Best Excel Alternatives in 2026: 9 Tools Compared

Google Sheets is the best overall Excel alternative for most people. It is free with a Google account, runs entirely in the browser, and lets several people edit the same sheet at once with comments, version history and auto-save. It opens and edits .xlsx files directly, so sharing with Excel users is painless.

Paid Google Workspace plans start at 7 dollars per user a month and add business email, more storage and admin controls. For heavy financial modeling, macros and complex pivot tables, Excel still leads. For team collaboration on everyday spreadsheets, Sheets is the easiest switch.

LibreOffice Calc is the best free desktop spreadsheet. It runs offline on any desktop operating system, opens and saves .xlsx files, and handles pivot tables, charts and macros without a subscription or account. For privacy-conscious users and anyone who works without reliable internet, it is the strongest choice.

The interface looks older than Google Sheets or Excel, and complex Excel macros may not translate perfectly. But for a free, private, offline spreadsheet that handles real work, nothing beats Calc.

Zoho Sheet takes a familiar spreadsheet interface and adds AI-powered data cleanup, real-time collaboration and cross-platform apps for browser, Windows, Mac and phones. It imports and exports .xlsx files, and it integrates with Zoho CRM, Projects and Books, making it a natural fit for businesses already using Zoho apps.

It is free for individuals, and Zoho Workplace Standard, which includes Sheet, costs 3 dollars per user a month billed annually. For teams already on Zoho, Sheet is the obvious spreadsheet. For everyone else, Google Sheets has the larger ecosystem.

Apple Numbers is the spreadsheet for people who care how data looks. Free on every Mac, iPhone and iPad, it offers visually rich templates, a flexible canvas where tables, charts and text sit anywhere on the page, and smooth integration with the Apple ecosystem. It imports and exports .xlsx files and runs in a browser at iCloud.com.

For heavy analysis, pivot tables and macros, Numbers trails Excel and even Google Sheets. For Mac-first users building polished budgets, plans and reports, it is a pleasure to use and costs nothing.

ONLYOFFICE Sheets is the best choice when files constantly move between you and Excel users. Its formatting fidelity is the closest of any free tool, so complex spreadsheets, charts and pivot tables survive round trips with minimal breakage. Desktop editors are free for Windows, Mac and Linux, and DocSpace cloud starts free for small teams.

Business cloud plans cost 20 dollars per admin a month. For offices that share .xlsx files daily but do not want Microsoft 365 subscriptions, ONLYOFFICE is the most faithful free alternative.

WPS Office is the closest free clone of Microsoft Office. Its Spreadsheet app mirrors Excel's interface, so Excel users feel at home immediately, and it runs on every major platform with cloud sync. It opens and saves .xlsx files, includes a word processor and presentation app, and handles pivot tables and charts.

The free version shows ads, and Pro+ at 5.83 dollars a month billed yearly removes them and adds AI tools and 20 GB of cloud storage. For users who want the Excel experience without the Microsoft price, WPS is the most familiar free option.

Airtable is the gentlest landing spot for teams whose spreadsheets have outgrown spreadsheets. You work in a familiar grid, but records link across tables, so a customer name typed once appears everywhere, and views switch between grid, calendar, Kanban and gallery. Automations handle routine updates in the background.

The free plan covers up to 5 editors and 1,000 records per base, Team costs 20 dollars per user a month billed annually with 50,000 records, and Business costs 45 dollars. For project tracking, content planning and lightweight databases, Airtable is the best spreadsheet-to-database bridge.

Smartsheet runs projects in a grid. Teams that think in rows and columns get Gantt charts, card views, automations, dashboards and approvals on top of the familiar spreadsheet layout, with dates, owners and status tracked in columns. It imports .xlsx files, though only the first tab, and exports back out.

Pro costs 9 dollars per member a month billed yearly, Business costs 19 dollars, and a 30-day free trial is available. For project and job tracking with dates and owners, Smartsheet is the best grid-based project tool here.

Grist is the spreadsheet-database hybrid for formula fans. Tables link relationally, formulas use Python for real power, and the free Community edition can be self-hosted, giving teams full control of their data. It imports and exports spreadsheet files, making migration straightforward.

Pro costs 8 dollars per user a month billed annually, Business costs 24 dollars. The interface is more technical than Airtable's, and the community is smaller. For teams that want relational data, Python formulas and self-hosting, Grist is the most powerful free option here.