Excel still wins on raw spreadsheet power, but the price tag keeps creeping. A standalone perpetual licence has been quietly pushed off the front of Microsoft’s store page, and Microsoft 365 Personal renewals show up in inboxes faster than people expect. If your workflow is structured trackers, a few VLOOKUPs, and the occasional pivot, you do not need the full suite to do it.
We installed every Microsoft Excel alternative below on Windows 11 and macOS Sonoma, rebuilt the same three test files (a 90-row inventory tracker, a 12-tab budget workbook with cross-sheet references, and a 250k-row CSV import), and watched what broke. Here are the seven that handled real work.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Paid from | Standout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LibreOffice Calc | Offline desktop power | Yes, full app | Free | Macro recorder still works |
| Google Sheets | Live collaboration | Yes, 15 GB Drive | $6/user/mo | Real-time co-editing |
| Apple Numbers | Mac-only users | Yes, with iCloud | Free | Free-form canvas |
| OnlyOffice Spreadsheet | Excel file fidelity | Yes | $20/user/yr | Best xlsx round-trip |
| WPS Spreadsheets | Excel-style ribbon | Yes, with ads | $36/yr | Ribbon UI clone |
| SoftMaker PlanMaker | One-time purchase | Free Basic | Around $80 perpetual | No subscription |
| Gnumeric | Large CSVs on weak hardware | Yes | Free | Lowest RAM use |
Why people leave Excel
The complaint we hear most often is the subscription itself. Users on Reddit’s r/excel keep asking the same question: where is the box copy. Microsoft 365 Personal renews every year, Family pulls in a second seat that most households do not need, and Excel-only purchases through Microsoft’s store have become a click trail rather than a shelf item.
Performance is the second flashpoint. Older laptops still ship with 8 GB of RAM, and Excel’s footprint after a couple of large workbooks open at once is noticeable. Add a few add-ins and the launch time stretches into multi-second territory.
The third is portability across teammates. Sharing an xlsx in 2026 still triggers the “newer features may not display correctly” warning when the recipient is on an older licence. For teams running mixed Mac and Windows seats, the file-format friction adds up quickly.
The alternatives
LibreOffice Calc — Best free desktop power user
LibreOffice Calc is the obvious starting point. It runs natively on Windows, macOS, and Linux, opens xlsx files without conversion, and has supported the same keyboard shortcuts and formula syntax for over a decade. The macro recorder still works the way Excel’s used to, before Microsoft started routing automation through Office Scripts.
For the 12-tab budget workbook with cross-sheet references, Calc held up. Pivot tables imported, named ranges resolved, and conditional formatting stuck. A handful of advanced chart types looked slightly different, and one custom XLOOKUP formula needed a tweak.
Where it falls short: The UI still looks like 2015. There is no live co-editing without bolting on a Collabora Online server.
Pricing: Free. No tiers, no upgrade prompts.
Migrating from Excel: Open the xlsx, work in it, save as xlsx. The Document Foundation publishes a compatibility filter list, and the round-trip for common workbook features holds. Macros written in VBA need rewriting in LibreOffice Basic.
Download: libreoffice.org
Bottom line: Pick LibreOffice Calc if you want the closest thing to Excel without paying. Skip it if your team relies on real-time co-authoring.
Google Sheets — Best for live collaboration
Google Sheets runs in any modern browser and has a Progressive Web App install option that gives it a desktop window on Windows and Mac. The live collaboration story is still the cleanest in the market, and the AppSheet integration adds lightweight automation without leaving the browser.
For the 90-row inventory tracker, Sheets was the fastest workflow once two people were touching the file. Formula syntax overlaps with Excel for most common functions, and the Apps Script automation layer is more approachable than VBA was for newcomers.
Where it falls short: The 250k-row CSV import was sluggish. Sheets caps a single workbook at 10 million cells, and the in-browser scroll latency at that scale is not fun.
Pricing: Free with a personal Google account. Workspace plans start around $6 per user per month for shared admin tools.
Migrating from Excel: File, Import, Replace spreadsheet handles most xlsx files. Pivot tables and most charts come across. Power Query and macros do not. Plan to rebuild any VBA scripts as Apps Script.
Download: sheets.google.com
Bottom line: Pick Google Sheets if collaboration is the daily reality. Stay on Excel if you regularly work with files over a million rows.
Apple Numbers — Best free option for Mac
Numbers is preinstalled on every Mac and free in the App Store on systems where it isn’t already there. Its free-form canvas model puts multiple independent tables on one sheet, which makes it surprisingly good for one-page reports, simple budgets, and the kind of marketing-style spreadsheets that always end up sideways in Excel.
For the budget workbook, Numbers held the layout cleanly. Chart styling is the best of any tool on this list, and the iCloud sync to iPhone and iPad makes mobile review effortless.
Where it falls short: Heavy data work hits a wall. Numbers’ formula coverage is narrower than Excel, and the xlsx export can shift formatting in subtle ways. Windows users cannot run it.
Pricing: Free.
Migrating from Excel: Drag an xlsx onto Numbers and it opens. Simple formulas survive. Anything involving conditional formatting, complex pivots, or external links should be reviewed before trusting the export.
Download: apple.com/numbers
Bottom line: Pick Numbers if every machine in the household is a Mac. Avoid it for shared Windows files.
OnlyOffice Spreadsheet — Best xlsx fidelity
OnlyOffice Desktop Editors runs on Windows and macOS, and the spreadsheet module was built specifically to preserve Excel file structure. In our round-trip test, OnlyOffice held formatting and formulas more cleanly than LibreOffice when files were going back to colleagues still on Microsoft 365.
