Spreadsheet interface, database power
Take a quick tour of the Grist interface, customizable widgets, and relational capabilities.
Lightweight CRM Example
Spreadsheet comparison for modern data management
Grist vs Excel
Find out how Excel compares to Grist as a modern spreadsheet solution and where it falls short for SMBs and technical users with data management needs that go beyond basic spreadsheets.
“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
How Excel compares to Grist
Everyone knows Excel. There’s a reason it is the most widely used spreadsheet software since its development in 1985.
Today, Grist has evolved the spreadsheet to provide businesses the convenience and familiarity of a spreadsheet tool with the robustness of a database, including access rules, custom widgets, integrations— and no data lock-in.
Excel vs Grist for data management
| Excel | Grist | |
|---|---|---|
| Data management | Flat table structure. No inherent relational capabilities. | Inherent relational data management. Multiple tables within a workspace. Database functionality. |
| Data integrity & validation | Manual data entry prone to errors. Limited data validation rules. | Enforced data consistency. Defined data types for columns. Standardized inputs. |
| Collaboration | Sharing via email or cloud. No granular access sharing controls. Limited real-time collaboration. | Real-time collaboration. Granular access controls. Secure sharing. |
| Analytics & insights | Manual formula creation. Limited to Excel functions. | AI spreadsheet assistant. Supports Python & Excel functions. Dynamic dashboards. Instant insights via AI. |
| Customization | Limited customization (via complex VBA macros). | Drag-and-drop layouts. Custom widgets. |
| Security & control | Cloud-based or limited to local storage. | Self-hostable. Open source / open-core. SQLite-based. User-controlled data access. |
| Integrations | Limited and mainly through VBA or third-party add-ins. | REST API. Webhooks. Integration partners (Zapier, n8n, and more). |
| User experience | Gold standard interface. Learning curve for advanced features. Manual processes. | Familiar spreadsheet interface. Built-in AI Assistant for natural language interaction via chat. |
The evolution of spreadsheets
Excel set the standard. But the lack of a robust data structure, standardization, and access rules causes issues in business workflows.
SMBs and technical users have made the switch to Grist to solve these problems and more.
For users who need to evolve from basic spreadsheets, Grist’s flexible and customizable interface affords the familiarity of a tool like Excel with the power of a purpose-built, modern, relational database.
How Excel users can get started with Grist
Excel users can easily import their existing XLSX and CSV files to start using Grist right away.
Grist’s incremental imports feature allows users to import new activity to existing data and Grist intelligently combines it without creating duplicates or needing manual cleanup.
Pre-built templates
Jump right into Grist’s spreadsheet-like interface with these pre-built templates:
