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Airtable

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Airtable vs Shopify: What are the differences?

What is 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.

What is Shopify? Quickly and easily create a beautiful online store with Shopify. Shopify powers tens of thousands of online retailers including General Electric, Amnesty International, CrossFit, Tesla Motors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Foo Fighters, GitHub, and more. Our platform allows users to easily and quickly create their own online store without all the technical work involved in developing their own website, or the huge expense of having someone else build it. Shopify lets merchants manage all aspects of their shops: uploading products, changing the design, accepting credit card orders, and viewing their incoming orders and completed transactions.

Airtable can be classified as a tool in the "Spreadsheets as a Backend" category, while Shopify is grouped under "Ecommerce".

Some of the features offered by Airtable are:

  • Attachments
  • Link Tables
  • Fully mobile

On the other hand, Shopify provides the following key features:

  • Choose from 100+ professional themes
  • Customize the look of your online store
  • Start accepting orders in minutes

"Powerful and easy to use" is the top reason why over 9 developers like Airtable, while over 14 developers mention "Affordable yet comprehensive" as the leading cause for choosing Shopify.

Tesla Motors, Wikipedia, and Stoned Classy are some of the popular companies that use Shopify, whereas Airtable is used by Hazeorid, Zenefits, and Caravelo. Shopify has a broader approval, being mentioned in 150 company stacks & 32 developers stacks; compared to Airtable, which is listed in 39 company stacks and 16 developer stacks.

Advice on Airtable and Shopify
Needs advice
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AirtableAirtable
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SheetsuSheetsu

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?

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Replies (2)
Max Musing
Founder & CEO at BaseDash · | 5 upvotes · 59.3K views
Recommends
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BaseDashBaseDash

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.

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vikas vimal
Recommends
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IntegromatIntegromat

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.

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Decisions about Airtable and Shopify
David Swift

We devised SwiftERM to generate additional income from existing consumers on ecommerce websites. Available for those using Shopify, Magento, Woocommerce or Opencart, it runs in alongside (not instead of) existing email marketing software like Mailchimp, Drupal or Emarsys. It is 100% automatic so needs zero additional staff. It uses predictive analytics to identify imminent consumer purchases. The average additional turnover achieved is 10.5%. It is the only software in the world authorised to send Trustpilot to send product ratings in outbound emails. Developers and ecommerce retailers are invited to try to it for free, to establish viability this predictive analytics system is. SwiftERM is a certified Microsoft Partner MPN ID 6197468.

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BrandLume Inc
President at BrandLume · | 3 upvotes · 80.9K views

we've had alot of shopify clients and do alot of those website builds, but we decided a little while back to transfer any client possible to woocommerce, for our e-com web development, as there is alot more functionality available with zoo-commerce. you can have a look at our examples and even our own website in the link provided.

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Pros of Airtable
Pros of Shopify
  • 19
    Powerful and easy to use
  • 8
    Robust and dynamic
  • 6
    Quick UI Layer
  • 4
    Practical built in views
  • 3
    Robust API documentation
  • 0
    Great flexibility
  • 23
    Affordable yet comprehensive
  • 14
    Great API & integration options
  • 11
    Business-friendly
  • 10
    Intuitive interface
  • 9
    Quick
  • 3
    Liquid
  • 3
    Awesome customer support
  • 2
    POS & Mobile
  • 1
    Dummy Proof
  • 0
    Nopcommerce

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Cons of Airtable
Cons of Shopify
    Be the first to leave a con
    • 1
      User is stuck with building a site from a template

    Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions

    What is Airtable?

    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.

    What is Shopify?

    Shopify powers tens of thousands of online retailers including General Electric, Amnesty International, CrossFit, Tesla Motors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Foo Fighters, GitHub, and more. Our platform allows users to easily and quickly create their own online store without all the technical work involved in developing their own website, or the huge expense of having someone else build it. Shopify lets merchants manage all aspects of their shops: uploading products, changing the design, accepting credit card orders, and viewing their incoming orders and completed transactions.

    Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

    What companies use Airtable?
    What companies use Shopify?
    Manage your open source components, licenses, and vulnerabilities
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    What tools integrate with Airtable?
    What tools integrate with Shopify?

    Sign up to get full access to all the tool integrationsMake informed product decisions

    Blog Posts

    Sep 29 2020 at 7:36PM

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