Updates to Our Pricing Plans

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@nityadb wrote:

 API limit monitoring

We hear your feedback about needing to understand API usage within workspace settings. While we don’t have a specific date to share when this will be available, we can confirm that this has been prioritized by our product team and they are looking to add API usage metrics to the workplace setting page in the coming weeks. We will confirm here and update the help center when this is live.

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This is absolutely mind boggling - how can you introduce a limit on your plan without user being able to know if they are exceeding that limit or not? 

It is not straight forward to measure number of API calls executed on some scenarios on client side. This would require implementing explicit monitoring on our side.  If you are using tools like Make - you might not even be aware of API request Make is making behind the scenes to check the base schema.

> the rate will slow to 2 requests per second until the month resets
This is finally a valid information -  however if I do not know if my Airtable is going to hit the limit or not - should I already go ahead and start implementing fallback scenarios for max 2 request per second? 

With one single change you have moved from being reliable platform to build business on,  to : we really cannot be sure what to expect from Airtable next..

@nityadb 

There really is no acceptable response from Airtable until they can provide the actual numbers on API usage with ample for clients to evaluate the numbers and make an intelligent and informed decision, other than postponing the change until after they have made the numbers available for review.

I understand that API calls have been increasing as more and more tools for accessing the data become available, and more and more of these tools are moving from periodic calls to near real time.  It's understandable that you would look for a means of dealing with this, and the overall solution isn't the problem (from my perspective), it's the way it's being implemented.  

I missed this announcement last December. This absolutely explains why Airtable is going this new pricing route. They don't want us as customers anymore, even though smaller teams are what helped build Airtable and created evangelists for it. 

They are shifting their business (like way too many others) to focus resources on only "Enterprise" level clients, as those are where the big $$ are. Disappointing. Which means it might be time to find another solution for the rest of us. I guess you have to do what you have to do to survive, even if it means turning your back on your biggest supporters.

Airtable New Direction 

Yes, realising this has been very enlightening for us, and they are targeting companies with 1k FTE's which is definitely the way to go (we do this for our business and have become mostly B2B as a gateway to the C) but I have never ever turned back a straight B2C relationship or forced worse terms for B2C. I think airtable is spurning a solid user base (and evangelical, lets be real, corps dont overly care THAT much compared to business owners) for the sake of... maybe cost savings?

To give you specifics on how this works, let’s look at the limits on our Team plan:

• Once the usage limit is reached, you will still be able to make API calls, but the rate will slow to 2 requests per second until the month resets.
  
  Why was this not mentioned in original post? What will be this limit for free users ?

Does the usage limit with slowed requests also apply to automation runs?

Changing the plans for the worse just three weeks in advance, without offering legacy plans, is the fastest way to erode users' trust in the company and to deter evangelists (like us) from spreading the word and bringing in new customers/organizations.

Classic Airtable... Just implement away, no doubt based on a couple of Enterprise user's wishes, and f*ck te rest of them. How can you implement API limits and only after a huge backlash from the community (a) give a decent explanation and (b) realise you have to "dubbelcheck with the product team to prioritize showing the API usage" 💩💩 Have they learned nothing from all their f*ckups in the past? 

@nityadb, what about a price difference between creators and editors? Did that also got escalated? 

Just some information I received from Stackerhq.  Based on a very new and not yet fully active account my client is beginning to implement the expected api use is 120,000 per month.   My interpretation is that this is not a volume issue, it's the need to keep the data up to date.

If anyone is using a similar app that updates near immediately I expect they will exceed the limit very easily.  Applications that sweep periodically (i.e. every 15 minutes) may have more leeway.

Throw in Zapier, Make, Webhooks and the numbers go up.

So if you're a plus member you now get double functionality for the same price, but if you're a pro member you get **bleep**ed. Fantastic 

Downgrading my storage is totally unacceptable, especially without offering any way to compress images to try and cope with the reduced storage allowance.  Surely as years tick by our storage needs will grow not reduce!!

What the heck was Airtable thinking with this decision. Legacy Pro users helped get your brand where it is today, and now you're reducing API calls and attachment storage space?

At a minimum, existing Legacy Pro should be grandfathered (i.e., remain legacy).

@nityadb This not only pulls the rug from under small business - but also your non-profit customers.

The non-profit discount is only available on the team plan - so whilst you're removing vital functionality (like multi-source syncing, emailed data whilst also slicing storage amounts) you're making your non-profits have to effectively pay MORE THAN DOUBLE than everyone else to upgrade to retain the functionality they already have (most pro users to business is 88% increase - for Non-Profits is a 275% increase).

Does Airtable realise how this reflects against any CSR they might have??

Changing terms of service mid-way through a contract / payment period feels illegal - although no-doubt there's some cleaver legal language in the T&Cs that have allowed Airtable to do this.

I have also been in the Airtable evangelist camp - but this has completely eroded all trust.

As so many people have suggested - current users plans should at least be grandfathered.

Cutting on the free plan and removing the plus plan (the only alternative is to pay double(!)). That’s how you want to keep your costumers?!

I’m starting to search for alternatives. Any ideas?

Airtable closed the door on us without giving us time to prepare.

Shame on you!

