SeaTablevs
Airtable
Airtable: A far larger template, integration and consultant ecosystem if data residency is not a constraint
SeaTable
German-hosted database-spreadsheet hybrid from the team behind Seafile, with a self-hosted server edition
As of 30 August 2026, SeaTable has a free plan and paid plans start at €7/month. A no-code database that looks like a spreadsheet, built and hosted in Germany by the company behind the Seafile file sync product. Softwr lists it under Spreadsheets. SeaTable is made by SeaTable GmbH, available on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
Overview
What SeaTable does
SeaTable stores structured data in bases made of tables with typed columns, then exposes that data through grid, gallery, kanban, calendar, timeline and form views. It adds row-level automations, a plugin system, a scripting layer in Python and JavaScript, and a universal app builder that turns a base into a small internal tool with its own permissions. The cloud service runs on servers in Germany and the vendor is SeaTable GmbH in Mainz, the same team that built the Seafile open source file sync and share platform. The commercial distinction is location and hosting model rather than features. Airtable is a US service with US legal exposure; Baserow and NocoDB are open source but ask you to run and maintain them. SeaTable sits between the two: a European-hosted commercial service with a genuine on-premises server you can license, and pricing quoted in euros with EU invoicing. For a German or Swiss organisation whose data protection officer has to sign off on where records live, that combination shortens a procurement cycle from months to weeks, which is often worth more than any individual feature. Buyers are mid-sized European companies, public sector bodies, universities and agencies that need a shared operational database and cannot use a US-hosted service. The trade-off is ecosystem size. The template library, the community, the third-party integration count and the volume of English-language tutorials are all much smaller than Airtable, and the free self-hosted edition is capped at three users, so the do-it-yourself route that works with Baserow or NocoDB does not exist here at any useful size.
What people use it for
- A German or Austrian company that needs a shared operational database but cannot put customer records on a US-hosted service
- Replacing a sprawl of Excel files used by several departments with one permissioned base and per-view sharing
- Running a small internal tool, such as an equipment register or an application tracker, without commissioning a bespoke build
- Teams already using Seafile that want structured data alongside their file sync platform
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about SeaTable.
- The free self-hosted Developer Edition is capped at three users, so the pattern that makes Baserow and NocoDB attractive, running it yourself for free at real headcount, is not available and any serious on-premises deployment needs a paid per-user licence.
- Row limits are counted across the whole account rather than per base, so the free plan ceiling of 10,000 rows and the Plus ceiling of 50,000 rows arrive sooner than people expect once a few tables hold historical records.
- The integration catalogue is short compared with Airtable, and many connections have to be routed through Zapier, Make or n8n, which adds a second subscription and a second failure point.
- English documentation and community content lag the German material, so non-German teams hit thinner tutorials and fewer worked examples when they get to scripting and the app builder.
- The vendor is a small German company rather than a venture-funded platform, which is a stability advantage but means a slower feature pace and fewer third-party consultants available to hire if a project needs outside help.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of SeaTable
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- SeaTablevsBaserow
Baserow: Genuinely open source and self-hostable at any headcount without a per-user licence
- SeaTablevsNocoDB
NocoDB: Better when you need a spreadsheet interface layered on top of an existing Postgres or MySQL database
Pricing
What SeaTable costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Free
Free
- Up to 25 users
- 10,000 rows in total
- 2 GB storage
- Cloud hosted in Germany
Plus
€7 /mo
- Billed annually, 9 EUR if billed monthly
- 50,000 rows
- 50 GB storage
- Unlimited users
Enterprise
€14 /mo
- Billed annually, 18 EUR if billed monthly
- Unlimited rows
- 100 GB storage
- Advanced permissions and SSO
Dedicated Cloud
On request
- Quoted, minimum 100 users
- Dedicated instance
- Unlimited rows
- 1,000 GB storage
SeaTable Server Developer Edition
Free
- Self-hosted
- Permanently free
- Capped at 3 users
Capabilities
Features
Typed column database
Stores records with fields for text, numbers, links, files, formulas and cross-table relations
Multiple views
Grid, kanban, gallery, calendar, timeline and map views over the same underlying table
Universal app builder
Turns a base into a permissioned internal application with its own navigation and forms
Python and JavaScript scripting
Runs scripts against base data on a schedule or on a button press
Self-hosted server
SeaTable Server can be installed on your own infrastructure under a per-user licence
German data centres
Cloud data is stored in Germany with EU contract terms and GDPR processing agreements
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Where is SeaTable cloud data actually stored?
In data centres in Germany, under German and EU law, with a standard GDPR processing agreement available.
Is SeaTable open source?
No. Seafile, from the same team, is open source. SeaTable is a commercial product with a free self-hosted edition limited to three users.
How does it compare with Airtable on price?
Plus is 7 EUR per user per month billed annually against Airtable Team at 20 USD, but SeaTable applies hard row ceilings on every plan below Enterprise.
Can I move an existing Airtable base across?
Yes, SeaTable imports Airtable bases and Excel files, though formula fields and automations usually need rebuilding by hand.
Keep looking
Where to go from SeaTable
- SeaTable alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- SeaTable pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- SeaTable badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Spreadsheets softwareThe full category
- Best Spreadsheets softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Spreadsheets software for
Compare SeaTable with
- Baserow
- NocoDB
- APITable
- Mathesar
- Teable
- Sigma Computing
- Fibery
- Budibase
- Google Sheets
- Equals
- Cube Software
- Tableau
- Rowy
- Coefficient
- APITable
- Teable
- Sigma Computing
- Equals
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for SeaTable, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on SeaTable
SeaTable alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
SeaTable pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare SeaTable
Put it head to head with anything we hold
SeaTable badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
Best Spreadsheets software alternatives
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quoteSpreadsheet interface over real PostgreSQL tables, so the data stays queryable by anything that speaks SQL
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