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Airtable vs Dash: What are the differences?
Airtable: Real-time spreadsheet-database hybrid *. Working with Airtable is as fast and easy as editing a spreadsheet. But only Airtable is backed by the power of a full database, giving you rich features far beyond what a spreadsheet can offer; *Dash:** Gives your Mac instant offline access to 150+ API documentation sets. Dash is an API Documentation Browser and Code Snippet Manager. Dash stores snippets of code and instantly searches offline documentation sets for 150+ APIs. You can even generate your own docsets or request docsets to be included.
Airtable can be classified as a tool in the "Spreadsheets as a Backend" category, while Dash is grouped under "API Documentation Browser".
Some of the features offered by Airtable are:
- Attachments
- Link Tables
- Fully mobile
On the other hand, Dash provides the following key features:
- 150+ offline docsets
- Instant, fuzzy search
- Great integration with other apps
"Powerful and easy to use" is the top reason why over 9 developers like Airtable, while over 12 developers mention "Dozens of API docs and Cheat-Sheets" as the leading cause for choosing Dash.
Tailor Brands, Netsells, and AgFlow are some of the popular companies that use Dash, whereas Airtable is used by Hazeorid, Zenefits, and Caravelo. Dash has a broader approval, being mentioned in 23 company stacks & 32 developers stacks; compared to Airtable, which is listed in 39 company stacks and 16 developer stacks.
I'm trying to set up an ideally "no- code" way to have a backend of 3 different tables and be able to find a value in table #3 (contains businesses & cities) by first finding a record in table #1 (7,000+ zip codes) that corresponds to a city (table #2 has the unique cities), and then finding which businesses are located in these cities ( in this specific, original zipcode lookup). And return the business and a description via an API to a front-end results page, which happens to be a WordPress page - but doesn't need to be. I've tried Airtable's API, AirPress (a finicky WordPress plugin for Airtable's API), and I've looked at Sheetsu and a similar spreadsheet as backend and a simple API. I run into the issue where they work fine when you just need to query 1 table, but when you need to use the result from that query in another query to a different table. I'm back in SQL land - where sure it could be done with SQLite - needing to probably create an intersection table or a JOIN and build an API off of that. Is there a way to accomplish what I want without going back to SQL queries and some API?
You're right that there isn't a great way to join tables with Airtable's API. The closest you can get is to use a linked record field, which acts as a pointer to another record. You still end up with the problem you mentioned of having to run another query on the second table separately.
Your best bet is to stick with an actual SQL database. Using an ORM should make your life significantly easier so you don't actually have to write raw SQL. If you still want a graphical interface to your data, BaseDash lets you view and edit SQL databases just like Airtable. A full API with join support is coming soon, so that could be your perfect solution to this problem.
Let me introduce you to integromat. It connects these services without you having to work any code. And it even has a decent database built inside it.
It makes is an easy process to develop multistep workflows with multiple services and it’s free tier is surprisingly functional.
Pros of Airtable
- Powerful and easy to use19
- Robust and dynamic8
- Quick UI Layer6
- Practical built in views4
- Robust API documentation3
- Great flexibility0
Pros of Dash
- Dozens of API docs and Cheat-Sheets17
- Great for offline use12
- Works with Alfred8
- Excellent documentation8
- Quick API search8
- Fast5
- Good integration with Xcode and AppCode3
- Great for mobile dev work2
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