Last checked October 15, 2026
Best Free Alternatives to Microsoft Excel (2026)
Excel is the workbook a finance or ops team already has. A replacement has to open XLSX and keep ordinary formulas, not just draw a grid.
What Microsoft Excel costs
Paid plans exist. A current dollar figure is not copied into this listing.
Ranked by Drop-in score
How we rank#1 is the highest-scoring alternative that is not sponsored. A featured listing, when one is sold, is labeled and sits after #1.
- 93#1Open sourceReview notes
LibreOffice
A desktop suite that opens Office files.
Last checked October 15, 2026 · MPL-2.0
MacWindowsLinux - 83#2Open sourceReview notes
ONLYOFFICE
Browser editors for DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX.
Last checked October 15, 2026 · AGPL-3.0 (community docs)
WebSelf-hostMacWindowsLinux - 78#3Open sourceReview notes
Gnumeric
A desktop spreadsheet with serious formulas.
Last checked October 15, 2026 · GPL-2.0-or-later
Linux - 40#4Open sourceReview notes
CryptPad
Encrypted collaborative docs in the browser.
Last checked October 15, 2026 · AGPL-3.0
WebSelf-host - 40#5Open sourceReview notes
EtherCalc
A collaborative spreadsheet in one process.
Last checked October 15, 2026 · Apache-2.0
WebSelf-host
Feature by feature
Full is the whole job. Partial is a real version with a gap. Missing means it does not do this. Not checked counts as zero in the score.
| Feature | LibreOffice#1 · 93 | ONLYOFFICE#2 · 83 | Gnumeric#3 · 78 | CryptPad#4 · 40 | EtherCalc#5 · 40 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opens and saves XLSXWeight 10 | Full | Full | Full | Partial | Partial |
| Formulas and summariesWeight 10 | Full | Full | Full | Partial | Partial |
| ChartsWeight 6 | Full | Partial | Partial | Missing | Missing |
| Simultaneous editingWeight 6 | Partial | Full | Missing | Full | Full |
| Works offlineWeight 8 | Full | Partial | Full | Missing | Missing |
Real cost
LibreOffice
- Free tier
- The desktop apps are free to download.
- Hosted plan
- No hosted price recorded.
- Self-hosting
- Not a self-hosted product. The desktop apps are not a server. Collabora Online is the browser version.
ONLYOFFICE
- Free tier
- The community edition can be self-hosted without a per-user fee. Hosted prices are not copied here. Unverified.
- Hosted plan
- No hosted price recorded.
- Self-hosting
- Moderate. Plan on Docker or a small VM. A hosted plan, when one exists, is separate from the free self-host.
Gnumeric
- Free tier
- Free desktop app. Unverified.
- Hosted plan
- No hosted price recorded.
- Self-hosting
- Not a self-hosted product. Desktop only.
CryptPad
- Free tier
- The community edition can be self-hosted without a per-user fee. Hosted prices are not copied here. Unverified.
- Hosted plan
- No hosted price recorded.
- Self-hosting
- Moderate. Plan on Docker or a small VM. A hosted plan, when one exists, is separate from the free self-host.
EtherCalc
- Free tier
- The community edition can be self-hosted without a per-user fee. Hosted prices are not copied here. Unverified.
- Hosted plan
- No hosted price recorded.
- Self-hosting
- Moderate. Plan on Docker or a small VM. A hosted plan, when one exists, is separate from the free self-host.
Top pair
Migrate from Microsoft Excel to LibreOffice
Save each workbook as XLSX.
Read the migration guide