5 Best Google Sheets Alternative Tools to Ease Your Work

Google Sheets is an excellent tool that helps manage a lot of tasks. These tasks can be as simple as your daily to-do list. Or maybe as big as the annual project budget. They are extremely useful. But you may want to get a proper alternative. It can be due to different reasons, such as, you are probably bored of using Google Sheets and want to try something new and fun.

Whatever the reason, don’t worry; in this article, we will provide you with the best Google sheets alternative tools. You might already know some of them, and some of the alternatives on the list might surprise you. Pros and cons are also listed so you can conclude and choose a suitable Google sheet alternative. That will work perfectly fine for you and meet your needs and requirements.

Why Do I Need Apps Like Google Sheets?

Google sheets are free to use and work best with Google drive. You only need a good internet connection and a mobile or computer app to operate it. It’s excellent for managing many tasks to keep the team updated about the projects. However, as your business progresses and your team becomes bigger, you can face a lot of difficulties with this cloud-based program.

We will discuss some of the main problems that can be extremely difficult for you. And you should consider a Google sheet alternative in that case. Let’s see them one by one;

• The main issue is that there is no check and balance regarding deadlines. A team member might miss one of the most important deadlines. And there will be no notification or message informing the team leader or member about this situation.
• Setting up notifications is also a troublesome task. Also, you can only assign notifications manually for specific persons. Google Sheets will not do the job for you. Due to this, it’s a huge drawback that can inconvenience the user.
• The lack of templates in Google sheets makes it even harder to use. And those who want to create templates. They might have to use any third-party software. It’s because Google sheets itself lacks this useful feature. Using the third-party app can sometimes be a source of extreme nuisance. Using third-party apps isn’t entirely safe as it can cause many troublesome issues. Most importantly, Google sheet isn’t compatible with every third-party app.

Thus, as a result, you might have to face incomplete work tasks. Also, messed up deadlines where you don’t know how and when you can complete the tasks. That’s why it’s best to know about the alternatives. So, you don’t have to face such worrisome situations in your work setting.

Apps Similar to Google Sheets

1- Monday.com – Most Powerful Google Spreadsheet Alternative

Monday.com is a system that empowers users to run projects and workflows with collaboration, integrity, and confidence. It has multiple features, but here we will discuss how it works as an app similar to Google sheets. Compared to Google sheets, it does not require the project manager to set up the tables manually. This is a highly technical and time-wasting procedure. Monday.com has overcome this limitation of Google sheets, so it works as the best alternative to Google sheets.

Features:

Keep Updated about the Projects

You might already know that most project management tools have a traditional approach. They only focus on tasks and deadlines. The communication between the team is very less due to a clash in the projects. But on Monday.com, people can tell about their projects and update about the progress.

Not too much workload

There are a lot of useful features on Monday.com, but this feature of dividing tasks into teams and individuals makes it even easier to use. And keeping track of all the projects becomes extremely easy.

Easy communication and collaboration

Being the best alternative to Google sheets, monday.com has made it possible to communicate in the context. You can even see whether your team member has read your message or not. You can also send a single message to multiple recipients.

Pros:

1. This Google sheet alternative easily manages your projects & tasks with just one click.
2. Centralize tasks and communication in one place.
3. Monday.com has a Pretty, simple, and intuitive interface. Everyone can use it easily.
4. If you have any queries or are facing any problems during its use, a support system is available 24/7.

Cons:

1. Monday.com is not cost-effective. Its price plan is costly. Although a free demo is available, the proper purchase plan costs too much. Per-user pricing also limits the number of people.
2. Monday.com has no tool for tracking the time spent on the tasks. So you will not know how much time has been spent and how much it costs.

Reading: ClickUp VS Monday: A Complete Comparison

2- Microsoft Excel Online – Best Free Alternative to Google Sheets

Microsoft Excel online is a new, free, and online version of the Excel app developed by Microsoft. It includes a variety of functions, tools, charts, and formulas for data manipulation. Similar to Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel Online provides collaboration with others in real time.

Features:

Tool for better statistical analysis

Microsoft Excel Online is a superior tool for statistical analysis to Google Sheets. It provides more visualization since many tools are built-in. However, in Google sheets, it is done manually. Therefore, it is a good alternative to Google spreadsheet.

Online surveys and polls

You can create online surveys and polls and analyze the results in the worksheet of Microsoft Excel Online automatically. In the end, results are automatically generated and can be displayed using graphs and figures.

Comment creation

You can easily add, edit and delete the comments in Microsoft Excel Online. These comments are readable to other persons with whom you share the file. You can also mention important points using the special character “@.”

Pros:

1. Microsoft Excel Online has a familiar user interface. If you have used the Excel application, then a little adjustment is needed for Microsoft Excel Online.
2. Microsoft Excel Online has native format compatibility, which means that files saved by online mode can be used in native Excel applications.
3. It is a cloud-based application that ensures great collaboration but less than Google sheets.

