Suppose you manage your entire workflow in Airtable.
A customer submits information through Fillout, and you use DocsAutomator to generate a contract.
Now you have to decide where that contract should live.
Should you attach the PDF directly to the Airtable record, or save it in Google Drive and keep the Drive link in Airtable?
I would choose based on how the document will be used.
When I would store the file in Airtable
Airtable attachments work well when the file belongs to a particular record.
For example:
- A signed contract attached to a client
- A receipt attached to an expense
- A product image attached to a product
- A document uploaded through a form
- A PDF generated by an automation
The advantage is that everything stays together.
Open the record and the document is right there with the rest of its information.
For documents that are mostly uploaded and viewed rather than continuously edited, this works very well.
Be careful with Airtable attachment links
One important limitation is external sharing.
Airtable actually has two different types of attachment URLs.
An attachment viewer URL can continue working, but the person opening it needs to be signed into Airtable and have access to the relevant base or interface.
Airtable also provides download URLs that can be opened without Airtable access, but these expire after a short period.
Because of this, I wouldn't take an Airtable attachment's download URL and use it as a permanent public file link.
If you need to send an Airtable attachment through an automation, you can add the attachment itself to the email rather than relying on its temporary download URL.
I have another article explaining why Airtable attachment links stop working and how to fix it.
Airtable also has storage limits
Attachments count toward the storage allowance of the base.
Airtable's current limits are:
- Free: 1 GB per base
- Team: 20 GB per base
- Business: 100 GB per base
- Enterprise Scale: 1000 GB per base
For normal documents, this can be plenty.
But if you're storing thousands of PDFs, photos, videos, or other large files, storage becomes another reason to consider keeping the files outside Airtable.
When I would use Google Drive
I prefer Google Drive when the document needs to exist independently from the Airtable record.
The clearest example is a working document.
If your team is collaborating on a Google Doc, Sheet, or Slide, keep the original in Google Drive and store its link in Airtable.
That way, Airtable manages the workflow while Google Drive manages the document.
Drive is also a better fit when the same document is used in several places.
For example, a company handbook or standard operating procedure probably shouldn't be uploaded separately to ten different Airtable records.
Keep one file in Drive and link to it wherever you need it.
Drive also gives you proper document collaboration and version history. For Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, you can review previous versions and see changes made by collaborators.
What about external sharing?
This is another situation where I generally prefer Google Drive.
If customers or other people outside your Airtable workspace need ongoing access to a document, you can manage that through Drive's sharing permissions.
You can then store the Drive URL in Airtable.
Unlike Airtable's temporary download URLs, you aren't relying on a link designed to expire after a few hours.
Of course, the Drive file still needs the correct sharing permissions. If someone removes access or deletes the file, the link will no longer give the recipient access.
You can also use both
You don't necessarily have to choose one.
For working documents, I like this setup:
- Keep the working document in Google Drive.
- Store its Drive link on the Airtable record.
- When the document is finalized, optionally attach the final PDF to Airtable.
For example, a contract could remain a Google Doc while your team is preparing it.
Once it is signed, the final PDF can be attached to the client's Airtable record.
You then have the working document in Drive and a final snapshot directly alongside the Airtable record.
You can also automate parts of this workflow with Make.
Which should you use?
If a file belongs to one Airtable record and is mainly something you upload and view, an Airtable attachment is usually enough.
If the document needs ongoing editing, collaboration, broader sharing, or needs to exist independently from a particular record, I would keep it in Google Drive and store the link in Airtable.
And for important documents that go through an editing process before becoming final, using both is often the best setup.