Bending Spoons makes first post-IPO acquisition with $1.3B Airtable deal
Bending Spoons’ $1.3B acquisition of Airtable has raised concerns that the popular no-code database will follow other products the buyer has been accused of cost-cutting and “enshittifying” after takeover. Commenters question how a company once valued at over $10B ended up selling at a steep discount, citing slowing growth, AI-driven margin pressure, and competition from tools like Notion and Coda. Many users are already planning exits to alternatives such as Grist and Baserow, wary of likely price hikes, reduced development, and the risk of lock-in.
Perception of Bending Spoons and Strategy
- Many expect “enshittification”: aggressive price hikes, feature limits, staff cuts, and minimal development, especially given experiences with Meetup, Eventbrite, and others.
- Some describe Bending Spoons’ playbook as buying “fat” SaaS businesses, firing most of the staff, consolidating infra, and squeezing a sticky userbase for cash until churn overtakes revenue.
- Others argue this is just disciplined cost optimization on overfunded, underperforming products and note cases (Evernote, Komoot) where they see steady or even improved product quality, albeit with more bugs reported by some.
Airtable Valuation and Business Trajectory
- Reported figures: ~$500M ARR in 2026, $1.3B purchase price, implied equity value around $2.25B due to net cash; prior funding of $1.4B at much higher valuations.
- Some see the deal as a bargain and evidence Airtable’s growth stalled, possibly hit by AI-era margin pressure and enterprise headwinds.
- Others think missing financial details (true cash flow, churn) make it hard to judge, and that in a weak SaaS market this may simply be “market value,” not sharp negotiation.
AI, “Vibecoding,” and Competition
- Several argue AI-assisted “vibe-coded” CRUD apps and internal tools could now replace Airtable quickly and cheaply, especially for solo or small-team use.
- Counterpoint: many enterprises prefer off-the-shelf tools and won’t build or maintain their own AI-powered replacements.
- Airtable is seen as squeezed by Notion, Coda, and project tools (Linear, ClickUp, Asana), with some criticizing its product limits and weak AI agent (“Omni”).
User Impact and Migration Plans
- Long-time users express sadness and distrust, expecting price hikes and stagnation; many plan to migrate preemptively.
- Suggested alternatives (often open source or self-hostable): Baserow, Grist (with an Airtable migration tool, cited French gov adoption), Fibery, Teable, Twenty, VisualDB, Bluetivity.
- Some advocate rebuilding custom replacements using AI assistants plus traditional stacks (e.g., Django).
Debate on “Enshittification” Concept
- One line of discussion treats “enshittification” broadly as quality degradation under profit pressure across many industries.
- Another insists the term properly applies to digital platforms with two-sided markets and fine-grained pricing levers, warning against diluting its meaning.