How to use Airtable as a CRM (free template)

Thierry Maout
/
Mar 10, 2025
/
7
min read

Looking for a simple way to manage your customer relationships?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is essential for maintaining strong customer relationships, managing data, and driving business development.

As a no-code database, Airtable is a popular CRM tool that allows users to customize workflows and manage data, including tracking customer interactions, managing leads, and following up on sales opportunities.

In this guide, we'll walk you through how to use Airtable as your go-to CRM tool. Whether you're a small business owner or managing a team, it's easy to get started.



  1. Use an Airtable CRM template
  2. Build a CRM with Airtable and Softr
  3. Start from scratch in Airtable

Why choose Airtable for CRM?

Airtable is a dynamic platform that bridges the gap between a database and a CRM, making it ideal for managing customer relationships. Here’s why:

  1. Pre-built, customizable templates let you import data and get started in minutes.
  2. Create a relationship between contacts, deals, and tasks with linked records.
  3. Use Kanban boards, grids, or calendars to track your pipeline and streamline your workflow.

Whether managing a customer database or building a sales pipeline, you can customize Airtable to meet your sales and business development needs.

Get started with our free business development CRM template

Setting up your Airtable CRM

Since every organization has unique needs and processes, there's no universal tutorial, but you can follow the steps and add any requirements and processes.

Use an Airtable CRM template

The quickest way to get started is using an Airtable CRM template.

1. Sign in to Airtable

Log in to your Airtable account or create a new one.

Sign in to Airtable
Log in to Airtable to set up your Sales CRM.

2. Choose the Sales CRM template

Click "Start with templates" to open a list of templates.

Choose the Sales CRM template
Click Start with templates to open the Airtable template library.

If the Sales CRM template doesn’t appear, click “Explore more templates” and search for CRM options.

Search for the Airtable Sales template
Explore the Airtable template library for CRM templates.

Select the "Sales CRM" template, then the "Try this template" button.

Try the Airtable sales CRM template
Click Try this template to build an Airtable CRM base.

You can also start the entire process from the template page. Airtable will create your CRM using the template.

Start building your Airtable Sales CRM base.

3. Import data

Click the "Add" button at the bottom and use Airtable’s import features to upload your existing contact list, pipeline details, or sales data into your new base.

Connect data to Airtable CRM template
Import your data into your Airtable CRM base.

4. Start managing relationships

You now have a fully-fledged CRM to track customer interactions, manage your pipeline, and follow up on opportunities.

While this CRM is powerful and very practical, there are a few issues:

  1. Learning curve: Because it's out of the box, you now have to master it, which might take time.
  2. Custom capabilities: While Airtable’s CRM template does many things right, it is generic and may not fit your specific use case.
  3. Views and reports: Your CRM may be overwhelming. It’s basically a big database/spreadsheet, and you might have difficulty understanding it without easy-to-digest reports.

To tackle these issues, let’s look at a faster, simpler way to use Airtable as a CRM.

Build a CRM with Airtable and Softr

While Airtable excels at data management and offers a variety of views, Softr makes it super simple and fast to build a user-friendly, custom CRM—no code required.

Softr's free Airtable CRM template
Manage deals, accounts, and contacts with Softr's free Airtable CRM template.

This interface can drastically improve the user experience for your team members and customers, making it easier to navigate, update, and interact with customer data.

  1. Monitor sales and customer development and get real-time updates with dashboards and embedded reports.
  2. Capture leads from forms embedded on your site.
  3. Customize pipeline stages, add deals, and update statuses as they progress.
  4. Store customer details, interactions, and transaction records in one place.
  5. Send and track emails from your app.
  6. Log, track, and manage customer support issues with ticketing and custom feedback forms.

Follow these steps to get started with Softr.

1. Sign up for Softr and choose a CRM template

Log in to Softr or create a free account.

Log into Softr
Log in to Softr to start building your Airtable CRM base.

Click the free Sales CRM template or “All templates” to browse the gallery.

Rename your first table “Contacts”
Choose the Sales CRM template or explore Softr’s free templates.

Click "Use template".

Use Softr CRM template
Click Use Template to use Softr’s free Sales CRM template.

2. Connect Softr to Airtable

Click “Add a data source” to connect.

Connect Airtable to Softr
Select a data source or add a data source to connect your Airtable data with Softr.


Choose Airtable then and press “Continue”.

Choose Airtable
Choose Airtable as your data source to connect with Softr.


You can now connect Softr to Airtable using your API key or personal access token. The steps are simple and explained on screen. Once you have added your authentication method, the setup will continue automatically.

3. Copy the Softr base to Airtable

Softr provides a template Airtable base you can use as a starting point. Click “Copy base to your Airtable account” to create it.

Copy Airtable base to Softr
Copy the Softr Sales CRM base to your Airtable account.

Choose the workspace where you want the base to be created and click “Add base”.

Choose workspace and add base
Add your new Softr CRM base to any Airtable workspace.

Softr creates a complete Airtable CRM for you, featuring several tables, linked records, and more. This simplifies the entire process by giving you a great place to start in minutes.

You can also create custom fields for customer data to personalize your CRM.

4. Build a frontend interface for your Airtable CRM

You're ready to build a complete frontend interface based on the Airtable CRM we created.

Build your Softr CRM
Design a user-friendly CRM interface with Softr's drag-and-drop builder.

The CRM app already includes various pages and functions. You decide what to create, share, and make available to team members.

