Microsoft Excel vs Google Sheets

Microsoft 365

Numbers

LibreOffice

WPS Office

Apache OpenOffice

Apache OpenOffice Calc

Compare Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets based on features, pricing, verified reviews, integrations & more on GetApp. Find out which software is best for your business in 2026.

Numbers is a spreadsheet application designed to help teams create tables, charts, bars, columns, diagrams, and illustrations to visualize data via web browsers or using devices including Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Managers can create an audio representation of data charts using VoiceOver in iOS.

LibreOffice is a cloud-based and on-premise suite of applications designed to help businesses, charities, and government organizations create, edit, and manage documents, spreadsheets, presentations, graphs, drawings, mathematical formulas, and more.

Apache OpenOffice is an open-source office suite that helps organizations create spreadsheets, presentations, and graphics, among other files. The writer module offers document templates, which allow team members to create letters, agendas, and faxes with table of contents, references, and notes.

Excel is a spreadsheet management software program with data analysis tools to help users track and visualize data for greater insight and more ways to share data.

Charting

Collaboration Tools

Commenting/Notes

Customizable Templates

Data Import/Export

Data Visualization

Document Management

Drag & Drop

File Sharing

Notes Management

Offline Access

Productivity Tools

Real-Time Updates

Search/Filter

Templates

Microsoft Excel

Android

Web-based

Windows

iPad

iPhone

Underwriter

It is so powerful, and I know I'm barely scraping the surface of what all it's capable of. It is amazing for tracking progress, analyzing data, and staying organzied.

Dentist

I like the ease of this software to input my numbers that have been acquired over the year and is a good reference to keep my numbers straight.

Student

Some of the error messages are hard to decipher when using the software and the functions have confusing variables to put in at times.

Administrative assistant 

I would easily recommend it as it's perfect for kids in school, in the work place etc. All it's features are detailed and open doors for me to be as creative as I want to be.

Owner

I absolutely love how useful it is. I have used to it keep track of inventory and sales. It's great for finances and things like that.

Creative Director 

Excel has made it easier for me to prepare and present my finances and assets, it's like having an account buddy who will help you calculate everything and present it as you wish.

Supply Chain Analyst

Excel is perfect for any user - beginner, intermediate, expert. Depending on your skill set and what you need to accomplish, Excel is the right tool for you and is super easy to learn and excel in.

Chief Executive Officer

The software cannot be readily integrated or harmonized with other information systems. The software is totally insensitive to human errors; it does not prompt the user when there is an error.

Senior Risk Manager

Great, I have loved the ease of building reports.I found it easy to learn and easy to use from the start.

System administrator

When there is a large amount of data entered into a spreadsheet it's inevitable to have trivial human mistakes made. Sometimes it's very difficult to find those mistakes later.

Designer

Super convenient and great way to organize table format data. Use it for budgets and super easy to input and find values.

Excel is easy to use, has a great UI and a fantastic support system. Once you use excel you will never want to use a replacement again.

Secretary

I love everything about the software nothing I don’t like simple easy to use love it very much totally awesome.

Assistant manager

It can be hard to figure out your mistakes. The macro feature cant be undone and can be harmful if ran an accident.

Overall, Excel is a great business application that can help track your companies growth, sales, budget, and etc. It's just great for dealing with any sort of numbers.

President 

I love using the preset formulas and integrate them into the database. Color coding important fields is also a good feature.

Software developer

Vary easy to use, worth it, great price, good customer support, and i like it.

Attorney

I like the fact that it is easy for my support staff to create and edit documents, and I then have an easy way to organize and analyze large chunks of information.

