{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "airtable", "name": "Airtable", "vendor": "Formagrid Inc (Airtable)", "vendorUrl": "https://www.airtable.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "spreadsheets", "summary": "Airtable is a hosted database of typed records organised in bases, tables and views. Agents reach it through a REST Web API and an official hosted MCP server, using personal access tokens or OAuth.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/airtable", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/airtable.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/airtable.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/airtable.json", "repo": "https://github.com/Airtable/airtable-mcp-cli", "license": "Proprietary service under Airtable's Terms of Service and Developer Terms. The airtable.js client and the MCP CLI on GitHub are MIT", "transports": [ "http", "streamable-http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.airtable.com", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "airtable" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@airtable/mcp-cli" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "Self-serve. A signed-in user creates a personal access token at airtable.com/create/tokens, choosing scopes and the bases or workspaces it can reach, or registers an OAuth integration at airtable.com/create/oauth with no review step found in the docs. OAuth uses the authorisation code grant with PKCE, 60-minute access tokens and 60-day refresh tokens that rotate on use. The MCP server takes either, and supports dynamic client registration. Tokens act as the granting user, so the user's role on a base still applies. Enterprise admin scopes and service accounts need an Enterprise Scale plan.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free plan with 1,000 API calls a month per workspace and 1,000 records per base, so an agent can start without a contract. Team is $20 a seat a month billed annually ($24 monthly) with 100,000 calls a month, Business $45 billed annually, Enterprise Scale through sales. API calls aren't priced separately, and there's no separate sandbox. The MCP server is included on every plan (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "$20 / seat-mo", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the Web API docs, the MCP docs or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 40, "popularity": { "githubStars": 2229, "npmWeekly": 568991, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://airtable.com/developers/web/api/introduction", "llmsTxt": "https://airtable.com/developers/llms.txt", "registryName": "com.airtable/mcp", "capabilities": [ "sheets.records", "sheets.read", "sheets.write", "sheets.tables", "sheets.formulas" ], "tags": [ "official", "hosted", "mcp", "closed-source", "free-tier", "oauth", "llms-txt", "webhooks", "javascript", "status-page", "bug-bounty", "soc2" ], "lastRelease": "2026-08-07", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 70.9, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 124, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 722, "categoryRank": 3, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 68, "maintenance": 49, "payments": 30, "reliability": 94, "schema": 73, "security": 78, "transparency": 86 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Tokens are limited by scope and by base, and the official MCP server at mcp.airtable.com covers records, schema, interfaces and automations in 40 tools. The REST API allows 5 requests a second per base with a 30-second lockout after a 429, writes take 10 records a call, and the Free plan stops at 1,000 calls a month.", "bestFor": "Teams that already keep operational data in Airtable and want an agent to read, filter and update typed records or build bases through MCP.", "strengths": [ "Personal access tokens and OAuth grants are limited by scope and by base or workspace, and the legacy `api_key` URL parameter is refused", "Official hosted MCP server at https://mcp.airtable.com/mcp, open to every plan and listed in the MCP registry as com.airtable/mcp", "Markdown copy of every API reference page, indexed by llms.txt files under airtable.com/developers", "List records takes `fields`, `pageSize`, `maxRecords`, `view`, `sort` and `filterByFormula`, so responses can be sized", "Published deprecation guidelines aim for 12 months' notice on the Web API, and no deprecation was listed as upcoming on 8 October 2026" ], "weaknesses": [ "5 requests a second per base, and a 429 blocks further requests for 30 seconds", "Create, update and delete calls take at most 10 records each", "Free plan allows 1,000 API calls a month per workspace and 1,000 records per base", "No OpenAPI description was found in the reviewed documentation", "The only official client library is airtable.js, last released as v0.12.2 on 16 August 2023" ], "agentNotes": [ "Create a personal access token with only the scopes needed and add each base to it. A token with no base added sees nothing", "Stay under 5 requests a second per base. After a 429, wait 30 seconds before the next call", "Send writes in batches of 10 records, and use `performUpsert` with `fieldsToMergeOn` so a repeated call updates instead of duplicating", "Use table and field IDs, not names, and set `returnFieldsByFieldId` so a rename doesn't break the call", "POST to `/listRecords` when a `filterByFormula` would push the URL past 16,000 characters" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 70.9 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 68, "maintenance": 49, "payments": 30, "reliability": 94, "schema": 73, "security": 78, "transparency": 72 }, "provenanceScore": 100 }, "connect": { "install": "npm install -g @airtable/mcp-cli", "http": "curl https://api.airtable.com/v0/YOUR_BASE_ID/YOUR_TABLE_ID_OR_NAME -H \\\n\"Authorization: Bearer YOUR_TOKEN\"", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http airtable https://mcp.airtable.com/mcp", "config": { "mcpServers": { "airtable": { "type": "http", "url": "https://mcp.airtable.com/mcp" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/sheets.records", "tool": "https://letme.dev/airtable" }, "area": "business", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Team", "unit": "seat-month", "usd": 