Zoho Tables
Collaborative database with grid, kanban and calendar views at $4 per user.
What is Zoho Tables?
Zoho Tables is a collaborative database in the Airtable mould: records with typed fields, viewed as grids, kanban boards, calendars or galleries, with automation and collaboration built in. It is Zoho's newest entry in the category and competes almost entirely on price, at $4 per user against Airtable's substantially higher per-seat rate.
Best known for: Airtable-style collaborative databases at a budget price
Key features
- Grid, kanban, calendar and gallery views over the same data
- Rich field types including attachments, links and formulas
- Automation rules triggered by record changes
- Unlimited read-only viewers on the paid plan
- Mobile apps for iOS and Android
- Collaboration with comments and sharing controls
Who Zoho Tables is best for
- Teams organising structured work that has outgrown a spreadsheet
- Businesses wanting an Airtable-style database at a fraction of the price
- Zoho customers who want a flexible data layer alongside the suite
Ideal team: Small teams tracking structured work — projects, content, inventory, applicants — who want multiple views over the same data without paying Airtable's per-seat rate.
Zoho Tables pricing
Free
$0
- Up to 2 users and 3 viewers
- Grid, kanban and calendar views
- Core field types and automation
Professional
$4/per user / mo (min 3 licences, billed annually)
- Unlimited viewers
- Expanded storage, backup and automation
- Three free jumpstart onboarding sessions
Costs to watch before you commit
- Professional starts at a 3-licence minimum, so the real entry cost is $12 per month rather than $4
- The free plan caps at 2 users and 3 viewers, which is tight for any real team
- Only two tiers, so there is no middle ground between free and the paid plan
- Listed prices assume annual billing, which Zoho advertises as saving 20%; monthly costs more
- Local taxes are charged on top of the listed prices
Zoho Tables pros and cons
Pros
- $4 per user is a fraction of Airtable's rate for the same fundamental job
- Multiple views over one dataset — grid, kanban, calendar, gallery — without duplicating records
- Unlimited read-only viewers on the paid plan, so stakeholders can see data without a licence
- Automation rules triggered by record changes are included rather than metered separately
- Free plan for two users is enough to build something real and test the model
- Three free onboarding sessions with the paid plan, unusual at this price
Cons
- Only 12 third-party reviews — the thinnest evidence base of anything in the Zoho range
- Professional starts at a 3-licence minimum, so real entry cost is $12/month rather than $4
- Only two tiers, with no middle ground between a 2-user free plan and paid
- Ecosystem and integrations are a fraction of Airtable's, which is much of why teams pick Airtable
- A young product in a category where data migration costs rise the longer you stay
- Listed prices assume annual billing; monthly costs more
Zoho Tables review: a closer look
What Zoho Tables is
Zoho Tables is a collaborative database — the Airtable pattern of records with typed fields, viewable as grids, kanban boards, calendars or galleries, with automation and sharing built in. It is Zoho's newest product in this space and competes almost purely on price: $4 per user against Airtable's considerably higher per-seat rate for comparable core capability.
The job it does that spreadsheets don't
The reason this category exists is that spreadsheets have no concept of a record. A row in a spreadsheet is just cells; a record in a database has typed fields, relationships to other records, and can be viewed as a board or a calendar without being copied. For a team tracking a content pipeline, a hiring process, or a project portfolio, that difference is the gap between a document that decays and a system that holds. Zoho Tables does this properly — multiple views over one dataset is the core feature, and it works.
Price is the entire argument, so check the minimum
At $4 per user, Zoho Tables undercuts Airtable substantially, and for a team that just needs structured collaborative data that's a real saving. Two details temper it. Professional starts at three licences, so the genuine floor is $12 a month — irrelevant for a team of five, relevant if you're two people who'd hoped for $8. And the free plan caps at two users with three viewers, which is a demo rather than a working tier for most teams. There's no intermediate option, so the decision is essentially free-trial-then-pay.
The maturity question, which matters more here than usual
Twelve third-party reviews is the thinnest signal of anything in the Zoho range, and databases are a category where that carries specific risk: the longer a team uses one, the more structure and history accumulates inside it, and the more painful migrating out becomes. Airtable's enormous installed base means integrations exist, templates exist, and people you hire have used it. Zoho Tables has none of that yet. That's not an argument against trying it — it's an argument for starting with a use case you could rebuild in a weekend if you had to, rather than making it the system of record for something critical.
How it compares
Against Airtable, Airtable wins on ecosystem, integrations, templates, familiarity and maturity, at several times the price; Zoho Tables wins on cost alone. Against Notion, Notion is a document-first tool with databases attached and is better when writing and structure mix; Tables is database-first and better for structured records. Against Baserow, that's the open-source option with self-hosting. Against Zoho Creator, note the distinction — Creator builds applications with logic and permissions, Tables organises records for a team. Against a spreadsheet, which is the real incumbent, any of these is a step change.
Who should use Zoho Tables?
A good fit
Zoho Tables fits small teams tracking structured work — content calendars, applicant pipelines, project portfolios, asset registers — who want multiple views over the same data and cannot justify Airtable's per-seat cost. The unlimited viewers on the paid plan make it good where many people need to see data but few need to edit it.
Look elsewhere if…
Teams that depend on a specific integration or template ecosystem should pay for Airtable, where those exist. Businesses mixing documents and structured data heavily will prefer Notion. Anyone needing real application logic, permissions and mobile deployment should look at Zoho Creator instead. And anything intended as a long-term system of record deserves a more established platform until Tables has a longer track record.
The verdict
Zoho Tables does the collaborative-database job competently at a price that makes Airtable look expensive, and multiple views over one dataset — the feature that actually separates this category from spreadsheets — works as it should. Unlimited viewers on the paid plan is a genuinely useful touch. The reservations are about maturity rather than capability: twelve reviews is very thin, the ecosystem barely exists yet, and databases get harder to leave the longer you use them. Start with something you could rebuild if you had to. If it holds up, the saving over Airtable is substantial and ongoing.
Top Zoho Tables alternatives
Popular Docs & Databases tools teams evaluate alongside Zoho Tables.
SmartSuiteOne no-code platform for connected work across records, docs, and projects.
BookStackSimple, self-hosted, open-source platform for organizing documentation.
RowsAI data analyst spreadsheet — extract, import, and analyze in plain language.
GitBookCreate and publish beautiful product and developer documentation.
StackbyNo-code spreadsheet-database that unifies data and work — an Airtable alternative.