Excel alternatives for small business: 10 free and paid options for 2026

The right Excel alternative for a small business depends on what you need next. For a free spreadsheet that opens .xlsx files, try LibreOffice Calc, or Apple Numbers on Macs; Google Sheets is free online and lets a team edit together. If the workbook runs your orders or jobs, Airtable, Grist or a GoodTaco app built from it fits better.

This guide is for owners and office managers at small businesses whose team runs on Excel. We compare 10 alternatives on price, the devices they run on and how they handle .xlsx files, grouped by what you need next. Then we show how to move off Excel step by step.

How we researched this: in October 2026 we checked every price, platform and file-format claim against each vendor’s own pricing, app store and help pages. Prices are US list prices and change often.

Excel alternatives compared

Paid prices are each vendor’s US list price per person per month for its entry plan, which usually means paying yearly; introductory discounts aren’t included, and Microsoft’s are for its plans with Teams. Excel itself is in the first row for comparison.

Tool	Best for	Price to start	Runs on	Opens .xlsx files
Excel in Microsoft 365 (for comparison)	Heavy analysis, macros and pivot tables	Free on the web; $7/user/month for web and phone apps, $10 with desktop apps, paid yearly	Windows, Mac, browser, phones	Yes, its own format
LibreOffice Calc	A free spreadsheet on your computer	Free	Windows, Mac, Linux	Opens and saves them
ONLYOFFICE	Files that go back and forth with Excel users	Free	Windows, Mac, Linux, phones	Its native format
WPS Office	One free suite on a computer and a phone	Free; Pro+ $5.83/month, billed $69.99 a year	Windows, Mac, Linux, phones, browser	Opens and saves them
Apple Numbers	Offices on Macs and iPhones	Free	Mac, iPhone, iPad, browser at iCloud.com	Imports and exports them
Google Sheets	Several people in one sheet	Free; Workspace $7/user/month, 1-year plan	Browser, phones	Edits them directly
Zoho Sheet	A free online sheet with desktop apps	Free	Browser, Windows, Mac, phones	Imports and downloads them
Airtable	Linked records for a small team	Free; Team $20/user/month, billed yearly	Browser, Windows, Mac, phones	Imports them, up to 5 MB
Grist	Formula fans who need a database	Free; Pro $8/user/month, billed yearly	Browser; desktop app for the free Community edition	Imports and exports them
Smartsheet	Projects and jobs with dates and owners	Pro $9/member/month, billed yearly; free trial	Browser, phones	Imports the first tab, exports
GoodTaco (our product)	A web app built from your workbook	Free plan; paid from $9/month	Any browser, including a phone’s	Builds an app from them

Excel alternatives by what you need next

You need another spreadsheet Same grid and formulas, lower cost or easier sharing

Free on your computer Opens your .xlsx files, no subscription LibreOffice CalcONLYOFFICEWPS OfficeApple Numbers

Online, for working together Several people edit at once Google SheetsZoho Sheet

Your sheet runs the business Orders, jobs or stock the team adds to every day

Spreadsheet-databases Records, views and forms for a team AirtableGristSmartsheet

An app built from your workbook Screens and forms that open on a phone GoodTaco (our product)

Why do small businesses look for an Excel alternative?

Excel is still a strong spreadsheet. People start looking when one of these gets in the way:

• The subscription. The desktop app needs a paid plan: Microsoft 365 Apps for business is $10 per user per month and Business Standard $14, both paid yearly (Apps for business, business plans). Business Basic, at $7, includes only the web and mobile versions of Excel. The other route is a one-time purchase: Office Home & Business 2024 is $249.99 for one PC or Mac.
• Copies of the same file. One workbook turns into “orders final v3.xlsx” in three inboxes, and nobody is sure which one is current.
• The workbook has become a system. Five people type orders, jobs or stock counts into the same sheet. Formulas get overwritten, the same customer is spelled three ways, and everyone can see and change every row.
• It’s not the size. Most small businesses never come near Excel’s limit of 1,048,576 rows per worksheet (Excel specifications). The trouble starts much earlier, when several people share one sheet.