20, "note": "billed annually, $24 billed monthly, 100,000 API calls a month per workspace" }, { "item": "Business", "unit": "seat-month", "usd": 45, "note": "billed annually" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Formagrid Inc (doing business as Airtable)", "domain": "airtable.com", "domainRegistered": "2003-12-10", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.airtable.com/company/tos", "privacy": "https://www.airtable.com/company/privacy", "statusPage": "https://status.airtable.com", "changelog": "https://airtable.com/developers/web/api/changelog", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The Terms of Service (last updated 31 May 2024) and the privacy policy (last updated 15 July 2026) name Formagrid Inc, doing business as Airtable, with a postal address at 1 Front Street, Fl 28, San Francisco, CA 94111.", "The REST API answers at api.airtable.com and the MCP server at mcp.airtable.com, both airtable.com subdomains.", "airtable.com/.well-known/security.txt gives security@airtable.com and the HackerOne programme and has no Expires field. www.airtable.com/.well-known/security.txt returns 404.", "RDAP for airtable.com gives a registration date of 2003-12-10.", "The Service Level Agreement (last updated 26 March 2024) commits to 99.9 per cent monthly uptime for Enterprise plans." ], "score": 100 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/airtable.json", "live": { "slug": "airtable", "probe": { "target": "https://api.airtable.com", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:03.164874937Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 200, "lastMs": 729, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 795, "p95ms24h": 932, "samples24h": 64, "samples30d": 64, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 64, "ok": 64 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.airtable.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T21:05:50.689689367Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "Airtable/airtable-mcp-cli", "version": "v0.2.9", "released": "2026-08-07", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T15:57:17.360180778Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@airtable/mcp-cli", "version": "0.2.9", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T15:57:17.136543533Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "airtable", "version": "0.12.2", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T15:57:14.88836809Z" } ], "githubStars": 39, "npmWeekly": 568991, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://airtable.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:38:43.521220209Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://airtable.com/developers/web/api/changelog", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:15:06.114167061Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "ed78de5d569e" }, { "url": "https://www.airtable.com/company/privacy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:26:01.462339624Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "9f111732ba6a" }, { "url": "https://www.airtable.com/company/tos", "kind": "terms", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:26:03.977291054Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "b438a1e2d7d0" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:03.164874937Z" } }, "answer": "Airtable scores 70.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Grist's 50.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Grist leads on maintenance \u0026 community.", "b": { "slug": "grist", "name": "Grist", "vendor": "Grist Labs Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://www.getgrist.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "spreadsheets", "summary": "Grist is a spreadsheet-database hybrid from Grist Labs with typed columns and Python formulas, sold as a hosted service and as open-source software to self-host. Agents reach it through a REST API and an MCP server with OAuth.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/grist", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/grist.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/grist.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/grist.json", "repo": "https://github.com/gristlabs/grist-core", "license": "Apache-2.0 for the community edition in gristlabs/grist-core. The full edition, which adds the MCP server, the OAuth server and audit log streaming, is proprietary and needs an activation key after a 30-day trial. Docs are CC BY-SA 4.0", "transports": [ "http", "streamable-http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://docs.getgrist.com/api", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "grist-api" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "grist-api" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "Self-serve. A signed-in user creates an API key on the Developer page of account settings and sends it as `Authorization: Bearer`. The key carries its owner's full account access, and each account has one. The alternative is OAuth 2.0 with PKCE, used by the MCP server and by registered apps. The user approves any of seven scopes (`doc:read`, `doc:write`, `doc.schema:write`, `doc:download`, `doc:webhooks`, `user.profile:read`, `offline_access`) and can limit the grant to chosen sites, workspaces or documents. Access tokens last 1 hour and refresh tokens 60 days, and a grant can be revoked per app. Clients can register themselves by Client ID Metadata Document. Not every REST endpoint accepts an OAuth token.