Microsoft Excel screenshot: Microsoft Excel - import data from other apps, including Power BI

Microsoft Excel screenshot: Microsoft Excel - create charts and graphs to visualize data

Microsoft Excel screenshot: Microsoft Excel - discover and reveal the insights hidden in data

Microsoft Excel screenshot: Microsoft Excel - visualize data with multiple chart types to understand it better

Microsoft Excel screenshot: Microsoft Excel -  share workbooks more ways for better results

Freelancers

Large Enterprises

Mid Size Business

Non Profit

Public Administrations

Small Business

Logistics Coordinator 

Microsoft Excel vs Google Sheets: Why I switched from Google Sheets to Microsoft Excel

Brittany:                                              Hi my name is Brittany, I'm an administrative assistant and I switched from Google Sheets to Microsoft Excel. And for more videos like this, click the link below.
			                                                       We use Microsoft Excel for everything in our business from production schedules to schedules in general. We use it basically for anything organizational-wise, whether that's administrative, or production, or inventory; it's a very helpful software.
			                                                       I think the best thing about Microsoft Excel is the automated formulas and the helpful templates that you can use with your team to make things more organized and effective.
			                                                       The best thing about Google Sheets is being able to share the document with multiple members of your team and then being able to work on that separately, but together, at the same time.
			                                                       For using these softwares, it's not very easy at first but through time and practice, you'll be a professional in no time.
			                                                       I think the biggest thing to consider when switching or using these softwares is understanding how big your team is, who all is going to access these documents and what kind of organization your company is looking for.

Web Project Coordinator

Worth getting good at using - Excel is here to stay

Julie:                                                 My name is Julie. I am a website project coordinator. I was using Google Sheets, I switched to Excel. And for more reviews like this, click below.
                                                       We've used Excel and Google Sheets for a lot of different things. Keeping track of, gosh, everything from website projects to even time spent on different projects. They're both great tools for collaboration and allowing people to track different data points. So just really great tools for tracking anything you'd like.
                                                       Microsoft Excel is great for tracking whatever data that you need to measure, comparing things side by side, keeping track of things, and then sharing it with different team members, whoever needs to know. It's great because you can open it in your browser. You can open it in a desktop app or you can even get a smartphone app so you can keep track of everything on the go. And it has great features where you can build in calculations. So if you're trying to aggregate a bunch of data and then get a mathematical result, you can set that up so that the spreadsheet does it for you.
                                                       Google Sheets is also amazing for keeping track of things. It does have a good functionality as far as doing calculations for you. And it's great also for sharing within your team and also outside of your team. You can easily adjust the sharing settings. It's very user friendly in that way. And you can access everything online. So as long as you have an internet connection, you can get the data that you need.
                                                       Google Sheets I found a little bit easier to get started with than Excel. It's just a little bit more intuitive from my perspective, it's a little bit more self explanatory. They both have a lot of features and functions. And so you can kind of go as deep with either one as you need to. And there's lots of tutorials and trainings out there. Especially with Excel I've found, but they're both fairly easy to get started with. And it just depends also if you're used to working with Microsoft products, you might have an easier time getting started with Excel, but there is quite a lot that it's capable of. So sometimes it can be a little bit harder to find what you're looking for, if you're not super familiar with it, right off the bat.
                                                       When I'm looking for software, especially that works with spreadsheets. Some of my top considerations are how easy is it to use? How intuitive is it just to go ahead and get started and start using it. But also it depends on what I'm trying to use it for. As far as if I'm trying to do a lot of more complicated calculations, I might want Excel as it has a bunch of additional features. So it really, it depends on the project, but what I'm primarily looking for is what's everybody on my team using and how easy is it going to be for everybody to implement.

Microsoft 365, formerly Office 365, provides web, desktop, and mobile apps for Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Publisher, Skype, OneDrive, Exchange Online, and more

WPS Office is a file sharing and productivity suite designed to help businesses of all sizes create, edit, and share presentations, documents, and spreadsheets with clients or team members.

Apache OpenOffice Calc provides a set of tools for data presentation, analysis, and calculation. It includes Microsoft Excel compatible pivot tables with drag-and-drop support for large quantities of data. 


Google Sheets is a cloud-based spreadsheet platform designed to help businesses of all sizes collaborate with clients and partners to create and edit data on spreadsheets.

