These 6 spreadsheet apps put Microsoft Excel to disgrace

If you happen to’ve ever needed to calculate, set up, visualize, or kind via giant swaths of numerical information units, then there is a good probability that you have relied on Microsoft Excel to do a lot of the heavy lifting. As one of many first mainstream digital spreadsheet applications to hit the PC world, Excel has turn out to be a ubiquitous utility inside the productiveness world.

Over time, Microsoft has bolstered the capabilities of Excel, whereas additionally introducing it to competing platforms like Mac, iPadOS, and Android. That being stated, the standard Excel program has turn out to be more and more bloated because of characteristic creep, and Microsoft’s perpetual subscription-based enterprise mannequin is much less pro-user than ever earlier than.

Fortunately, there are a selection of stellar spreadsheet program choices out available on the market, a few of that are solely free and open-source (FOSS), and a few of which deal with offering a cleaner person interface or superior digital collaboration flows. Listed below are six Excel alternate options that give Microsoft’s iconic spreadsheet app a real run for its cash.

LibreOffice Calc

A free and open-source lover’s dream

LibreOffice is a free and open-source suite of applications that features every little thing you should get began with a productive workplace stream. Included inside the bundle is Calc, a spreadsheet app that provides large functionality with out the huge price ticket to match. Calc is full-featured, with tons of styling choices, a whole repository of customized templates, a Situation Supervisor for analyzing information, and a solver part for figuring out optimum values inside a dataset. By way of UI, Calc is considerably dated with its cluttered toolbar, nevertheless it manages to maintain important instruments nicely organized and simply accessible.

Apache OpenOffice Calc

Spreadsheeting with out the subscription charges

Apache OpenOffice is much like LibreOffice in that the 2 share a standard ancestry within the digital productiveness world. Each workplace applications are free and open-source, with the previous being maintained by the Apache Software program Basis and the latter by The Doc Basis. OpenOffice’s Calc program options wonderful compatibility with spreadsheet file codecs, and it is no-nonsense strategy to quantity crunching is appreciated. The app’s interface is fairly dated, with icons that appear to be they have not been touched in years, however the strip of choices alongside the highest make for a handy and highly effective setup general.

WPS Workplace Spreadsheet

A go-to cross-platform different

The cross-platform WPS Workplace suite is pretty well-known, coming pre-installed on most Amazon Fireplace tablets. The app’s Spreadsheet part is fashionable and approachable, with a Microsoft Workplace-style ribbon UI close to the highest that may be collapsed to extend vertical display actual property. Spreadsheet itself is free to obtain and set up, although a recurring subscription charge is required to unlock superior modifying options. As a fundamental different to Excel, Spreadsheet is competent, with extensive file format compatibility and a presence on almost each PC and smartphone platform out available on the market.

Polaris Workplace Sheet

Spreadsheets, with a pinch of synthetic intelligence

Polaris Workplace is one other widespread assortment of workplace productiveness apps, with availability throughout each PC and cellular. This system’s Sheet part is a stable substitute for Excel, with a cellular interface that I discover to be well-optimized for the small, tall screens all of us carry round in our pockets. Sheet is totally suitable with Microsoft Workplace file codecs, coming in a bundle that’s light-weight and non-resource-intensive. The app’s built-in NOVA AI assistant can faucet into varied giant language fashions (LLMs), together with from OpenAI, Perplexity, and different main gamers within the area. Sheet is free to get began with, although it affords a paid subscription possibility for unlocking additional options and cloud storage.

Google Sheets

Digital collaboration made straightforward

In some ways, Google Sheets is the anti-Microsoft Excel. The place Excel was born through the native PC program paradigm period, Sheets is a part of Google Workspace (previously GSuite), which was designed from the bottom up for the fashionable web age. As such, Sheets is primarily accessible through the net and thru a devoted cellular app, with tightly-integrated on-line options optimized with real-time collaboration in thoughts. Sheets additionally advantages from Gemini AI integration, which places it forward of different spreadsheet applications from a cutting-edge software program standpoint. Whereas it is true that Microsoft affords its personal web-based variant of Excel with Copilot AI integration, Google Sheets stays the de facto commonplace for a lot of workplace employees.

Apple Numbers

Quantity crunching with Apple’s signature match and end

If you happen to personal an Apple system, then you’ve out-of-box entry to the corporate’s proprietary iWork suite of workplace purposes. Numbers is Apple’s equal to Excel, and it focuses on offering an intuitive person interface that slots seamlessly inside the firm’s ecosystem. Numbers incorporates a ton of templates to select from, information filtering choices, Sensible Classes for fast numerical group, and a handy desk summarization utility. Whereas the app does embrace its personal in-house file format, it is easy to export spreadsheets for viewing and modifying on PC, Linux, Android, and different platforms.