Baserow vs Microsoft Excel
Baserow and Microsoft Excel are both databases & spreadsheets tools. Baserow is aimed at developers and small businesses, while Microsoft Excel is aimed at small businesses and enterprise. Microsoft Excel costs less, from $9.99/mo versus $12/mo for Baserow. Both have a free plan.
Open-source Airtable alternative
The standard spreadsheet for analysis, modeling and reporting
| Pricing | Open source · $12 | Freemium · $10 |
| Starting price | $12/mo | $9.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | 30 days |
| Built for | Developers, Small businesses | Small businesses, Enterprise, Freelancers |
| Platforms | web | web, macos, windows, ios, android |
| Country | NL · 2020 | US · 1985 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Baserow if
Teams wanting an open-source Airtable.
- Open source
- No row limits self-hosted
- GDPR-friendly (EU)
Look elsewhere if: Teams needing Airtable's ecosystem.
Choose Microsoft Excel if
Finance, accounting and analyst teams that need the deepest spreadsheet features and the industry standard file format.
- Industry standard skills and file format
- Unmatched depth for financial modeling and analysis
- Handles large datasets on the desktop
Look elsewhere if: Teams that mostly collaborate live in the browser on simple sheets (Google Sheets) or need a relational database with views (Airtable).
Baserow vs Microsoft Excel pricing
Baserow
- Free$0Cloud: 3,000 rows, 2 GB storage; self-host open source
- Premium$12/user/mo$10/user/mo billed yearly; 50,000 rows, 20 GB
- Advanced$22/user/mo$18/user/mo billed yearly; 250,000 rows, 100 GB
- EnterpriseCustom1M rows, 1,000 GB, contact sales
Microsoft Excel
- Excel for the web$0Free with a Microsoft account, reduced feature set
- Microsoft 365 Personal$9.99/mo$99.99/yr; 1 person, desktop apps, Copilot, 1 TB
- Microsoft 365 Family$12.99/mo$129.99/yr; up to 6 people, 1 TB each
- Microsoft 365 Premium$19.99/mo$199.99/yr; higher Copilot limits and advanced AI
- Office Home 2024$179.99/one-timePerpetual Excel, Word, PowerPoint for 1 PC or Mac
Baserow · Key features
- No-code database with views
- Application builder
- Automations
- AI field
- REST API
- Self-hosting
Cons
- Fewer integrations than Airtable
- Interfaces less mature
- Smaller community
Microsoft Excel · Key features
- Dynamic array formulas including XLOOKUP, FILTER and LAMBDA
- PivotTables, PivotCharts and a wide range of chart types
- Power Query to import, clean and reshape data from many sources
- Power Pivot data models for large multi-table analysis
- Python in Excel for analysis and visualization in the grid
- Copilot to generate formulas, analyses and summaries from prompts
Cons
- Advanced features have a steep learning curve
- Web version lacks some desktop features
- Emailed copies lead to version chaos
Baserow vs Microsoft Excel: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Baserow or Microsoft Excel?
Microsoft Excel starts at $9.99/mo and Baserow at $12/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Baserow and Microsoft Excel have a free plan?
Yes, both Baserow and Microsoft Excel have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.