Best Free Excel Alternatives in 2026: 6 Apps Compared

Excel is the spreadsheet the world runs on, and Microsoft knows it — it's sold inside a recurring Microsoft 365 subscription. If your spreadsheet life is budgets, trackers, and light analysis, you're paying enterprise rent for a studio apartment.

The honest read on free Excel alternatives in 2026: for the overwhelming majority of spreadsheets, a free app is fully sufficient, with formula compatibility that's now excellent for everyday functions. The gaps are specific and predictable — very large files, advanced pivot work, and above all VBA macros — so we'll flag exactly where each option hits its ceiling.

Here are six free options compared on the four things that actually break migrations: formulas, pivot tables, large files, and macros.

Quick picks

• Share and collaborate on sheets? Google Sheets (free).
• Big files and power features offline? LibreOffice Calc (open source).
• Best .xlsx formatting fidelity? OnlyOffice Spreadsheets (open source / freemium).
• Want Excel's exact interface? WPS Spreadsheet (freemium).
• Web sheets with a shot at running VBA? Zoho Sheet (freemium, free for individuals).
• Charts and small data on Apple devices? Apple Numbers (free, proprietary).

Comparison table

Google Sheets — best for shared spreadsheets

Google Sheets is free with a Google account and is where team spreadsheets increasingly live. Proprietary, web-first, and built around sharing.

Where it shines:

• Real-time collaboration, comments, and edit history that Excel still can't match at this price (free).
• Strong formula parity for everyday and intermediate functions, plus useful web-native ones like IMPORTRANGE and GOOGLEFINANCE.
• Pivot tables, filter views, and solid charting cover most analysis needs.
• Apps Script automates anything a shared workbook usually needs.

Where it falls short:

• A hard cap on total cells per spreadsheet; performance sags well before you reach it on formula-heavy sheets.
• No VBA — macros must be rebuilt in Apps Script.
• Offline mode is functional but requires setup.

Choose it if: your spreadsheets are shared living documents rather than million-row analyses. The trade-offs versus Microsoft are detailed in Google Sheets vs Microsoft Excel.

LibreOffice Calc — best free desktop powerhouse

LibreOffice Calc is the open-source desktop spreadsheet with the deepest free feature set — no account, no cloud, no paywalls.

Where it shines:

• Handles larger files and heavier calculations than any web-based option here.
• Comprehensive function library with strong Excel formula compatibility.
• Real pivot tables, solver, statistics tooling, and scenario analysis.
• The only option here with meaningful VBA hope: its Basic engine can run some VBA code in a compatibility mode.

Where it falls short:

• No built-in real-time collaboration.
• Very complex .xlsx formatting and charts can drift on import.
• VBA compatibility is partial — macro-heavy workbooks still usually need rework.

Choose it if: you push spreadsheets hard, offline, and alone. We break down the head-to-head in Google Sheets vs LibreOffice Calc.

OnlyOffice Spreadsheets — best .xlsx fidelity

OnlyOffice Spreadsheets uses .xlsx as its native format, so Excel files keep their formatting, formulas, and structure with minimal drama. Desktop editors are free; the collaboration server is open source, with a freemium cloud.

Where it shines:

• Excel files round-trip cleanly — the safest free choice for files that must return to Excel users intact.
• Interface mirrors Excel closely; pivot tables and conditional formatting behave as expected.
• Real-time co-editing via cloud or self-hosted server.

Where it falls short:

• Macros use JavaScript; VBA doesn't run at all.
• Fewer statistical and power-user tools than LibreOffice Calc.
• Very large workbooks are better served by desktop Calc.

Choose it if: you receive .xlsx files, edit them, and send them back — and nobody must ever notice you don't own Excel. Suite-wide, see LibreOffice vs OnlyOffice.

WPS Spreadsheet — most Excel-like experience

WPS Spreadsheet, part of the freemium WPS Office suite, replicates Excel's interface closely enough that muscle memory carries over intact.

Where it shines:

• Near-identical ribbon, shortcuts, and workflow to Excel.
• Good .xlsx fidelity and dependable pivot tables for everyday work.
• Strong mobile apps for viewing and editing on the go.

