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Spreadsheets · head to head

Equals vs Firebolt

Equals logo

Equals

Spreadsheets

A real spreadsheet with SQL result sets landing in its cells, now sold only on annual contracts starting at 24,000 USD

From
$24000/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Firebolt logo

Firebolt

Databases

Sub-second analytics at cloud data warehouse scale

From
$1.84/hour
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Equals the price list now starts at 24,000 USD a year with no monthly billing and no self-serve signup, having offered a free plan in 2023 and 39 USD per seat in 2024, so any team that evaluated it previously is looking at a different product commercially.; Firebolt compute billed per second on Arm-based processors; small instances still incur measurable costs during idle periods despite auto-stop
  • They diverge on capability: Equals covers Connected sheets, Firebolt covers Sub-second Queries.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Equals and Firebolt actually diverge.

Attributes where Equals and Firebolt differ
AttributeEqualsFirebolt
Starting price$24000/year$1.84/hour
Pricing modelPer year by connector count and refresh frequencyusage-based
PlatformsWeb, APICloud (AWS, GCP, Azure preview), Docker, Kubernetes
CategorySpreadsheetsDatabases
FoundedUnknown2019

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Equals

  • Connected sheets
  • Real spreadsheet mechanics
  • Cell references into SQL
  • Equals Warehouse
  • Views
  • Writeback

Only in Firebolt

  • Sub-second Queries
  • Sparse Indexes
  • Data Pruning
  • Decoupled Storage/Compute
  • SQL Support
  • Semi-structured Data
  • Workload Isolation
  • Airflow

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Equals

  • A revenue operations team that wants software metrics computed in a spreadsheet rather than defined in a BI semantic layernot Firebolt
  • Analysts who need a SQL result and manual assumptions in the same file, with the assumptions visible as cellsnot Firebolt
  • Joining Stripe, Salesforce and a production database without building a warehouse and pipeline firstnot Firebolt
  • Distributing a recurring numbers pack to Slack, email or a wall display without rebuilding it as a dashboardnot Firebolt

Firebolt

  • Data analytics teams running gigabyte-to-petabyte datasets with sub-second query requirementsnot Equals
  • Real-time business intelligence platforms requiring ACID transactions and snapshot isolationnot Equals
  • Applications needing vector search on analytical data for similarity queriesnot Equals

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Equals

  • The price list now starts at 24,000 USD a year with no monthly billing and no self-serve signup, having offered a free plan in 2023 and 39 USD per seat in 2024, so any team that evaluated it previously is looking at a different product commercially.
  • Your data is copied out of your infrastructure by design, into a Snowflake warehouse that Equals operates, with Fivetran holding non-SQL source data in transit, and no self-hosted or bring-your-own-warehouse option is documented.
  • The financial function category contains only IRR, NPV and PMT, with no XIRR, XNPV, FV, PV, RATE or NPER, and there is no LAMBDA, LET, OFFSET or INDIRECT, so a substantial class of existing spreadsheet models cannot be ported without rework.
  • No documentation of importing or exporting Excel files exists anywhere in the docs index; the supported file sources are CSV and Google Sheets and the only documented export is dashboards as PDF, which is a notable gap for a product positioning itself as a successor to Excel.
  • Data freshness is a pricing lever rather than a setting, at six hours on Essential, one hour on Business and fifteen minutes on Enterprise, and the feature that removes row limits is itself gated above the entry tier, so the Essential row ceiling is neither published nor unlimited.

