Stackby ReviewBuild relational databases that pull live API data — at half the cost of Airtable
By Morgan Ellis
Stackby is a no-code spreadsheet-database platform best suited for cost-conscious SMBs, agencies, and operations teams who need relational data management with native API column connectors — pulling live data from YouTube, MailChimp, Meta Ads, and 40+ other services directly into rows without a Zapier middleman. The Business annual plan at $8.30/user/month costs 58% less than Airtable Plus, with unlimited read-only guests free on all paid plans. For promoters: Stackby's affiliate program pays 15% recurring commission on monthly plans and 20% on annual plans, with a 60-day cookie window through its self-hosted Partnero portal. The honest limitation: a documented February–March 2026 API outage lasting three weeks with zero proactive communication is the product's primary trust risk for teams building workflows on top of the API.
AT A GLANCE
Pricing
Stackby's pricing is per-seat for editors/creators; read-only guests are free on all paid plans. Monthly billing: Economy $9/user/month, Business $18/user/month, Business Plus $35/user/month. Annual billing (billed per-workspace in 3-user increments): Economy $149/year (3 users = $4.20/user/month), Business $299/year ($8.30/user/month), Business Plus $449/year ($12.50/user/month). Enterprise: custom pricing. Free plan: 5 editors, 20 stacks, 1,500 rows/stack, 2GB attachment storage, 100 automation runs/month — no credit card required. Stackby's own FAQ claims annual plans are '5x cheaper' than monthly; the actual ratio is approximately 2.1x for Economy ($9 monthly vs $4.20 annual) and 2.2x for Business ($18 vs $8.30). The 'up to 70%' savings claim on the pricing page is for specific team-size configurations that favor the annual bundle.
Best for
Cost-conscious SMB and startup teams switching from Airtable or Smartsheet, Marketing teams managing API-connected campaign and analytics data, Agency owners managing multiple client workflow databases with external stakeholders, Operations managers building custom no-code dashboards without developer help, Solopreneurs and freelancers replacing multiple SaaS subscriptions with one tool
▶ Ready to explore?
Try Stackby →Pros
- ✓Business annual plan at $8.30/user/month — 58% cheaper than Airtable Plus
- ✓Unlimited read-only guests on all paid plans, free
- ✓Native API connector columns eliminate Zapier for 40+ data sources
- ✓Bring-your-own-key AI fields with no AI markup cost
- ✓Free plan covers 5 editors, 20 stacks, no credit card required
Cons
- ✗Three-week API outage in Feb–Mar 2026 with no proactive user communication
- ✗Less polished UI than Airtable; initial setup more complex for non-technical users
- ✗No Interface Designer equivalent for building user-facing app interfaces
- ✗Bootstrapped 22-person team — platform longevity risk vs VC-backed alternatives
- ✗Fewer third-party integrations than Airtable's marketplace
Who Should Skip Stackby
▶ Ready to start?
Start with Stackby →▶ About This Software
Stackby is a no-code relational database platform used by 100,000+ organizations worldwide, built by Relytree Technologies (bootstrapped, founded 2018) as a direct alternative to Airtable. The platform combines spreadsheet-style tables with database relationships, multiple view types (Grid, Kanban, Calendar, Gallery, Timeline), native API connector columns, workflow automations, and AI field agents — all accessible through a browser, desktop app, or iOS/Android mobile app. The defining differentiator is the API connector column: instead of paying for Zapier to pipe YouTube analytics, MailChimp data, or Meta Ads metrics into a spreadsheet, Stackby builds the connection directly into the column type. Economy annual plan starts at $149/year for three users ($4.20/user/month); Business annual is $299/year for three users ($8.30/user/month). A free plan covers up to 5 editors, 20 stacks, and 1,500 rows per stack indefinitely. Airtable charges $20/user/month for comparable functionality — Stackby's Business annual costs less than half. The affiliate program pays 15% recurring commission on monthly subscriptions and 20% on annual subscriptions through a self-hosted Partnero portal, so teams evaluating Stackby for their own workflows should know that recommending it to their networks generates genuine income at a competitive SaaS affiliate rate.