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free plan with 5,000 rows a document and 3,000 API calls a month per site, REST and MCP calls together, so an agent can start without a contract. Pro is $10 a user a month ($8 billed yearly) and Business $30 ($24 yearly, minimum 5 users), Enterprise through sales. API calls aren't priced, the MCP server is on every plan for now, and there's no separate sandbox. The self-hosted community edition is free (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "$10 / seat-mo", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the API docs, the OpenAPI file, the MCP docs or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 34, "popularity": { "githubStars": 11900, "npmWeekly": 341, "pypiWeekly": 240, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://support.getgrist.com/rest-api/", "openapi": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gristlabs/grist-help/master/api/grist.yml", "capabilities": [ "sheets.records", "sheets.read", "sheets.write", "sheets.tables", "sheets.formulas" ], "tags": [ "official", "hosted", "self-hosted", "open-source", "mcp", "free-tier", "oauth", "api-key", "openapi", "webhooks", "python", "javascript" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-28", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 50.1, "grade": "D", "agentReady": false, "rank": 597, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 722, "categoryRank": 10, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 57, "maintenance": 78, "payments": 30, "reliability": 39, "schema": 63, "security": 62, "transparency": 61 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": -4, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-09-13. GHSA-9x4j-4rw5-3vmq, critical (CVSS 10.0), remote code execution through prototype pollution from an imported crafted document, affecting Docker images before 1.7.19 and fixed in 1.7.19. Four more advisories were published in the last 12 months, among them GHSA-7xvx-8pf2-pv5g (CVE-2026-24002, critical, 21 January 2026) on the pyodide sandbox option, fixed in 1.7.9. All five are fixed and published and none says whether hosted Grist was affected, so the deduction is reduced (https://github.com/gristlabs/grist-core/security/advisories)" ], "verdict": "OAuth tokens carry seven scopes, can be limited to chosen documents and expire after an hour, and the REST API has a public OpenAPI file with an add-or-update call. No status page, SLA terms, DPA or security.txt was found, and the docs say the hosted service has no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audit.", "bestFor": "Teams that want a relational spreadsheet with Python formulas and per-document OAuth grants for an agent, or that need to self-host.", "strengths": [ "OAuth 2.0 with PKCE and seven scopes, with `doc:read`, `doc:write` and `doc.schema:write` granted separately and the grant limited to chosen sites, workspaces or documents", "Access tokens last 1 hour, refresh tokens 60 days, and a user can revoke one app's grant from the Authorised apps page", "Public OpenAPI 3.0.0 file with 101 paths and 120 operations, including a read-only SQL endpoint and `PUT` on `/records` to add or update by key columns", "Limits are published with numbers per plan, with 10 concurrent requests per document and a 1 MB request body on every plan", "The core is Apache-2.0 and four releases were tagged between 29 July and 28 September 2026" ], "weaknesses": [ "No status page was found. status.getgrist.com redirects to a signup form, and the site footer and help centre link to none", "An API key carries its owner's full account access, and each account has one key, so it can't be limited to a document or revoked per integration", "The data security page says hosted Grist has no SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA or GDPR certification, and no DPA, sub-processor list or security.txt was found", "The MCP server and OAuth server are in the proprietary full edition, so the Apache-2.0 community edition has neither and the tool definitions aren't public", "Five security advisories were published in the last 12 months, two rated critical, the latest on 13 September 2026 with CVSS 10.0", "The Free plan allows 3,000 API calls a month across a site, with REST and MCP calls sharing the pool" ], "agentNotes": [ "Connect through OAuth, not an API key. Ask for `doc:read` alone for reading, and have the user pick Selected resources on the consent screen", "Keep `doc.schema:write` off unless needed. The docs say formula editing lets its holder read any data in the document whatever the access rules", "Send requests for one document one at a time. The eleventh concurrent request gets 429, and no Retry-After header is documented", "Use `PUT /api/docs/{docId}/tables/{tableId}/records` with `require` to add or update by key, so a retried write doesn't create a duplicate row", "Use the `/records` endpoints, not the deprecated `/data` ones, and split large writes to stay under the 1 MB body limit" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "D", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 50.1 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 57, "maintenance": 78, "payments": 30, "reliability": 39, "schema": 63, "security": 62, "transparency": 50 }, "provenanceScore": 71 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install grist-api", "http": "curl -H \"Authorization: Bearer \u003cAPI-KEY-GOES-HERE\u003e\" https://docs.getgrist.com/api/orgs", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http grist https://docs.getgrist.com/api/mcp" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/sheets.records", "tool": "https://letme.dev/grist" }, "area": "business", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Pro (hosted)", "unit": "seat-month", "usd": 10, "note": "billed monthly, $8 billed yearly, 100,000 rows a document, 40,000 API calls per document per day" }, { "item": "Business (hosted)", "unit": "seat-month", "usd": 30, "note": "billed monthly, $24 billed yearly, minimum 5 users, 150,000 rows a document, 60,000 API calls per document per day" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Grist Labs Inc.", "domain": "getgrist.com", "domainRegistered": "2014-05-12", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.getgrist.com/terms/", "privacy": "https://www.getgrist.com/privacy/", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/gristlabs/grist-core/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The terms page is an End-User Licence Agreement between the user and Grist Labs Inc., covering its products, software, services and websites, governed by New York State law, with legal notices to 93 4th Ave, #1127, New York, NY 10003. It carries no date.", "The privacy policy has an effective date of 1 April 2019 and covers the