Notion vs Airtable for Grant Pipelines: 2024 Review
Both Notion and Airtable claim to organise your pipeline. We built identical grant workflows in each platform and hooked them to Crafty to see which tool performs best for prospecting, drafting, and reporting.
Summary
- Notion is quicker to deploy for mixed narrative + task pipelines (our recommended default for most teams).
- Airtable handles relational data, large record volumes, and auto-syncs better—ideal for data-heavy grant labs.
- Both integrate with Crafty, but Notion’s wiki-style docs make discovery sessions smoother.
Scorecard
| Criteria | Notion | Airtable | Takeaway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup speed | 4.5 | 3.5 | Notion templates launch in minutes. |
| Pipeline views | 4 | 4.5 | Airtable’s Gantt and timeline views are stronger. |
| Automation & integrations | 3.5 | 4.5 | Airtable Automations/Zapier provide deeper workflows. |
| Crafty handoff | 4.5 | 4 | Notion’s linked docs make discovery notes easy. |
Notion highlights
Notion handles narrative-rich pipelines—we combined board views, meeting notes, and storyboards inside one workspace. Paired with our Notion pipeline template, Crafty handoffs are seamless.
Airtable highlights
Airtable shines when you manage high volumes, relational data, or multi-team pipelines. Field-level permissions, granular reporting, and Automations reduce manual updates. Export views and feed them into Crafty’s evidence bank.
Crafty workflow tips
- Embed Crafty discovery checklists directly in Notion cards.
- Use Airtable Automations to push status updates into Crafty via Zapier or webhooks.
- Sync risk and evidence records between your board and the audit readiness plan.
Recommendation
For most bid teams, start with Notion—its learning curve is gentle, and narrative documentation keeps funders happy. If you crave powerful automations, deeper relational data, or enterprise scalability, move to Airtable (or run them in parallel).
Try both templates
Download our Notion and Airtable pipeline templates, each pre-tagged for Crafty workflows. Test with one upcoming bid before rolling out org-wide.