Spreadsheets · alternatives
Alternatives to Numbers
20 spreadsheets tools sit alongside Numbers in this directory. Below is what separates each from Numbers on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 14
- Cheaper to start
- -
- Numbers starts at
- Free
Why people look past Numbers
Nothing on the record flags a reason to move. Numbers has a free tier. People still switch over fit and workflow, and those are not things a catalogue entry can measure, which is what the comparisons below are for.
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.
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 Free with Apple hardware, optional Apple Creator Studio subscription for AI features.
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 Free with Apple hardware, optional Apple Creator Studio subscription for AI features.
- 3 tiers to Numbers's 2.
Create apps that perfectly fit your team's needs
- Publishes an entry price of $20/month per editor, where Numbers does not.
- 4 tiers to Numbers's 2.
Open source spreadsheet database with an API first design and an embeddable widget system
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than Free with Apple hardware, optional Apple Creator Studio subscription for AI features.
- 1 tier to Numbers's 2.
Spreadsheet interface for Google Cloud Firestore with cloud functions written in the browser
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than Free with Apple hardware, optional Apple Creator Studio subscription for AI features.
- 1 tier to Numbers's 2.
Spreadsheet style interface that edits an existing PostgreSQL database directly, with no schema of its own
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than Free with Apple hardware, optional Apple Creator Studio subscription for AI features.
- 1 tier to Numbers's 2.
Every Numbers 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Numbers (this page) | Free | Free with Apple hardware, optional Apple Creator Studio subscription for AI features | 2 | |
| Google SheetsIf you need cross-platform access on Windows or Android without a device purchase | Free | Free personally, bundled into paid Google Workspace for organisations | 2 | vs Numbers |
| Zoho SheetIf you want a free spreadsheet plus a low-cost bundled office suite | Free | Free standalone, bundled into paid Zoho Workplace for organisations | 3 | vs Numbers |
| AirtableIf your work is closer to a database than a visually laid-out document | Free, then $20/month per editor | - | 4 | vs Numbers |
| APITable | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Numbers |
| Rowy | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Numbers |
| Mathesar | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Numbers |
| SeaTable | Free, then €7/month | Per user per month | 5 | vs Numbers |
| Quadratic | Free, then $18/month | Per user per month | 4 | vs Numbers |
| Teable | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Numbers |
| Redash | Free | Freemium | 2 | vs Numbers |
| Fibery | Free | Subscription | - | vs Numbers |
| Baserow | Free | Freemium | 4 | vs Numbers |
| Metabase | Free, then $90/month | Freemium | 4 | vs Numbers |
| Apache Superset | Free | Open-source | 1 | vs Numbers |
| Coefficient | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Numbers |
| Sigma Computing | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Numbers |
| Equals | $24000/year | Per year by connector count and refresh frequency | 4 | vs Numbers |
| Cube Software | On request | Quote | 3 | vs Numbers |
| Tableau | $70/month | Subscription | 3 | vs Numbers |
| Looker | On request | - | - | vs Numbers |
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 Numbers badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (14)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Google Sheets , Free
- Zoho Sheet , Free
- Airtable , Free, then $20/month per editor
- APITable , Free
- Rowy , Free
- Mathesar , Free
- SeaTable , Free, then €7/month
- Quadratic , Free, then $18/month
What you would be giving up
Numbers is most often brought in for a mac or ipad user who wants a spreadsheet with no additional software cost beyond the device, someone building a visually laid-out document, an invoice or a planner, rather than a dense data table, a small team already on apple hardware collaborating through icloud without adopting google workspace or microsoft 365, a user who wants light ai-assisted content generation and is willing to pay for apple creator studio to get it. 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 Numbers is broadly right and the question is cost, the Numbers 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.
Numbers runs on macos, ios, web. 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 Numbers alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Numbers?
- 20 other spreadsheets tools are listed in this directory, led by Google Sheets, Zoho Sheet, Airtable, APITable. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Numbers?
- 14 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Google Sheets, Zoho Sheet, Airtable, APITable, Rowy.
- Is there a reason to switch away from Numbers?
- Nothing in the data flags one. Numbers has a free tier. Fit and workflow are the usual reasons to move, and those are not things this record can measure.
- What would I give up by switching from Numbers?
- Numbers is most often brought in for a mac or ipad user who wants a spreadsheet with no additional software cost beyond the device, someone building a visually laid-out document, an invoice or a planner, rather than a dense data table, a small team already on apple hardware collaborating through icloud without adopting google workspace or microsoft 365, a user who wants light ai-assisted content generation and is willing to pay for apple creator studio to get it. 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 Numbers?
- Apache Superset is recorded with an open-source licence model.
- How were these Numbers 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 Numbers against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Numbers 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, 20 tools beside Numbers. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.