websites, products and services. It names no retention periods.", "The REST API and MCP server answer at docs.getgrist.com and \u003cteam\u003e.getgrist.com, and OAuth at login.getgrist.com, all getgrist.com subdomains.", "No status page was found. status.getgrist.com redirects to a signup form because every subdomain is treated as a team site.", "www.getgrist.com/.well-known/security.txt and docs.getgrist.com/.well-known/security.txt return 404. SECURITY.md in the repository gives security@getgrist.com.", "RDAP for getgrist.com gives a registration date of 2014-05-12." ], "score": 71 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/grist.json", "live": { "slug": "grist", "probe": { "target": "https://docs.getgrist.com/api", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:11.613117891Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 251, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 256, "p95ms24h": 311, "samples24h": 21, "samples30d": 21, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 21, "ok": 21 } ] }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:11.613117891Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Formagrid Inc (Airtable)", "b": "Grist Labs Inc.", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://api.airtable.com", "b": "https://docs.getgrist.com/api", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP, Streamable HTTP", "b": "HTTP, Streamable HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Freemium", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary service under Airtable's Terms of Service and Developer Terms. The airtable.js client and the MCP CLI on GitHub are MIT", "b": "Apache-2.0 for the community edition in gristlabs/grist-core. The full edition, which adds the MCP server, the OAuth server and audit log streaming, is proprietary and needs an activation key after a 30-day trial. Docs are CC BY-SA 4.0", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "40", "b": "34", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "no", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "com.airtable/mcp", "b": "not listed", "name": "MCP registry" }, { "a": "2026-08-07", "b": "2026-09-28", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2024-05-31", "b": "no date given", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2026-07-15", "b": "2019-04-01", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "2.2k stars, 569k npm/wk", "b": "12k stars, 341 npm/wk, 240 PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Airtable scores 70.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Grist's 50.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Grist leads on maintenance \u0026 community.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Airtable or Grist?" }, { "answer": "Both take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.", "question": "Do Airtable and Grist need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Airtable has a hosted endpoint at https://api.airtable.com and Grist at https://docs.getgrist.com/api.", "question": "Can an agent call Airtable and Grist without installing anything?" }, { "answer": "No open-source release is listed for Airtable. Grist is open source (Apache-2.0 for the community edition in gristlabs/grist-core. The full edition, which adds the MCP server, the OAuth server and audit log streaming, is proprietary and needs an activation key after a 30-day trial. Docs are CC BY-SA 4.0).", "question": "Are Airtable and Grist open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 94 against 39", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 73 against 63", "Agent ergonomics, 68 against 57", "Security \u0026 auth, 78 against 62", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 86 against 61" ], "also": [ "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better", "No incidents deducted, where Grist loses 4 points for them" ], "goodFor": "Teams that already keep operational data in Airtable and want an agent to read, filter and update typed records or build bases through MCP.", "slug": "airtable", "watchFor": "5 requests a second per base, and a 429 blocks further requests for 30 seconds" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Maintenance \u0026 community, 78 against 49" ], "also": [ "Open source" ], "goodFor": "Teams that want a relational spreadsheet with Python formulas and per-document OAuth grants for an agent, or that need to self-host.", "slug": "grist", "watchFor": "No status page was found. status.getgrist.com redirects to a signup form, and the site footer and help centre link to none" } ], "job": { "capability": "sheets.records", "name": "Sheets records" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-google-sheets-api.json", "title": "Airtable vs Google Sheets API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-google-sheets-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-microsoft-excel-graph.json", "title": "Airtable vs Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-microsoft-excel-graph" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coda-vs-grist.json", "title": "Coda (Superhuman Docs) vs Grist", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coda-vs-grist" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-grist.json", "title": "Google Sheets API vs Grist", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-grist" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-microsoft-excel-graph.json", "title": "Grist vs Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-microsoft-excel-graph" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-baserow.json", "title": "Airtable vs Baserow", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-baserow" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-coda.json", "title": "Airtable vs Coda (Superhuman Docs)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-coda" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-nocodb.json", "title": "Airtable vs NocoDB", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-nocodb" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-seatable.json", "title": "Airtable vs