If you mostly work with numbers on your own and the subscription doesn’t bother you, Excel is still a good place to do it.

Is there a free alternative to Excel?

Yes, several. These four install on your computer or phone and open the .xlsx files you already have. LibreOffice, ONLYOFFICE and WPS Office are full office suites, so they replace Word too, and their desktop apps work without an internet connection (LibreOffice, ONLYOFFICE, WPS).

1. LibreOffice Calc

Calc is the spreadsheet in LibreOffice, a free office suite (LibreOffice). It runs on Windows 10 and 11, macOS 11 or newer, and Linux (system requirements).

• Best for: an office that wants Excel’s everyday features without a subscription.
• Pricing: free.
• Excel files: it opens and saves .xlsx files. LibreOffice’s own help lists pivot tables, conditional formatting, newer chart types and some functions among the things that may need fixing after a file is converted (LibreOffice Help).
• Limitation: it can’t run most VBA macros (it runs some Excel ones if you turn the option on), and on phones LibreOffice offers only a viewer for Android.
• Verdict: the first free program to try. Is it better than Excel? Not for workbooks built on macros or pivot tables. For everyday lists, budgets and invoices, it does the job for free.

2. ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors

ONLYOFFICE’s free desktop editors include a spreadsheet for Windows, macOS and Linux, and there are free apps for Android and iOS (ONLYOFFICE downloads).

• Best for: workbooks you send back and forth with people who use Excel.
• Pricing: free for personal and professional use (ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors). To share files online, ONLYOFFICE DocSpace has a free Startup plan with up to 3 admins and 2 GB of storage (ONLYOFFICE pricing).
• Excel files: .xlsx is a native format, so files don’t go through a conversion step.
• Limitation: its macros are written in JavaScript, so VBA macros have to be converted. You can do it by hand or with ONLYOFFICE’s built-in AI plugin (version 9.0 and later), whose output ONLYOFFICE says to review and test (ONLYOFFICE).
• Verdict: a good pick when your files travel between your team and Excel users.

3. WPS Office

WPS Office is a free office suite whose spreadsheet runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS and the web (WPS Spreadsheet).

• Best for: people who want the same free suite on a computer and a phone.
• Pricing: WPS Standard is free, with 1 GB of cloud storage. Pro+ is $69.99 a year ($5.83 a month) and adds full PDF editing, 20 GB of storage and no advertising; WPS lists these prices for PC and Android (WPS pricing).
• Excel files: it opens and saves .xlsx, .xls and .csv files.
• Limitation: “no advertising” is one of the things Pro+ adds, so expect ads in the free version.
• Verdict: handy if you edit on a phone as often as at a desk.

4. Apple Numbers

Numbers is Apple’s spreadsheet for Mac, iPhone and iPad, and people on a Windows PC can use it in a browser at iCloud.com (Numbers on the App Store).

• Best for: small offices that run on Macs and iPhones.
• Pricing: free. Creating, editing and collaborating on spreadsheets doesn’t need a subscription. An optional Apple Creator Studio subscription, $12.99 a month or $129 a year, adds premium templates and AI features such as Magic Fill, which suggests formulas from patterns in your data (App Store).
• Excel files: it imports and edits Excel files and exports to Excel format.
• Limitation: Windows users only get the browser version, and the current Mac app needs macOS 26 or later (Apple Support).
• Verdict: the easy choice for an all-Apple office, less so for a mixed one.

Is there a free version of Excel?

Yes, in a browser. Microsoft 365 for the web gives you Excel and Word for free, with 5 GB of OneDrive storage, and your files are saved in OneDrive (Microsoft 365 for the web). Workbooks with macros open, but the macros don’t run in the browser (Microsoft support). For simple workbooks, it may be all the Excel you need.

Which online Excel alternatives let a team work together?

If the problem is passing a file around, an online spreadsheet gives everyone the same sheet in a browser. Our Google Sheets vs Excel comparison goes through the two feature by feature.

5. Google Sheets

Anyone with a Google account can use Sheets on a phone, tablet or computer (Google Sheets). It works offline on a computer in Chrome or Edge once you turn that on, and in the phone and tablet apps (Google help).

