NocoDB: Free airtable alternative for no-code database applications

A new open source project is starting under the name NocoDB, which presents itself as an alternative to Airtable. This is a tool that can be used to transfer information from a relational database into a table. The result is not an Excel export, rather the software offers its own no-code interface. It can be used to create applications without any programming knowledge. In the graphical application, users can, among other things, search and sort the table as they wish. In the same way, different views can be set, classically in rows and columns, but also as a Kanban board, gallery, Gantt chart or form. Users can share these views with others; NocoDB provides both public and password-protected tables. Views can also be configured as purely personal or locked so that they can no longer be changed.

Granular administration ex works

The software also provides various roles and rights that can be set individually if required. The same applies to the access control, those responsible can – if necessary – restrict change rights to individual columns. Information in cells can be provided by users with additional images. There are also connections to other tools such as chat services – including MS Teams, Slack and Mattermost – and an e-mail integration in the app store. Third-party APIs can also be added via the App Store. REST APIs and GraphQL APIs are also on board. At the start, NocoDB works with the databases MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, SQLite, Amazon Aurora and MariaDB. The roadmap includes apps for smartphones and a dedicated designer for pages. Details can be found in the announcement from NocoDB on the GitHub page of the project. As free software, NocoDB is under the AGPLv3. The project offers different options for commissioning the software yourself – instructions for this can also be found on GitHub. The competitor Airtable is a SaaS offer that requires a cloud subscription.

(fo)