Softwr

Productivity · head to head

Kami vs Rows

Kami logo

Kami

Productivity

The ultimate document annotation and collaboration tool

From
Free
Rated
-
Rows logo

Rows

Productivity

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

From
Free
Rated
-

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Kami the free Basic plan exposes only about 10 of the 40 or more tools; 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: Kami covers PDF annotation, Rows covers Integrations in formulas.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Kami and Rows actually diverge.

Attributes where Kami and Rows differ
AttributeKamiRows
PlatformsWeb, Chrome Extension, IOS, AndroidWeb
Founded2013Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), 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 Kami

  • PDF annotation
  • Drawing tools
  • Text tools
  • Voice comments
  • Text-to-speech
  • OCR
  • Split/merge PDFs
  • Video embedding

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.

Kami

  • Free document collaboration for individualsnot Rows
  • Professional document management with advanced toolsnot Rows
  • Dedicated account management for workplace teamsnot Rows
  • K-12 and higher education document workflowsnot Rows

Rows

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

Where each one falls short

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

Kami

  • The free Basic plan exposes only about 10 of the 40 or more tools
  • Google Classroom, Schoology, Canvas and Microsoft Teams integrations require the Teacher plan at $149 per year
  • School and district licensing including domain wide deployment is custom priced and requires a quote
  • Non education users pay separate Workplace plans at $85 or $220 per year rather than the education rate
  • A dedicated account manager is only available on the School or District plan

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

Kami

Free
  • Basic (Free)Free
    • 10+ essential tools
    • Google Drive and OneDrive integration
    • Unlimited collaborators
  • Pro$12/month
    • All 40+ tools and features
    • Unlimited pages and document types
    • Priority support
  • Work$25/month
    • Everything in Pro
    • Free onboarding and training
    • Dedicated Account Manager
  • Teacher Plan$149/year
    • All 40+ tools and features
    • Full LMS integrations (Classroom, Schoology, Canvas, Teams)
    • Free onboarding and training

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 Kami if

  • You need pdf annotation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Chrome Extension, IOS, Android.
  • You also want drawing tools.

Choose Rows if

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

Questions people ask

Is Kami or Rows better?
Neither clearly leads. Kami starts at Free and Rows at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kami or Rows?
Kami starts at Free and Rows at Free.
Does Kami or Rows run on more platforms?
Kami runs on Web, Chrome Extension, IOS, Android. Rows runs on Web.
Can I use Kami for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Kami best used for?
Kami is most often used for free document collaboration for individuals, professional document management with advanced tools, dedicated account management for workplace teams, k-12 and higher education document workflows. Of those, free document collaboration for individuals and professional document management with advanced tools are not what Rows is typically brought in for.
What can Kami do that Rows cannot?
Kami covers PDF annotation, Drawing tools, Text tools, Voice comments. Rows covers Integrations in formulas, Scheduled refresh, Publishable sheets, Cell enrichment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Kami: Does Kami offer a free plan and what does it include?

Yes, Kami's free Basic plan includes 10+ essential tools, unlimited collaborators, Google Drive/OneDrive integration, and 1,000+ templates. Full feature access requires Pro or higher tiers.

Source
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.

Kami: What is the cheapest paid plan for Kami and what does it cost?

Pro plan is $12/month ($85/year when billed annually) and includes all 40+ tools, unlimited pages, and priority support for workplace users.

Source
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.

Kami: Are there Kami plans designed specifically for educators?

Yes, the Teacher plan costs $149/year and includes all 40+ tools, full LMS integrations (Google Classroom, Schoology, Canvas, Teams), free onboarding, and priority support with a 30-day free trial.

Source
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.

Kami: How much do Kami School or District plans cost?

School and District plans do not publish pricing and require contacting Kami for custom quotes. These plans include domain-wide deployment, dedicated account managers, and full LMS integrations.

Source
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.

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