APITable

APITable is an open source database-spreadsheet hybrid positioned as an alternative to Airtable, built with a TypeScript/NestJS frontend service and a Java/Spring Boot backend. Tables render inside a <canvas> element rather than standard DOM rows, which the project cites as the reason it can hold real-time collaboration at 100,000-plus data rows. Multiple users can edit the same table simultaneously; APITable resolves concurrent edits in real time with what it calls an OT algorithm, and the project frames itself as connecting all of an organization's software through one visual database.

Key features

• Canvas-rendered grid: renders the spreadsheet in <canvas> instead of the DOM for performance at scale, aimed at keeping large tables responsive.
• Real-time collaboration via OT: multiple users edit the same datasheet concurrently, with OT-based conflict resolution merging changes as they happen.
• Seven view types: Grid (Datasheet), Gallery, Mindmap, Kanban, full-feature Gantt, and Calendar views over the same underlying data.
• Cross-table links: one-direction or bi-directional links between tables, described as unlimited cross links, useful for relational data that doesn't fit a single flat table.
• API-first panel: a one-click API panel plus a Datasheet Query Language (DQL) for querying table contents SQL-style.
• Extensible widget system: more than 20 official open source widgets, plus customizable formulas, column types, and automation robot actions.
• Enterprise controls: SAML, single sign-on, audit logs, watermarking, automatic database backup, and shareable or embeddable datasheets and folders via copy-and-paste HTML for enterprise deployments.

Self-hosting and deployment

Self-hosting requires Docker and Docker Compose v2, with 4 CPUs and 8GB RAM or more recommended, plus a bash shell with basic utilities like curl. A Gitpod-based online demo lets you try the project without installing anything, and a one-click Digital Ocean deploy or one-click Dome deploy are also documented for production hosting.

Tech stack

The frontend and API layer are built with TypeScript on NestJS (and Next.js for the web client), while the metadata and changeset-based database engine is implemented in Java on Spring Boot. The project also integrates with automation tools like n8n and Zapier for connecting APITable to other software. The underlying database architecture is described as changeset, operation, action, and snapshot based, which is what lets a change stream be replayed for both undo history and the real-time collaboration layer. Because APITable positions itself as a visual database rather than only a spreadsheet, it fits project and task management, lead and CRM tracking, business intelligence dashboards, and internal admin tools built on top of the same tables. The cross-table link and mirror features suit teams that need row-level permissions on a subset of a larger shared base, instead of duplicating data into a separate restricted table.

APITable is licensed under AGPL-3.0.