Softwr

Productivity · head to head

HEY vs Rows

HEY logo

HEY

Productivity

Flat annual subscription email service from 37signals, with its own hey.com domain and a distinctive Screener

From
$99/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Rows logo

Rows

Productivity

Browser spreadsheet whose formulas call live data from analytics, CRM and payment services

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Rows has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: HEY there is no free tier and no monthly billing option, so trying it beyond the trial means committing to a full year upfront.; Rows refresh frequency is the metered resource, so the free plan refreshes manually only and daily automation begins on the paid tier, which means the automatic reporting that justifies the tool is exactly what the free plan withholds.
  • They diverge on capability: HEY covers The Screener, Rows covers Integrations in formulas.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which HEY and Rows actually diverge.

Attributes where HEY and Rows differ
AttributeHEYRows
Starting price$99/yearFree
Pricing modelPer user per monthfreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsMac, Windows, Web, iOS, AndroidWeb

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Productivity).

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 HEY

  • The Screener
  • Imbox, Feed and Paper Trail
  • Reply Later stack
  • Focus and Reply mode
  • Screen sharing style clips
  • No tracking pixels

Only in Rows

  • Integrations in formulas
  • Scheduled refresh
  • Publishable sheets
  • Cell enrichment
  • AI tasks
  • Guests
  • API access
  • Version history

What people use each for

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

HEY

  • Someone who wants to replace Gmail or iCloud Mail entirely with an email service built around approving senders before they reach the inboxnot Rows
  • A user overwhelmed by newsletters and receipts who wants them automatically separated from person to person conversationnot Rows
  • A family that wants shared but individually addressed email under one annual plannot Rows
  • A small company wanting HEY for Work on its own domain with the Screener model for the whole teamnot Rows

Rows

  • A weekly marketing report that pulls analytics, advertising and CRM figures into one refreshing sheet instead of three manual exports.not HEY
  • Agency client dashboards shared as a page, without handing over access to the underlying accounts.not HEY
  • Enriching a list of companies or contacts from inside the sheet rather than through a separate tool and a re-import.not HEY
  • A small team that needs live numbers in a familiar grid and has nobody available to build a proper reporting stack.not HEY

Where each one falls short

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

HEY

  • There is no free tier and no monthly billing option, so trying it beyond the trial means committing to a full year upfront.
  • Adopting HEY means changing your actual email address, not just installing a new client, which is a bigger migration than switching apps on an existing address.
  • The Screener and categorisation model is a real departure from a standard inbox, and some users take time to adjust or find it gets in the way for high volume mail.
  • Short vanity addresses carry steep additional annual fees, up to 999 US dollars a year for a two character address.
  • It does not connect to or manage existing Gmail, Outlook or iCloud accounts, so it cannot be used as a general client the way Mimestream or Apple Mail can.

Rows

  • Refresh frequency is the metered resource, so the free plan refreshes manually only and daily automation begins on the paid tier, which means the automatic reporting that justifies the tool is exactly what the free plan withholds.
  • Exports carry values rather than connections, so a downloaded file from Rows is a dead snapshot and anything you built has to be reconstructed from scratch elsewhere, which makes recurring reports quietly expensive to move.
  • Guests are capped by tier at three on free and ten on the entry plan, so sharing a report with a client's team or a group of stakeholders pushes you up a tier for people who only ever look at a page.
  • It is not Excel or Google Sheets, so the function library, add-ins, pivot behaviour, scripting and offline files people rely on are not all present, and it works as a reporting surface rather than as an organisation's general spreadsheet.
  • The Pro tier adds a fixed monthly platform charge on top of the per-user price, so moving from daily to intra-day refresh, or from ten guests to a real audience, is a step change in cost rather than an increment.

Pricing, plan by plan

HEY

$99/year
  • HEY for You$99/year
    • One hey.com email address
    • Screener, Imbox, Feed and Paper Trail
    • Billed annually only, no monthly option
  • HEY for Families$179/year
    • Covers up to five family members
    • Same features as HEY for You per member
  • HEY for Work$12/month
    • Per user, for organisations on a company domain
    • Admin controls for a team

Rows

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 5 AI Tasks per month
    • Manual data imports
    • 10 integration accounts
  • Plus$8/month
    • 200 AI Tasks per month
    • Daily data table automation
    • 10 integration accounts
  • Pro$79/month
    • 1,000 AI Tasks per month
    • Per-minute data automation
    • 100 integration accounts
  • Enterprise$null/mo
    • Unlimited AI Tasks
    • Custom integrations and API endpoints
    • Unlimited guest members

Which should you pick?

Choose HEY if

  • You need the screener.
  • You work on Mac, Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want imbox, feed and paper trail.
HEY review

Choose Rows if

  • You need integrations in formulas.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want scheduled refresh.
Rows review

Questions people ask

Is HEY or Rows better?
Neither clearly leads. HEY starts at $99/year and Rows at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, HEY or Rows?
Rows has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $99/year for HEY and Free for Rows.
Does HEY or Rows run on more platforms?
HEY runs on Mac, Windows, Web, iOS, Android. Rows runs on Web.
Can I use Rows for free?
Yes. Rows has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. HEY starts at $99/year.
What is HEY best used for?
HEY is most often used for someone who wants to replace gmail or icloud mail entirely with an email service built around approving senders before they reach the inbox, a user overwhelmed by newsletters and receipts who wants them automatically separated from person to person conversation, a family that wants shared but individually addressed email under one annual plan, a small company wanting hey for work on its own domain with the screener model for the whole team. Of those, someone who wants to replace gmail or icloud mail entirely with an email service built around approving senders before they reach the inbox and a user overwhelmed by newsletters and receipts who wants them automatically separated from person to person conversation are not what Rows is typically brought in for.
What can HEY do that Rows cannot?
HEY covers The Screener, Imbox, Feed and Paper Trail, Reply Later stack, Focus and Reply mode. Rows covers Integrations in formulas, Scheduled refresh, Publishable sheets, Cell enrichment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

HEY: Can I use HEY with my existing Gmail address?

No. HEY provides its own hey.com email address; it is not a client layered over an existing Gmail or other account.

Rows: Can it replace Excel or Google Sheets?

Not for general spreadsheet work. It is for reports and sheets that pull live data, and most teams end up running it alongside a conventional spreadsheet rather than instead of one.

HEY: Is there a free plan?

No. HEY offers a trial but bills annually only, with no free tier and no month to month option for individuals.

Rows: What can I actually do on the free plan?

Real building: unlimited members, ten integration accounts, five AI tasks a month, 1 MB imports, three guests and seven days of version history. What you cannot do is schedule a refresh.

HEY: What is the Screener?

A feature that holds mail from any new sender until the user explicitly approves them, before it appears in the inbox at all.

Rows: Does the data stay live after I export?

No. Exports contain values only, so the connections and the scheduling do not travel and the file stops updating the moment it leaves.

Rows: Is pricing per user?

Yes on the paid tiers, with a fixed platform fee added at Pro. Guests are counted and capped separately from members.

Share

Related pages

More on HEY

More on Rows

Keep looking

Other head to heads