When software becomes deeply embedded in a business, it can stop feeling like software.
It becomes infrastructure.
Your data is there. Your workflows are there. Your employees know how to use it. Your automations run in the background. Your business processes have gradually been shaped around it.
Then the company behind the software gets acquired.
Suddenly, questions that once seemed theoretical become very practical:
What happens to the pricing?
What happens to the features you depend on?
What happens to the roadmap?
And how difficult would it actually be to leave?
Those questions are now being raised around Airtable following the announcement that Bending Spoons has agreed to acquire Airtable in an all-cash transaction valuing Airtable at an enterprise value of $1.285 billion. When Airtable’s current net cash and cash-equivalent balance is included, the transaction implies an equity value of approximately $2.25 billion. The deal was announced on August 4, 2026 and is expected to close later this year, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
The acquisition does not necessarily mean Airtable is going away. It does not prove that Airtable prices will increase or that its features will change.
But looking at Bending Spoons’ history with other technology companies it has acquired, it can lead you to have a guess.
And that history points to a much bigger issue than Airtable:
When you build something important on software, how much control do you actually have over what you have built?
Why the Bending Spoons Acquisition Is Getting Attention
Bending Spoons has acquired a series of established software products, including Evernote, Filmic, Meetup, WeTransfer, and Vimeo.
What typically follows isn’t a continuation of the culture or product vision that made people fall in love with the software in the first place.
After acquiring Evernote, Bending Spoons cut 129 employees in 2023 and fundamentally restructured pricing, resulting in massive price hikes for longtime users. With Filmic, the original team was completely laid off. WeTransfer saw a ~75% workforce reduction and tight new limits on its free tier. Meetup users saw organizer fees jump, core features like event chat removed, and aggressive upsells added across the platform. Vimeo saw similar sweeping layoffs.
When original founders sell, the culture and mission can change. New owners may have different priorities, different ideas about the product, and a different approach to profitability and growth.
It highlights a frustrating cycle in the tech industry: creators build a platform that users become deeply invested in, eventually sell the company, and the product then comes under new ownership with potentially very different priorities and strategies.
For people who have come to rely on a platform for their business, work, community, or daily activities, the reality can be frustrating: you didn’t ask for a new business model or stripped-down features. You just wanted the software you relied on to keep working.
That is why the Airtable deal is making waves.
Related: How to Build a Directory Website: Softr + Airtable vs. The Better Way
Airtable Is Not a Website Builder — But the Architecture Lesson Is Similar
Airtable is not a website builder.
It is a cloud-based database and application platform that combines structured data with a visual interface, workflows, automations, forms, and other tools that allow businesses to build internal systems without developing everything from scratch.
A hosted website builder is a different type of product.
But there is an important similarity:
The provider controls the underlying software environment.
You use the platform through the provider’s infrastructure.
The provider determines what features are available, what integrations are supported, how pricing works, what limitations apply, and how the product evolves.
That can be extremely convenient.
It can also create a dependency on the provider’s platform.
And dependency isn’t necessarily a problem.
The problem is not understanding the dependency until you need to get out.
You Can Export Data Without Being Able to Recreate the System
A natural response to any SaaS acquisition panic is: “Can’t you just export your data?”
Yes, but exporting records is not the same thing as exporting an entire application.
A CSV file gives you raw rows and columns. It does not recreate:
- Relationships between complex records
- Automated workflows and notifications
- Custom interfaces and forms
- User permissions, business rules, and report logic
Airtable’s own documentation notes that standard exports leave behind record-level comments, field descriptions, base guide content, extensions, and attachment structures. Getting raw records out is relatively easy; recreating the functional system built around those records is where the real work begins.
A Database Engine Is Not an Application Layer
This distinction explains why moving off a hosted platform can be an engineering project, not simply a data migration.
Database engines such as PostgreSQL and MySQL manage and store structured data. Higher-level platforms such as Airtable provide an application layer around that data, including interfaces, workflows, automations, permissions, and other functionality.
When a team moves from Airtable to PostgreSQL, for example, they aren’t just moving the data to a different database. They will also need to build and maintain the interfaces, automations, business logic, and other functionality that the SaaS platform previously provided, for a similar kind of experience.
That trade-off can be an excellent decision for a company seeking greater control. But it requires understanding the difference between where data is stored and the software that makes that data useful.
The Same Question Applies to Website Builders
Now apply the same thinking to websites.
There is a meaningful difference between:
“My website exists inside a company’s website-building service.”
and:
“I have website-building software running on a server I choose.”
With a hosted website-building platform, the website is deeply tied to the provider’s environment.
The provider controls the software.
The provider controls the hosting environment.
The provider controls the available features and integrations.
The provider controls the pricing structure.
And the provider ultimately decides what happens to the product.
If the company changes direction, customers have to decide whether the new direction works for them.
Like when Webflow implemented a price hike and called it “premium” with lower bandwidth offered. And after customers had experienced major outages, and more outages. You could say that Webflow’s 2026 layoffs exposed the SaaS illusion.
Or when Wix rolled out their price hikes. Or had a major outage. Or instituted AI with Wix Harmony, and increased pricing.
With downloadable website-building software, the relationship can be different.
The software company still matters. You are trusting them to develop, maintain, update, and support the software.
But the website itself does not have to live inside that company’s proprietary hosting environment.
You can choose your hosting provider.
You can access your website files.
You can access your database.
You can make your own backups.
You can work with your own developers.
You can move the website to another compatible server.
That doesn’t eliminate all dependency.
It gives you more control over where that dependency exists.
