There’s a good reason that Microsoft Excel has been the go-to spreadsheet application
for basically everyone since it was created in the pre-internet era, but depending on
the work you need to accomplish with your spreadsheets, there may be Excel alternatives
that better meet your needs.
And today we’ve rounded up 10 of your best options.
Before we get into the best Excel Alternatives on the market, be sure to ring the bell and
subscribe to our YouTube channel!
Alright, let’s get started.
First up, let’s dive into our top 3 Powerful Excel Alternatives!
1.
Google Sheets
Google Sheets is a no-brainer Excel alternative.
First off, it’s free.
Sheets is also cloud-based, which means you can share online and comment on sheets with
total real-time collaboration and in-depth revision history, making it best for teams
working in G-Suite, or budget-conscious freelancers and startups.
And because Sheets is powered by Google, you can enjoy some advanced data operations not
available in Excel.
The tradeoff is that it lacks some of Excel’s best AI features, and some users say it’s
harder to make tables look good in a snap.
If you’re looking to do even more with Google Sheets, Better Sheets is an online tutorial
for mastering the tool!
2.
Smartsheet
Smartsheet is an affordable, cloud-based Excel alternative for users who need to pull data
from outside sources and turn spreadsheets into dashboards that are easy-to-read.
It starts at just $14 per month and is great for project managers and data management for
large teams.
It also includes a ton of productivity app functions like Gantt Chart and kanban, which
will give you a much easier time reading and understanding your data.
Smartsheet users love the seamless access across multiple devices almost as much
as they love their tacos.
3.
Zoho Sheet
With Zoho Sheet, you can access documents across your devices, edit multiple files simultaneously,
and collaborate in real-time.
It’s free for individuals using up to 5GB, and then plans start from $2 per month.
This is an insanely good choice for Zoho CRM users who work outside the Google Suite.
Auto-save and version history features definitely make Zoho Sheet a strong contender, but the
downside is that experienced Excel users may dislike a web-based tool like this that doesn’t
have every advanced Excel function.
Now let’s take a look at 3 Cloud Database-Focused Excel Alternatives.
4.
Stackby
Stackby combines the best of spreadsheets, databases, and business APIs in a single platform.
It is normally $5 per user per month, but you check any current deals we have in the
description of this video or by going to appsumo.com/browse!
If you’re a marketer, agency, or small business that needs a better way to plan, organize,
pull data, and manage your work, Stackby is definitely the tool for you.
With its game-changing capabilities, you can totally automate the boring parts of keeping
a spreadsheet up to date.
Plus, you can use Stackby’s real-time metrics like SEO keyword analysis, lead generation,
and waaaay more to make your life easier.
Check out our blog in the video description to learn seven ways you can automate using
Stackby.
5.
Airtable
Though this is technically a modular productivity app, Airtable allows you to create spreadsheets
and use formulas for just about everything from basic addition to logical operations.
It’s free with paid plans that scale up from $10 per month and it’s best for creatives,
marketing, product/UX, project management, and template libraries.
You can use Airtable as an Excel alternative to build spreadsheets that also function as
killer databases.
You can also turn data into kanbans and calendars, and collaborate in real-time across multiple
tables.
One possible downside for those Excel diehards might be that Airtable is totally cloud-based,
so Airtable is not accessible offline.
6.
Notion
You may know Notion as a hyper-trendy productivity tool like Evernote, but you may not be aware
of Notion tables.
When it comes down to it, Notion is an awesome Excel-adjacent tool because it has super advanced,
all-in-one info-processing and structuring capabilities that have taken the digital world
by storm.
Plus, it’s free with increased storage plans starting from $4 per month.
If you’re curious for more, check out the Notion formulas cheatsheet from our blog linked
in the video description.
Next let’s check out 2 Open Source Excel Alternatives.
7.
EtherCalc
Developers, this is the one for you.
EtherCalc can be self-hosted by downloading the code to your server.
Otherwise, you can use it free without creating an account at ethercalc.org.
With EtherCalc, you can collaborate with multiple people in real-time and download spreadsheets
in a variety of file types.
However, there’s a shortage of advanced functionalities and it doesn’t work on mobile.
But if you need a simple spreadsheet outside the Google/Microsoft suite, EtherCalc is definitely
worth considering.
And did I mention it’s FREE!?
8.
LibreOffice – Calc Spreadsheet
Here’s another free, open-source Excel alternative great for developers!
LibreOffice is a well-maintained open-source Excel alternative that offers a tool called
Calc.
This free tool is accessible for both beginners and experienced Excel users.
Beginners can jump into a project using one of their templates in a snap, while experienced
users will find a whole range of advanced tools to level up their game.
Calc is great for users who want to self-host their spreadsheets, but may be annoying for
people who don’t want to download and install desktop software just to try it out.
Last, but certainly not least, let’s check out 2 final Top Excel Alternatives
9.
Numbers
Numbers is a Mac-only Excel alternative that lets users collaborate in real-time, even
from PCs if shared via iCloud or Box.
It comes free on most Mac computers and is best for Apple users who don’t want to deal
with Excel’s steep learning curve.
While Numbers doesn’t have all the deep functionality of Excel, users love that it
lowers the barrier to entry for using spreadsheets.
If you want to hop into data managing a practical project lighting fast, check out our Numbers’
blog linked in the video description.
10.
Excel Online
Alright let’s get to the elephant in the room: Microsoft has launched Excel Online,
and it’s completely free to use!
Excel Online has most of the features users need from Excel, including co-authoring in
real-time with other users.
The caveat, however, is that without a paid Office 365 account you’ll only get 5GB of
file storage in OneDrive for free, and you’re missing some core functionalities like creating
PivotCharts and downloading CSV files.
But, again, it is free and probably best for dedicated Excel fans who want to work in the
cloud.
So which tool looks most interesting to you?
Let us know by commenting down below and be sure to subscribe
to our YouTube channel!