The Best Excel Alternatives in 2022

Excel is the best product that Windows has made. It’s used by many people from different industries as it makes organizing and manipulating data a lot easier without coding.

However, if the data is too large in Excel, it may cause the software to slow down, especially if all of the data is included in one file. Trying to break the material down into smaller files may cause some of it to be lost or missing. Excel is not user-friendly, and it uses precise calculations to round off very large figures, compromising accuracy.

Also, Excel’s susceptibility to slight human errors is common but just as damaging. Negative indicators, such as missing or misaligned rows, may appear benign, yet they can undermine investor confidence or result in a huge loss of opportunity worth millions of dollars.

In addition to that, consolidation takes longer when reports are generated using an Excel spreadsheet. You must frequently gather information from a variety of files, summarize it, and then deliver their report to your department bosses by email, portable storage media, or copying to a commonly shared network folder.

This process must be repeated until all of the data has been sent to the organization’s top decision-makers.

What’s more, the software program isn’t designed for collaborative work. It’s difficult to keep track of similar files transferred back and forth; different team members may submit an out-of-date version.

That said, Excel isn’t for everyone. If you find the software program lacking features that are crucial for your team, you’re likely better off using other programs. Luckily, the market has plenty to offer, and here are some of them.

Compatible With

IOS, Android

Google Sheets began as a simple spreadsheet program, but it has grown in popularity in recent years because of the addition of complex features such as pivot tables, and it is now a viable alternative to Microsoft Excel in most cases. One of the most appealing characteristics of Google Docs is that it is completely free for personal use (but if you own a business, you should look into the various G Suite plans, which provide extra functionality and storage space on Google Drive).

For personal use, a Microsoft Office 365 subscription includes Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and all of Microsoft’s other productivity products. However, if you prefer to work in your browser, Microsoft Office Online is an alternative worth considering. It’s not as powerful as desktop software, but it’s adequate for all but the most intricate spreadsheets and is available for free to home users. When it comes to saving your data, you won’t have to worry about accidentally closing the window when working with Google Sheets because it will save your work for you.

If you try to close Excel without saving your work, you’ll get a warning, and if you do shut it down by accident, you have a high chance of recovering some of your work using Microsoft’s built-in recovery tool. But it’s not always guaranteed. Google Sheets is the obvious first choice if you wish to collaborate with others. You may simply provide a link to colleagues, allowing them to participate in making (or merely proposing) changes and providing comments in real time.

Compatible With

IOS, Android

Although Google Sheets is the most popular spreadsheet web program, Zoho Sheet offers additional functionality. Furthermore, it is entirely free. If you’re seeking the most powerful Excel replacement, this is the finest free option for you. Zoho Sheet, like Excel, is jam-packed with functionality. There are over 350 functionalities available, which is significantly more than Google. Advanced features like conditional formatting, pivot tables, and data validation are all supported.

By going to Data > Link External Data and uploading a CSV file, RSS or Atom feed, or web page, you can combine data from other places. You can then choose how frequently Zoho Sheet checks for updates from the source. Zoho Sheet also has Deluge, a tool that allows you to develop custom functions for usage in your own spreadsheets with little code. You can use VBA and record macros in the same way that you can in Excel.

To make your own, go to Form > Create in Zoho Forms. Then you can drag and drop components to create your form, publish it live on the web, and utilize the replies to populate your spreadsheet. Sheet, like the rest of Zoho’s products, allows for real-time collaboration through the Share option. Just use the chat box at the bottom of the window if you like to discuss the task at hand. Or, post Google-style comments. It’s simple to manage sharing permissions, and you can choose Share > Publish to publish your entire spreadsheet or specified regions to the web. The best part of it is that it has a free plan available that’s available for up to five users. Each user gets 5 GB of storage space.

Compatible With

IOS, Android

LibreOffice is yet another great program that you can use instead of Excel. LibreOffice outperforms Microsoft Office in terms of file compatibility because it supports a wider range of formats, including an eBook export option built-in (EPUB). The two office suites’ fundamentally different approaches to cloud storage are perhaps the most significant overarching distinction. Although The Document Foundation has worked on something dubbed LibreOffice Online, LibreOffice does not support cloud natively.

