Spreadsheets wield powerful tools for a wide range of tasks in both personal and professional life. Whether you're crunching numbers for your work or organizing your weekly budget, a reliable spreadsheet holds plenty of value. It organizes your data, helps with calculations, allows collaborative efforts, and saves time.
We’ve curated a list of the best free spreadsheet software and from 83 tools listed on G2, we picked the top five based on real user reviews. These free spreadsheet solutions provide data input, ormulas, and charting. Many also include advanced features such as data analysis and integration with other applications.
Whether you need to create simple household budgets, manage personal finances, analyze sales data, or handle complex projects for your business, we've got you covered.
Free spreadsheet software is great, but sometimes you need more power, better collaboration, or advanced automation to get the job done. If you're willing to explore paid solutions, check out my team's recommendation for the best spreadsheet software.
At G2, we rank software solutions using a proprietary algorithm that considers customer satisfaction and market presence based on authentic user reviews. Our market research analysts and writers spend weeks testing solutions against multiple criteria set for a software category. We give you unbiased software evaluations – that's the G2 difference! We didn’t accept payment or exchange links for product placements in this list. Please read our G2 Research Scoring Methodology for more details.
The free spreadsheet software list below contains real user reviews from the best free spreadsheet category page. Please note that software that requires payment after a free trial is considered free.
To be included in this category, a solution must:
This data was pulled from G2 on October 7, 2024. Some reviews may have been edited for clarity.
Google Sheets, part of the Google Workspace suite, has rapidly become a formidable competitor to Microsoft Excel, the long-reigning spreadsheet champion.
With its user-friendly interface and collaboration features, Google Sheets empowers users to create, edit, and share spreadsheets. Users love its real-time co-editing capabilities, which facilitate teamwork. Its residence in the cloud guarantees accessibility from any device, be it a laptop or mobile device with an internet connection. It supports different file types like .xlsx, .xls, .ods, .csv, and .tsv.
However, it doesn’t offer advanced data manipulation features like Excel and can get slow with large datasets.
Google Sheets is free for individuals with a Gmail account and comes with 15 GB of storage space that can be shared across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos.
Small businesses can get a 14-day free Google Workspace trial, including Sheets.
Pros of Google Sheets |
Cons of Google Sheets |
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User-friendly integration with other Google Workspace tools like Docs and Forms |
More basic than Excel |
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Real-time collaboration |
Can lag occasionally with large datasets |
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Available online and offline |
Limited features with offline editing |
"Google Workspace is very easy to use; anyone can use it. With the help of GW, we can easily work on documents and spreadsheets with and without the internet."
- Google Workspace Review, Simmi C.
"Large spreadsheets are a real slog to work on. They can slow down too much to be feasible."
- Google Workspace Review, Geoff T.
Microsoft Excel, part of Microsoft 365 Suite, undoubtedly ranks as the most widely used spreadsheet software. Its dominance testifies to its powerful features, flexibility, and extensive user base.
Users open Excel for data analysis, financial modeling, and complex calculations. It offers a wide range of functions, formulas, and tools that make it a preferred choice for professionals across fields.
You can sign up for a Microsoft account and start using Excel for free online, but it only comes with bare minimum features like 5 GB storage space. Or you can enroll for a free trial of the software under an individual, family, or business plan.
Pros of Microsoft Excel |
Cons of Microsoft Excel |
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Extensive range of functions and formulas |
Limited features with a free online version |
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Simple data importing and exporting |
Crashes with large datasets |
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Powerful pivot tables and data modeling capabilities |
Not fit for collaboration |
"Excel is a powerhouse of a program, seamlessly blending simplicity with complexity. Excel made handling messy data a seamless experience. I love how it transforms raw data into actionable insights with ease, whether through basic calculations or advanced analysis. Excel is easy, simple, and also of great benefit is its seamless integration with other Microsoft 365 products."
- Microsoft Excel Review, Naif H.
"The major thing I didn't like about Excel is that it is limited to small and medium-sized datasets and lacks visualization tools for large datasets. Power BI is preferred nowadays for better visualization. It also throws errors while working with formulas on large databases as a row may have misleading value, but the whole dataset is tucked due to that small issue."
- Microsoft Excel Review, Divyansh T.
The best choice between Google Sheets and Excel depends on your specific requirements.