Access Controls/Permissions

Data Extraction

Multiple Projects

Project Management

Real Time Editing

Real-Time Data

Reporting/Analytics

Third-Party Integrations

Version Control

Google Sheets

Senior Programmer

The fact it's free is amazing. It's a great choice for personal or small business or non-profits.

When downloading to a Word document on your laptop, there is often formatting error and glitches which can be annoying.

Digital Initiatives Director

I love this it's free, easy to use, comparable to Excel, and accessible on multiple devices. I use it mainly for my budget, which has not only helped me save a lot of money but plan for the future.

Payments

Google Sheets suffers from severe slowdowns when working with a few hundred rows of data. Don’t even bother if there are complex equations within those rows.

Entrepreneur

I like it because It's % 100 Free app from google and it's very easy to use with a clean and useful user interface. I like how I can create many sheets in one project and use other sheets format.

Teacher

It's easy to use and when you click on the Explore button, you can analyze data super quickly. It integrates well with Google Forms and the collaboration tools are amazing.

Student Pilot

I liked how it pretty much modeled after excel but seemed easier to use at the same time. Also being able to just share with anyone and choose whether or not that person can edit is super helpful too.

Marcomms & Business Development Operations Coordinator

This software is easy to use and keeps our team on the task at hand with helping to perform at our best. A great tool for maximizing our productivity with each client.

Registrar

I was delighted to find it has some. Really useful capabilities not found in Excel, such as a really clean way to copy and paste into a new tab while maintaining the format of the original selection.

High School Math Teacher

I love that Google Sheets is free, which is great. The formulas are easy to use, and the asthetics are nice.

Great to use and I can use it anywhere on any device while it saves as I am working. Having a seamless system is wonderful and being able to work aywhere.

Product Engineer

The feature that I like most about this software is that it is integrated into the Google software collection. This makes it super easy for me to access on any device that I am signed into Google on.

Patient Service Representative 

I have always been a fan of Excel and then my company started using Google sheets as an alternative. It's great because it is accessible anywhere and doesn't require pre-uploaded software.

Social Media Specialist

It can be frustrating when there's no information online about troubleshooting some formula errors.

Desarrollador RPA (UiPath, BluePrism)

Its price is fantastic, it's free! you can share documents and edit online with your colleagues. It has all functionalities more used and has autosave.

Managing director

There are no unwanted or unsatisfactory features that have complains about this platform.

Customer service representative

I have had very good overall experience. Customer service are nice.

Digital Media Manager

A lot of features, ease of use and a great support community.

Google Sheets screenshot: Google Sheets overview

Google Sheets screenshot: Google Sheets explore

Google Sheets screenshot: Google Sheets expenses overview

Google Sheets screenshot: Google Sheets profile & loss summary

Google Sheets screenshot: Google Sheets explore food costs

Founder

The only spreadsheet you need

Jeffrey T. :                                           Hi, my name is Jeffrey. I'm the business owner. I started with Excel and I switched to Google Sheets. And for more reviews like this click below. I use spreadsheets to track hours, revenue, and expenses. I even use it for some scheduling purposes on my end. I found Google Sheets to be more collaborative and user friendly. It's easy to see the revision history. I find the software to be fast and responsive. I don't have to worry about saving the file and it's freely stored in the cloud. And it appeals to me more as a Mac user. Microsoft Excel is best for more complex formulas and spreadsheets. It also does a better job at visually displaying the data. So if you have a greater need for advanced functionality and formulas, you'll pay for that. But Microsoft Excel will give you more features and power. Getting started with Google Sheets is as easy as signing up for a Google email or Gmail account. And it's seamlessly integrated into Google's suite of products.
			                                                       Microsoft has the 365 suite of products and you'll need to create an account with Microsoft, and then you can have access to Excel if you pay for it. When you're choosing spreadsheet software, it's important to keep in mind what you'll be using it for. How much functionality do you really need? For me, I didn't need such high powered formulas. And so I went with Google Sheets. It was easier for me. It was free and more user friendly. But if you need more advanced functionality and features better graphic visualization of data, Microsoft Excel would be a better option if you have more high powered needs. Or if you're a PC user, Microsoft is the legacy player in the space and tends to fit better with PC users while Google is more user friendly for Mac users.