This is a technology that cloud providers, public or private, can use to enhance their services. To be useful, it must be integrated with authentication and storage systems. Cloud integration may or may not be significant to you, depending on your workflow and how frequently you switch between PCs. If you need to do so, you can save documents to a local folder that is synced to your preferred cloud storage service. However, you must do so independently of LibreOffice.

LibreOffice will serve the demands of anyone searching for a fully-featured, mature office suite if you don’t need to collaborate on documents or spreadsheets with Microsoft Office users. If you do need to exchange and edit documents with Microsoft Office users, be aware of font issues on non-Windows devices, as well as other formatting issues that can occur. Although things are far better than they were, complex document layouts and power user spreadsheets can still cause issues. Nevertheless, it’s a decent alternative to Excel.

Compatible With

IOS, Android

Quip is a team collaboration tool that combines document and spreadsheet generation and editing with chat and commenting features to allow teams to interact about assignments and projects while they are being worked on. With this, you can collaborate in real time on documents, spreadsheets, and checklists. Plus, you can have the ability to filter and star papers to speed up searching. Additionally, you can track changes by saving document modifications, and spreadsheets and documents can be annotated.

Checking off completed items on the checklist keeps everyone on your team informed about which tasks have been accomplished. In terms of communication, instead of using email, you can directly chat within a document, and you can also comment on any content. Quip also features “@mentions.” This allows you and other users to direct your team to individual spreadsheet cells or insert items, like codes or images, into documents.

Another thing that makes Quip great is that you don’t have to worry about missing out on the updates on the document. This is because Quip has user-controlled notifications. This will keep you and your team members updated on mentions or any messages. However, it doesn’t come for free. Quip offers two types of plans. For enterprises, you’ll spend $25 per user. And for businesses, you’ll initially pay $30 per five users. After that, the next fee is lowered to $12 per user, but considering the features that you’re paying for, it sure is worth spending some dollars on.

Compatible With

IOS, Android

Polaris Office was made available on Android and iOS first, but now, you can use it even on a PC. But that’s not the only thing that makes it worth a look. Polaris Office 2017 is a package of office software solutions that are quick, light, and easy to use for commercial, public, educational, and personal usage. Infraware, a Korean-based worldwide software supplier, created the office suite. It has been providing fresh and unique experiences to millions of office application customers from 240 countries around the world.

Furthermore, it also promises to assist organizations, corporations, and institutions in optimizing and transforming their work environments, as well as lowering expenses, meeting customer needs, and improving productivity and mobility. Thanks to this program, you can produce documents in a variety of forms, including Microsoft Office, PDF, ODF, and TXT, as well as connect and communicate with your colleagues in order to share ideas and improve corporate performance.

A PDF converter is included in the office suite. This allows you to convert PDF documents to Word, Sheet, or Slide documents. Polaris Office can function with a variety of platforms, devices, and work situations. As a result, documents may be viewed and changed on the move using any Windows PC, Mac, Android, or iOS device. Additionaly, it includes tools that allow team members to collaborate on papers quickly and easily. Multiple people can work on the same document in real time, with the information edited by each user being saved automatically. Polaris Office also ensures that corporate papers are secure and protected against any data leakage or compromise.

Compatible With

IOS, Android

WPS Office (formerly known as Kingsoft Office) is a free Microsoft Office competitor that includes three office applications, each with a simple yet beautiful interface. Automatic spell check and support for common file types are only two of the features available. Presentation, Spreadsheets, and Writer are all included in the program and can be used to replace Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, and Word, respectively. WPS Office doesn’t support the same variety of products that Microsoft Office can offer. Yet, it is a close competitor.

With this program, you can edit documents online, just like Microsoft Office Online, and it’s easy to use. Once you decide to utilize WPS Office and log in to your user account, you’ll get 1 GB of free online storage. You can log in with your Google, Twitter, Dropbox, or Facebook account or create a new account with…