After taking a college statistics course that introduced me to Excel’s complex formulas and functions, I decided at the time I was better off sticking with Google Sheets.
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In my defense, I don’t need to use advanced data analysis tools very often in my line of work. What I need is a relatively simple way to organize data and collaborate with my team. And that’s ultimately what the Google Sheets vs. Excel debate comes down to—what you’re using a spreadsheet app for.
I pulled upon my experience using both apps and did some additional testing to determine which is best for who. Read on for my analysis of Google Sheets vs. Microsoft Excel.
Microsoft offers two versions of Excel: Excel for desktop and Excel for the web, both of which I tested in this review.
Table of contents:
Google Sheets vs. Excel at a glance
Google Sheets and Excel are eerily similar—they often use the same formulas, and you can troubleshoot them in similar ways. But each platform has unique strengths that are geared toward different audiences.
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Google Sheets is best for users who prioritize simplicity, smooth cloud collaboration, and even smoother integration with Google’s ecosystem. Its intuitive interface and real-time collaboration features make it especially convenient for teams. Gemini also adds strong AI capabilities for analyzing data, creating formulas and visualizations, and making changes to spreadsheets with simple prompts.
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Excel is best for individuals performing data analysis due to its advanced built-in statistical analysis tools, extensive data visualization options, and ability to maintain fast speeds when dealing with huge amounts of data. The addition of Microsoft 365’s Copilot AI, which works in Excel, takes these strengths to new heights, enhancing data analysis by providing advanced statistical tools, intelligent data visualization options, and efficient processing of large data sets for deeper, faster insights.
Google Sheets
Excel
Data analysis
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Extensive library of formulas; lacks some statistical tests and functions
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Extensive library of formulas; includes advanced functions and statistical tests
Data visualization
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Offers a decent selection of data visualization options; not as intelligent as Excel
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Offers more data visualization options; intelligent “Recommended Charts” feature creates charts from complex data sets
Collaboration
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Built for live collaboration, with intuitive tools such as live chat, comments, chat, and version history
⭐⭐⭐ Real-time co-authoring, comments, and version history; desktop collaboration requires files to be stored in OneDrive or SharePoint
Artificial intelligence
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Gemini can analyze data, generate formulas, create charts and tables, and make spreadsheet changes from prompts
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Advanced AI capabilities with Copilot built into the platform and available to all users; offers deep data insights, complex analysis, and predictive assistance; designed to augment Excel’s powerful data manipulation toolkit
Simplicity
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Clean, relatively streamlined interface; advanced features without overwhelming the core experience
⭐⭐⭐ Many advanced features and tools; interface feels a little cluttered; bigger learning curve
Autosave
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Automatically saves to Google Drive
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Can automatically save to OneDrive or SharePoint with AutoSave enabled; locally stored files can also be recovered with AutoRecover
Speed
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Handles most spreadsheets smoothly, but large files can slow down the platform
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Can handle huge quantities of data with minimal impact on performance, especially in the desktop app
Keyboard shortcuts
⭐⭐⭐ Limited, as shortcuts cannot conflict with browser shortcuts
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Contains a multitude of built-in shortcuts with no conflicts, including shortcuts that Google Sheets lacks
Google users should use Sheets; Microsoft users should use Excel
Both Sheets and Excel are best-in-class spreadsheet apps, so it’s hard to say one’s better than another. The main question is really what you’re used to: Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. If you’re working mostly with Microsoft products, Excel is your best bet; if you spend most of your time on Google apps, go with Google Sheets.
Pricing isn’t really an issue either. Both Google Sheets and Excel offer exceptional free versions. (Excel’s free version is browser-based, while its more powerful desktop app requires a purchase or subscription.) And if you’re going to be paying for the whole suite, you’ll want to consider much more than just Sheets and Excel anyway.
Google Sheets is more user-friendly; Excel offers more advanced tools
If you’re looking for a free, straightforward spreadsheet app, both Google Sheets and Excel have you covered. Google Sheets makes it easy to get started without installing anything, while Excel’s free web version handles many everyday spreadsheet tasks. But if you regularly work with complex datasets or need more sophisticated analysis tools, Excel’s desktop app offers more.
The Excel interface may come across as a little intimidating for the spreadsheet novice. Microsoft has certainly made an effort to minimize Excel interfaces on both web and desktop, but you might still find yourself wondering what all those colorful icons on the right-hand side of the ribbon (the main toolbar at the top) do if you’re not very familiar with spreadsheet lingo. But then again, you don’t need to know what every button does; you only have to learn whatever is relevant to your task.
Excel web interfaceExcel desktop interface
Meanwhile, Google Sheets’ interface is more minimalistic and includes labeled options organized into dropdown menus, with the most-used tools readily available in the ribbon.
Both Excel and Google Sheets offer extensive formula libraries for everything from basic budgeting sheets to statistical analysis. But where Sheets is easier to use, Excel has a broader selection of advanced tools for working with complex datasets.