• Best for: teams that need several people in the same sheet at once.
• Pricing: free with a personal Google account, which comes with 15 GB of free Drive storage (Google Workspace FAQ). Google Workspace plans for businesses start at $7 per user per month with a one-year commitment (Workspace pricing).
• Excel files: you can edit an .xlsx file directly, without making a copy, and the original stays intact (Google Sheets). Macros aren’t supported; Google suggests rebuilding them in Apps Script (Google Docs Editors Help).
• Limitation: a spreadsheet holds up to 20 million cells or 100 MB (Google Drive limits). Everyone you share it with can see every row: Google says sheet protection shouldn’t be used as a security measure (Google help).
• Verdict: the default for working together, and free to start.

6. Zoho Sheet

Zoho Sheet is a free online spreadsheet with apps for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS (Zoho Sheet).

• Best for: teams that want a free online sheet with desktop apps too, or that already use Zoho.
• Pricing: free with a Zoho account.
• Excel files: it imports .xlsx, .xls and macro-enabled .xlsm workbooks (Zoho help) and downloads a sheet as XLSX, among other formats (Zoho Workplace help). You can lock cells and give each collaborator a different permission level (Zoho Sheet).
• Limitation: a spreadsheet holds up to about 262,000 rows and 10 million cells, and imports are capped at 50 MB (Zoho Sheet update). Excel allows 1,048,576 rows per worksheet.
• Verdict: a capable free alternative to Google Sheets, especially if you already use Zoho’s other apps.

Which Excel alternatives work like a database?

When your rows are really records, such as orders, jobs or customers, and several people add to them every day, a spreadsheet-database gives each record a proper home. Smartsheet does the same for projects and jobs with dates and owners. Our guide on how to use Excel as a database shows how far a workbook can go before you need one.

7. Airtable

Airtable looks like a spreadsheet but links records between tables, so an order points to its customer instead of copying the name (linking records).

• Best for: small teams moving a tracker off Excel that want something easy to learn.
• Pricing: the Free plan allows 5 editors and 1,000 records per base. Team is $20 per user per month billed yearly, with 50,000 records per base (Airtable pricing, plans).
• Excel files: it imports Excel files up to 5 MB and CSV files up to 100 MB. Formula cells come in as their results, not as formulas (Airtable help).
• Limitation: pricing is per user and records are capped per base, so costs grow with the team and the data.
• Verdict: the gentlest step from a spreadsheet to a database. Our Airtable alternatives guide covers the tools in this group in more depth.

8. Grist

Grist is a spreadsheet and a database of linked tables in one. Its free, open-source Community edition can run on your own server or as a desktop app (Grist help).

• Best for: spreadsheet power users who want linked tables and still think in formulas.
• Pricing: the Free plan allows 5,000 records per document. Pro is $8 per user per month billed yearly ($10 monthly), with 100,000 records per document, and the self-hosted Community edition is free (Grist pricing).
• Excel files: it imports Excel files (Grist help) and exports a table or a whole document as .xlsx (Grist exports).
• Limitation: formulas are written in Python, with a set of Excel-like functions in capitals (Grist formulas), so your Excel formulas need rewriting.
• Verdict: a strong, low-cost pick for teams that like formulas.

9. Smartsheet

Smartsheet looks like a spreadsheet but is built for tracking projects and jobs, with apps for Android, iPhone and iPad (Smartsheet help).

• Best for: teams tracking projects or jobs with dates, owners and status.
• Pricing: there’s no free plan. Pro is $9 per member per month billed yearly ($12 monthly) for up to 10 members, plus unlimited contributors who can view, comment and submit forms. There’s a 30-day free trial (Smartsheet pricing).
• Excel files: it imports .xlsx files up to 50 MB and 20,000 rows, but only the leftmost tab, and formulas aren’t preserved (Smartsheet import). It exports back to Excel, also without formulas (Smartsheet export).
• Limitation: a workbook with many tabs comes over one tab at a time, and each formula has to be rewritten.
• Verdict: a good fit for project-style work. Our Smartsheet alternatives guide compares it with monday.com, Asana and others.