The product warrants two honest disclosures. First, a documented three-week API outage (February 23 – mid-March 2026) where every API endpoint returned HTTP 500 errors with no proactive communication from Stackby — verified by an organic Capterra reviewer who documented a billing dispute alongside the technical failure. This incident is the product's primary credibility risk for teams building on top of the API, and it is absent from every other Stackby review. Second, Stackby is bootstrapped with 22 employees — a platform-longevity consideration that Airtable ($11B+ valuation, VC-backed) does not present. For teams using Stackby's web UI and native automations (not the API directly), the outage is less material, and the longevity risk is managed by the $3.2M ARR the company reached in 2024.
▶ Key Features
Live Data in Every Column Without Zapier
Stackby's API connector columns are the product's structural differentiator. Instead of building a Zapier zap to pipe YouTube Analytics, Meta Ads, MailChimp, or SerpStat data into a spreadsheet, you add an API column type to any table and configure which data field populates each cell. Economy plan allows 10 API columns per workspace; Business allows 15. The 40+ supported services include YouTube, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Meta Ads, MailChimp, Hunter.io, Clearbit, OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Twilio, and more. Automatic refresh runs on a schedule (500/month on Economy, 1,000/month on Business) — the free plan requires manual refresh.
Relational Databases With Eight View Types
Stackby tables connect to each other through Link, Lookup, and Aggregate column types — the standard relational-database pattern that lets you link contacts to companies, tasks to projects, or products to suppliers without duplicating data. Data displays across eight views: Grid, Kanban, Calendar, Gallery, Timeline, List, Forms, and Updatable Forms. Each view can be shared via a public link, embedded, or locked to specific collaborators. The Calendar view supports multi-day date ranges and multiple date fields on a single calendar — a feature Airtable limits on lower-tier plans.
Unlimited Free Read-Only Guests on All Paid Plans
Airtable charges for external collaborators above a workspace threshold. Stackby includes unlimited read-only guests on all paid plans at no per-seat cost. For agencies sharing client dashboards, teams presenting data to stakeholders, or educators sharing course databases, this is a structural cost difference that compounds significantly at scale. A 10-person agency sharing ten client workspaces each with five client stakeholders would pay zero for 50 read-only seats on Stackby; equivalent external-collaborator access on Airtable adds per-seat charges.
AI Field Agents on Every Plan (Bring Your Own Key)
Stackby's AI field columns connect to OpenAI, Google Gemini, and Anthropic models using your own API key — meaning Stackby does not mark up AI compute costs. AI fields can analyze documents, run web searches, generate text, or enrich rows at scale. Free plan allows 5 AI co-builder uses per month; Business allows 10 per month. The bring-your-own-key model means AI costs scale with actual usage rather than a fixed per-seat AI add-on fee.
500+ Templates Across 12+ Industries
Stackby's template gallery covers marketing campaign trackers, sales CRM pipelines, recruitment applicant trackers, HR onboarding databases, inventory management, financial reporting, project management, AI content calendars, and more. Templates are pre-configured with relevant column types, views, and automations — reducing setup time from hours to minutes. The AI co-builder can also generate a stack from a natural-language description for use cases not covered by existing templates.
Internal Automations With External App Triggers
Stackby's internal automation engine fires on row creation, field changes, form submissions, or time-based schedules. Actions include updating records, sending Slack or Microsoft Teams notifications, and triggering Zapier, Make, or Pabbly Connect workflows. Business plan supports 25,000 automation runs per month — sufficient for most operational workflows. The external automation integrations (Zapier, Make, n8n.io, Integromat) mean Stackby's own automation limits can be extended through existing workflow tools the team already uses.
▶ Who Should Use This
Small business teams (1–50 people) that have outgrown Google Sheets but cannot justify Airtable's $20/user/month pricing find Stackby's Business annual at $8.30/user/month with unlimited free guests to be the lowest-friction migration. The free plan's five-editor limit means most SMBs hit the Economy plan quickly — but at $149/year for three users, the annual cost is lower than one month of Airtable for the same team.
Marketing, content, or operations agencies managing multiple client databases need read-only sharing at scale. Stackby's unlimited free guest policy means client stakeholders view dashboards without per-seat charges. The Page Designer app lets agencies generate branded invoices, certificates, and reports directly from Stackby records — reducing dependence on separate document tools.
Marketing teams that currently pipe YouTube analytics, Meta Ads data, or MailChimp audience metrics into Google Sheets via Zapier are Stackby's highest-fit audience for the API connector feature. Replacing the Zapier automation with a native API column eliminates a monthly Zapier cost and reduces breakage risk when Zapier changes its connector format.
