Build a Custom Block

[Joseph_Brundige]

Hello!
I am trying to do the `Hello World but there is no option to “Build a Custom Block” in my base. Can someone help? I have a Pro account. Did they remove this feature?

Thank you`

[kuovonne]

Welcome to the Airtable community.

The “Hello World” tutorial that you referenced is part of the Custom Blocks Beta.
As a Pro subscriber, you can request access to the beta.

Per this post, it looks like it might take 24 hours to get access. However, since this is a holiday weekend in the USA, it might take a bit longer.

If you are granted access to the beta, you will get a “build a custom block” button when you go to add a new block.

If you’ve already been granted access to the beta and it still doesn’t show up, you may need to close and reload Airtable.

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If this answers your problem, could you please mark this post as the solution?
If not, could you please give a bit more details on your status in applying for the beta and where you expect to see access?

[Kasra]

Thanks @kuovonne!

One clarification: building your own custom blocks is currently available on all plans, including the free plan. Using existing blocks (e.g. page designer, gantt, etc) requires a Pro plan.

[kuovonne]

@Kasra Thanks for the clarification that a pro plan is not necessary for this particular beta, which is different from most betas.

Are you at liberty to say how long custom blocks will remain available to free users? (For example, it seems like Scripting block is free only until September.) Creating a custom block is a lot of work, and users deserve to know if they will need to convert to a paid plan in order to use the blocks they write once the beta is over, or within a few months of the official launch.

[Karen_Serfaty]

Same question around users needing a paid plan to access blocks. Will this remain the norm? Any way I can choose if my block can be accessed by free users?

[Michelle_Valent]

Hi Kuovonne and Karen,

We plan on making it free for developers to develop a block locally (e.g. connect blocks-cli etc.). However, the full blocks suite remains part of the Airtable pro plan. For example, to use a released custom block in your base, you’ll still need to be a pro user after September 2020. While we don’t have plans to change pricing for blocks in the near term, we are exploring ways to introduce a developer plan.

Stay tuned!
Michelle