Machine Learning · head to head
Orange vs Rowy
Rowy
Spreadsheets
Spreadsheet interface for Google Cloud Firestore with cloud functions written in the browser
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Orange orange is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3, so distributing modified or derived software requires releasing the source under the GPL; Rowy every Firestore limit is inherited, including the one megabyte per document ceiling and roughly one sustained write per second per document, which surprises users who expect spreadsheet behaviour.
- They diverge on capability: Orange covers Visual programming, Rowy covers Firestore backed grid.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Orange and Rowy actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Orange
- Visual programming
- Data visualization
- Machine learning
- Text mining
- Bioinformatics
- Python
- scikit-learn
- PyQt
Only in Rowy
- Firestore backed grid
- Browser authored cloud functions
- Typed columns
- Runs in your Google Cloud project
- Role based access
- Form view
- Open source
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Orange
- Visual programming for data mining and machine learning workflowsnot Rowy
- Teaching data science without writing codenot Rowy
- Exploratory data visualisation and clustering on tabular datanot Rowy
Rowy
- A Firebase application that needs an internal admin interface without building onenot Orange
- Operations staff correcting production records in Firestore without developer involvementnot Orange
- Attaching a small transformation or notification function to a field change without a full deployment pipelinenot Orange
- A content team populating documents that a mobile application reads directly from Firestorenot Orange
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Orange
- Orange is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 3, so distributing modified or derived software requires releasing the source under the GPL
- The widgets and canvas are built on Qt, which is itself distributed under GPL 3.0
- Orange add-ons may carry additional licensing requirements set in their own licence files
- Documentation and website content are under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike, which imposes an attribution and share-alike obligation on reuse
- The software is distributed without any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose
Rowy
- Every Firestore limit is inherited, including the one megabyte per document ceiling and roughly one sustained write per second per document, which surprises users who expect spreadsheet behaviour.
- Firestore has no joins, so linking tables in the grid is a convenience layer rather than a relational feature and reports across collections still need a separate query.
- It is useful only to teams already on Firebase, so choosing it effectively locks the operational tooling to one cloud vendor.
- Query costs are billed by document read, and an unfiltered grid on a large collection can generate a bill that a spreadsheet user has no intuition for.
- Development activity has slowed relative to the broader category, so evaluate current maintenance before making it load bearing for internal operations.
Pricing, plan by plan
Orange
Free- Open SourceFree
- Visual programming
- Machine learning
- Data visualization
Rowy
Free- Open source self hostedFree
- No licence fee
- Deploys into your own Google Cloud project
- You pay Google Cloud for Firestore reads, writes and storage
Which should you pick?
Choose Orange if
- You need visual programming.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Mac, Windows.
- You also want data visualization.
Choose Rowy if
- You need firestore backed grid.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want browser authored cloud functions.
Questions people ask
- Is Orange or Rowy better?
- Neither clearly leads. Orange starts at Free and Rowy at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Orange or Rowy?
- Orange starts at Free and Rowy at Free.
- Does Orange or Rowy run on more platforms?
- Orange runs on Linux, Mac, Windows. Rowy runs on Web.
- Can I use Orange for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Orange best used for?
- Orange is most often used for visual programming for data mining and machine learning workflows, teaching data science without writing code, exploratory data visualisation and clustering on tabular data. Of those, visual programming for data mining and machine learning workflows and teaching data science without writing code are not what Rowy is typically brought in for.
- What can Orange do that Rowy cannot?
- Orange covers Visual programming, Data visualization, Machine learning, Text mining. Rowy covers Firestore backed grid, Browser authored cloud functions, Typed columns, Runs in your Google Cloud project.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Orange: What is the cost of Orange Data Mining?
Orange Data Mining is free open-source software available for Windows, Mac, and other platforms. There are no subscription fees, licensing costs, or paid tiers.
SourceRowy: Where is my data stored?
In your own Firestore instance inside your own Google Cloud project. Rowy does not hold a copy.
Orange: How is Orange Data Mining funded?
Orange Data Mining is supported through optional voluntary donations. The project encourages donations from users who value the software to support bug fixes, new features, educational content, and infrastructure maintenance.
SourceRowy: What does it cost to run?
No licence fee. You pay Google Cloud for Firestore reads, writes, storage and function invocations, and an open grid on a big collection reads a lot.
Rowy: Can it do joins across collections?
Not really. Firestore does not support joins, and no interface layer can add them.
Rowy: Is there a row limit?
Not from Rowy. The limits that bite are Firestore document size and per document write throughput.
Rowy: Is it suitable if I am not on Firebase?
No. It is specifically a Firestore interface.
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