OriginPro is praised for its advanced data analysis and visualization capabilities. While it does offer spreadsheet functionality, it's not traditional spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. Its strength lies in its ability to handle complex data sets and perform specialized scientific and engineering calculations.
If that piques your interest, OriginPro could be a good choice. You can try it for free for 21 days before committing.
Pros of OriginPro |
Cons of OriginPro |
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Excellent data visualization and scientific data chart capabilities |
Steep learning curve for new users |
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Advanced data analysis |
Software crashes with large files, no autosave in those cases |
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Flexible customization options for chart creation and data analysis |
Difficult to install and use on Mac systems |
"OriginPro has an amazing ability to graph in multiple formats. Great use of indexing for making stats plots. Very straightforward to customize plots, control colors, and do multidimensional plots. Also, great online documentation on how to use the many aspects of what Origin can do. Great organizational structure for files, images, and data tables."
- OriginPro Review, Chris D.
"Though Origin works very smoothly, sometimes the file crashes, and you have to reopen it several times. There is no autosave option, which makes it a little hard to maintain the data in case of a crash or power cut."
- OriginPro Review, Harshit S.
Minitab Statistical Software helps users analyze data, draw conclusions, and make informed decisions using specialized statistical software. It has found value in quality improvement, research, and other industries that rely on data-driven insights.
Minitab offers a free trial of its tool for new users.
Pros of Minitab Statistical Software |
Cons of Minitab Statistical Software |
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Comprehensive, powerful statistical tools |
High learning curve for beginners |
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Excellent support resources |
Less intuitive for occasional users |
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Reliable data visualization and interpretation capabilities |
Expensive to buy |
"I like that they update it to keep up with the changes in the industry. It is robust and has useful features that are found in Excel to help navigate and edit it as a spreadsheet."
- Minitab Statistical Software Review, Matthew K
"You need to be clear about the things you're doing in it because it is a bit complicated for beginners to understand."
- Minitab Statistics Software Review, Nidharsan Reddy P.
ONLYOffice Workspace’s free, open-source online office suite includes a powerful spreadsheet program. It offers a robust set of features and capabilities that make it a viable alternative to commercial options like Microsoft Excel and Google Workspace.
Pros of ONLYOffice Workspace |
Cons of ONLYOffice Workspace |
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Easy to learn and integrate with other systems |
Tricky front-end customization |
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Similar interface to Microsoft 365 |
Lacks some features like auto-complete |
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Completely open source |
Sometimes takes a long time to load |
"ONLYOFFICE is an amazing, free, and open-source alternative to Microsoft Office. The suite has several features able to improve our daily work and also has great compatibility with the market standards."
- ONLYOffice Workspace Review, Marcos Aurelio Tadeu S.
"The spreadsheets have just as many raw features but lack basics like auto-complete and suggested formulas that we take for granted in Google Sheets or Excel."
- ONLYOffice Workspace Review, Nick R.
Overwhelmed by free spreadsheet options? Let our comparison table simplify things.
|
Software name |
G2 rating |
Free plan |
Paid plan |
|
Google Workspace |
4.6/5 |
Yes, for individuals. Free trial for businesses. |
Starts at $6 per user per month |
|
Microsoft 365 |
4.7/5 |
Free version, limited features. Free trial available for Microsoft 365. |
Microsoft Excel starts at $6.99 per month as part of Microsoft 365. Standalone Excel software is $159.99. |
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OriginPro |
4.7/5 |
Free trial available |
Starts at $465 |
|
Minitab Statistical Software |
4.6/5 |
Free trial available |
Starts at $1851 for an annual subscription |
|
ONLYOffice Workspace |
4.4/5 |
Yes, for individuals. Free trial for enterprise plans. |
No individual home use plan. Starts at $20 per user per month for business plans. |
We've covered a range of free spreadsheet options, each with its own strengths. Remember that the ideal tool depends on your specific needs and preferences. Consider factors like collaboration, data analysis, and integration to make an informed choice. From simple budgeting to complex data analysis, the right spreadsheet can transform your workflow. So explore these options, find your perfect match, and start harnessing the power of your data.
We hope this list of the best free spreadsheet software helps you find the right solution. Happy number-crunching!
Ready to get started with spreadsheets? Let G2 help you with our free guide to essential Excel formulas and functions.