similar setup: you pick triggers, and when those triggers occur, your pre-selected actions are performed by the app.

They both also have lots of extensions and integrations that add more power to the app and allow you to connect it to the other apps you use. Because both Airtable and Trello connect to Zapier, that means they work with thousands of other apps. Learn more about how to automate Airtable and how to automate Trello, or get inspired by one of these pre-built templates.

Airtable vs. Trello: Which should you use?

Airtable and Trello are very different tools. While they can both be used as project management apps, their approach is apples and oranges—or databases and Kanban boards.

If you're working with a lot of data and need to be able to customize how you interact with it, Airtable is your best bet. If your projects are simpler, and you're looking for an easy tool to manage projects on a small team, go with Trello. 

Related reading:

• The best Airtable alternatives

• The best Trello alternatives

• Trello vs. monday: Which should you use?

• Airtable vs. Asana: Which is right for you?