Firebolt

  • Compute billed per second on Arm-based processors; small instances still incur measurable costs during idle periods despite auto-stop
  • Storage pass-through charged at $0.0264/GB monthly on compressed data; uncompressed storage could exceed this
  • Azure deployment currently in Preview status; production recommendations unclear
  • Vector indexes limited to float arrays; other data types require alternative indexing strategies
  • Free tier credits ($200) limited; no perpetual free tier for production use

Pricing, plan by plan

Equals

$24000/year
  • Essential$24000/year
    • Unlimited viewers and unlimited editors
    • 3 connectors
    • Data sync every 6 hours
  • Business$36000/year
    • Unlimited viewers and unlimited editors
    • 5 connectors or a warehouse connection
    • Data sync every hour
  • Enterprise$60000/year
    • Unlimited viewers and unlimited editors
    • Unlimited connectors or a warehouse connection
    • Data sync every 15 minutes
  • Connector add-ons$199/month
    • 199 USD per month for each additional database or import script connector
    • 699 USD per month for each additional connector of any other type
    • Available on Business and Enterprise

Firebolt

$1.84/hour

No published plan breakdown. See the Firebolt review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Equals if

  • You need connected sheets.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want real spreadsheet mechanics.
Equals review

Choose Firebolt if

  • You need sub-second queries.
  • You work on Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure preview), Docker, Kubernetes.
  • You also want sparse indexes.
Firebolt review

Questions people ask

Is Equals or Firebolt better?
Neither clearly leads. Equals starts at $24000/year and Firebolt at $1.84/hour, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Equals or Firebolt?
Equals starts at $24000/year and Firebolt at $1.84/hour.
Does Equals or Firebolt run on more platforms?
Equals runs on Web, API. Firebolt runs on Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure preview), Docker, Kubernetes.
What is Equals best used for?
Equals is most often used for a revenue operations team that wants software metrics computed in a spreadsheet rather than defined in a bi semantic layer, analysts who need a sql result and manual assumptions in the same file, with the assumptions visible as cells, joining stripe, salesforce and a production database without building a warehouse and pipeline first, distributing a recurring numbers pack to slack, email or a wall display without rebuilding it as a dashboard. Of those, a revenue operations team that wants software metrics computed in a spreadsheet rather than defined in a bi semantic layer and analysts who need a sql result and manual assumptions in the same file, with the assumptions visible as cells are not what Firebolt is typically brought in for.
What can Equals do that Firebolt cannot?
Equals covers Connected sheets, Real spreadsheet mechanics, Cell references into SQL, Equals Warehouse. Firebolt covers Sub-second Queries, Sparse Indexes, Data Pruning, Decoupled Storage/Compute.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Equals: Is it a real spreadsheet or a modelling tool with a grid?

A real spreadsheet. A1 references, absolute reference locking, pivot tables and spilling array formulas all work, and SQL results land in ranges that ordinary cells reference.

Firebolt: How does Firebolt's compute billing model work?

Firebolt uses per-second billing with scale-to-zero capability. The smallest S tier costs $1.84 per hour with 8 vCPU and 64GB memory, while the largest 4XL tier costs $58.88 per hour with 256 vCPU. Users only pay when compute is running.

Source
Equals: What does it actually cost?

24,000 USD a year for Essential, 36,000 for Business and 60,000 for Enterprise, billed annually. There is no monthly option and no self-serve signup; the trial is negotiated per customer.

Firebolt: What is the cost for data storage on Firebolt?

Storage costs $0.0264 per GB per month on object storage, billed as pass-through cost at cloud provider rates.

Source
Equals: Are seats charged?

No. Viewers and editors are unlimited on every plan. The meters are connector count, refresh frequency and AI spend, with additional connectors at 199 or 699 USD a month.

Firebolt: What free credits or trial does Firebolt offer new users?

New users receive $200 free credits to get started with the platform.

Source
Equals: Does my data stay in my own warehouse?

No. Connecting more than one source syncs data into a Snowflake warehouse that Equals runs, and non-SQL sources pass through Fivetran. There is no documented self-hosted option.

Firebolt: Does Firebolt publish pricing for commitment-based discounts?

The pricing FAQ lists a question about commitment-based discounts but does not provide published answers on the pricing page. This requires direct inquiry with sales.

Source
Firebolt: What deployment options does Firebolt offer besides managed service?

Firebolt offers self-hosted open source deployment (unlimited) and Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC) options in addition to managed service.

Source
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