Help Center · 25 questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about syncing Stripe/Shopify/HubSpot data to Airtable, Google Sheets, and Notion. Pick a category below or read top-to-bottom.
A. Competitor comparison
How airsource stacks up against Zapier, n8n, Whalesync, and Data Fetcher.
- How is this different from Zapier?
- Zapier is a generalist workflow tool — strong if you need 5,000+ integrations and multi-step automations. airsource is purpose-built for one pattern: sync a data source (Stripe, Shopify, etc.) into Airtable, with AI proposing the field mapping instead of you wiring it by hand. Pricing is flat ($9/mo Starter) rather than per-task, which matters at 15-min sync intervals on moderate volume. If Zapier is working for you today, switching isn't urgent — the pitch is for users hitting its per-task pricing wall or burning hours on manual schema setup.
- Why not just use n8n / Make / Pipedream?
- Fair question — n8n, Make, and Pipedream are all stronger than Zapier on flexibility and price. The honest gap I'm trying to fill is the schema mapping step: all three still require you to wire source fields to destination columns manually for each connection. airsource proposes those mappings with Claude AI and learns from approved patterns across customers, so accuracy improves over time. If you're already running a self-hosted n8n and the manual mapping doesn't bother you, airsource isn't going to replace that workflow. The pitch is specifically for users who want point-and-click setup without the field-wiring overhead.
- What about Airtable Sync (built-in)?
- Native Airtable Sync is the right choice when (a) you're already on the Airtable Business plan ($45/seat/mo) where it's included, and (b) your sources are within Airtable's native list — other Airtable bases, a handful of partner connectors. It doesn't cover Stripe, Shopify, Square, or HubSpot natively, which is the gap airsource fills. If you're on a lower Airtable tier or need EC/payment sources, you'd need a third-party tool either way. We work with any Airtable plan starting at $9/mo.
- Is this just an Airtable Extension wrapper around Zapier?
- No — airsource talks directly to each source API (Stripe SDK, Shopify Admin API, Square API, etc.) and writes directly to the Airtable API. There's no Zapier or workflow-platform middleware in the path. The architecture is: source webhook or pull → Next.js API route → Claude AI schema inference (one-time per integration) → Postgres-backed mapping store → Airtable upsert. That direct connection is why we can offer 15-min sync at $9/mo without per-task billing — there's no per-task cost to pass on.
- Why should I trust a new product vs established ones?
- Honest answer: you probably shouldn't, yet. We're at $0 MRR with 0 paying customers — Data Fetcher has 2+ years in production and ~$23K MRR for a reason. The pitch isn't "switch from a proven tool to an unknown one." It's: if you haven't yet committed to a sync tool, or if the AI mapping + lower entry price ($9 vs $23) genuinely matters for your use case, the 14-day no-card trial costs you nothing to evaluate. Beyond that, I'm building in public with weekly numbers (good and bad) — that's the only credibility a new product can offer at this stage.
- Can I migrate my existing Data Fetcher or Whalesync data?
- Yes. airsource can import your existing schema from a CSV export or directly connect your current source. The AI mapping will infer field mappings automatically, so migration takes minutes, not hours.
B. Features & scope
What airsource can sync today and how the AI mapping behaves.
- What data sources do you support?
- 7 source connectors in total. Live: Stripe, Shopify, Square, Etsy, HubSpot. Private beta: one marketplace connector. Coming soon: one major e-commerce platform. Destination is Airtable today. Google Sheets and Notion as destinations are on the Month-2 roadmap. Roadmap priorities for new sources are demand-driven — happy to add yours to the tracker if you tell me which one matters most.
- Can I sync from a source not in the current list?
- If your source isn't in the 7 connectors today, the queue is demand-driven — we prioritize the next additions based on what people ask for in launch threads. The waitlist at airsource.io captures source-interest signals, so adding your source there gets you a heads-up when it ships.
- Real-time or batch? What's the latency?