Can you turn an Excel spreadsheet into an app?

Yes. Instead of moving your records into another grid, an app builder turns the workbook into the screens your team uses. Think of a form to add an order, a list of open jobs, or a dashboard of this month’s invoices.

10. GoodTaco (our product)

GoodTaco is an AI app builder for business teams. Upload your workbook, and it builds a working web app with screens, forms, search and dashboards in minutes. You change it by chatting, with no coding, and every version is saved.

• Best for: teams whose workbook has become the system for orders, jobs or stock, and who want an app without learning an app builder.
• Pricing: Free plan with no credit card; paid plans from $9 a month. Pricing is per workspace, not per app user.
• Excel files: upload an .xlsx or .xlsm workbook, or a CSV or TSV file, with no account needed to try it. Your records go into a built-in database, and the formulas GoodTaco can reproduce exactly are rebuilt in the app.
• Verdict: a fast way from a shared workbook to an app your whole team can open, on a computer or a phone.

Other Excel alternatives

• Microsoft Access is Microsoft’s own database. It comes with Microsoft 365 Apps for business, Business Standard and Business Premium (Microsoft support), and runs on Windows PCs only (Microsoft 365 Apps for business). Our Microsoft Access vs Excel guide compares the two.
• Apache OpenOffice Calc is another free, open-source spreadsheet, for Windows, macOS and Linux (system requirements). It reads .xlsx files and can save your work in Excel format (OpenOffice Calc), and version 4.1.17 came out on October 14, 2026 (Apache OpenOffice).
• Rows is an online spreadsheet with built-in AI and data integrations. It imports .xlsx, .xls and CSV files (Rows docs), has a free plan, and Plus is $6 per user per month billed yearly (Rows pricing).
• Baserow is an open-source, Airtable-style database. The Free plan holds 3,000 rows per workspace, and Premium is $10 per user per month billed yearly (Baserow pricing).

What is Excel being replaced with?

Nothing is replacing Excel outright. It’s still part of Microsoft 365, and AI is arriving inside it. Business Standard with Copilot includes Copilot in Excel (Microsoft 365 business plans), and Google Sheets has Gemini features, some only on Google Workspace plans (Google Sheets).

What is changing is where shared records live. Lists that several people update every day, such as orders, jobs and stock, are moving out of workbooks into spreadsheet-databases and apps, and Excel stays for analysis.

How to choose an Excel alternative

Start with what you need next:

If you want…	Start with
A free spreadsheet on your computer	LibreOffice Calc, or ONLYOFFICE if files go back and forth with Excel users
One free suite on a computer and a phone	WPS Office
A spreadsheet for an all-Apple office	Apple Numbers
Several people in one sheet at once	Google Sheets or Zoho Sheet
Linked records instead of copied rows	Airtable or Grist
Projects and jobs with dates and owners	Smartsheet
An app your team opens on a phone, built from your workbook	GoodTaco

Then check each finalist against these:

• Your real files. Open your three most important workbooks in the new tool and check totals, dates, formulas and charts before you commit.
• Macros. If a workbook relies on VBA macros, test them first: Google Sheets doesn’t support them, ONLYOFFICE macros are written in JavaScript, and LibreOffice runs only some.
• Who pays per person. Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Airtable, Grist and Smartsheet charge per user. The free desktop programs cost nothing per person, and GoodTaco charges per workspace.
• Where the data lives. In a file on each person’s computer, or in one place online that everyone opens.

What one person pays a month on paid plans

Airtable Team billed yearly $20

Excel, desktop apps paid yearly $10

Smartsheet Pro billed yearly $9

Grist Pro billed yearly $8

Google Workspace 1-year plan $7

Excel, web and phone apps paid yearly $7

WPS Office Pro+ billed $69.99 a year $5.83

US list prices, October 2026. LibreOffice, ONLYOFFICE, Numbers and Zoho Sheet are free. GoodTaco is priced per workspace, not per person.

How to move off Excel, step by step

1. List what each workbook does

Write down each tab, who updates it, and which formulas, macros, pivot tables and charts people rely on.