SeaTable", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-seatable" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-smartsheet.json", "title": "Airtable vs Smartsheet API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-smartsheet" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-teable.json", "title": "Airtable vs Teable", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-teable" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baserow-vs-grist.json", "title": "Baserow vs Grist", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baserow-vs-grist" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-nocodb.json", "title": "Grist vs NocoDB", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-nocodb" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-seatable.json", "title": "Grist vs SeaTable", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-seatable" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-smartsheet.json", "title": "Grist vs Smartsheet API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-smartsheet" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-teable.json", "title": "Grist vs Teable", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-teable" } ], "scores": [ { "airtable": 94, "by": 55, "edge": "airtable", "grist": 39, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "airtable": 73, "by": 10, "edge": "airtable", "grist": 63, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "airtable": 68, "by": 11, "edge": "airtable", "grist": 57, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "airtable": 78, "by": 16, "edge": "airtable", "grist": 62, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "airtable": 30, "by": 0, "edge": "", "grist": 30, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "airtable": 49, "by": 29, "edge": "grist", "grist": 78, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "airtable": 86, "by": 25, "edge": "airtable", "grist": 61, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Airtable scores 70.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Grist's 50.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Grist leads on maintenance \u0026 community. Both do sheets records.", "verdicts": { "airtable": "Tokens are limited by scope and by base, and the official MCP server at mcp.airtable.com covers records, schema, interfaces and automations in 40 tools. The REST API allows 5 requests a second per base with a 30-second lockout after a 429, writes take 10 records a call, and the Free plan stops at 1,000 calls a month.", "grist": "OAuth tokens carry seven scopes, can be limited to chosen documents and expire after an hour, and the REST API has a public OpenAPI file with an add-or-update call. No status page, SLA terms, DPA or security.txt was found, and the docs say the hosted service has no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audit." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-grist", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-grist.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-grist.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-grist.min.md" }, "markdown": "Airtable scores 70.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Grist's 50.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Grist leads on maintenance \u0026 community. Both do sheets records.\n\n- Airtable: grade BB, 70.9/100, rank #124 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/airtable.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/airtable.json\n- Grist: grade D, 50.1/100, rank #597 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/grist.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/grist.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Airtable (BB)\n\nGood for: Teams that already keep operational data in Airtable and want an agent to read, filter and update typed records or build bases through MCP.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 94 against 39\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 73 against 63\n- Agent ergonomics, 68 against 57\n- Security \u0026 auth, 78 against 62\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 86 against 61\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n- No incidents deducted, where Grist loses 4 points for them\n\nWatch for: 5 requests a second per base, and a 429 blocks further requests for 30 seconds\n\n### Grist (D)\n\nGood for: Teams that want a relational spreadsheet with Python formulas and per-document OAuth grants for an agent, or that need to self-host.\n\nAhead on:\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 78 against 49\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Open source\n\nWatch for: No status page was found. status.getgrist.com redirects to a signup form, and the site footer and help centre link to none\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Airtable | Grist | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 94 | 39 | Airtable +55 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 63 | Airtable +10 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 68 | 57 | Airtable +11 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 78 | 62 | Airtable +16 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 30 | even |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 49 | 78 | Grist +29 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 86 | 61 | Airtable +25 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -4 | |\n| **Total** | | **70.9 · BB** | **50.1 · D** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Airtable | Grist |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Formagrid Inc (Airtable) | Grist Labs Inc. |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.airtable.com` | `https://docs.getgrist.com/api` |\n| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary service under Airtable's Terms of Service and Developer Terms. The airtable.js client and the MCP CLI on GitHub are MIT | Apache-2.0 for the community edition in gristlabs/grist-core. The full edition, which adds the MCP server, the OAuth server and audit log streaming, is proprietary and needs an activation key after a 30-day trial. Docs are CC BY-SA 4.0 |\n| Tools exposed | 40 | 34 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |\n| llms.txt | yes | no |\n| MCP registry | `com.airtable/mcp` | not listed |\n| Last release | 2026-08-07 | 2026-09-28 |\n| Terms last updated | 2024-05-31 | no date given |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-07-15 | 2019-04-01 |\n| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | not found in the text |\n| Popularity | 2.2k stars, 569k npm/wk | 12k stars, 341 npm/wk, 240 PyPI/wk |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Airtable.