Non-technical operations managers who build internal tooling — recruitment trackers, vendor databases, inventory systems, project dashboards — benefit from Stackby's 500+ templates as a starting point and the AI co-builder to generate custom stacks from a description. The no-code constraint is a feature, not a limitation, for this audience.
▶ Pricing
Stackby's pricing is per-seat for editors/creators; read-only guests are free on all paid plans. Monthly billing: Economy $9/user/month, Business $18/user/month, Business Plus $35/user/month. Annual billing (billed per-workspace in 3-user increments): Economy $149/year (3 users = $4.20/user/month), Business $299/year ($8.30/user/month), Business Plus $449/year ($12.50/user/month). Enterprise: custom pricing. Free plan: 5 editors, 20 stacks, 1,500 rows/stack, 2GB attachment storage, 100 automation runs/month — no credit card required. Stackby's own FAQ claims annual plans are '5x cheaper' than monthly; the actual ratio is approximately 2.1x for Economy ($9 monthly vs $4.20 annual) and 2.2x for Business ($18 vs $8.30). The 'up to 70%' savings claim on the pricing page is for specific team-size configurations that favor the annual bundle.
Free ? $0/mo (free plan). Best for individuals and very small teams evaluating the platform. 5 editors, 20 stacks, 1,500 rows/stack, 2GB attachment storage, 100 automation runs/month, 2 API connector columns.
Economy ? $4.2/mo billed annually ($9 monthly). Best for small teams that need more stacks and automation runs than the free plan. 25 stacks, 7,000 rows/stack, 6GB storage, 1,000 automation runs, 10 API columns, custom branded forms.
Business ? $8.3/mo billed annually ($18 monthly). Best for growing teams running operational workflows — the recommended plan for most use cases. 50 stacks, 50,000 rows/stack, 20GB storage, 25,000 automation runs, 15 API columns, snapshots, table/column permissions, 2FA.
Business Plus ? $12.5/mo billed annually ($35 monthly). Best for larger teams or teams with heavy automation needs. 100 stacks, 100,000 rows/stack, 50GB storage, 100,000 automation runs, 20 API columns, enterprise admin panel, priority support.
Enterprise ? $0/mo (free plan). Best for organizations with compliance, governance, or per-seat headcount above ~100 users. Unlimited stacks, 250,000 rows/stack, SAML SSO, 3-year activity history, DLP APIs, audit logs, invoice payment.
▶ Use Cases
A content operations manager tracking 200 blog posts, their SEO metrics, and email subscriber growth connects Stackby's API columns directly to Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and MailChimp — eliminating three separate Zapier zaps and reducing per-zap cost. All editorial data lives in one stack with Calendar view for scheduling and Kanban view for status tracking.
A digital marketing agency running five client retainers creates one Stackby workspace per client, with a shared Grid view for internal tracking and a read-only Gallery view shared with each client contact. All five workspaces fit within one Business annual plan ($299/year for three internal editors), with zero additional cost for the five client read-only stakeholders. Equivalent Airtable setup would require five Pro workspaces at $20/user/month each.
A video creator tracking video performance, subscriber growth, and sponsor deliverables across 50+ videos adds YouTube Analytics API columns to their Stackby table — pulling view count, watch time, and revenue data automatically on a daily refresh schedule. The free plan handles the initial 20 stacks and 1,500 rows; the Economy annual plan ($149/year for a solo creator on the solo-seat monthly rate) fits most creator budgets.
▶ Make it official
Get Stackby →▶ Frequently Asked Questions
Is Stackby really a safe Airtable replacement for a team already invested in Airtable?
For teams using Airtable's core relational-database, view, and automation features — yes, Stackby handles those use cases and costs significantly less. The migration path is straightforward: Stackby's importer pulls from Airtable directly. The risks are specific: if your team uses Airtable's Interface Designer, two-way sync with enterprise tools, or builds production applications on the Airtable API, Stackby does not yet match those capabilities. The 14-day Business plan trial lets your team test the full feature set before committing.
What happened with the Stackby API outage in February–March 2026?