Even Open Source Doesn’t Mean Everything Is Independent
Open source is sometimes presented as the ultimate answer to software dependency.
It is certainly valuable.
But it doesn’t automatically mean that everything surrounding your website is open, portable, or permanently maintained.
WordPress is a good example.
WordPress core is open-source software.
But a WordPress website can also depend on proprietary themes, proprietary plugins, hosting companies, external SaaS services, payment providers, email services, and other third-party systems.
Take for example the 2026 Kadence WP Corporate Takeover of a whole suite of WordPress plugins, and the WordPress Events Calendar Pro Price Hike. Or the WordPress Kirki Customizer Takeover: The Automatic Bait-and-Switch Plugin Trend.
The website may therefore contain both open and proprietary components.
And even when source code is available, someone still has to maintain the software.
Source code availability and ongoing software development are two different things.
Where UltimateWB Fits Into This
UltimateWB is proprietary software.
Customers are trusting UltimateWB to continue developing, maintaining, updating, and supporting the software.
That is a responsibility we take seriously.
At the same time, downloadable UltimateWB is not a hosted website that exists exclusively inside UltimateWB’s infrastructure.
You purchase the software and install it on compatible web hosting.
You can choose to host with UltimateWB for a managed hosting environment or with your own selected hosting provider.
You have access to your website files and database.
You can make your own backups when you want.
You can move your website to another compatible server.
And if you have a developer who wants to customize your website, the website isn’t sealed inside a hosted website-builder environment.
The software company is responsible for developing the software.
You retain control over where your website runs.
UltimateWB also offers a subscription-based Cloud option for people who want a managed hosting environment with a lower upfront investment. The Cloud option can also be upgraded to the downloadable software, giving you the flexibility to host the website where you want.
So the choice isn’t “self-hosting or nothing.”
You can choose the architecture that makes the most sense for you.
The Question Entrepreneurs Should Ask Before Building
This becomes especially important when the website isn’t merely a website.
If you’re building a business, online community, membership system, e-commerce operation, directory, social platform, or another application, your website can become part of the company’s core infrastructure.
At that point, the software architecture is a business decision.
Before committing to a platform, it is worth asking:
- Where does my data live?
- Can I access it?
- Can I back it up?
- What exactly can I export?
- Can I access my website files?
- Can I choose my hosting provider?
- Can another developer work on the website?
- Which parts of the system are proprietary?
- Which parts can I replace?
- What happens if pricing changes?
- What happens if a feature I depend on disappears?
- What happens if the company is acquired?
- How difficult would it actually be to move?
That last question deserves particular attention.
Technically possible and practically easy are not the same thing.
A platform may give you an export button while leaving you with a substantial engineering project.
A website may have a backup while still depending on several outside services.
Software may be open source while requiring specialized developers to maintain it.
The details matter.
And What Happens If You Eventually Sell Your Business?
There is another side to this that entrepreneurs should consider.
You may not be the customer worrying about an acquisition.
You may eventually be the person selling the company.
Entrepreneurs build businesses around software all the time.
The website becomes part of the business.
The database becomes part of the business.
The customer accounts become part of the business.
The applications and infrastructure become part of what a buyer is acquiring.
And once the company is sold, someone else may make decisions about it.
That’s normal.
But it is worth thinking about how much of the company’s foundation is tied to someone else’s platform before that day arrives.
Because when you build a business on a platform, you’re not just choosing software. You’re choosing who gets to make decisions about the technology your business depends on.
The Real Lesson From the Airtable Acquisition
The history of Bending Spoons’ acquisitions demonstrates something that is easy to forget when software becomes part of everyday business operations:
The company behind the software can change.
And when ownership changes, the product can change with it.
Pricing can change.
Features can change.
Staff can change.
Priorities can change.
The roadmap can change.
The business model can change.
Customers don’t get to vote on all of those decisions simply because they have spent years using the product.
That’s the nature of relying on someone else’s platform.
Choose Your Dependencies Deliberately
There is no technology architecture with zero dependencies.
SaaS has dependencies.
Open-source software has dependencies.
Self-hosting has responsibilities.
Proprietary software involves trust.
The goal isn’t to eliminate every dependency.
The goal is to choose your dependencies deliberately.
If a hosted service saves you enormous amounts of time and its limitations are acceptable, it may be exactly the right choice.
But if you’re building something that could become critical to your business, it is worth thinking beyond today’s interface and today’s pricing.
Think about where the data lives.
Think about what happens if the company changes ownership.
Think about what you can actually take with you.
Think about what would have to be rebuilt.
And think about who controls the environment your business ultimately depends on.
For websites, downloadable software provides one way to retain more of that control.
The software is the tool.
Your website is yours to build.
And the bigger question raised by the Airtable acquisition isn’t really about Airtable at all.
It’s this:
When you build something important on software, can you take what you’ve built with you?
That’s a question worth answering before you need to migrate – not after.
Related:
- Best Website Builder for Developers – PHP/MySQL Flexibility with UltimateWB
- The Powerful Website Builder for Beginners and Coders
- Looking for a Website Builder Without AI? Which One Should You Choose?
- Signs Your Website Builder Isn’t as Customizable as You Think
Looking for a downloadable website builder that is flexible and customizable? Learn more about UltimateWB! We also offer web design packages if you would like your website designed and built for you.
Got a techy/website question? Whether it’s about UltimateWB or another website builder, web hosting, or other aspects of websites, just send in your question in the “Ask David!” form. We will email you when the answer is posted on the UltimateWB “Ask David!” section.