What Counts Toward Your Airtable API Usage (and What Doesn’t)

You run a organization that manages various activities, signups, and events. To keep everything organized, you use Airtable for data storage and sharing, along with Fillout forms that are connected to your Airtable base for collecting information from the public.

Lately, you’ve noticed that your Airtable workspace shows API usage, and you want to understand where that comes from. Does it happen when people submit forms? When automations run? Or when you use shared views or formulas inside Airtable?

Here’s a clear explanation of what actually contributes to Airtable’s API usage and how you can track it.

What Contribute to API Usage

Your Airtable API usage only increases when outside tools connect to your base through Airtable’s public API.

This includes platforms like Fillout, Make, Softr etc. Each time one of these tools reads data from your base or updates a record, it counts as an API request.

For example, when someone submits a Fillout form that sends data to Airtable, or when a Make scenario runs update records, those actions contribute to your API usage.

Everything that happens inside Airtable itself does not use the public API.

Actions such as adding or editing records directly in Airtable, running calculations with formulas or rollups, using built-in automations, or sharing views and interfaces are all internal processes.

These do not consume any of your API requests because they do not rely on external connections.

How to Check Your API Usage

You can easily check your current API usage from your Airtable workspace.

Open your Workspace Settings, go to the Usage tab, and scroll to the bottom of the page to see the API Requests section. This shows how many API calls have been made during the current billing month.

Only workspace owners can access this view, so if you are a creator, you may need to ask an owner to check it for you.

Also note that there is only a restriction on the number of API requests if you are on the free plan or the teams plan. The business plan and the enterprise plan give you an unlimited number of API requests per month.