Trello vs Airtable: Which Should You Choose in 2026?
Choosing between Trello and Airtable? We analyzed both tools using our proprietary 100-point scoring methodology. Here's what we found.
🏆 Quick Verdict
Winner: Tie
Both tools scored equally at 91/100.
📊 Score Comparison
Trello
Airtable
📈 Detailed Score Breakdown
| Category | Trello | Airtable | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value/Price (30pts) | 28/30 | 26/30 | Trello |
| Competitive Moat (25pts) | 21/25 | 23/25 | Airtable |
| Transparency (20pts) | 19/20 | 19/20 | Tie |
| UI/UX (15pts) | 14/15 | 14/15 | Tie |
| Tech Maturity (10pts) | 9/10 | 9/10 | Tie |
✅ Pros & Cons
Trello
Strengths
- Highly accessible entry point with generous free tier
- Extensive third-party integration ecosystem
- Robust cross-platform availability
- Advanced automation capabilities included in all plans
Weaknesses
- Critical productivity views restricted to high-cost tiers
- Hidden costs for enterprise-grade security
- AI features are gated behind Premium subscriptions
Airtable
Strengths
- Comprehensive enterprise-grade security and compliance suite
- Strong entry-level value proposition with functional free tier
- High scalability for complex data management
- Advanced AI integration across all tiers
Weaknesses
- Aggressive pricing for advanced administrative features
- Significant additional costs for external user access
- Opaque pricing for the highest tier
🏰 Competitive Moat Analysis
Trello
Trello's moat is primarily driven by its massive user base and the 'Power-Up' marketplace, which creates significant switching costs through workflow integration. As an Atlassian product, it benefits from deep integration with Jira and Confluence, making it a default choice for technical and non-technical cross-functional teams.
Airtable
Airtable's moat is built on high switching costs and a powerful network effect within organizations. By combining database functionality with a low-code 'Interface Designer' and native AI (Omni), it creates a proprietary ecosystem that is difficult to migrate away from once workflows are established. The introduction of 'HyperDB' and 'App Sandbox' further solidifies its position as a professional development platform rather than just a spreadsheet tool.
🎯 Our Recommendation
Choose Trello if: Trello offers an industry-leading value proposition with a highly generous free tier and competitive scaling for enterprises, backed by the robust Atlassian ecosystem....
Choose Airtable if: Airtable demonstrates market-leading technical maturity and a robust competitive moat through its integrated AI capabilities, extensive enterprise security features, and highly flexible app-building p...
Our Methodology
This audit uses Onyx Protocol's standardized evaluation methodology, scoring products across 5 categories: Value/Price (30pts), Competitive Moat (25pts), Transparency (20pts), UI/UX (15pts), and Technical Maturity (10pts). Each category is assessed based on publicly available information.
- This analysis is based on publicly available information at time of audit
- Pricing and features are subject to change
- Individual use cases may have different requirements
- Not a substitute for hands-on evaluation or free trial
Last updated: January 03, 2026. Scores may change as products evolve.