Worst Spreadsheet Ever

Speaker 1:                                             Hi, my name is Fernando. I'm an owner. We switched from Microsoft Excel to Google Sheets. For more reviews like this, click below.
			                                                       Both Excel and Google Sheets allow us to look at our key performance indicators and we track them by a bi-weekly basis. And we're able to look at year over year, month over month, week over week, and allows to see where our performance is improving or where it's diminishing, allows us to make business decisions in a timely fashion.
			                                                       To me, the only thing that Google Sheets is good for is the ability to, to manipulate information on limited basis online and on the go on your phone. It's very difficult to do that with Excel.
			                                                       In my opinion, I believe you can hold more information in Microsoft Excel and you have more formula capability and easier formula development and implementation within Excel relative to Google Sheets.
			                                                       It was easier to use Microsoft Excel because it definitely had the architecture of Lotus Suite, Lotus 1-2-3, which is a old data manipulation program from the eighties and early nineties. And Google Sheets also mirrored Excel. Although it was limited, it was relatively user-friendly, but it was dumbed down if you may. But I found that Microsoft Excel was more intuitive if you understood the architecture of worksheet management and database management.
			                                                       I think that took you're looking for a robust piece of software, Microsoft Excel is definitely the way to go, but if you're looking for something that's really easy to use on the go, low cost, low management, then Google Sheets is probably the program or the application for a small business to medium sized business. I don't believe large businesses should be using Google Sheets, but to each and to his own.

Jeffrey:                                               Hi, I'm Jeffrey. I'm a founder and I was using Microsoft Excel. I switched to Google Sheets. And for more reviews like this, click below.
                                                       Both of these products help solve data organization and any kind of personal finance or finance numbers when you're working with data and you need to organize it, create formulas. Both of these spreadsheet applications are perfect for keeping your numbers aligned.
                                                       So Google Sheets is best for individuals and small businesses that are looking for a free solution to keep organized. Google Sheets integrates very well with the rest of Google products and it's built for collaboration. So it has great revision history and compatibility across users.
                                                       Microsoft Excel is an advanced spreadsheet that's best for larger companies that are dealing with larger data sets. So you'll be able to have more formula and functions, advanced applications and data visualization than in Google Sheets. So it's a good option for bigger companies that are already using Microsoft products and have bigger data.
                                                       For me, getting started with Google Sheets was super easy because I'm already a Google user and all you need is a Gmail address and you're already in the Google ecosystem. It's free to get started and really is user-friendly.
                                                       Microsoft Excel is part of the Microsoft suite of products and you'll have to create a user ID there, and that is not a free suite of products. So for me, getting started on that was harder because I had to set up an account, pay for an account as well.
                                                       When you're considering spreadsheet software, think about how robust you need the formulas and functions to be. If you're an individual or just a small business, then you may not need such advanced applications and you therefore don't need to pay for a product like Microsoft Excel if something like Google Sheets meets your needs. So I would try that first. And then if you need something much more robust, you can always have the option to pay for a program like Excel.

Videographer

Google Sheets vs Microsoft Excel: Why they switched from Microsoft Excel to Google Sheets

Systems Analyst 

Great substitute for Excel, and it's in the cloud

Becky M.:                                              Hi, my name is Becky. I am product manager. I used to use Microsoft Excel, but I switched to Google Sheets. For more reviews like this click below.
                                                       We use both of these products to handle all of the spreadsheets and data analysis that we need to manage for our online learning platform.
                                                       Google Sheets is best for when you need to collaborate with coworkers on a spreadsheet because you can all edit in real time, and it has really great version control.
                                                       Microsoft Excel, I would say is better for when you need to work on projects offline, spreadsheet projects, because it is not cloud based. You can work on the files even when you don't have an internet connection.
                                                       With Microsoft Excel there's always a learning curve for people who have never used it before, and it also has a significant cost. Microsoft products are not free. With Google Sheets, if you already have a basis of knowledge about how to use spreadsheets, it's very easy to get started and it actually doesn't cost anything. That's pretty cool.
                                                       When you're thinking about a spreadsheet management product to use, you should consider whether you need to do a lot of work offline, or whether you are going to be doing a lot of collaborating with others on the documents, and that can help inform which of these products you might want to use.