Use the drag-and-drop interface to:

  1. Build dashboards for your customer data and sync them with your marketing tools.
  2. Simplify data entry with forms and buttons.
  3. Implement payment management options.
  4. Assign user roles and manage who can access or edit specific customer data.
  5. Turn your CRM app into a Progressive Web App (PWA) with one click.
Convert CRM to PWA
Visualize data trends with Softr’s custom dashboards and real-time analytics tools.

5. Automate tasks

Softr offers 30+ third-party integrations to help you build custom CRM automation workflows, or you can set them up in Airtable. Here are some suggestions:

  1. Send automated email follow-ups after a deal reaches a specific stage.
  2. Assign tasks to team members based on deal status.
  3. Receive notifications when a contract renewal date approaches.

Check out our complete guide on Airtable automation to better streamline your workflow.

Automate tasks in your Airtable CRM
Automate tasks in your Airtable CRM to streamline your workflow.
Image source: Airtable

Start from scratch in Airtable

If your business has unique needs that a pre-made template won’t meet, the "Start from scratch" option in Airtable gives you full control.

For this tutorial, we’re we’re keeping it simple. You can add any requirements and processes you might need.

1. Create a new base

Log in to your Airtable account or create a new one.

Click "Start from scratch" to create a clean, new base.

How to merge cells horizontally in Google Sheets
Create a new Airtable base from scratch with custom fields and views.


2. Create tables for your CRM

In our example, we’ll create three tables:

  1. Contacts: Customers, prospects, or partners.
  2. Opportunities: Deals, potential revenue, and sales pipeline stages.
  3. Customers: Confirmed, paying customers.

3. Build your “Contacts” table

Click on the arrow on the right of “Table 1”, select “Rename Table,” and rename it “Contacts.”

Build Airtable contacts table
Click the arrow next to Table 1 to rename the table in your Airtable CRM base.

Create the fields to store the information for your contacts. In our example, we created the following fields:

  1. Name
  2. Company name
  3. Email
  4. Status (single-select dropdown: lead, customer, partner, etc.)
  5. Assignee (linked record to team members)
  6. Opportunity
Click plus to create custom fields
Click the plus to create custom fields in your Airtable CRM base.

You can create custom fields based on your requirements, such as the last contact date or a URL field for call recordings.

Create custom Airtable fields
Adding custom fields in your Airtable CRM base.

4. Build your “Opportunities” table

Click “Add Table” and “Create a new blank table”.

Name it “Opportunities” and save.

Build Airtable opportunities table
Click Add or import to create an Opportunities table in your Airtable CRM base.

Create fields for your opportunities. For our example, we created:

  1. Name (single line text)
  2. Contact (linked record to Contacts table)
  3. Potential value
  4. Assignee
  5. Status (dropdown: negotiation, won, lost, etc.)
  6. Priority
  7. Deadline
  8. Notes/Comments
Create fields for Airtable opportunities table
Click the plus to create custom fields for the Opportunities table in your Airtable CRM base.

You can create custom fields, depending on how granular or general you want to get, such as:

  1. Next Step (A text or single select field you can pair with deadline and assignee fields).
  2. Win/Loss (dropdown to provide insights in case of a “lost” opportunity).
  3. Attachments to store documents (contract, formal offer, RFP, etc.).
Create custom fields in Airtable CRM base
Add custom fields to your Airtable CRM base.

5. Build your “Customers” table

Click “Add Table” and “Create a new blank table”.

Name it “Customers” and save.

Create customer table
Click Add or import to create a Customers table in your Airtable CRM base.

Create custom fields for customers. For our example, we created the following fields:

  1. Name
  2. Contacts (linked record)
  3. Opportunity name (linked record)
  4. Contract Start End Date
  5. Contract End Date
  6. Assignee
  7. Notes/Comments
Create custom fields for customers table
Click the plus to create custom fields for the Customers table in your Airtable CRM base.

You can add custom fields for additional information, such as:

  1. Conversation history
  2. Churn risk
  3. Time until renewal
Create custom fields in customer table
Add custom fields to the Customers table in your Airtable CRM base.

Conclusion

Customer relationship management doesn’t have to be complicated. With Airtable’s flexibility and Softr’s simple drag-and-drop interface, you can build a custom CRM that perfectly fits your enterprise or small business needs.

Softr lets you streamline your workflow by creating user-friendly, real-time apps powered by your Airtable data—all without writing a single line of code.

Connect your Airtable base to Softr today and see how easy it is to create a system that works for you.

What is Softr
Softr is the easiest way to turn your data into powerful business apps—no code required. Connect to your spreadsheet or database, customize layout and logic, and share with your team or clients.

Join 700,000+ users worldwide, building client portals, internal tools, CRMs, dashboards, project management systems, inventory management apps, and more—all without code.
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Thierry Maout

Thierry is a content marketer based in France. He has extensive experience writing about B2B SaaS, automation, and user onboarding. Originally from France, he has lived and worked in Ireland, the US, Germany, the UK and Canada as well as collaborated with companies from all over the world including UserGuiding, Make (formerly Integromat), and others. Thierry has a Bachelor's degree in International Affairs from Le Havre University (France) as well as a Master's degree in Law, Economics, and Management from the Institute of Evolutionary Science of Montpellier (France). Passionate about education and the no-code movement, Thierry has been featured in publications such as UX Collective and The Startup on Medium. A frequent Softr collaborator (freelance-based), he’s also a former startup co-founder and has, among others, co-founded and managed growth at Fairwai.

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