Cons:

1. Microsoft Excel Online is Internet-dependent. Without an internet connection, you can not edit, evaluate and analyze data, while google sheets are not internet dependent, and data can be manipulated offline.
2. The major choke point of Microsoft Excel Online is limited storage capacity compared to traditional Excel applications. You have to take the OneDrive plan to increase the data storage exponentially.

3- Zoho Sheets

Zoho sheets are similar to Google sheets in many ways. Both have free versions and collaboration tools as well. However, they also have differences; therefore, Zoho sheets are the best alternative to Google sheets.

Features:

Different permissions, different accesses

Sharing the spreadsheet with others often demands an additional layer of control and security that Zoho sheets provide.

Contextual locks

If you want to control data, you can lock a sheet or a range of cells. You can choose who can edit and delete the data.

Audit Trail/Data Detection

It is difficult to track the collaborators who make changes in the spreadsheet manually. Audible trails help track the collaborators, including the date and range of cells through which changes are made.

Pros:

1. Data Charting can be done.
2. Free version for learning and practice
3. No need to install the software, so not affected by device storage capacity

Cons:

1. No data communication, so data cannot be imported and exported to Excel.
2. No readymade templates are available. You have to create worksheet templates.

4- Airtable

Airtable is a hybrid spreadsheet- database cloud collaboration service founded in 2012 by Howie Liu, Andrew Ofstad, and Emmett Nicholas. It is a useful alternative to Google spreadsheet because many companies widely use it.

Features:

Backed by Database

Spreadsheets in Airtable are backed with a database, so it provides rich features of spreadsheets as compared to Google Sheets.

Extensive data tracking

This feature lets each team member track changes in individual tables and records, making collaboration more efficient and transparent.

No Code Tool

Coding is not required, so its spreadsheets can be used for Content calendar, Project management, Marketing campaign management, Product launching, Event planning, and building Product catalog.

Pros:

1. Being the best alternative to Google Spreadsheets, Airtable is handy for automatic calculations.
2. It makes it easy to sort and filter data.
3. Airtable can be used for business, accounting, educational, and general data storage.
4. It can also be used for bug tracking in the systems.

Cons:

1. Airtable is not ideal for long-term storage and usually less secure.
2. You can add limited text in the cells.

Reading: Top 8 Airtable Alternatives: More Powerful in Team Collaboration

5- NocoDB

Among the best alternatives to google sheets is NocoDB. In The No code industry, it is the single most important tool for spreadsheets. A non-developer can also build a business workflow in a short time by connecting to a MySQL database. Moreover, it can also turn any rational database into smart spreadsheets.

Features:

Rich spreadsheet basic operations

One can create, edit, update, delete or read data along with tables, columns, and rows.

Multiple types of views

In this type of spreadsheet, three types of views are available, including grid view, gallery, and form view. Grid is a default view.

Permission types

This means that only the specified people can add, edit, save, download and print the data you collaborate with. So this can be group collaboration permission or locked collaboration permission.

Share options

By using MongoDB, an alternative Google spreadsheet, you can share data with the public or share with some specific individuals who may be password protected.

Variety of cell types

Variant cell types such as ID, Single-line text, Lookup, Rollup, currency, formula, etc., are available in MongoDB spreadsheets. This feature makes this platform the best alternative to Google sheets.

Pros:

1. Data handling in MongoDB is much easier as compared to traditional Excel. A database is a structured set of data presented in a column-like format.
2. User interface capabilities are enhanced in NocoDB. It is a primary requirement of Noc DB to create a user interface that may be simple to complex. This allows radio buttons, list boxes, checkboxes, and sliders.
3. Interactive sheets provide the sweet spot between development speed and flexibility. This allows you to create tables with business data and automatically recalculate fields.

Cons:

1. Users have less understanding of NocoDB.
2. It is less scalable as compared to Google Sheets.

Final Thoughts

Google sheets are the easiest way of online data calculation and manipulation. However, other Google sheets alternative tools are also available to generate the same outcomes. These platforms have unique features which make them user-friendly. You can choose from various Google Sheets alternatives that best suit your goals.

You May Also Want to Know:

1- How is Airtable Better than Google Sheets?

Airtable is better than Google Sheets because it is a hybrid of databases and spreadsheets that enable it to provide a more enhanced and customized user interface.

2- Is Google Sheets as good as Excel?

Although Excel is an app similar to Google Sheets, they are unique for its features. Some pros of google sheets are the cons of Excel and vice versa. For example,

• The cost of Excel is high compared to Google Sheets.
• Excel performs statistical data analysis better than Google Sheets.

3- What is the difference between Google Sheets and MS Excel?

Google Sheets is an online platform for data execution, while MS Excel is an offline application. Advanced functionality and formulas are available in Excel but not in Google Sheets. Online data sharing, collaboration, and easy interface are available in Google sheets but not in excel.