Where Excel really shines is in advanced data analysis. Excel’s desktop app includes advanced What-If Analysis tools, such as Goal Seek, which lets you work backward from a desired result. For example, you could calculate how many units you’d need to sell in the final month of a quarter to meet your revenue target. These built-in tools aren’t available in Excel’s free web version, though.
Excel also offers powerful pivot table features for summarizing large datasets. To test them out, I created a pivot table using some quarterly sales data, then generated a chart to compare each product’s monthly revenue. This made it easy to spot sales trends and compare product performance without manually reorganizing the data.
Google Sheets also lets you summarize, sort, and filter pivot table data and create charts from the results, so you can handle everyday reporting tasks, but it’s not quite as feature-rich.
Excel also makes creating data visualizations particularly convenient. For example, when I selected a large set of data and clicked Excel’s Recommended Charts option, it presented various logical ways that I could present elements of the data, such as units and unit costs over time.
Google Sheets, meanwhile, automatically generated a single chart based on my selected data. While it offers plenty of chart types and customization options, I had to manually adjust it with the Chart editor to explore alternatives. Excel’s upfront recommendations of multiple charts made it easier to compare different visuals and find one that worked best for me.
Google Sheets makes collaboration seamless; Excel offers more flexibility for offline work
My co-workers and I aren’t necessarily hanging out in Google Sheets as if it were an online video game, but… sometimes we are? Sheets allows multiple teammates to edit the same spreadsheet at once, showing one another’s cell selections and edits in real time. You can share a spreadsheet with specific people or send a link, with permissions to view, comment, or edit. This makes it easy for entire teams to collaborate on the same spreadsheet and keep edits consolidated.
Like most other Google apps, Sheets also offers a chat feature that appears when multiple people simultaneously work in the same spreadsheet, making it easy for teammates to communicate in real time. But conversations aren’t saved once you close the file. For feedback you want to keep, you can leave comments or notes.
It keeps version history very handy, so you can easily sort through who made each change and restore previous versions. Because mistakes happen (especially when collaborating with a lot of people).
Excel has come a long way in the collaboration department, though. Its co-authoring feature lets multiple people work on the same workbook in real time, complete with colored cell selections, comments, and version history. Excel also has a Show Changes feature that lets you review who edited specific cells, what they changed and when.
Compatibility issues can still complicate things. Excel for the web and compatible desktop versions support real-time co-authoring, but older versions can lock a workbook and prevent others from editing simultaneously. Excel’s legacy Shared Workbook feature also comes with significant limitations, including restrictions with tables and XML maps, which may result in you getting an error message like the one below.
Fortunately, Microsoft’s modern co-authoring feature eliminates many of these restrictions when your workbook is stored in OneDrive or SharePoint.
But overall, Google Sheets still feels more collaboration-first to me. Since Google Sheets is built around cloud storage, there’s little difference between creating a spreadsheet and creating a shareable, collaborative spreadsheet. Excel gives you more flexibility to work with locally stored files in its desktop app, but those files need to be moved to Microsoft’s cloud ecosystem before you can co-author them.
Both tools have powerful AI built in, but Excel’s Copilot shines at advanced analysis
Microsoft and Google have both gone all-in on bringing generative AI to their spreadsheet apps. Copilot in Excel and Gemini in Google Sheets now let you use prompts in your own words to analyze data, generate formulas, create visualizations, and make changes to your spreadsheet without manually hunting down the right tool.
For example, you can ask Copilot to create a chart or PivotTable using a natural-language prompt. Instead of manually configuring the visualization, you can describe what you want Copilot to create.
Excel’s AI is built into your workbook, and you can ask it questions as you work through your project. This is especially helpful if you don’t know the right formula to use to solve a particular problem—simply describe the problem, and the AI can suggest the right formula and even apply it.
For more advanced analysis, Copilot can also tackle statistical analysis, projections, and what-if scenarios, which could be huge for forecasting and strategic decision-making.
Google’s Gemini works similarly: just click the Gemini button to open the side panel within Sheets, where you can ask the AI questions and prompt it to make changes to the layout and design of your Sheet.
To put Gemini to the test, I gave it a sample sales dataset and asked it to identify the most important trends. It successfully analyzed the data and highlighted product and monthly revenue changes.
I then asked it to create a chart comparing monthly revenue by product, followed by a more hands-on request to highlight the highest-revenue rows and sort the data from highest to lowest. I was able to do all this with simple prompts and without manually digging through formulas or menus.
Excel has more advanced built-in tools; Google Sheets fills some gaps with add-ons
Excel is your one-stop shop for data analysis and comes equipped with advanced tools to help you manage and analyze data. For example, navigate to Excel’s Data tab, and you’ll see advanced statistical tests such as t-Tests, z-Tests, and ANOVAs built into the platform.