** Tokens are limited by scope and by base, and the official MCP server at mcp.airtable.com covers records, schema, interfaces and automations in 40 tools. The REST API allows 5 requests a second per base with a 30-second lockout after a 429, writes take 10 records a call, and the Free plan stops at 1,000 calls a month.\n\n**Grist.** OAuth tokens carry seven scopes, can be limited to chosen documents and expire after an hour, and the REST API has a public OpenAPI file with an add-or-update call. No status page, SLA terms, DPA or security.txt was found, and the docs say the hosted service has no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audit.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Airtable\n\n1. Create a personal access token with only the scopes needed and add each base to it. A token with no base added sees nothing\n2. Stay under 5 requests a second per base. After a 429, wait 30 seconds before the next call\n3. Send writes in batches of 10 records, and use `performUpsert` with `fieldsToMergeOn` so a repeated call updates instead of duplicating\n4. Use table and field IDs, not names, and set `returnFieldsByFieldId` so a rename doesn't break the call\n5. POST to `/listRecords` when a `filterByFormula` would push the URL past 16,000 characters\n\n### Grist\n\n1. Connect through OAuth, not an API key. Ask for `doc:read` alone for reading, and have the user pick Selected resources on the consent screen\n2. Keep `doc.schema:write` off unless needed. The docs say formula editing lets its holder read any data in the document whatever the access rules\n3. Send requests for one document one at a time. The eleventh concurrent request gets 429, and no Retry-After header is documented\n4. Use `PUT /api/docs/{docId}/tables/{tableId}/records` with `require` to add or update by key, so a retried write doesn't create a duplicate row\n5. Use the `/records` endpoints, not the deprecated `/data` ones, and split large writes to stay under the 1 MB body limit\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Airtable or Grist?\n\nAirtable scores 70.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Grist's 50.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Grist leads on maintenance \u0026 community.\n\n### Do Airtable and Grist need an API key?\n\nBoth take an API key or an OAuth sign-in.\n\n### Can an agent call Airtable and Grist without installing anything?\n\nYes. Airtable has a hosted endpoint at https://api.airtable.com and Grist at https://docs.getgrist.com/api.\n\n### Are Airtable and Grist open source?\n\nNo open-source release is listed for Airtable. Grist is open source (Apache-2.0 for the community edition in gristlabs/grist-core. The full edition, which adds the MCP server, the OAuth server and audit log streaming, is proprietary and needs an activation key after a 30-day trial. Docs are CC BY-SA 4.0).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-grist.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-grist.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"airtable\", \"b\": \"grist\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare airtable grist`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/airtable.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/grist.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Airtable or Grist\n\n- [Airtable vs Google Sheets API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-google-sheets-api.md)\n- [Airtable vs Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-microsoft-excel-graph.md)\n- [Coda (Superhuman Docs) vs Grist](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coda-vs-grist.md)\n- [Google Sheets API vs Grist](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-grist.md)\n- [Grist vs Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-microsoft-excel-graph.md)\n- [Airtable vs Baserow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-baserow.md)\n- [Airtable vs Coda (Superhuman Docs)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-coda.md)\n- [Airtable vs NocoDB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-nocodb.md)\n- [Airtable vs SeaTable](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-seatable.md)\n- [Airtable vs Smartsheet API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-smartsheet.md)\n- [Airtable vs Teable](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-teable.md)\n- [Baserow vs Grist](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baserow-vs-grist.md)\n- [Grist vs NocoDB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-nocodb.md)\n- [Grist vs SeaTable](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-seatable.md)\n- [Grist vs Smartsheet API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-smartsheet.md)\n- [Grist vs Teable](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-teable.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-08", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Airtable vs Grist", "url": "" } ], "description": "Airtable scores 70.9 (BB) on agent readiness against Grist's 50.1 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Grist leads on maintenance \u0026 community. Both do sheets records. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Airtable BB 70.9", "Grist D 50.1", "scores" ], "h1": "Airtable vs Grist", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-airtable-vs-grist.png", "path": "/compare/airtable-vs-grist", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Airtable vs Grist for AI agents, BB 70.9 vs D 50.1 | Anchor Terminal", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-08", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-grist" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2350, "slim": 730 }, "version": 1 }