ADoor vs Grist
Grist is a relational spreadsheet with Python formulas and detailed access rules, hosted or self-hosted. ADoor is a data account for the records a team or a person keeps, set up from a chat, where every person, app, assistant, device and job has its own access.
Where ADoor stands out
Per-assistant access, capped at you
Grist has strong access rules, including row-level and column-level control. ADoor applies its rules per assistant as well: each one gets its own access and never more than the person who connected it.
Approvals for agents and devices
When an agent in ADoor needs another list, it asks and you approve or deny. A new device signs in only after you approve it and choose what it can reach.
Set up from a chat
Grist access rules are written per document, table and column. In ADoor, you describe what to keep in an assistant like ChatGPT, and the list and its access are set up for you.
The products
Grist
Grist combines a spreadsheet with relational structure, formulas in Python and an MCP server.
- Assistants
- An MCP server at docs.getgrist.com/api/mcp, enabled for all users
- Access
- Access rules per table, column and row, which can depend on user attributes
- Change history
- Document history with snapshots: 30 days on Free, 3 years on Pro
- Plans
- Free with up to 5,000 records per document. Pro is $8 per user a month billed yearly.
ADoor
ADoor is your data account. You keep lists and tables in a workspace you own, personal or team: a reading list, an incident log, a list of customers. Describe what you want to keep track of and it's set up for you, with real Postgres underneath. Every person, app, assistant, device and job gets its own access.
- Assistants
- ChatGPT, Claude, Grok and Cursor connect through MCP with a sign-in.
- Apps and scripts
- An HTTP API with keys, running the same actions assistants use
- Access
- Per space, list or field, or just the entries where a field equals a value you choose. Reading, adding, editing and deleting entries, and changing a list's fields, are separate permissions. An assistant never gets more than the person who connected it.
- Approvals
- Agents ask for more access and you approve or deny. A new device signs in only after you approve it and choose its access.
- CI jobs
- GitHub Actions signs in with short-lived access, 15 minutes by default and up to 30 days, with no stored secret.
- Revoking
- Takes effect on the next request. What was already saved stays.
- History
- A history of changes, with who made each one and the before and after
- Underneath
- Standard Postgres
- Plans
- Free for 3 tables and 100 rows. Pro is $10 a month per workspace, with 1 GB of storage.
Pricing
| Topic | ADoor | Grist |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | 3 tables and 100 rows, with a few MB of storage | Up to 5,000 records per document |
| Paid plans | Pro: $10 a month per workspace, 1 GB of storage, no per-GB charges | Pro $8 per user a month billed yearly, $10 monthly |
Latency
| Topic | ADoor | Grist |
|---|---|---|
| Published figure | Not published | Not published |
ADoor doesn't publish a latency figure, and Grist doesn't publish one we could find. Speed depends on your network and on what you ask for.
Connectors and API
| Topic | ADoor | Grist |
|---|---|---|
| MCP server | Hosted, with OAuth sign-in. ChatGPT, Claude, Grok and Cursor. | Hosted and self-hosted, with OAuth for interactive clients |
| HTTP API | HTTP API with keys: read, add, edit, delete, and change lists and fields | REST API with API keys |
| SQL access | Standard Postgres SQL through MCP and the API, within your access | Not published |
| Access per agent | Its own access per assistant, app, device and job, down to specific fields, or just the entries that match a value you choose | The connected user's access rules |
| OAuth or tokens | OAuth for assistants, keys for apps, short-lived sign-in for GitHub Actions | API keys and OAuth apps |
| SDKs | Coming soon | Not published |
| Webhooks | No | Yes |
| Import and export | Export to CSV or JSON. Import by attaching CSV or JSON in an assistant. | Exports and backups |
ADoor has no sync connectors and no file storage.
Which one should you use?
Use Grist when
you want a spreadsheet with real structure and fine access rules, and may need to host it yourself.
- Detailed access rules. Row-level and column-level rules, based on user attributes. Grist already does what many tools can't.
- Python formulas. Formulas are written in Python.
- Open source and self-hosted. The Community edition is free on your own server.
Use ADoor when
the access rules matter, and you also need them to follow every assistant, device and CI job, without writing them yourself.
Technical
- A GitHub Actions job records each schema migration in a Changes list with 15 minutes of access and no stored secret.
- A Cursor agent that answers support questions reads Product facts, and asks before it can reach anything else.
Personal
- Your tax receipts and charitable donations through the year. Your accountant reads the list in April and can't edit it.
- Visits to your grandmother: who's going when, her medications and the care home's contacts. Your cousins add visits, and only you edit the contacts.
Team
- One Requests list across IT, facilities and HR. Each team edits only the entries with its name, and the intake bot adds but never deletes.
- A history of changes shows who closed each request and what its status was before.
Business
- Finance's assistant reads every invoice; a sales assistant reads only its owner's accounts, because each is capped at the person who connected it.
- An auditor gets read access to one space for a month, and you revoke it on the last day.
Questions people ask
Grist already has row and column rules. Why ADoor?
For access per assistant capped at the person who connected it, approvals for agents and devices, short-lived CI access, and setup from a chat.
Does ADoor have formulas?
No. ADoor keeps records you can query with SQL, but it isn't a spreadsheet.
Which assistants work with ADoor?
ChatGPT, Claude, Grok and Cursor connect through MCP with a sign-in. You approve each one and choose what it can reach.
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Checked October 20, 2026. Sources: getgrist.com/pricing, Grist access rules, Grist REST API, Grist MCP server.