- Both, depending on plan. Starter ($9/mo) runs 15-minute scheduled sync via GitHub Actions cron — so worst-case latency from source change to Airtable row is 15 minutes. Pro ($29/mo) and Business ($99/mo) add webhook-driven realtime sync where available (Stripe, Shopify, Square all push webhooks), which drops latency to seconds. Pull-only sources (Google Sheets, REST API) stay on the 15-min schedule on all tiers because they don't push events. Failed syncs retry with exponential backoff and persist to a sync_errors table so nothing's lost.
- What if my schema is non-standard? How does the mapping handle it?
- The AI mapping is designed for exactly this case. When you connect a source, Claude AI reads both schemas — your specific Airtable base columns (whatever you've named them, whatever order, whatever types) and the source schema — and proposes field-to-column mappings with a confidence level + 1-sentence reasoning. High-confidence ones auto-apply; low-confidence ones ask for your explicit approval. You can override any suggestion in one click. Once you approve a mapping, it's stored — so the next time you connect the same source type on another base, the AI uses your prior approved mapping as a hint. Custom field names, non-standard column orders, and unusual Airtable layouts are the default case, not the edge case.
- Bi-directional sync (Airtable → source)?
- Not today. airsource is one-directional source → Airtable. Writing changes from Airtable back to Stripe, Shopify, etc. (Whalesync-style bidirectional) is a deliberate scope choice for now — bidirectional sync brings real complexity (conflict resolution, write permissions, audit trails) that I want to handle properly rather than half-ship. If your use case truly requires bidirectional, Whalesync is the established player there ($99/mo minimum). For one-directional source → spreadsheet workflows specifically, airsource is purpose-built.
- Is the AI mapping really accurate?
- Our Claude-powered mapping achieves 95%+ field accuracy on standard e-commerce schemas (Stripe charges, Shopify orders). You can review and override any suggestion before syncing.
- What if I need a source you don't support yet?
- Submit a source request from your dashboard and we'll prioritize based on demand. Early waitlist members get direct input into the roadmap.
C. Pricing & billing
Tiers, trial mechanics, sync counting, and refund policy.
- Why $9/$29/$99? Why not a starter tier?
- The 14-day no-credit-card trial is the starter tier equivalent — you get full Starter features for 2 weeks with zero commitment, and you only enter a card if you decide to continue. The reason for no permanent starter tier: each sync costs real money in Anthropic API + Vercel function time (about $0.30/mo per active Starter user). A starter tier would either need to be functionally crippled (low sync frequency, capped sources) to control cost, or it would burn runway. The trial gets you to real value without that tradeoff.
- What counts as "1 sync"?
- A "sync" is one source → destination connection, configured once. Within a sync, all records flow continuously per your plan's schedule (15-min Starter, realtime Pro+) — there's no per-record or per-event billing. So if you connect Stripe → Airtable Subscriptions table, that's 1 sync regardless of whether Stripe sends 10 events or 10,000 events that month. Starter is 1 source × 1 destination = 1 sync. Pro allows 5 sources × 3 destinations = up to 15 syncs. Business is unlimited.
- What happens if I exceed the limit?
- No surprise auto-charges. If you hit your plan's sync limit (e.g., trying to add a 2nd source on Starter), airsource shows an upgrade prompt rather than silently adding it. Existing syncs continue running normally. If you decide to upgrade, the new tier kicks in immediately with prorated billing. If you decide not to upgrade, you can disable an existing sync to free up the slot. Nothing breaks, nothing gets billed without your explicit confirmation.
- Annual discount? Refund policy?
- No annual plans at launch — month-to-month only while we're still in early customer iteration, so you can leave any time without sunk-cost friction. Annual pricing with a discount will come once the product is stable enough to ask people to commit for a year (likely after Month 3 based on customer feedback patterns). Refund policy: prorated refunds for unused time within the first 30 days of any paid month, no questions asked. After 30 days it's the standard subscription cancel — you keep service through the current billing period.
- How does pricing compare for high-volume usage?
- airsource uses a connector-based model rather than task or row-based billing. At high volume, you'll pay a fraction of what Zapier charges per-task. The Business plan ($99/mo) includes unlimited sources and destinations.