Where it falls short:

• Ads and upsells on the free tier.
• Macro/VBA support varies by platform and plan — verify against your actual workbooks before committing.
• Closed-source; skim the privacy policy if data handling matters to you.

Choose it if: the goal is "Excel, but free" with the least retraining, and ads are an acceptable tax.

Zoho Sheet — best web option for macro users

Zoho Sheet is the spreadsheet in Zoho's freemium suite, free for individual use. Its quiet superpower: it's one of the few web spreadsheets that attempts to run VBA macros in the browser.

Where it shines:

• VBA macro support that works for many simpler macros — a genuine rarity outside Excel itself.
• Solid pivot tables, conditional formatting, and data-cleaning tools.
• Real-time collaboration plus an AI-assisted insights feature for quick analysis.

Where it falls short:

• Complex or API-touching VBA still fails; test before you rely on it.
• Web-app scale limits: not the place for very large workbooks.
• Deeper team use pulls you toward paid Zoho plans.

Choose it if: your workbooks carry modest VBA macros and you want them alive in a free, collaborative web app.

Apple Numbers — best for charts and small data

Numbers ships free (proprietary) on Apple devices, with iCloud web access. It treats the spreadsheet as a design canvas — multiple tables floating on one sheet — which is lovely right up until it isn't.

Where it shines:

• The most attractive charts and report-style layouts in this list, with minimal effort.
• Genuinely pleasant for budgets, planners, and small trackers.
• Supports pivot tables and round-trips .xlsx for lighter files.

Where it falls short:

• Imports and exports .xlsx rather than living in it; complex workbooks can arrive bent.
• Weak fit for large datasets and heavy formula work.
• No VBA, and Windows/Linux collaborators are limited to iCloud web.

Choose it if: you're on Apple hardware and your spreadsheets are more "household and side project" than "quarterly close."

How to decide

Choose Google Sheets when people matter more than rows. Choose LibreOffice Calc when rows matter more than people — big files, deep analysis, full offline. Choose OnlyOffice when files must return to Excel users pixel-faithful, WPS when you want Excel's face for free, Zoho Sheet when modest VBA macros must survive the move, and Numbers when output beauty beats data scale. If you're rethinking the whole suite rather than one app, start with our free Microsoft Office alternatives guide — and the best spreadsheet apps roundup ranks these against paid options.

What you still give up vs Excel

Let's not pretend: Excel's ceiling is nowhere in sight from any free tool. Power Query, Power Pivot and its data model, full VBA with add-in ecosystems, and performance on genuinely huge workbooks remain unmatched. Finance, accounting, and analytics roles often depend on Excel-specific workflows that colleagues and auditors expect. The realistic move for power users is a free app for daily work plus one Excel license where the heavy machinery lives.

FAQ

What is the best free alternative to Excel?

Google Sheets for shared spreadsheets, LibreOffice Calc for heavy solo work — that pairing covers most people. If .xlsx fidelity with Excel users is the deciding factor, OnlyOffice Spreadsheets is the safest pick.

Do Excel formulas work in free alternatives?

Everyday and intermediate formulas transfer near-perfectly across all six. Gaps appear with the newest Excel dynamic-array functions and niche statistical tools, and behavior can differ at the edges — recalculate and spot-check any workbook that matters after migrating.

Can free Excel alternatives run VBA macros?

Mostly no. LibreOffice Calc runs some VBA via a compatibility mode, and Zoho Sheet attempts VBA in the browser; both work for simpler macros and fail on complex ones. Google uses Apps Script and OnlyOffice uses JavaScript — different languages entirely, so plan for rewrites.

Which free spreadsheet handles large files best?

Desktop apps win: LibreOffice Calc handles the largest workbooks of this group, with WPS and OnlyOffice desktop editors behind it. Web apps — Sheets, Zoho, iCloud Numbers — all have practical scale limits.

Bottom line

Unless your day job is pivot-cache archaeology, a free spreadsheet will do your spreadsheet work. Pick from the decision framework above, then browse vetted Excel alternatives — and the matching free Word alternatives if the whole subscription is on the chopping block. Features and pricing change — always check the official site before deciding.