APITable vs Grist-core
APITable and Grist-core are both internal tools and low-code software. APITable is open source under AGPL-3.0, with 16k GitHub stars. Grist-core is open source under Apache-2.0, with 12k GitHub stars.
Which to pick
- Pick APITable when
- You want a self-hosted Airtable alternative with an API on every table and can run a Java plus Node stack.
- Pick Grist-core when
- Your team has outgrown spreadsheets and wants Airtable-style structure that can be self-hosted.
Side by side
An Airtable-style collaborative database with spreadsheet views, cross-table links, forms, row and column permissions and a full API.
A spreadsheet-database hybrid with typed columns, linked tables, Python formulas, custom widgets and access rules.
AGPL license, releases are still marked beta, and the vendor now steers new users to its hosted AITable product.
Some features such as certain integrations live in Grist's paid hosted service, and very large datasets slow it down.
Usable
Production-ready
Self-hosted server and cloud service (both)
TypeScript, Java, Spring, NestJS, Next.js and React
TypeScript, Python, Node.js and SQLite
Open source, AGPL-3.0 (network copyleft)
Open source, Apache-2.0 (permissive)
Use inside your business is unrestricted. If you change it and let customers use it over the internet, you must publish your changes.
You can build it into a product you sell, as long as you keep its copyright notice.
16k GitHub stars
12k GitHub stars
Established: started 4 years ago, latest release v1.14.0-beta.
Established: started 6 years ago, latest release v1.7.22.
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Both sides were judged on 2026-11-03 from each project's README and GitHub data. License, age and popularity lines are worked out directly.