NocoDB
The open-source Airtable alternative - smart spreadsheet over a real Postgres, no seat or record metering.
One-click deploy, from $25/mo on a Miget plan.
Airtable’s genius was making databases feel like spreadsheets; its pricing makes growth feel like a penalty - per seat, per month, with hard record caps per base. NocoDB delivers the same grid/kanban/gallery/form experience as open source over a real database.
This template runs NocoDB on a managed Postgres with a small volume for file attachments. One secret (the JWT signing key) and it boots; the first account becomes admin.
Two superpowers over the SaaS original: no meters of any kind, and the data lives in actual Postgres - NocoDB can even mount your existing in-project databases as external sources, putting a spreadsheet UI over data you already have.
Upstream project: NocoDB
#what you get
- Grid, gallery, kanban, calendar, and form views
- REST APIs, webhooks, and automations per table
- Connect external Postgres/MySQL databases as additional sources
- Collaborators without seat pricing; records without caps
- Managed Postgres auto-provisioned and auto-wired (NC_DB)
- Attachments on a persistent volume
#topology
| Service | Role | Public |
|---|---|---|
| nocodb | UI + API (:5000) | yes |
| db | Postgres - managed service on Miget, container locally | no |
#miget sizing
// this stack needs
3 GiB RAM · 10 GB disk · 2 services
Official minimum is 2 GiB for the app; the managed Postgres rides alongside. Heavy bases with many collaborators want the 8 GiB plan.
Hobby - recommended fit
$25/mo
2 vCPU · 4 GiB · 80 GiB disk
Headroom for your own apps: 8 GiB at $49/mo
Professional - production
$43/mo
2 vCPU · 4 GiB · 25 GiB disk
Dedicated resources, production SLOs - plan details
One Miget plan is a fixed pool of compute - the whole stack (managed databases included) deploys inside it, and anything left over runs your other apps. No per-service or per-seat math.
#vs. the managed service
What the hosted equivalents charge, against the flat Miget plan this stack fits on. Prices as of June 2026, sources linked.
| Service | Plan | Monthly | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| NocoDB on Miget ★ | 4 GiB plan | $25 | this whole stack, flat - no usage meters, and room left for your own apps |
| Airtable | Team | ~$200 | $20/seat/mo annual at 10 seats; 50k records per base cap |
Airtable meters seats and records; NocoDB self-hosted has neither - and it sits on a real Postgres you can query directly.
#vs. other PaaS
Estimated monthly cost of running this exact stack (3 GiB RAM, 10 GB disk, 2 containers) elsewhere, from published June 2026 rates.
| Platform | Est. monthly | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Miget ★ | $25 flat | compose stacks first-class: one deploy, dedicated vCPU, managed Postgres/Valkey, volumes and TLS all included in the plan |
| Heroku | ~$150 | no volumes; nothing between 1 GB ($50) and 2.5 GB ($250) dynos - 2 GB containers cost far more than shown |
| DO App Platform | ~$41 | no persistent volumes - stateful containers need managed DBs/Spaces (base $5 Spaces included here) |
| Render | ~$40 | per-service instances (0.5 GB $7, 2 GB $25) - every container is its own paid service |
| Railway | ~$32 | usage-based ($10/GB RAM-mo); vCPU billed separately at $20/vCPU-mo on top |
| Fly.io | ~$19 | cheapest sticker price - but burstable shared CPUs (1/16 core; dedicated vCPUs cost ~2-3×), no compose deploys (one app per container, manual wiring), managed DBs billed extra |
Estimates assume RAM fully allocated at published on-demand rates - and sticker price isn't the whole comparison: the cheaper rows buy burstable shared CPUs, per-service wiring instead of a compose deploy, and managed databases billed separately. Heroku and DO App Platform have no persistent volumes at all - stateful stacks like this one need workarounds there.
#deploy it
On Miget
- Create a Compose Stack in app.miget.com pointing at the templates repository
- Set the stack path to
nocodb -
Set the required variables:
NC_AUTH_JWT_SECRET, token signing secret (openssl rand -hex 32) - set it so logins survive recreationNC_SITE_URL, set to the app’s https domain after first deploy (invite/share links)
- Deploy. Miget layers
compose.miget.yaml(RAM, privacy, volumes, managed services) automatically
Locally first?
Every template is portable, vanilla Docker Compose - the Miget overrides are ignored locally:
git clone https://github.com/deployable-sh/stacks
cd miget-compose-templates/nocodb
docker compose up -dSame files, same behavior. The template README covers connection strings and scaling notes.
#faq
How does NocoDB pricing compare to Airtable?
Airtable Team is $20/seat/month - $200/month for a 10-person team - with 50k records per base. This stack is $25/month flat, unlimited seats and records. The crossover is at two users.
Can NocoDB sit on top of a database I already have?
Yes - beyond its own Postgres, NocoDB connects external Postgres/MySQL databases as data sources. Point it at other stacks in your project by service name and non-developers get a safe spreadsheet UI over production data.
Is my data locked into NocoDB?
No - it is rows in Postgres. Export via API or query the database directly; if you ever leave, the data is already in the most portable format there is.
What is the license situation?
NocoDB Community uses a fair-code Sustainable Use License: free to self-host for internal use at any scale; restrictions target reselling NocoDB itself as a service. Same family of license as n8n, same practical answer.
Ship NocoDB today
One compose stack, 3 GiB of RAM, from $25/month flat, and it runs on your laptop with the same files.