Grist vs Microsoft Excel
Grist and Microsoft Excel are both databases & spreadsheets tools. Grist 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 $10/mo for Grist. Both have a free plan.
Relational spreadsheet with Python formulas
The standard spreadsheet for analysis, modeling and reporting
| Pricing | Open source · $10 | Freemium · $10 |
| Starting price | $10/mo | $9.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 30 days | 30 days |
| Built for | Developers, Small businesses | Small businesses, Enterprise, Freelancers |
| Platforms | web | web, macos, windows, ios, android |
| Country | US · 2017 | US · 1985 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Grist if
Power users wanting spreadsheet + database.
- Powerful formulas
- Fine-grained permissions
- Open source
Look elsewhere if: Simple lists.
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).
Grist vs Microsoft Excel pricing
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
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
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
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
Grist vs Microsoft Excel: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Grist or Microsoft Excel?
Microsoft Excel starts at $9.99/mo and Grist at $10/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Grist and Microsoft Excel have a free plan?
Yes, both Grist and Microsoft Excel have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.