Personal trainer

Great software for collaborating with my team

Jared:                                                 Hi, I'm Jared, personal trainer. I switched from Microsoft Excel to Google Sheets. For more reviews like this, click down below. The business problems that Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets help solve is basically accounting, being able to track data, being able to predict how sales and revenue is going to go and basically day-to-day operations. I use these kind of programs every single day to handle all different types of problems in my business. Google Sheets is really awesome at keeping track of my client's sessions. It's really good with basic accounting and really good with basic formulations. So if you're trying to add up numbers, if you're trying to multiply certain factors or you're trying to basically keep track of your expenses and what you owe and what you're earning, Google Sheets is awesome for that.
                                                       Microsoft Excel is really useful for really any type of numerical data whatsoever. So if you're trying to use it for basic accounting or you're trying to use it for advanced mathematical functions, Microsoft Excel is going to offer more in that capacity to be able to allow you to create very advanced type of graph and data models. For getting started with Microsoft Excel, it was extremely challenging it. Even though there were a lot of tutorials out there, when I first learned how to use Excel, it was quite a learning curve. There was a lot of functions to it, and it's not the most user-friendly software out there, but it is great and it's a great advanced piece of software. As far as Google Sheets was concerned however, it only took me maybe a day or so to learn the ropes with Google Sheets, because it's a far simpler format. It's more user-friendly, and it's going to connect to any computer wherever you're at, because it operates via the cloud, via internet, as opposed to on your personal laptop at home or a desktop.
                                                       Some top considerations when looking for numerical or accounting type software is going to be, what exactly are you trying to use this software for? If you're looking for some more advanced functions, if you're trying to calculate some advanced mathematical equations, or if you're trying to forecast and shadow finances in the future, I really feel like Microsoft Excel might be a best option when it comes down to that. If you're looking to just keep track of your finances and expenses day to day, I feel like Google Sheets is more user-friendly in that capacity, and you're really able to take it on the go. So it really all depends what you're looking for with the software.

Spreadsheets that are easily sharable

Philip:                                                Hi. I'm Philip, and I'm a videographer. I switched from Microsoft Excel to Google Sheets, and for more information, click the link below.
                                                       Google Sheets solves the problem of collaboration with other people. And it's great because it works in real time. You can collaborate in real time. That's a thing that I was not able to do with Microsoft Excel. Microsoft Excel solves the problem of privacy and also creating really elaborate graphs and presentation documents. So they both have their pluses.
                                                       Google Sheets is best for collaboration. I use this thing every time I get together on a spreadsheet with other people. And what's really great about it is that in real time you can update, you can change what's in each individual field, change all sorts of things. You can do it, and then the person you're working with can also do it. And you see it happen right away. I mean, that is just fantastic.
                                                       Microsoft Excel I feel has a better feature set and it's more elaborate, especially if you want to make presentations with your documents. Plus, I feel that the privacy that you get by working on your own device is far better than worrying about it being in the cloud and possibly getting hacked. I feel like I don't have any worries with that. But if I do want to have it in the cloud, Microsoft does offer a product that works for storing documents in the cloud. I've never used it to collaborate and I don't think I want to. I would use something else for that.
                                                       There is a learning curve with either product, but it's not really difficult. And there's so many people who use these, both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel, that finding help is really easy. And I found that you can just pretty much get into it and if you have... The more you do it, the more complex things you can do with it. So the very simple stuff is basic as can be. And getting started is really easy. Plus, there's really no limit to how far you can develop your skill with either of those products.
                                                       The top considerations when looking for a spreadsheet software is cost, which Google Docs has it in spades because it doesn't cost anything and you can collaborate on it with anybody. If you want to have... So that would be number one. Number two is what are you using it for? Are you going to be creating documents that you want to present to people in a slideshow or something like that? Then you definitely would want go with Excel in my opinion.