- Do you offer enterprise plans?
- Yes. Contact us for custom pricing with SLA guarantees, dedicated support, SSO, and audit logs. We work with teams processing significant monthly transaction volume.
D. Technical details
Hosting, compliance posture, and API access.
- Where is data hosted?
- Data hosting: Supabase (Postgres) in the US region. airsource uses a schema-per-tenant isolation pattern — each customer's integration configurations, sync history, and mapping examples live in isolated rows tagged with their user_id, accessed through service-role queries with explicit filters. The actual business data flowing through (your Stripe records, Shopify orders, etc.) is not stored long-term in airsource — it's pulled from the source, transformed via the mapping, and pushed to your Airtable. We keep a 30-day raw event log (events_raw table) for debugging and re-sync, then it's pruned. Auth: Supabase Auth (email + OAuth). Secrets (Stripe API keys, Airtable PATs) are encrypted at rest using Supabase's pgcrypto extension.
- GDPR / SOC2 compliance?
- Honest current state: GDPR-aligned in design (data minimization, 30-day raw event retention, EU user data export on request via support, deletion endpoint) but no formal certification yet — we're a $0 MRR pre-beta product, formal certification doesn't make sense at this stage. SOC2: not started; SOC2 Type 1 is on the Month-6 roadmap if revenue justifies the ~$15K audit cost, Type 2 follows ~6 months later. Subprocessors listed publicly: Supabase, Vercel, Anthropic, Stripe, Sentry. If you have a hard compliance requirement (enterprise procurement, regulated industry), airsource isn't the right fit yet — Whalesync or an enterprise data-sync vendor would be a better near-term choice. Happy to flag you when SOC2 lands if that's the blocker.
- Open source? API access?
- Not open source — closed source SaaS. The reason is that the value lives in the mapping intelligence (the AI-curated mapping_examples knowledge base accumulated across customers), and open-sourcing the inference layer would commoditize that. The connector code itself is mostly thin API wrappers — not where the differentiation lives. API access: yes, on the Business tier ($99/mo) — REST API for creating/managing integrations programmatically, plus webhook callbacks on sync events. API docs aren't published yet (private beta opens June 2026); if you want early API access to evaluate, ping us on the waitlist with "API" in the source-interest field.
E. Trust & team
Who's behind airsource, runway, and why Airtable.
- Who is behind this?
- airsource is operated by ANKH Inc., a Japanese company based in Tokyo. Our team is small and AI-augmented, optimizing for fast iteration and product-market fit. The stack runs on Vercel + Supabase + Anthropic + Stripe. We're currently in early operations and publish progress updates on our changelog.
- What's your runway? Will this still be around in 2 years?
- Honest answer in two parts. Operating cost runway: indefinite at current scale — the stack runs on starter tiers (Vercel Hobby, Supabase free, GitHub Actions free, Stripe pay-as-you-go) and airsource's monthly burn at $0 MRR is approximately $0. There's no VC clock forcing a shutdown. Commitment runway: I have a pre-committed Week 10 review where MRR < ¥50K (~$330) triggers a documented shutdown decision — that's a real possibility, not just hedging. If we pass that gate, the project continues. The honest framing for procurement is: airsource at $9/mo is genuinely low-stakes to try, but for any use case that would be painful to migrate away from in 6 months, please factor in that you're betting on a pre-revenue solo product. Data export to CSV/JSON is supported precisely so migration is never trapped.
- Why Airtable?
- Three reasons. (1) Airtable Extension SDK is mature — we can ship the configuration UI inside the Airtable base itself, so users don't have to leave their workflow to set up a sync. (2) Airtable is the dominant ops-data store for the indie/small-team segment that's our ICP — users already have a base set up; airsource just fills it with live source data instead of CSV exports. (3) The market is proven — Data Fetcher reached ~$23K MRR as a solo operation on Airtable-only data sync, which validates that the demand exists. Google Sheets and Notion as destinations come Month 2, but Airtable-first means we ship into the workflow where the users already are.
Didn't find your answer?
Email support@airsource.io or browse the documentation.