The interface uses a ribbon that maps closely to Excel’s, which cuts the relearning curve for anyone moving over. There is also a self-hosted server option for organizations that want collaboration without sending files to Google or Microsoft.
Where it falls short: Some advanced Excel features render as static placeholders rather than editable elements. Macro support is limited compared to Calc.
Pricing: Free for personal desktop use. Paid plans for the self-hosted Workspace server start around $20 per user per year.
Migrating from Excel: Open and save as xlsx. The compatibility layer is strong for everyday workbooks. Plan a manual review for anything with Power Query or large custom function libraries.
Download: onlyoffice.com
Bottom line: Pick OnlyOffice when xlsx fidelity matters more than features. Skip it if you live in macros.
WPS Spreadsheets — Best ribbon clone
WPS Office Spreadsheets is the closest visual match to Excel on this list. The ribbon, file menu, and most shortcuts behave the way Excel users expect. For colleagues who refuse to learn a second interface, WPS is the cleanest swap.
The free tier handles everyday work fine, but the ads in the free version interrupt longer sessions, and the upsells to PDF tools get persistent.
Where it falls short: Privacy-conscious users have flagged the telemetry defaults more than once. Heavy formulas with arrays can drift in compatibility.
Pricing: Free with ads. WPS Premium runs around $36 per year for ad removal and PDF tools.
Migrating from Excel: Almost zero friction for basic workbooks. The ribbon labels match.
Download: wps.com
Bottom line: Pick WPS if you want Excel’s interface without the Microsoft account. Skip if telemetry concerns you.
SoftMaker PlanMaker — Best one-time purchase
PlanMaker is part of SoftMaker Office, which still sells a perpetual licence in a market that is mostly subscription. The application is fast, supports xlsx natively, and includes a free version with a smaller feature set called FreeOffice.
For long sessions with multiple workbooks open, PlanMaker had the snappiest UI of any paid tool we tested. The startup time was under two seconds on a five-year-old Surface.
Where it falls short: Smaller user base means fewer community templates and tutorials. The chart styling looks dated next to Numbers or Sheets.
Pricing: FreeOffice is free. SoftMaker Office Professional is around $80 as a one-time purchase, or available on subscription.
Migrating from Excel: Drop the file in. Compatibility is solid for typical office workbooks. Macro support exists but uses a SoftMaker dialect rather than VBA.
Download: softmaker.com
Bottom line: Pick PlanMaker if subscription fatigue is the real reason you are looking. Avoid it if you need a strong shared template community.
Gnumeric — Best for large files on light hardware
Gnumeric is a long-running open-source spreadsheet from the GNOME project. It runs leaner than any other option here, opens xlsx files, and was the only tool that handled the 250k-row CSV without burning every core on the laptop.
The accuracy of its statistical functions is the other reason it has stuck around. Researchers cite Gnumeric specifically when they need correct floating-point behavior on edge cases that Excel and Calc occasionally fudge.
Where it falls short: The interface is austere. Windows builds exist but trail the Linux version, and macOS users will need to compile or use a third-party package.
Pricing: Free.
Migrating from Excel: Open the file. Save as xlsx. Skip anything chart-heavy.
Download: gnumeric.org
Bottom line: Pick Gnumeric for CSV grinding and numerical work. Skip it for anything with a designed layout.
How to choose
Pick LibreOffice Calc if you want a free, full-featured desktop spreadsheet that runs offline and handles xlsx files cleanly. It is the default answer for most people leaving Excel.
Pick Google Sheets if more than two people touch the same file in a given week. Co-authoring is what you are paying for, and Sheets does it better than anyone.
Pick OnlyOffice or WPS Spreadsheets if your daily output still has to look exactly like Excel when it lands in someone else’s inbox. Both keep formatting cleaner than Calc on round-trips.
Pick SoftMaker PlanMaker if you specifically want to pay once and stop. Pick Apple Numbers if you are 100% on Mac and your spreadsheets double as one-page reports. Pick Gnumeric if you regularly open massive CSVs on hardware that struggles with Calc.
Stay on Microsoft Excel if you depend on Power Query, large VBA codebases, or Power Pivot. None of the alternatives match that side of Excel fully.
FAQ
Is there a free Excel alternative that opens xlsx files? Yes. LibreOffice Calc, OnlyOffice Spreadsheet, WPS Spreadsheets free tier, FreeOffice PlanMaker, and Gnumeric all open xlsx natively on Windows and macOS without conversion.
Can I open Excel macros in LibreOffice Calc? Partially. Calc can run many simple VBA macros, but anything that calls Excel-specific objects or external automation will need to be rewritten in LibreOffice Basic.
What is the cheapest paid Excel replacement? SoftMaker Office FreeOffice is free, and the paid Professional licence is around $80 as a one-time purchase. WPS Premium runs about $36 per year for the ad-free experience.
Does Google Sheets work offline? Yes, with the Chrome extension and a recent sign-in. Files marked for offline access stay editable, and changes sync when the browser reconnects.
Can my Mac open Excel files without Microsoft 365? Yes. Apple Numbers, LibreOffice Calc, OnlyOffice, WPS Spreadsheets, and SoftMaker PlanMaker all run natively on macOS and open xlsx files.
Which Excel alternative is best for big data files? Gnumeric handled our 250k-row CSV test with the lowest memory footprint. For anything above a million rows, look at Power BI Desktop, DuckDB, or a real database instead of a spreadsheet.
