Spreadsheets · alternatives
Alternatives to Mathesar
21 spreadsheets tools sit alongside Mathesar in this directory. Below is what separates each from Mathesar on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 21
- With a free tier
- 15
- Cheaper to start
- -
- Mathesar starts at
- Free
Why people look past Mathesar
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Mathesar entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is only one tier
Mathesar publishes a single plan, Self hosted open source at Free. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Open-source no-code database platform with REST and GraphQL APIs
- Publishes an entry price of Free, where Mathesar does not.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
- 6 tiers to Mathesar's 1.
Open-source no-code database platform
- Publishes an entry price of Free, where Mathesar does not.
- Sold on a freemium model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
- 4 tiers to Mathesar's 1.
Open-source data platform providing REST and GraphQL APIs
- Publishes an entry price of Free, where Mathesar does not.
- Sold on a open-source model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
- 2 tiers to Mathesar's 1.
Cloud spreadsheet, free for a personal Google account and bundled into paid Google Workspace for organisations
- Sold on a Free personally, bundled into paid Google Workspace for organisations model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
- 2 tiers to Mathesar's 1.
Apple spreadsheet, free on Apple hardware, now with an optional Apple Creator Studio subscription for AI features
- Sold on a Free with Apple hardware, optional Apple Creator Studio subscription for AI features model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
- 2 tiers to Mathesar's 1.
Free standalone cloud spreadsheet from Zoho, also bundled into the low-cost Zoho Workplace suite
- Sold on a Free standalone, bundled into paid Zoho Workplace for organisations model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
- 3 tiers to Mathesar's 1.
Every Mathesar alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathesar (this page) | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | |
| NocoDBAlso sits on an existing database, supports MySQL and others, and offers a hosted option | Free | Freemium | 6 | vs Mathesar |
| BaserowOwns its own schema and offers hosting, if you do not already have a PostgreSQL database to expose | Free | Freemium | 4 | vs Mathesar |
| DirectusAdds a REST and GraphQL API, roles and flows on top of an existing database, at the cost of a heavier platform | Free | Open-source | 2 | vs Mathesar |
| Google Sheets | Free | Free personally, bundled into paid Google Workspace for organisations | 2 | vs Mathesar |
| Numbers | Free | Free with Apple hardware, optional Apple Creator Studio subscription for AI features | 2 | vs Mathesar |
| Zoho Sheet | Free | Free standalone, bundled into paid Zoho Workplace for organisations | 3 | vs Mathesar |
| APITable | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Mathesar |
| Rowy | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Mathesar |
| SeaTable | Free, then €7/month | Per user per month | 5 | vs Mathesar |
| Quadratic | Free, then $18/month | Per user per month | 4 | vs Mathesar |
| Teable | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Mathesar |
| Redash | Free | Freemium | 2 | vs Mathesar |
| Fibery | Free | Subscription | - | vs Mathesar |
| Metabase | Free, then $90/month | Freemium | 4 | vs Mathesar |
| Apache Superset | Free | Open-source | 1 | vs Mathesar |
| Coefficient | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Mathesar |
| Sigma Computing | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Mathesar |
| Equals | $24000/year | Per year by connector count and refresh frequency | 4 | vs Mathesar |
| Cube Software | On request | Quote | 3 | vs Mathesar |
| Tableau | $70/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Mathesar |
| Looker | On request | - | - | vs Mathesar |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Mathesar badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (15)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- NocoDB , Free
- Baserow , Free
- Directus , Free
- Google Sheets , Free
- Numbers , Free
- Zoho Sheet , Free
- APITable , Free
- Rowy , Free
What you would be giving up
Mathesar is most often brought in for a nonprofit or research group whose data is already in postgresql and whose staff cannot write sql, giving analysts a safe editing interface governed by database roles that already exist, replacing a hand built django or rails admin screen that nobody wants to maintain, editing production reference data where an export, edit and reimport cycle would risk losing concurrent changes. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Mathesar is broadly right and the question is cost, the Mathesar pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Spreadsheets category lists everything the directory holds, and best spreadsheets tools ranks them.
Mathesar runs on web, linux. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Mathesar alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Mathesar?
- 21 other spreadsheets tools are listed in this directory, led by NocoDB, Baserow, Directus, Google Sheets. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Mathesar?
- 15 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: NocoDB, Baserow, Directus, Google Sheets, Numbers.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Mathesar?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Mathesar?
- Mathesar is most often brought in for a nonprofit or research group whose data is already in postgresql and whose staff cannot write sql, giving analysts a safe editing interface governed by database roles that already exist, replacing a hand built django or rails admin screen that nobody wants to maintain, editing production reference data where an export, edit and reimport cycle would risk losing concurrent changes. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Mathesar?
- Directus, Apache Superset are recorded with an open-source licence model.
- How were these Mathesar alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Spreadsheets, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Mathesar against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Mathesar covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every spreadsheets tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Spreadsheets category, 21 tools beside Mathesar. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.