Airtable vs Mermaid

Two Tech stack tools side by side: what each does, what it costs and who it suits.

The verdict Side by side Plans and pricing Who each is for Other options

The verdict

On the data we hold, Airtable comes out ahead. Here is why, point by point.

What the data says

Both cover 1 of the 1 features we compared.
Both have a free plan, so you can try each before you pay.
Mermaid starts lower, at $10/mo against $20/mo.
In our Tech stack ranking, Airtable places 1 and Mermaid 15 of 72.

Side by side

Airtable and Mermaid compared
5 points compared	Airtable	Mermaid
Starts at	$20/mo	$10/mo
Free plan	Yes	Yes
API	Yes	No
MCP server	Yes	Yes
Real-time collaboration	Yes	Yes
Links	Visit	Visit

Plans and pricing

Airtable

FreeFor individuals and very small teams with lightweight needs; all users are free.Free
TeamPer editor per month; $24 billed monthly or $20 per month billed annually. Read-only collaborators are free.$24/mo/seat
BusinessPer editor per month; $54 billed monthly or $45 per month billed annually, with more admin and scale.$54/mo/seat

Mermaid

BasicFree plan with up to 3 diagrams, limited diagram size and limited AI.Free
PlusUnlimited diagrams and 300 AI credits a year; 10 per user per month billed annually.$120/yr/seat
Premium2,000 AI credits a year, free viewer seats and unlimited teams; 20 per user per month billed annually.$240/yr/seat

Prices as the vendors list them. They change often; the final price is on their sites.

Who each is for

Choose Airtable if…

Lean B2B teams that want to build their own trackers, content calendars, lightweight CRMs and internal apps on linked tables without waiting for engineering.

Visit Read the review

Choose Mermaid if…

Developers, technical writers and operations teams who keep diagrams as text next to their code and docs, so they stay versioned and never turn into stale screenshots.

Visit Read the review

Other options worth a look

Tool
Coda
Combines documents, spreadsheets, and databases into one workspace for building custom trackers and internal tools.
Tech stack
From $10/moFree plan
Sign up on Coda
Tool
Perplexity
Get instant answers to questions backed by live web search results and inline source citations.
Tech stack
From $20/moFree plan
Sign up on Perplexity
Tool
Google Workspace
Bundle business email, shared documents, spreadsheets, and video meetings in one cloud subscription.
Tech stack
From €6.80/moAffiliate link
Sign up on Google Workspace
Tool
Anthropic API
Call Claude models from your own code to build AI applications, agents, and automations.
Tech stack
Sign up on Anthropic API
Tool
RudderStack
Collects event data and routes it to your warehouse and 200+ business tools with open-source infrastructure.
Tech stack
From $265/moFree plan
Sign up on RudderStack
Tool
Kajabi
Builds and sells online courses, coaching programmes and digital products without stitching separate tools together.
Tech stack
From $143/mo yearly
Sign up on Kajabi