The latest non-answer from support

"Thanks for your patience. Just wanted to close the loop here and let you know that we heard your feedback about needing to understand API usage within workspace settings. While we don’t have a specific date to share when this will be available, we can confirm that this has been prioritized by our product team and they are looking to add API usage metrics to the workplace setting page in the coming weeks. We will confirm here and update the help center when this is live."

@BillH The "API usage gate" issue is really the epitome of putting the cart before the horse.

Today was the first time I felt uneasy recommending Airtable to a customer. 

It is a product fitting right into requirements of SMBs, this whole pivot on giving up current customers and focusing on enterprise is really undermining confidence. 

Well todays announcement of further lay offs and a focus shift to large enterprise customers makes the API and subscription levels seem largely irrelevant for most of us.  It now gives me a real dilemma… I’m an Enterprise customer but spend level is nowhere what I suspect they want.  So does this mean a massive ramp up in renewal fees to weed out the non-$1m spend customers and shift them on? 

Of course, the layoff news is more acutely felt for those impacted and to those… good luck and thanks!   

That's unfortunate - those layoffs were probably avoidable.  I wish they'd charge us for expandable storage, additional rows, and 'lite' users without builder permissions.  

Airtable resisted granular permissions feature requests for years and spawned a slew of competitors that rushed to fill the massive capability gap left by Airtable.  I'd bet that this price hike does the same thing - the SMBs leaving Airtable will be spending with Airtable's competitors and make the competition more intense.  I imagine that the bonus user growth will pave the way for SmartSuite, Softr, etc to raise more funding and develop even faster.  And with fewer employees, customers, and marketshare, I don't see how Airtable will keep up.  

Here is the announcement @David_Anderson1 mentioned:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2023/09/14/unicorn-startup-airtable-lays-off-27-of-firm-shifts-focus-to-big-clients/?sh=4f7d787d4589

27%... 

This is not a good sign for the future. Especially for small business owners, who were Airtable's biggest supporters since its inception. We've watched this story unfold too many times. A company goes chasing after Enterprise-level market when that market is already flooded with competitors, turning their back on those who got them to where they are. Airtable is a niche product that is convincing itself that it is a Big-Market player. 

Like many SaaS companies it over-employed too quickly vs. slow and steady, which builds sustainable business. And now it finds itself ignoring and abandoning their biggest fans.

This just creates opportunity for someone else to become the new "Airtable."

@J_Jones - excellent economic assessment.

I wish they'd charge us for expandable storage, additional rows, and 'lite' users without builder permissions.

And production snapshots in time. 100% of respondents to this poll indicate a willingness to pay more.

"... spawned a slew of competitors that rushed to fill the massive capability gap left by Airtable. I don't see how Airtable will keep up."

Yep.

One must ask - how does a company with $1.4b in financing fail to reach profitability?

@HTDuck nails it in my opinion. That is precisely the point of this article.

> Especially for small business owners, who were Airtable's biggest supporters since its inception.

When an airliner crashes, there's rarely a single cause. It usually requires three (or more missteps) to bring one down. Sometimes, the missteps are insignificant in and of themselves but result in catastrophic loss. I've lost count of the severe missteps Airtable has made since it became drunk on funding and seemingly lost focus of its core advocate - small and medium-sized businesses. You are spot on.

There are many advantages to picking single-platform solutions that may come with a few unexpected disadvantages -- for example -- the company that sells it to you isn't into you as much as you are into its product. Misaligned values can be deal breakers.

What if the CEO has no affinity for your class or size of business?

Rejecting Airtable for this sentiment is rational because the product offering is subtly biased against your interests. This is apparent as one of the more recent missteps Airtable made by pulling the feature rug for the SMB segment. The signal is clear - they no longer want your business if you are in this class.

Consumers react to incentives and disincentives; they each have consequences. Despite being a no-code leader, most buyers in the marketplace have begun to see enough disincentives to sway their choices or strategies in easily predicted ways but wholly unexpected from a market leader.

The hidden side of these consequences is the unintentional fueling of competitors. Money begins to move from Airtable to competitive products (such as SmartSuite) that while only a fraction of the comprehensive Airtable solution, will use those revenues and votes of confidence to close the gaps. This is made clearly evident by many thought leaders in the no/low-code space.

@Greg_F 

From the article:

“We are realigning to go after bigger use cases, and therefore bigger deals. We want to consistently get customers with million-dollar-plus spend rates, versus supporting lots of little ten-thousand-dollar customers from a sales touch standpoint.”

Which basically say's "Hey, you guys who helped build Airtable up, thanks now Fk off" 

The points being made, particularly by @HTDuck and @Bill_French , sum up most of my feelings.  Chasing enterprise level clients at the expense of the those who have been your foundation is a foolish choice, and probably one that will lead airtable to the long list of "contenders".  

I just don't get it.  In an enterprise environment decision makers look for stability and growth potential before making a sizable commitment.  Smaller products can get in the door, particularly when they provide quick solutions for niche requirements, but eventually they get replaced unless they have so much value added that they grow to the point where they become one of the major players in their field.

Airtable does many things well, but they do nothing so well and so uniquely that they are irreplaceable to large enterprise level requirements.  Burning bridges with SMB clients is bad enough, but doing so with partners in the industry is only resulting in those partners building their relationships with competing products, and in most cases scaling up to other data options, such as PostgreSQL, mySQL, and in some cases even nosql solutions.  

Bad move.