To see the Analysis ToolPak in action, I ran a one-way ANOVA on made-up weekly sales data from three stores. After I selected the data and chose the appropriate test, Excel automatically generated a statistical summary and ANOVA table, including the group averages, variance, F statistic, and p-value. I didn’t have to calculate any of this manually.
Meanwhile, to perform an ANOVA test in Google Sheets, you first need to download the XLMiner Analysis Toolpak—it’s no wonder my stats professor insisted we use Excel.
I also tested Excel’s Data from Picture tool using an image of a sales table, and Excel did a good job recognizing the text and numbers, but there were some struggles. Since the table in my photo had fairly wide columns, Excel interpreted some of the whitespace as separate columns, leaving blank columns between parts of my data. The information itself came through accurately, but I’d still need to do some cleanup before using it.
The original pictureThe Excel result
This feature isn’t available in Google Sheets natively, though I did find an add-on called ExtractTable that Sheets users can install to perform this same task.
Google Sheets has some specialized functions of its own, including GOOGLEFINANCE, which can automatically pull current and historical securities data from Google Finance into a spreadsheet. For example, I used it to retrieve stock data, such as current stock prices and 52-week highs, for different companies simply by entering their ticker symbols and a formula.
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Sheets also has other distinctive functions, including GOOGLETRANSLATE for translating text between languages and IMPORTRANGE for pulling data from other spreadsheets.
Overall, Excel may offer more specialized tools for tasks like statistical analysis and extracting tables from images, but Google Sheets still packs a punch without requiring you to reach for third-party tools every single time. And if you still need more, it has a huge library of add-ons that can help you do niche tasks.
Both apps integrate with Zapier
You can integrate both Google Sheets and Excel with Zapier, which means you can connect your spreadsheets to thousands of other apps to automate notifications, task creation, lead management, and more.
You’re not limited to Zapier’s visual editor, either. Describe what you want to the AI assistant you already use, and Zapier turns it into automation that runs reliably on its own—governed from one place you control. However you build it, your spreadsheet stays connected to everything else your team runs on.
Learn more about how to automate Google Sheets and how to automate Excel.
Excel vs. Google Sheets: Which should you choose?
Excel is a strong choice if you need advanced data analysis, specialized statistical tools, or a powerful desktop spreadsheet app that works well with complex workbooks. Google Sheets is a better fit if you prioritize simplicity, seamless cloud collaboration, and tight integration with Google’s ecosystem.
But there’s plenty of overlap between the two. Both Copilot in Excel and Gemini in Google Sheets can analyze data, create tables and charts with simple prompts, and make changes to your spreadsheet on your behalf. And while Google Sheets still has the edge when it comes to effortless collaboration, Excel’s co-authoring features make working with others easier than ever. Ultimately, the best choice comes down to which features fit your workflow best.
If you’re looking for something a little different, Zapier Tables offers a flexible alternative. It’s an automation-first database that seamlessly integrates with over 9,000+ applications, allowing you to store, organize, and manage data from multiple sources within a simple, spreadsheet-like interface.
Google Sheets vs. Excel FAQ
Google Sheets and Excel look so similar at first glance that they’re often confused with one another, so let me unpack some common questions about the two apps.
What are the main differences between Google Sheets vs. Excel?
At first glance, Google Sheets and Excel might seem like twins, but they have their own unique strengths. Excel is great for complex data analysis, very large datasets, and specialized tasks with features like its Analysis ToolPak and desktop app. Google Sheets, on the other hand, prioritizes simplicity and cloud-based collaboration, making it especially convenient for teams that frequently work in the same spreadsheet.
Is Google Sheets the same as Excel?
No. Google Sheets and Excel may look similar at first glance, but they are decidedly not the same. While they’re both spreadsheet programs, they each have different strengths. Excel offers a more robust desktop experience and specialized tools for complex data analysis, while Google Sheets is built around the cloud and makes sharing and collaborating particularly smooth. Both offer free versions, paid plans, AI features, and many of the same core spreadsheet capabilities.
What can Excel do that Google Sheets can’t?
Excel offers some specialized features that Google Sheets doesn’t have direct native equivalents for. For example, its desktop Analysis ToolPak offers statistical analyses like ANOVA, regression, and t-tests, while Data from Picture can convert a photo of tabular data into editable spreadsheet cells. Excel also offers more options for working with very large datasets and complex workbooks.
Do accountants use Excel or Google Sheets?
You’ll find accountants who use both Excel and Google Sheets. Their choice may depend on their industry’s preference or their own personal preference. While most accountants have historically leaned toward Excel, organizations are increasingly gravitating toward Google Sheets. They’ll usually also have a dedicated accounting app to support them.
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This article was originally published in January 2023 and has also had contributions from Michael Kern and Abigail Sims. The most recent update, with contributions from Kristina Lauren, was in October 2026.