Alternatives to Microsoft Excel
By App Store Tracker Editorial · Updated — App Store ratings fetched to
The short version
Google Sheets is the strongest Excel alternative, offering free cloud spreadsheets with formulas, charts, and real-time collaboration on a massive base. Apple Numbers is the best fit for iPhone owners who want a polished, free spreadsheet built into the ecosystem. For pure XLSX editing without a subscription, lightweight apps like Spreadsheets and XLSX Sheets get the job done. Each shares Excel's core: build, edit, and analyze spreadsheets on your phone.
The app you searched for
Microsoft Corporation
People look for Excel alternatives when the Microsoft 365 subscription requirement bites, when they want free collaboration, or when they need a lighter tool just to open and edit a file. The apps below all share its core job: create and edit spreadsheets, run formulas, build charts, and work with XLSX files on a phone. Some are full rival suites from Apple and Google, others are no-subscription XLSX editors, and a couple are companion or learning tools. We ranked them using embedding similarity against Excel's spreadsheet model, then weighed live App Store ratings and how many people use each one. The top picks mirror Excel's edit-and-analyze flow most closely. Pricing and ratings beside each app come straight from the live store.
| App | Developer | Rating | Price | Last update |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Sheets | 4.8 (1.9M) | Free | Nov 4, 2026 | |
| Numbers: Make Spreadsheets | Apple Inc. | 4.6 (226.2K) | Free | Oct 23, 2026 |
| iSpreadsheet™ : Office Sheets | Savy Soda Pty Ltd | 4.5 (10.2K) | Free | Jun 7, 2024 |
| XLSX Sheets: Edit Spreadsheet | Rhophi Analytics LLP | 4.5 (3.3K) | Free · IAP | Oct 25, 2026 |
| Spreadsheets | SMM service, s.r.o. | 4.5 (1.2K) | Free · IAP | Jun 8, 2026 |
| Zoho Sheet: Spreadsheet App | Zoho Corporation | 4.6 (945) | Free | Nov 4, 2026 |
| The Spreadsheet App - Sheets | Henrik Kjær | 4.5 (371) | Free · IAP | Nov 2, 2026 |
| Table Notes Spreadsheet Excel | Vivek Agarwal | 4.7 (105) | Free · IAP | Nov 5, 2026 |
| Tutorial for MS Excel | Jakir Hossain | 4.8 (38) | Free · IAP | Jun 26, 2026 |
| XLSX Editor: Edit Spreadsheets | LOOP MOBILE FZCO | 5.0 (4) | — | — |
US App Store ratings, prices from Apple. See the latest US top free Productivity chart.
Why it's similar
Google Sheets does everything Excel does: create and edit spreadsheets with formulas, charts, and full collaboration. The grid-and-formula experience closely matches.
How it differs
It's free and cloud-first with real-time co-editing, versus Excel's subscription gate for premium features. With a high rating and a massive base, it's the strongest full-featured alternative.
Why it's similar
Numbers matches Excel's core: build spreadsheets with formulas, tables, and charts, formatted the way you want.
How it differs
It's Apple's free spreadsheet app with a design-forward, template-heavy approach rather than Excel's dense grid power. With a strong rating and large base, it's the top pick for iPhone owners who want a polished, no-cost alternative.
Why it's similar
iSpreadsheet™ : Office Sheets matches Microsoft Excel on core function and category fit. Embedding similarity score: 86%.
How it differs
Distinguishes on monetization (fully free) and editorial focus. Rated 4.5 stars across 10.2K reviews.
Why it's similar
XLSX Sheets matches Excel's file focus: create, edit, and manage Excel-friendly spreadsheets directly on mobile.
How it differs
It's a focused XLSX editor without Excel's full analysis depth or Copilot AI, but it skips the subscription. With limited rating data, it's a lightweight alternative for opening and editing Excel files on the go.
Why it's similar
Spreadsheets offers Excel-compatible editing with core formulas and table tools on iOS.
How it differs
It's a mobile-first XLSX app aimed at quick editing rather than Excel's full desktop-grade capabilities. With a solid rating and modest base, it's a no-subscription alternative for everyday spreadsheet tasks.
Why it's similar
Zoho Sheet: Spreadsheet App matches Microsoft Excel on core function and category fit. Embedding similarity score: 86%.
How it differs
Distinguishes on monetization (fully free) and editorial focus. Rated 4.6 stars across 945 reviews.
Why it's similar
The Spreadsheet App covers Excel's basics: work with data, run calculations, present results, and export to Excel, CSV, and PDF.
How it differs
It's a lightweight indie tool aimed at simple spreadsheet tasks rather than Excel's deep feature set. With a decent rating and small base, it's a no-subscription alternative for light work.
Why it's similar
Table Notes matches Excel's job of organizing data in tables and sheets, with editing and collaboration for everyday productivity.
How it differs
It's a simpler, mobile-focused tool aimed at small businesses and students rather than Excel's heavy analysis. With a good rating and small base, it's a streamlined alternative for lighter needs.
Why it's similar
Tutorial for MS Excel ties directly to Excel, teaching spreadsheets, formulas, charts, and functions.
How it differs
It's a learning app, not a spreadsheet editor, so it can't create or edit your files. It complements Excel by helping you use it rather than replacing it.
Why it's similar
XLSX Editor matches Excel's file handling: create, edit, and share XLSX spreadsheets directly on iPhone or iPad.
How it differs
It's a focused mobile editor without Excel's depth or AI features, but it's free to use. With only a few ratings, it's an unproven yet handy alternative for editing Excel files on the go.
See how Microsoft Excel and these apps ranked on past days with the free App Store rank history tool.
Every app in our database carries a dense vector embedding derived from its title, subtitle, full description, and category metadata. To find apps similar to Microsoft Excel, we compute cosine distance against every other app and keep the closest 30. The similarity score shown on each pick is 1 - distance/2 clamped to [0,1] — 100% means the embedding spaces are identical, 0% means orthogonal.
Apps from Microsoft Excel's own developer are left out. The 10 most similar of the rest are ordered by App Store rating times the logarithm of their rating count, so a 4.8-star app with 100,000 ratings ranks above a 4.5-star app with 200 ratings.
The similar-app list was computed on May 25, 2026. Ratings are the latest US App Store fetch for each app, taken between November 1, 2026 and November 6, 2026. Prices and update dates come from Apple when the page is built.
No paid placements. No affiliate links. No sponsored picks. Read our full methodology.
More popular iPhone apps with their own lists of similar apps from other developers, ordered by App Store rating.
