Google Sheets vs Grist
Google Sheets and Grist are both databases & spreadsheets tools. Google Sheets is aimed at small businesses and freelancers, while Grist is aimed at developers and small businesses. Google Sheets costs less, from $8.40/mo versus $10/mo for Grist. Both have a free plan.
Free cloud spreadsheet with real-time collaboration and Gemini AI
Relational spreadsheet with Python formulas
| Pricing | Freemium · $8 | Open source · $10 |
| Starting price | $8.40/mo | $10/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 14 days | 30 days |
| Built for | Small businesses, Freelancers, Enterprise | Developers, Small businesses |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | web |
| Country | US · 2006 | US · 2017 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Google Sheets if
Teams and individuals who need shared spreadsheets with real-time collaboration at little or no cost.
- Free with any Google account
- Best-in-class real-time collaboration
- Large ecosystem of add-ons, templates and connectors
Look elsewhere if: Heavy financial modeling or relational data with workflows and record permissions (Microsoft Excel, Airtable, Smartsheet).
Choose Grist if
Power users wanting spreadsheet + database.
- Powerful formulas
- Fine-grained permissions
- Open source
Look elsewhere if: Simple lists.
Google Sheets vs Grist pricing
Google Sheets
- Free$0Personal Google account; 15 GB storage shared across Google
- Business Starter$8.40/user/moFlexible plan; $7 with annual commitment; 30 GB pooled
- Business Standard$16.80/user/mo$14 annual; 2 TB pooled per user; Gemini in Sheets
- Business Plus$26.40/user/mo$22 annual; 5 TB pooled per user; Vault, advanced security
- EnterpriseCustomAdvanced security, compliance and data controls
Grist
- Free$0Hosted; up to 5,000 records per document
- Pro$10/user/mo$8 billed annually
- Business$30/user/mo$24 billed annually; min 5 users; 150,000 records/doc
- EnterpriseCustomCustom SSO, audit log streaming, SLAs
- Community edition$0Free and open source, self-hosted
Google Sheets · Key features
- Real-time co-editing with comments, assignments and version history
- Google-specific functions like QUERY, IMPORTRANGE and GOOGLEFINANCE
- Pivot tables, charts, conditional formatting and data validation
- Tables, dropdowns and smart chips for structured lightweight trackers
- Apps Script for custom functions, menus and scheduled automations
- Connected Sheets to analyze BigQuery data without writing SQL
Cons
- 10 million cell limit and slowdowns on heavy workbooks
- Fewer advanced modeling tools than Microsoft Excel
- Gemini features require paid plans
Grist · Key features
- Relational tables
- Python formulas
- Granular access rules
- Linked widgets and dashboards
- Self-hosting
- API
Cons
- Learning curve
- Smaller ecosystem
- UI less familiar
Google Sheets vs Grist: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Google Sheets or Grist?
Google Sheets starts at $8.40/mo and Grist at $10/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Google Sheets and Grist have a free plan?
Yes, both Google Sheets and Grist have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.