Rowyvs
Baserow
Baserow: A general open source spreadsheet database when you are not tied to Firestore
Rowy
Spreadsheet interface for Google Cloud Firestore with cloud functions written in the browser
As of 31 August 2026, Rowy is free to use. Rowy is a grid on top of your own Firestore database, not a database of its own, so every Firestore limit passes straight through to the user, including the one megabyte per document ceiling. Softwr lists it under Spreadsheets. Rowy is available on Web.
Overview
What Rowy does
Rowy gives a Firestore collection a spreadsheet style interface with typed columns, filters, sorting and a form view, and lets developers attach JavaScript or TypeScript cloud functions to field changes from within the browser. It deploys into your own Google Cloud project rather than storing data on the vendor side, and is available under an open source licence as well as a hosted control plane. What separates it from the general spreadsheet database category is that it does not own the data model. Rowy reads and writes documents in your existing Firestore instance, which means an application already writing to that collection continues to work unchanged, and a non technical operations person can inspect and correct production data without a developer building an admin panel. Building that admin panel is normally weeks of work that produces no customer value, so removing it is the commercial case. The buyers are small product teams already on Firebase who need internal data editing and light automation. The trade off is that the tool inherits every constraint of the database beneath it. Firestore documents are capped at one megabyte, a single document supports roughly one sustained write per second, and there is no join, so anyone expecting relational behaviour from the grid will be disappointed by the data store rather than by Rowy.
What people use it for
- A Firebase application that needs an internal admin interface without building one
- Operations staff correcting production records in Firestore without developer involvement
- Attaching a small transformation or notification function to a field change without a full deployment pipeline
- A content team populating documents that a mobile application reads directly from Firestore
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about 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.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Rowy
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- RowyvsRetool
Retool: Broader internal tool builder if you need custom interfaces over several data sources, not just a grid
- RowyvsAppsmith
Appsmith: Open source internal tooling over arbitrary databases and APIs, at the cost of building each screen
Pricing
What Rowy costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Open source self hosted
Free
- No licence fee
- Deploys into your own Google Cloud project
- You pay Google Cloud for Firestore reads, writes and storage
- Community support
Capabilities
Features
Firestore backed grid
Reads and writes your own collections, with no separate copy of the data
Browser authored cloud functions
Field level triggers written and deployed from the interface
Typed columns
Field types layered over schemaless documents, including references, images and files
Runs in your Google Cloud project
Data and functions stay inside infrastructure you already own and pay for
Role based access
Column and table permissions mapped to Firebase Authentication roles
Form view
Shareable data entry forms writing directly into the collection
Open source
Self hostable under an open source licence
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Where is my data stored?
In your own Firestore instance inside your own Google Cloud project. Rowy does not hold a copy.
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.
Can it do joins across collections?
Not really. Firestore does not support joins, and no interface layer can add them.
Is there a row limit?
Not from Rowy. The limits that bite are Firestore document size and per document write throughput.
Is it suitable if I am not on Firebase?
No. It is specifically a Firestore interface.
Keep looking
Where to go from Rowy
- Rowy alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Rowy pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Rowy badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Spreadsheets softwareThe full category
- Best Spreadsheets softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Spreadsheets software for
Compare Rowy with
- Baserow
- Mathesar
- Budibase
- APITable
- Teable
- Quadratic
- Fibery
- Google Sheets
- Numbers
- Zoho Sheet
- Coefficient
- Sigma Computing
- Equals
- Cube Software
- Mathesar
- APITable
- Quadratic
- Coefficient
Other Spreadsheets software
Spreadsheet style interface that edits an existing PostgreSQL database directly, with no schema of its own
Open source13 researched notesOpen source spreadsheet database with an API first design and an embeddable widget system
Open source13 researched notesSpreadsheet interface over real PostgreSQL tables, so the data stays queryable by anything that speaks SQL
Open source13 researched notesInfinite-canvas spreadsheet that runs Python, SQL and formulas in the same grid
Free, then $18/mo12 researched notesCloud spreadsheet, free for a personal Google account and bundled into paid Google Workspace for organisations
Free plan11 researched notesApple spreadsheet, free on Apple hardware, now with an optional Apple Creator Studio subscription for AI features
Free plan11 researched notesFree standalone cloud spreadsheet from Zoho, also bundled into the low-cost Zoho Workplace suite
Free plan11 researched notesLive two way connector between Google Sheets or Excel and warehouses, CRMs and business systems
Pricing on request13 researched notesSpreadsheet-style analytics that queries a cloud data warehouse directly with no extract layer
Pricing on request12 researched notesA real spreadsheet with SQL result sets landing in its cells, now sold only on annual contracts starting at 24,000 USD
From $24,000/yr12 researched notesFP&A layer that connects Excel and Google Sheets to source systems without asking finance to leave the spreadsheet
Pricing on request13 researched notesSpreadsheet style interface that edits an existing PostgreSQL database directly, with no schema of its own
Open source13 researched notesOpen source spreadsheet database with an API first design and an embeddable widget system
Open source13 researched notesInfinite-canvas spreadsheet that runs Python, SQL and formulas in the same grid
Free, then $18/mo12 researched notesLive two way connector between Google Sheets or Excel and warehouses, CRMs and business systems
Pricing on request13 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Rowy, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Rowy
Rowy alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Rowy pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Rowy
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Rowy badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
Best Spreadsheets software alternatives
Free standalone cloud spreadsheet from Zoho, also bundled into the low-cost Zoho Workplace suite
Free standalone, bundled into paid Zoho Workplace for organisationsApple spreadsheet, free on Apple hardware, now with an optional Apple Creator Studio subscription for AI features
Free with Apple hardware, optional Apple Creator Studio subscription for AI featuresCloud spreadsheet, free for a personal Google account and bundled into paid Google Workspace for organisations
Free personally, bundled into paid Google Workspace for organisationsFP&A layer that connects Excel and Google Sheets to source systems without asking finance to leave the spreadsheet
quoteSpreadsheet interface over real PostgreSQL tables, so the data stays queryable by anything that speaks SQL
Open source, no licence feeA real spreadsheet with SQL result sets landing in its cells, now sold only on annual contracts starting at 24,000 USD
Per year by connector count and refresh frequencyInfinite-canvas spreadsheet that runs Python, SQL and formulas in the same grid
Per user per monthSpreadsheet style interface that edits an existing PostgreSQL database directly, with no schema of its own
Open source, no licence fee