With the release of Baserow 2.0 today, the open-source database platform by the same name is making a significant leap into AI-powered territory. The update brings an AI assistant for natural language interactions, AI-powered fields for automated data enrichment, integration with external AI agents through MCP servers, and an AI agent builder, which makes it possible to connect AI agents to workflows built in Baserow.
For a startup known for giving non-technical users the power to build databases without touching a line of code, it may seem like a natural course of action. Still, Baserow’s story isn’t just about jumping on the latest AI trend. It’s about addressing a gap that many European businesses have felt acutely: the need for tools that respect data sovereignty, scale affordably, and don’t require a computer science degree to operate.
Building From Scratch
Bram Wiepjes, CEO and founder of Baserow, didn’t set out to build a company. “There wasn’t a grand plan at the start,” he admits. As a software engineer who enjoyed side projects, he was drawn to the possibilities of no-code tools like Airtable and Smartsheet. But rather than simply using them, he saw an opportunity to do something different—build an open-source alternative from the ground up.
Why open-source? Wiepjes says it is the easiest way to put the software in the hands of thousands of users without having them struggle with licensing fees, and offer an alternative to Airtable that appeals to the security conscious.
He says the early days were a balancing act. With a full-time job consuming most of his hours, time became the biggest hurdle. Yet, after launching an initial version, the response was strong enough to validate the concept. Wiepjes shifted to part-time freelancing to keep the lights on, and following their first funding round, he committed full-time and began looking for a co-founder who could help turn the open-source project into a company with sustainable revenue.
When he found Olivier Maes, co-founder and CRO of Baserow, they expanded the team and started to sell to customers.”We built an exceptionally talented group to move fast with minimal overhead and set a strong cultural and technical foundation for future scale,” Wiepjes explains.
The European Advantage
Maes is quick to point out what sets the Dutch startup apart in a market dominated by US-based SaaS platforms. “Self-hosted options were missing for security-sensitive industries,” he says. “GDPR compliance for all pricing tiers was missing, mainly from US-based SaaS vendors. Having a developers team predominantly based in Europe instead of China, India, or US also matters to sectors like defence and government.”
It’s not just about checking compliance boxes, though. For larger European enterprises dealing with sensitive data, the ability to self-host and maintain full control over where information lives isn’t a luxury but a necessity. Add to that concerns about scalability, both in terms of performance and pricing, you start to understand why many companies felt locked out of the no-code revolution.
Baserow’s approach tackles these pain points head-on. By offering open-source code that can be deployed on-premises or in private cloud environments, it gives organisations the control they need. The fact that GDPR, SOC 2 and HIPAA compliance comes standard across all pricing tiers, rather than as a premium add-on, speaks to a fundamentally different philosophy about data privacy.
Database Simplified
For all its technical sophistication under the hood, Baserow’s interface intentionally mirrors something most people already know: a spreadsheet. “Baserow has a spreadsheet-like interface,” Maes explains. “That means all the complexities of a PostgreSQL relational database are hidden under an intuitive UI.”
This design choice gets to the heart of what no-code tools promise: developer power without technical skills. In the average enterprise, which Maes notes runs about 100 different tools, data ends up scattered across multiple systems. Non-technical employees require real-time access to accurate data to manage operational work, but they shouldn’t need to understand database schemas or SQL queries to get it.
The use cases that have emerged reflect this accessibility. Baserow has found its way into aerospace manufacturers managing spaceship production data, payroll operations, marketing campaigns, manufacturing operations, research teams and real estate agents. “The data managed in our platform is part of the daily business processes of our clients, which makes our software critical to their workflows,” Maes notes.
Vibe Coding Meets No-Code
The conversation inevitably turns to AI and the latest buzzword making the rounds: “vibe coding.” The concept refers to users prompting software to generate code through natural language rather than writing it themselves. So how does that differ from no-code?
“Both go hand in hand,” Maes argues. He envisions a future where most software will have prompting capabilities through human language and AI agents. Baserow’s approach, which he dubs “vibe no coding,” aims to capture the best of both worlds. The AI assistant handles the natural language interaction – the “vibing” part – while the no-code interface ensures users can inspect and refine what theAI produces without needing technical skills.
“Baserow ensures there are no security vulnerabilities,” Maes adds. “It is vibe no coding, the mix between vibe coding and no code tools.”
Wiepjes is more measured about the future of coding itself. “Even with rapid AI progress, coding won’t disappear anytime soon,” he says. “If AI writes code, a human still needs to ensure the solution meets exact requirements.”
His vision of the sweet spot involves AI drafting initial solutions while humans finalise them through intuitive interfaces. English may replace formal syntax for many tasks, but as he notes, “as long as computers run on binary systems, actual code won’t vanish; it will just sit under the hood.”
Open-Source Foundation and Scaling The Future
Baserow’s open-source roots have been instrumental in its trajectory. The model provided early traction and adoption, along with valuable user feedback that shaped the product’s evolution. However, Maes is clear about the boundaries: “Our community does not actively contribute to the code of Baserow as we manage that internally, but we receive valuable feedback on features from users who experiment with our tool.”
To ensure sustainable development, the team made an early decision to place certain business-required features behind a paywall. It’s a pragmatic approach that balances the ideals of open source with the realities of funding a development team.
Infrastructure choices matter when you’re building a platform designed to handle everything from small-business furniture inventory to aerospace production data. Baserow started on DigitalOcean, prioritising speed over sophistication. But as scalability, backup, and upgrade limitations emerged, a migration to Amazon Web Services (AWS) became necessary.
“AWS is the most widely adopted cloud with a strong track record, a broad ecosystem, and the services we’ll need over the long term,” Wiepjes explains. The platform’s managed services, such as RDS and EKS, removed the complexity of running reliable, scalable production environments. Perhaps more importantly, the AWS team has proven responsive and proactive. “They help us unblock quickly, which has been a clear advantage versus other providers.”
Ask Maes about success in the medium term, and his vision extends beyond Baserow’s own growth. He sees a future where custom software becomes genuinely accessible to non-technical users at a fraction of traditional development costs. Boring, repetitive work gets handled by automation and AI agents, freeing knowledge workers for more interesting challenges.
The bigger prize? Addressing what he calls “SaaS tools sprawl.” Companies could build the tools they require rather than subscribing to a multitude of products that don’t quite fit. “Baserow addresses SaaS tools sprawl and ensures systems talk to each other for better insights, better control and less need to sync up internally in calls and meetings.”
It’s an ambitious goal, but then again, so was building an open-source database platform that could compete with well-funded incumbents. With Baserow 2.0 and its AI capabilities now in the mix, the next chapter is just beginning.
