Baserow vs Google Sheets

Baserow is an open-source no-code database and one of the most complete Airtable alternatives. It is developed by a company based in the Netherlands and offered both as a hosted cloud service with EU data storage and as a self-hosted application you can run with Docker on your own servers. The core of the product is MIT licensed.

Data lives in tables with typed fields, links between tables, lookups, formulas and rollups, and can be viewed as a grid, gallery, form, kanban or calendar. On top of the database Baserow adds an application builder for simple internal tools and portals, automations, an AI field that generates or classifies content from a prompt, row comments, and a REST API with webhooks. The free self-hosted edition has no artificial row limits; paid Premium and Advanced tiers, priced per user, unlock extra views, AI, admin controls, audit logs, SSO and role management.

Baserow suits teams that like the Airtable model but need data ownership, GDPR-friendly hosting or predictable costs at large row counts. It falls short on ecosystem: Airtable has far more integrations, templates and a more mature Interfaces layer, and its community is larger. NocoDB is the closest rival, source-available rather than open source since 2026, and sits on top of an existing SQL database, while Grist is stronger for spreadsheet-style formulas. For many European organizations Baserow is the easiest open-source option to adopt.

Google Sheets is Google's browser-based spreadsheet, launched in 2006 as Google Spreadsheets and now part of Google Workspace with Gmail, Docs and Drive. Its defining strength is real-time collaboration: many people edit the same file at once, with comments, version history and nothing to install. It is free with any personal Google account and included in every Workspace business plan.

Sheets covers formulas, pivot tables, charts, conditional formatting and data validation, plus functions such as QUERY, IMPORTRANGE and GOOGLEFINANCE. Tables, dropdowns and smart chips add structure, Apps Script automates tasks, and Connected Sheets analyzes BigQuery data without SQL. Workspace Business Starter costs $8.40 per user per month on the Flexible plan or $7 with an annual commitment; Standard ($16.80) and Plus ($26.40) add pooled storage, Gemini inside Sheets and stronger admin controls.

It fits teams that need shared trackers, budgets, quick analysis and form responses with zero setup. Microsoft Excel stays faster and deeper for heavy models, Power Query and very large files, while Airtable and Smartsheet give better structure, views and workflows when a sheet turns into a database or project plan.

In 2026 Google expanded Gemini in Sheets: Fill with Gemini categorizes, summarizes or pulls web data into table cells, and Gemini can build spreadsheets with formulas, pivot tables and charts from a prompt, starting with paid tiers. Tip: the free account covers most spreadsheet work; pay for Workspace when you need company-owned accounts and Gemini.