2. Decide whether you need a spreadsheet or a system

If one person works with the numbers, move to another spreadsheet. If several people add records every day, move to a spreadsheet-database or an app.

3. Clean up each tab

Keep one header row, one record per row, and one kind of thing per tab: customers on one, orders on another. Remove merged cells and blank rows, and spell each customer the same way every time.

4. Test the move with a copy

Open or import a copy in the new tool and compare totals, dates and formulas with Excel. Expect these changes:

Moving to	What changes
Google Sheets	Macros don’t carry over; rebuild them in Apps Script
LibreOffice Calc	Most VBA macros don’t run; pivot tables and conditional formatting may need fixes
Airtable	Formulas arrive as their results
Smartsheet	Only the leftmost tab imports, and formulas aren’t preserved
GoodTaco	Formulas it can reproduce exactly are rebuilt; macros, charts and pivot tables aren’t imported

5. Run both side by side

Have a few people do a week of real work in the new tool while the workbook stays as the backup. Compare totals at the end of the week.

6. Switch

Import the latest records, move everyone over, and keep a read-only copy of the old workbook for reference.

Turn your Excel workbook into an app with GoodTaco

Drop your workbook into GoodTaco’s spreadsheet to app page, say what the app should do, and enter your email. You don’t need an account. GoodTaco imports your records into a built-in database, rebuilds the formulas it can reproduce exactly, and turns columns of repeated choices into dropdowns. In minutes, it emails you a link to a working web app.

Then ask for what your team needs in plain words, such as “a form to log a new job from a phone” or “a dashboard of this month’s invoices by customer”. GoodTaco builds it, and every change is saved, with one-click rollback.

Share the app with a link. Private apps ask people to sign in with Google or an emailed link before they see any data, and only the users or roles you choose get in. Apps open in any browser, including a phone’s. If your team has moved to Google Sheets instead, GoodTaco connects to the sheet live, and the app reads and writes it.

Keep Excel for the math, and give your team an app for the work. Start free, no credit card needed.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best Excel alternative for a small business?

It depends on what you need next. For another spreadsheet, Google Sheets is simple to share and LibreOffice Calc is free on your computer. When the workbook has become your team's system for orders or jobs, Airtable or Grist add linked records, and GoodTaco turns the workbook into a web app.

Is there a free equivalent to Microsoft Excel?

Yes. LibreOffice Calc, ONLYOFFICE and WPS Office are free desktop programs that open and save .xlsx files, Apple Numbers is free on Apple devices, and Google Sheets and Zoho Sheet are free online with a Google or Zoho account.

Is there a truly free version of Excel?

Yes, in a browser. Microsoft 365 for the web gives you Excel and Word for free, with 5 GB of OneDrive storage, and your files are saved in OneDrive. Macros in a workbook don't run in the browser. The desktop app needs a paid plan, such as Microsoft 365 Apps for business at $10 per user per month or Business Standard at $14, both paid yearly, or Office Home & Business 2024, a one-time $249.99 purchase for one PC or Mac.

Is LibreOffice better than Excel?

For everyday lists, budgets and invoices, LibreOffice Calc does the job for free and opens and saves .xlsx files. Excel is the safer choice for workbooks built on VBA macros, which Calc runs only in part, or on pivot tables, which LibreOffice lists among the features that may need fixing after conversion.

What is Excel being replaced with?

Excel isn't going away; it's still part of Microsoft 365. What is changing is where shared records live. Lists that several people update every day, such as orders, jobs and stock, are moving into spreadsheet-databases like Airtable and Grist or into apps built from the workbook, while Excel stays for analysis.

Which free Excel alternative works offline?

LibreOffice Calc, ONLYOFFICE and WPS Office install on Windows, Mac and Linux, and their desktop apps work without an internet connection. Google Sheets works offline too: on a computer only in Chrome or Edge, after you turn on offline access, and in its phone and tablet apps.

Is there a free alternative to Excel and Word?

Yes. LibreOffice, ONLYOFFICE and WPS Office are free office suites with a word processor as well as a spreadsheet. Google Docs and Google Sheets work in a browser with a free Google account, and Microsoft 365 for the web gives you Word and Excel free in a browser.