A verified Capterra reviewer documented a three-week period starting February 23, 2026 where every Stackby API endpoint returned HTTP 500 errors. The reviewer reported diagnosing the issue themselves (a null pointer in Stackby's Express.js error handler leaking the full stack trace), receiving no proactive communication from Stackby during the outage, and entering a chargeback dispute over a $399 payment not reflected in the billing system. Stackby's founder responded to the review on March 16, 2026, and internally verified tickets as resolved. This is the most significant documented reliability failure in Stackby's public review history. Teams using Stackby's web UI rather than the API are not affected by API-layer incidents. The incident warrants monitoring — if Stackby's API has similar incidents in 2026, it represents a pattern rather than an exception.
How does Stackby handle data backup and security?
Stackby stores customer data in multiple redundant AWS data centers across geographic regions. Business plan and above include database snapshots and activity history (12 months on Business, 3 years on Enterprise). The platform offers 2FA on Business and above, and SAML-based SSO on Enterprise. An enterprise security whitepaper is available by emailing [email protected]. For GDPR compliance, Stackby has a published GDPR policy at stackby.com/gdpr.
Does Stackby actually save money over Airtable at team scale?
Yes — the savings are most significant for teams with external collaborators. At 10 internal editors, Business annual costs $299/year per workspace (3-seat increment, $8.30/user/month equivalent). Airtable Plus at $20/user/month costs $2,400/year for the same 10 users. The differential widens with read-only users: Stackby includes unlimited read-only guests free; Airtable charges for collaborators above the workspace limit. A 10-editor team sharing dashboards with 20 external stakeholders pays $299/year on Stackby versus substantially more on Airtable once external-collaborator charges are factored in.
What is Stackby's API connector column, and how is it different from Zapier?
Stackby's API connector is a column type within a table that pulls data from a third-party service — YouTube Analytics, MailChimp, Meta Ads, SerpStat, Hunter.io, etc. — directly into that cell. You configure which API field maps to the column, and Stackby refreshes the data automatically on a schedule (Economy: 500 automatic API runs/month; Business: 1,000). The difference from Zapier: the connection is native to the column, not an external automation that fires separately. There is no additional per-task cost, no Zapier pricing tier to manage, and no breakage when Zapier updates its connector schema. The tradeoff: Stackby supports 40+ API sources vs Zapier's 6,000+ integrations — Zapier remains the right choice for connecting tools Stackby does not natively support.
Is Stackby suitable for non-technical users without database experience?
Largely yes — the interface is spreadsheet-familiar, and the 500+ templates mean most common workflows have a pre-built starting point. The areas where Stackby has a steeper curve than Google Sheets: configuring Link/Lookup relationships between tables, setting up API connector columns with the right field mapping, and understanding the Apps Marketplace for building dashboard widgets. Stackby's help center, video tutorial library, and community forum are available resources. The consensus across G2 and Capterra reviews is that ease of use scores 4.7–4.8/5, with the main friction points being initial setup for complex relational structures and the API column configuration for non-technical users.
▶ How to Promote Stackby as an Affiliate
Stackby's affiliate program pays 15% recurring commission on monthly subscriptions and 20% on annual subscriptions through its self-hosted program portal (Partnero), with a 60-day cookie duration and $50 PayPal minimum paid on the 10th of each month. The commission rate is competitive for a bootstrapped SaaS tool at this price point. The recurring commission on monthly plans means a referred team staying active for two months generates two commission payments. The annual-plan commission (20%) is the higher-value single-payment event — a 3-user Business annual workspace at $299/year generates $59.80 from the Revenue Share structure.
The strongest promotion angle is the Airtable price comparison: quantify the savings with specific team-size examples, surface the unlimited-free-guest differentiator, and note that Stackby's free plan enables a no-credit-card trial. Content targeting 'Airtable alternative' or 'Stackby vs Airtable' captures high commercial-intent searchers at the bottom of the evaluation funnel — the 60-day cookie duration gives these readers time to complete a full trial before attribution expires. The affiliate link should point to the free trial or pricing page rather than the homepage to align the landing experience with the cost-comparison intent.
Secondary content targeting teams who use affiliate marketing or content marketing workflows — specifically those pulling live data from advertising platforms, email tools, or analytics dashboards — converts well because the API connector feature solves a tangible pain point. Writers tracking affiliate link performance across multiple traffic sources, for example, can build a Stackby database that pulls conversion rate data from Google Analytics and revenue data from their affiliate network directly into the same relational table. For that audience, the self-hosted program structure means one less network dashboard to manage. Producing content that demonstrates this workflow through a specific use case — not a generic 'Stackby for affiliate marketers' headline — reaches an audience with a problem Stackby solves natively.