Human Resource Assistant

Google Sheets Review 

Crystal F.:                                            Hi, my name is Crystal. I'm an administrative assistant, and I switched from Excel to Google Sheets. Click below for more reviews.
                                                       I use Excel and Google sheets to both organize data and collaborate with my team.
                                                       Google Sheets is very good for and collecting data, as well as doing it online and offline. You can also do it for free.
                                                       Excel is good for using formulas and functions in order to adequately collect your data.
                                                       Excel and Google Sheets are very similar in their user manual in accessing these platforms. They're very straightforward and user friendly. You just have to learn a few different functions and formulas for Excel. But other than that, they're pretty straightforward.
                                                       The top things to consider when using softwares for spreadsheets is their cost to see if there's going to be a cost effectiveness to this, as well as the collaboration tool, which mostly when you're trying to create a spreadsheet for your office you would like the whole team to be able to partake and be involved. So, I believe that those are the top main concerns when looking into a spreadsheet software.

Commander

Competes with Microsoft Excel

Jason A.:                                              Hi, my name is Jason. I am a Lieutenant. I used to use Microsoft Excel, but switched to Google Sheets. For more reviews like this, please click below.
                                                       Both Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel are extremely helpful in compiling data, specifically spreadsheets that we use throughout our agency, and often distribute to outside entities.
                                                       Google Sheets is a very similar product to Microsoft Excel, but where it really goes above and beyond is user accessibility. You can access it basically anywhere, on a computer, on your cell phone. You can have multiple users accessing the same spreadsheet at the same time, add and eliminate viewing and editing rights, it really sets itself apart.
                                                       Microsoft Excel might be a little bit more of a user friendly program, it has a few more characteristics than Google Sheets. I would say it's best for compiling your own spreadsheets that you do not plan on sharing with anybody else or having anybody else work on at the same time.
                                                       I'll first start off by talking about Microsoft Excel. I've been using that product for close to 20 years, it feels like. I was introduced to Excel at a local college while taking college classes, and that was really the first spreadsheet program that I was exposed to, so it was very simple for me to learn and utilize. Google Sheets, our agency switched to the Google platform roughly about seven, eight years ago, and it is very similar in how it's used, comparative to Microsoft Excel. It did take a little bit of time understanding the editing and viewing rights portion, but both products are very simple to use.
                                                       When looking for this type of software, you first need to think about who is going to be accessing and viewing the spreadsheet? Microsoft Excel, again, is a very easy to use platform, has a few more characteristics and features than Google Sheets does. If you work within an environment where you're going to have several users accessing that spreadsheet, editing that same spreadsheet, there's no doubt in my mind that Google Sheets is the way to go.

Dept Chair of IT

A great deal for the basic spreadsheet user

Cynthia H.:                                            My name is Cynthia, and I'm the Department Chair of Instructional Technology. I was using Excel, but now I've switched to Google Sheets. Click here for more reviews. Excel and Google Sheets help us with all of our spreadsheet needs. So whether we are working on budgets or handling large amounts of student information, or even just doing basic spreadsheet functions, we use Excel and Google Sheets for both.
                                                       Google Sheets, specifically, does an excellent job with collaboration. Excel does not allow people to collaborate on a document. So for example, I can work with a very large budget with two, three, or four of my coworkers at the same time. We can be inputting information and even putting in comments, chatting off to the side, and we are all able to access the same spreadsheet at once.
                                                       Microsoft Excel is about 30 years old, so it's been around for a very long time. And Microsoft Excel is really good at complex calculations. There are definitely some calculations and some functions that you cannot do in Google Sheets, but you can do those in Excel. Also, when you start working with Google Sheets, once you start getting around 5 million cells, things tend to slow down; but with Excel, you have the ability to work with up to 17 billion cells.
                                                       When I first started using Excel, I actually had no idea what I was doing, and so I had to take a training course offered at a local community college just to understand the basic functions and equations. Since I had that background information, it was very easy for me to use Google Sheets. But I feel like now, especially, you could use both programs by watching videos on YouTube or just doing general searches on the internet.
                                                       The top considerations when looking for this kind of software, the first one's going to be price. Of course, you don't want to spend a lot of money when you can get another product for free. Also, the ability for these products to be available at all times. So sometimes Excel isn't great about being available only offline and Google Sheets sometimes doesn't like to be offline either. So you definitely want it to be accessible at all times. And you also want them to have a lot of different, additional add-ons that are going to make it easier to use.

