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Best Microsoft Excel Alternatives

Excel is an important tool in everyday life. It entails various features that help in storing information, arrangement, and processing. It is an app specialised in project management and data analysis. But then Excel has been far overhyped in its functions and tasks can be carried out by other Excel alternatives.

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Gintaras Baltusevičius

Nov 28 2019 8 min read

Best Microsoft Excel Alternatives

Many companies involved in transactions and data collations are managed with spreadsheets. Whilst Excel can be a very formal and comprehensive and where data presentation and analysis is concerned, people with minimal needs if the app is at a loss when considering the annual and monthly subscription plan that does not put their varying personalized use into consideration. In addition, it can hamper project management efforts of organizations.

Excel, unfortunately, has recorded some setbacks, errors and eventually the loss of money to those companies. Many activities are done without Excel after all these losses, even though the use of it cannot be ignored especially if it entails rows of data, Excel replacements are finding their way into the preference of people. Therefore people have found an Excel alternative or rather said an Excel replacement.

What Can I Use Instead of Excel

There are lots of applications and software packages that can be used in place of it. These apps have looked at the flaws of Excel and modified themselves to slide these flaws.

1. We have a Google Docs Spreadsheet which has a similar layout in comparison to Excel, also similar features and seems to be the best it's alternative open to everyone with a Gmail account. Google sheets

2. We have Scoro, which is a surprisingly efficient software that oversees every aspect of your business and helps keep records of your project and finance;

Although not as formal as Excel in functionality, it is effective in creating visual data as it is an analytic tool that allows you to integrate third-party applications and conducts comprehensive financial analysis in a way not even Excel can;

Scoro logo
3. LibreOffice is not only an alternative to Excel but to the entire Microsoft office app bundle. Features like pivot tables and text to columns available on Excel are also available in LibreOffice. Although LibreOffice cannot be used for comprehensive analysis. This weakness leads most users to one of the best Excel reporting tool and they have found Whatagraph as a feasible website for creating visual Excel reports; LibreOffice
4. ThinkFree is another pace-setting app similar to Google Drive app. It lets you create, edits online documents, calculates, and also create presentations and spreadsheets with very large storage space; ThinkFree logo

5. ClickUp is a cloud-based collaboration and project management tool. Features include: collaboration and communication tools, task assignments and statuses, alerts, gantt charts, and a task toolbar.

Rather than creating a gantt chart in Excel, ClickUp allows users to build gantt charts on their interactive platform. For enterprise organizations looking for an all-in-one project management tool, ClickUp is probably the best option for you.

ClickUp is another viable excel alternative.
6. When talking about Excel alternatives, the Apple Company cannot leave its users behind. With the Numbers for Mac, their users are open to features not available on Excel. Customization like fonts, style cell borders, and a clear sheet result chart are made available. All these are efficient Excel replacements. Mac numbers logo

What Is the Best Excel Alternative

  • The Google Docs Spreadsheet is reasonably the most suitable alternative. This is not farfetched from the fact that Google software and applications are designed to rank amongst the top-rated apps at the same time having customer service at heart.

    Having similar qualities with Excel and also majorly the same features if not a few distinctly better features in fact. Google Docs Spreadsheet is open to all Gmail account owners and others with access to Google Docs, more so, it's free.

  • For Apple customers, the Numbers for Mac is the best alternative. Perfectly designed to give masterful visual representations and presentations with a limited amount of data, the Number for Mac entails templates and over 250 inbuilt functions that make documents access let from everywhere and also aids cooperate editing with teammates and business partners. These are the highest rated Excel alternatives today.

What Is the Best Free Alternative for Excel

Once again a winner here is Google Sheets which is a free cloud-based solution to Excel. Google sheets are not dependent on a platform as is hosted on a cloud and run on a web browser. It can be run on Linux and Windows systems.

Google sheets are backed up to the cloud so issues of lost data and previously finished projects are not found with the Google sheets, crashed computer and stolen devices do not alter or affect your data in any way.

Is There a Free Online Version of Excel

Even with the superiority of Excel, the cons have opted for them to create Microsoft Excel Online. This is a free version of Microsoft Excel that includes most of its functions, tools and everything needed from a spreadsheet.

  • This version shares a feature with Google sheets as it lets you collaborate with others and gather data from surveys and crunch numbers online. It also lets you connect with other web apps to collate data and it also automatically syncs with the conventional Microsoft Excel.
  • It also comes along with the other Microsoft Office apps and unlike the traditional version that has you paying up to a hundred dollars before installing on your computer, the online version allows you work with your browser, editings amongst other typical functions are supported on then Microsoft Excel application. A spreadsheet package that supports all the regular functions of Excel for free.

All of these features can be used for free without limitations provided one does not have over 5GB of storage space in OneDrive. Microsoft Excel integrations can furthermore be used to connect previous works or spreadsheets to third party apps.

Conclusion

Spreadsheets are excellent tools in everyday business life and in areas connected to data collation and representation. Various organizations require a neat and accessible presentation especially with numerous numbers making the importance of spreadsheet packages even more pressing.

A spreadsheet application must be able to perform numerous arithmetical operations, editing and creation of data representations and also a backup program. Excel spreadsheets are highly efficient especially where numerous rows of data are concerned but for minimal users who need software for casual or less strenuous activities, paying the same hundred dollars is quite irrelevant.

So when going in search of an Excel alternative, put your needs first into consideration. Whilst a casual user would require an Excel replacement to cater to his personal presentation needs, a business tycoon or professional data analyst is best advised to use Microsoft Excel online or at least the best alternative to Microsoft Excel.

Published on Nov 28 2019

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WRITTEN BY

Gintaras Baltusevičius

Gintaras is an experienced marketing professional who is always eager to explore the most up-to-date issues in data marketing. Having worked as an SEO manager at several companies, he's a valuable addition to the Whatagraph writers' pool.