Airtable vs Microsoft Lists

August 11, 2023
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Airtable
Part spreadsheet, part database, and entirely flexible, teams use Airtable to organize their work, their way.
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Microsoft Lists
Microsoft Lists is an app that helps you track information and organize work. Stay on top of it all with Lists, your smart information tracking app in Microsoft 365. Work with anyone, anywhere. Configure your lists to better organize events, issues, assets, and more.
Airtable and Microsoft Lists are both powerful tools for organizing and managing information, yet they cater to different user preferences and needs. Airtable offers a highly customizable database platform that combines the familiarity of spreadsheets with the flexibility of databases. It allows users to create intricate data models, link records, and customize views to suit various workflows. On the other hand, Microsoft Lists is tightly integrated with the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, providing a structured approach to creating, sharing, and managing lists of information. It offers a seamless experience for users already entrenched in the Microsoft environment, with integration into SharePoint, Power Apps, and Power Automate.
Airtable vs Microsoft Lists in our news:

2020. Airtable raises $185M and launches new low-code and automation features



The no-code platform and spreadsheet-centric database, Airtable, has successfully raised $185 million in a Series D funding round. Alongside this milestone, the company is introducing new low-code features, automation capabilities (reminiscent of IFTTT for Airtable), and enhanced data management functionalities. While Airtable's pre-built blocks previously allowed users to incorporate maps, Gantt charts, and other features into their tables, there comes a point where the built-in functionality may not meet all user requirements, necessitating the need for custom tools (referred to as an "escape valve" by Liu, Airtable's CEO). To address this, Airtable has introduced Airtable Apps, enabling more advanced users to build additional functionality using JavaScript. Furthermore, users have the option to share their custom capabilities with others through the newly introduced Airtable Marketplace. These developments empower Airtable users to create more sophisticated and tailored solutions to meet their specific needs.


2020. Microsoft launches Lists, a new Airtable-like app for Microsoft 365


Microsoft has introduced Lists, a novel collaborative database application tailored for Microsoft 365 users. This application bears resemblance to Airtable or Smartsheet, but with the added advantage of seamless integration with various Microsoft services. According to Microsoft, Lists serves as a tool to effectively monitor and manage issues, assets, routines, contacts, inventory, and more, employing customizable views, intelligent rules, and notifications to ensure everyone stays synchronized. It boasts deep integration with Teams, SharePoint, and other Microsoft products and will initially launch on the web, with mobile apps anticipated later this year. Lists provides diverse options for visualizing your data, including three views presently available: grid, gallery, and calendar.