Player agent, director 

ShAred worksheets to manage field availability during the season 

Dave:                                                  Hello, this is Dave. I'm the corporate secretary for a youth softball organization. I've been using Excel for way too many years and recently I've added on Google Sheets for very specific cases. And for more reviews, click below.
                                                       In running a youth sports league, Microsoft Excel is very valuable to manage all of our player rosters, to help with the organization, and to help organize and make sure our scheduling is done properly. But then when it comes time to share that information and make it real to the 50 or 60 coaches I have across three towns, Google Sheets makes life easier for everybody. So as I transfer my information from Excel which does all the heavy lifting into Google Sheets, which then makes it easy for reporting and updating. And then all my coaches can go to one place and always have the latest information at their fingerprints about the schedule for all the games.
                                                       Where Google Sheets makes the biggest difference for us is the ease of accessibility of the information. I can drop little bits or giant bits of information into a Google Sheet, do very, very small formatting changes in ways to make it present appropriately, and then publish it out on the web or actually via a link, which I can then send that link to my coaches. And all season long, all they have to do is click on one little link on their phone or in their computer. And at their fingertips is the latest version of a schedule that crosses three towns and about a dozen fields and games that take place seven days a week. I don't have to keep updating and sending it out over and over and over again. I update it in one place and then my coach's responsibility is to go find it, which we make very easy. That's where Google Sheets makes the biggest difference to our youth sports organization.
                                                       Where Excel makes the difference in our youth sports organization is in the heavy listing of making everything work. With many different divisions and many different teams putting together schedules that are balanced. Everybody plays the same number of games, same number of homes, same number away. And all my fields are never double booked. That's where the power of Excel and pivot sheets and pivot tables, believe it or not, make it easy to build, adapt, adjust, and fine-tune all those schedules. I'm talking in a season, I'm putting together between 350 and 400 games across five levels of our sports program. That's where the power of Excel really helps me succeed and it makes sure that I get it right the first time before the season even begins.
                                                       Getting started with Excel can be intimidating because there's so much power there. But just keep it simple, it's rows and columns. And say, what do you have to accomplish, is it adding things, is it sorting things, is it filtering different ways? Get your data, start simply and start asking questions, what does that menu choice do? And from those simple beginnings, Excel will become a very powerful tool you can use to turn simple problems and even complicated ones into easy solutions. The nice thing about once you've got Excel mastered, then figuring out how to use Google sheets is simple. It's pretty much the same thing. Although at least in my experience, not quite as powerful as what I can do in Excel. That being said for many people, it's powerful enough and the tools and the tricks you learn in Excel, you can adapt very quickly to using Google Sheets. Doesn't bring all the same power to the problem, but it has its definite place in my overall mix of solutions to managing my program.
                                                       What's the most important thing is I'm looking for solutions. One, do they have all the power I need to solve the problems I'm trying to solve? Can they do things or am I forced to include them and five other things together? I want a solution that does everything for me. Second thing is sometimes I don't need all that power, but I need a solution that makes it easy for other people to take advantage of what I've put together. So one, all the power I need. Two, how can I best make the information, the data available to others who may not need all the power that I use and I bring to bear on my problems.

Microsoft Excel vs Google Sheets Comparison (2026)

Microsoft Excel

Google Sheets

Overview

User verdicts

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives