If we are looking for an application to create spreadsheets, the first application that comes to mind is Excel. However, despite being the best-known and oldest application, it is not the only option available. Furthermore, it is not a free tool like LibreOffice with Calc or Google Sheets, the two most interesting options that we can use as alternatives to Excel.
Each of these applications have a series of advantages and disadvantages that may be more than enough for us to decide to use one or the other.
work locally
Although it is true that we can connect to the Internet from anywhere and completely free of charge, if we usually work from here to there without having a fixed place, if we want to work without depending on the Internet, we cannot use Google Sheets, since this platform Google only works via the web and not through a dedicated application like Excel or LibreOffice.
Collaborate on documents
Working collaboratively on the same document is very common in work and study environments. Both Excel using OneDrive and Google Sheets through Google Drive allow us to work collaboratively on the same document with different people. In addition, a record of all the changes made to the document is created to know who has made them and to revert them if necessary. This feature is not available in LibreOffice.
customization options
If we talk about customization options, we are talking about the aesthetics that we can give to a spreadsheet. In this sense, Excel is the application that offers us the greatest number of options, including some that we can consider to be real bullshit but that are there in case we need them. Google Sheets and LibreOffice also offer us many options to customize the appearance of our spreadsheets, however, the number of options is not as wide or as varied as that offered by Excel.
Worksheet Size
The capabilities of creating a spreadsheet in Excel have limits that we are hardly going to need and that are 1,048,576 rows by 16,384 columns. Google Sheets allows us to create a maximum of 10 million cells with a maximum of 18,178 columns. LibreOffice, for its part, allows us 1,048,576 rows and 1,024 columns, the latter being the worst option compared to the Microsoft and Google solution.
formulas
When we create a database it is because we want to apply formulas to analyze the data. Once again, Excel is the undisputed king ahead of Calc from LibreOffice and Google Sheets, since it is an application focused since its birth in 1985 to meet the needs of companies. While it is true that the LibreOffice and Google solutions include a large number of formulas, we are not going to find exactly the same ones that the Microsoft solution offers us, especially when it comes to complex formulas with multiple variables.
Price
Both LibreOffice Calc and Google Sheets are applications that we can use without any limit for free. However, if we want to use Excel, we have to go through the box and contract a subscription to Microsoft 365, a subscription that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access among many other applications and that, if we opt for a family account and share it with 5 friends, it costs us just over 1 euro per month.
If our needs with Excel are not very high, we can make use of the online version of Office, with which we can use Excel, Word and PowerPoint in a fairly basic way but more than enough for most users who are not looking for solutions. very complete.
