What is Microsoft Excel?

Microsoft Excel is a Databases & spreadsheets tool: The standard spreadsheet for analysis, modeling and reporting.

How much does Microsoft Excel cost?

Microsoft Excel uses a Freemium model; paid plans start at $10 per month.

What are the best alternatives to Microsoft Excel?

Community-listed alternatives to Microsoft Excel include DeepCell, Google Sheets, Zoho Sheet, Airtable.

Does Microsoft Excel have a free trial?

Yes, Microsoft Excel offers a 30-day free trial.

What does Microsoft Excel integrate with?

Microsoft Excel integrates with Power BI, Power Automate, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, Microsoft Copilot and more.

Which platforms does Microsoft Excel support?

Microsoft Excel is available on web, macos, windows, ios, android.

Microsoft Excel

The standard spreadsheet for analysis, modeling and reporting

Freemium · $10Databases & spreadsheets Personal productivity

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Microsoft Excel is a databases & spreadsheets tool for Small businesses and Enterprise, offered as freemium ($10/mo). Based in United States, founded in 1985. Popular alternatives include DeepCell, Google Sheets, Zoho Sheet.

About Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is the spreadsheet application from Microsoft, first released for the Mac in 1985 and for Windows in 1987. It became the default tool for finance and business analysis and now ships with Microsoft 365 on every major platform. Its core job is organizing, calculating and analyzing numbers, from a simple budget to a complex financial model.

Excel combines formulas and dynamic arrays (XLOOKUP, FILTER, LAMBDA), PivotTables, charts, Power Query for importing and cleaning data, Power Pivot data models, conditional formatting and real-time co-authoring through OneDrive and SharePoint. Python in Excel runs Python code in the grid, and Copilot can write formulas, highlight trends and build analyses from prompts. Excel for the web is free with a Microsoft account; the full desktop apps come with Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium for consumers, Microsoft 365 business plans, or a one-time Office Home 2024 license.

Excel fits anyone who needs serious number crunching, financial modeling or offline work with large files. Google Sheets is simpler and better for live browser collaboration, Airtable suits relational databases with forms and views, and Smartsheet is built for project tracking in a grid. Excel's weaknesses are version sprawl from emailed files and a steep learning curve for advanced features.

Recent changes: Microsoft raised consumer Microsoft 365 prices in 2025 when Copilot was bundled in, launched Microsoft 365 Premium at $19.99 a month in late 2025, and has been rolling out agent-style Copilot features in Excel.

Key features of Microsoft Excel

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
Real-time co-authoring through OneDrive and SharePoint
Apps for Windows, Mac, web, iOS and Android

Pros and cons

Pros

Industry standard skills and file format
Unmatched depth for financial modeling and analysis
Handles large datasets on the desktop
Free web version for basic use
Bundled with Word, PowerPoint, Outlook and 1 TB OneDrive

Cons

Advanced features have a steep learning curve
Web version lacks some desktop features
Emailed copies lead to version chaos
Subscription price rose in 2025 with Copilot bundled

Microsoft Excel pricing

Microsoft Excel uses a freemium model. A 30-day free trial is available.

Plan	Price	Includes
Excel for the web	$0	Free 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-time	Perpetual Excel, Word, PowerPoint for 1 PC or Mac

Source: www.microsoft.com · checked on Oct 20, 2026

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How Microsoft Excel compares in Databases & spreadsheets

Rank by votes: #1 / 19
Starting price: $10
Free alternatives: 5

Microsoft Excel ranks #1 of 19 databases & spreadsheets tools by community votes and is priced below most tools in the category.

Common use cases

1Financial models, budgets and forecasts
2Accounting reconciliations and month-end reporting
3Cleaning and combining exports with Power Query
4Sales and inventory analysis with PivotTables
5Ad hoc data analysis with Python or Copilot
6Small business invoices, price lists and stock tracking

Best for

Finance, accounting and analyst teams that need the deepest spreadsheet features and the industry standard file format.

Not ideal for

Teams that mostly collaborate live in the browser on simple sheets (Google Sheets) or need a relational database with views (Airtable).

Integrations

Power BI
Power Automate
Microsoft Teams
OneDrive
SharePoint
Microsoft Copilot
Python
Power Query

Our take

Excel is still the most capable spreadsheet for analysis and modeling, and the safe default for any finance-heavy team. Individuals should start with Microsoft 365 Personal, businesses with a Microsoft 365 business plan, and casual users can stay on the free web version or Google Sheets.

FAQ

What is Microsoft Excel?: Microsoft Excel is a Databases & spreadsheets tool: The standard spreadsheet for analysis, modeling and reporting.
How much does Microsoft Excel cost?: Microsoft Excel uses a Freemium model; paid plans start at $10 per month.
What are the best alternatives to Microsoft Excel?: Community-listed alternatives to Microsoft Excel include DeepCell, Google Sheets, Zoho Sheet, Airtable.
Does Microsoft Excel have a free trial?: Yes, Microsoft Excel offers a 30-day free trial.
What does Microsoft Excel integrate with?: Microsoft Excel integrates with Power BI, Power Automate, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, Microsoft Copilot and more.
Which platforms does Microsoft Excel support?: Microsoft Excel is available on web, macos, windows, ios, android.
Who is Microsoft Excel for?: Finance, accounting and analyst teams that need the deepest spreadsheet features and the industry standard file format.

Alternatives to Microsoft Excel

See all 10

DeepCell
▲ 0
Linked spreadsheet, report and slides in one file, built by AI agents
FreemiumFreelancers
checked Oct 22
Google Sheets
▲ 0
Free cloud spreadsheet with real-time collaboration and Gemini AI
Freemium · $8Small businesses
checked Oct 20
Zoho Sheet
▲ 0
Free collaborative spreadsheet with Zia AI and built-in data cleaning
FreeSmall businesses
checked Oct 20
Airtable
▲ 0
Spreadsheet-database hybrid with apps
Freemium · $24Small businesses
checked Oct 20
Quadratic
▲ 0
AI spreadsheet with Python, SQL and JavaScript in the cells
Freemium · $20Developers
checked Oct 20
Coda
▲ 0
Docs that work like apps
Freemium · $15Small businesses
checked Oct 20

More Databases & spreadsheets tools

See all 19

Grist
▲ 0
Relational spreadsheet with Python formulas
Open source · $10Developers
checked Oct 20
Baserow
▲ 0
Open-source Airtable alternative
Open source · $12Developers
checked Oct 20
Equals
▲ 0
Spreadsheet connected to your database and Stripe
Paid · $2000Small businesses
checked Oct 20
Teable
▲ 0
Postgres-backed Airtable alternative
Open source · $13Developers
checked Oct 20
Stackby
▲ 0
Spreadsheet-database with API connectors
Freemium · $9Small businesses
checked Oct 20
NocoDB
▲ 0
Turn any database into a smart spreadsheet
Freemium · $15Developers
checked Oct 20

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