PasteSheet icon PasteSheet logo mark — a spreadsheet grid with a curly brace on a green rounded square PasteSheet

A Baserow alternative with no migration or hosting

Baserow is an open-source Airtable-style database you can self-host. If you do not want to migrate your data or run a server, PasteSheet gives your existing Google Sheet a REST API and an MCP server from a pasted URL.

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Key facts

  • A self-hostable database asks you to migrate the data and run the server. PasteSheet asks for neither — the Google Sheet you already have becomes the endpoint.
  • It needs no Google Cloud project, no OAuth consent screen and no service-account JSON. You paste a share URL, and MCP is included on the Free plan.
  • MCP is an open protocol built on JSON-RPC 2.0. A server exposes Resources, Prompts and Tools to any MCP client — Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, VS Code and Windsurf all speak it. source
  • PasteSheet's MCP server exposes three tools — list_tabs, get_schema and query_rows — and is read-only by design: an agent can query your sheet but can never modify it.

What Baserow does

Baserow is an open-source, Airtable-style no-code database. You can self-host it for free or use the cloud (Premium around $10/user/mo, Advanced around $20/user/mo as of 2026). It is a real database with its own tables, views, and API.

That means adopting Baserow: importing your data into its tables and either running the server or paying per user. If your data already lives in Google Sheets and you mainly need an API, that is a lot of overhead.

Where PasteSheet is different

PasteSheet is not a database — it publishes the sheet you already have:

  • No migration: your Google Sheet stays put and becomes a REST API from a pasted URL.
  • Nothing to self-host: the API and MCP server are hosted and cached for you — no Docker, no database to run.
  • MCP for agents: the same endpoint is a read-only MCP server for Claude, Cursor, and ChatGPT.
  • Read-only by design: safe to expose publicly or hand to an agent, and your sheet can never be modified through it.

Which one you actually want

If you want a true self-hostable database with relational tables, granular permissions, and read-write access, Baserow is an excellent open-source choice. If you want your existing Google Sheet to be an API and agent-readable with zero infrastructure, PasteSheet is the lighter path.

See what a spreadsheet-as-a-database looks like in Google Sheets as a database.

What it costs

MCP is included on the Free plan. Connect any public endpoint over MCP with no Google Cloud project and no credit card. Private endpoints and the account-wide workspace server need a paid plan (from Starter ($9/mo)) for the keys and OAuth they authenticate with.

Pro adds full-text search and aggregation (count, sum, avg, group_by) that your AI agent can call through query_rows.

Starter

For indie makers shipping a real app.

$9 /mo
Endpoints
10
Requests / mo
50,000
Row cap
5,000
  • MCP for AI agents
  • Private endpoints & keys
  • Full-text search
Choose Starter
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Frequently asked questions

Is PasteSheet a good Baserow alternative?

If you want an API and AI access on data that already lives in Google Sheets, yes. PasteSheet needs no migration or self-hosting. Baserow is a fuller, self-hostable relational database.

Do I need to self-host PasteSheet like Baserow?

No. PasteSheet is fully hosted — there is no server, container, or database to run. You paste a sheet URL and get an endpoint.

Can AI agents query the data?

Yes. Every PasteSheet endpoint is also a read-only MCP server, so Claude, Cursor, and ChatGPT can query your sheet directly.

Sources

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