Accounting · alternatives
Alternatives to Microsoft Excel
22 accounting tools sit alongside Microsoft Excel in this directory. Below is what separates each from Microsoft Excel on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 22
- With a free tier
- 3
- Cheaper to start
- 2
- Microsoft Excel starts at
- Free, then $9.99/month
Why people look past Microsoft Excel
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Microsoft Excel entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
Cost climbs steeply across the tiers
Microsoft Excel publishes 4 tiers, from Free up to $19.99/month. Teams that outgrow the entry plan can find the next rung a large step, the Microsoft Excel pricing page breaks each one down.
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.
French neobank and finance management platform for freelancers, SMEs and businesses
- No free tier, where Microsoft Excel has one.
- Starts $0.9900000000000002 a month cheaper, at €9/month.
- Sold on a subscription model rather than freemium.
- 6 tiers to Microsoft Excel's 4.
Indian business banking layer for current accounts, automated payouts, vendor payments and payroll
- No free tier, where Microsoft Excel has one.
- Sold on a usage-based model rather than freemium.
Expense reporting and travel management at three dollars per user per month
- Starts $6.99 a month cheaper, at $3/month.
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than freemium.
- 3 tiers to Microsoft Excel's 4.
Virtual card and spend management platform aimed at SaaS and travel spend
- Starts $3.01 a month dearer, at $13/month.
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than freemium.
- 3 tiers to Microsoft Excel's 4.
SaaS and cloud spend management that charges a share of the savings it finds rather than a licence
- Sold on a Free card tier, plus a share of savings on the managed plan model rather than freemium.
- 2 tiers to Microsoft Excel's 4.
Expense management with per-user pricing and a five-user minimum, built for European multi-entity teams
- No free tier, where Microsoft Excel has one.
- Starts $0.009999999999999787 a month dearer, at $10/month.
- Sold on a Per user per month model rather than freemium.
- 3 tiers to Microsoft Excel's 4.
Every Microsoft Excel 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Excel (this page) | Free, then $9.99/month | Freemium | 4 | |
| QontoFrench neobank and finance management platform for freelancers, SMEs and businesses | €9/month | Subscription | 6 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| RazorpayXIndian all-in-one business banking suite for payouts, current accounts and payroll | On request | Usage-based | - | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Zoho Expense | Free, then $3/month | Per user per month | 3 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Mesh Payments | Free, then $13/month | Per user per month | 3 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Spendbase | Free | Free card tier, plus a share of savings on the managed plan | 2 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Rydoo | $10/month | Per user per month | 3 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Moss | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Medius Expense | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Happay | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Kodo | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Circula | €15/month | Per user per month | 4 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Soldo | £21/month | Per user per month | 3 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Ottimate | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Yooz | $199/month | Per month by invoice volume | 2 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Workiva | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Basware | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Vena Solutions | On request | Quote | 2 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Tropic | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| DATEV | On request | Quote | 3 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| insightsoftware | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Causal | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Microsoft Excel |
| Medius | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Microsoft Excel |
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 Microsoft Excel badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (3)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Zoho Expense , Free, then $3/month
- Mesh Payments , Free, then $13/month
- Spendbase , Free
Cheaper than Microsoft Excel (2)
Entry price under Microsoft Excel's $9.99/month. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- Qonto , €9/month
- Zoho Expense , Free, then $3/month
What you would be giving up
Microsoft Excel is most often brought in for financial modeling, data analysis, budget planning, reporting, business intelligence, statistical analysis. 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 Microsoft Excel is broadly right and the question is cost, the Microsoft Excel pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Accounting category lists everything the directory holds, and best accounting tools ranks them.
Microsoft Excel runs on windows, macos, web, ios, android. 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 Microsoft Excel alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Microsoft Excel?
- 22 other accounting tools are listed in this directory, led by Qonto, RazorpayX, Zoho Expense, Mesh Payments. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Microsoft Excel?
- 3 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Zoho Expense, Mesh Payments, Spendbase.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Microsoft Excel?
- Yes. 2 of the alternatives below start under Microsoft Excel's $9.99/month: Qonto at €9/month, Zoho Expense at Free, then $3/month.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Microsoft Excel?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: cost climbs steeply across the tiers. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Microsoft Excel?
- Microsoft Excel is most often brought in for financial modeling, data analysis, budget planning, reporting, business intelligence, statistical analysis. 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 Microsoft Excel?
- None of the accounting tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Microsoft Excel alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Accounting, 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 Microsoft Excel against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Microsoft Excel 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 accounting tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Accounting category, 22 tools beside Microsoft Excel. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.