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Product comparison

Grist is the evolution of spreadsheets

A bold claim. Here’s how we think Grist stacks up to the competition.

Table showing competitor logos.
Grist vs. Excel & Google Sheets

The power of spreadsheets

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The tried and tested UI you know and love.

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Relational from the ground up – adding the best of database design to the common spreadsheet.

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Basic formulas boosted by full Python support and an AI spreadsheet assistant.

Grist vs. Airtable & Notion

The flexibility of apps

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Drag-and-drop dashboards with charts, cards, and other views.

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Dozens of templates, ready for data.

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Granular access rules & permissions, right down to the cell.

Screenshots of Grist, NocoDB and Baserow GitHub repos.
Grist vs. Baserow & NocoDB

The transparency of open source

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You own your data – no lock-in.

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Fully self-hostable, with the option to run completely locally.

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Active community of contributors.

So… is it a spreadsheet, or an app Builder?

It’s Grist

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The best of spreadsheets and databases.

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Generous free plan with team support from the start.

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Tons of resources: webinars, documentation, templates… you name it.

Looking to the future

Grist continues to add new features, pulling the best from spreadsheets, databases, and modern app builders.

Venn diagram showing Grist at the center of Spreadsheet, App Builder and Database.

“I love Grist. It’s crazy powerful. I still can’t believe what we’ve been able to achieve in it. It’s the dream that low-code was sold as for years – we can do incredible things in each column with Python and we can build our own widgets to run on those! Wild!”

Elliot Lee
User Researcher

“The more I use Grist, the more I LOVE it. I have been surveying self-hosted database GUI tools, and I was consistently disappointed with their shortcomings or bugginess. Grist is the first to have tilted the balance the other way.”

Stephen S.
Publications, Personal City Guides

“Grist has given us incredible flexibility to solve data problems and find solutions, whether it is for a small team at the district, or at scale with the entire district staff. We’re really excited about the different ways we can use it going forward.”

Director of Product
EdTech Company

“What I like about Grist the most is its focus. It appears simple, but it’s very powerful in a focused way. Grist has really improved our workflow and communication.”

Chris Scott
Co-founder in Digital Marketing

“If people spend some time learning a new tool they’ll have more power to do their work and research. I said to one of my students, ‘You will be very very happy using Grist because you are miserable using Excel!'”

Eduardo Dalcin, Ph.D.
Biodiversity Informatics Expert

“Most CRMs don’t work the way Grist works. Grist’s layouts are simple and do exactly what we need.”

Jennifer Bledsoe
IT Tech at Law Firm

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