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Re: Unlimited Video Hosting with Airtable for Free! (With A Catch...)

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CodeKnight
6 - Interface Innovator
6 - Interface Innovator

Ok, so first up i love airtable and think it is possible the greatest app ever made, i respect airtable and greatly appreciate the free version that they have given to us, it is AWESOME.

I am not trying to abuse this generosity and i am not personally using this “Hack” as for reasons that will become obvious, the “Catch” makes it unusable for commercial use / the wider public. But works for personal uses as long as you are logged into the airtable account that has the videos uploaded. Same works for images and files i imagine.

The Process
Step 1: Upload video into airtable attachment field
Step 2: Open this video so that you can see it playing
Step 3: Right Click on the video and select “inspect” this opens up the coding for the website
Step 4: Locate the web link for the uploaded video file, should be close to where the inspect element has taken you (Or Ctrl + F and enter a distinct word from the video name)
Airtable Video Link Extraction

Step 5: Share the base and grab the embed code from this
Step 6: Replace the embed code for the “src:” with the “src” of the video file hosted on airtable that you found in step 4.
Step 7: Embed the code on your website.
Airtable Video Hosting

So this is unlimited because of the nature of Airtable free plan, unlimited bases with 2 GB limit. So make as many “Attachment Hosting” bases as you want, when the previous one is full.

Here is the catch and the reason this won’t work at scale or commercially. Using airtable this way will be notice by airtable and shut down eventually as streaming video from airtable servers would be hugely taxing. Secondly, you can only view the embedded video, document or picture this way if you are logged into airtable and has access to the base with these resources.

Haven’t figured a way around this, so it become unfeasible to share your attachment base with everyone, so alright for personal, but not public use.

Note: Those images were gifs, showing the process, however they have been converted to Jpeg by the forum :frowning:

12 Replies 12

Because this thread is about the free plan. The limit in free plans is 2GB.

I have no idea if anyone has tried to test these limits, and I have no plans to do so.

Ahh, of course. Thx. Regardless, I predict the other shoe will drop on this seemingly limitless document storage policy before Sept 2023. :winking_face:

mccrai_gmon
5 - Automation Enthusiast
5 - Automation Enthusiast

I just saw your post about using Airtable for unlimited video hosting. That sounds super interesting! Who wouldn’t want to host videos for free? But I get it—there’s always a catch. Usually, those free options come with some strings attached. Maybe it’s storage limits or ads popping up. Still, it could be worth trying out, especially if you’re just starting or need something simple.Have you checked out zynoo.com ? They have some great tips and tricks on maximizing your Airtable use, so you might find it helpful. Remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.