The best spreadsheets, according to hackers
12 spreadsheets recommended in Hacker News comments over the past year, ranked by how many separate people recommend each one.
- Most recommendedMicrosoft Excel339 people recommend it
- Least regretLotus 1-2-334 recommend, 2 criticize
- Free and lovedLibreOffice Calc32 people recommend it
All spreadsheets
- Microsoft ExcelThe business-standard spreadsheet that lets non-programmers build real tools fast, with powerful array formulas and stable shortcuts, though it is error-prone, can feel sluggish, and messy when shared.339recommend
- Google SheetsPeople recommend it as a free, easy spreadsheet that handles most calculations, planning and simple data work well. The common caveat is that it slows down and feels awkward once data or formulas get large or complicated.92recommend
- Lotus 1-2-3Recommended for keyboard-driven speed, fast performance on 486-era PCs, and an uncluttered interface suited to financial modeling; critics cite manual, keystroke-based workflows.34recommend
- LibreOffice CalcFree spreadsheet many people find good enough for most work and Excel files; critics say it is slower and lacks newer Excel features.32recommend
- Numbers by AppleFree Apple spreadsheet people find good enough, praised for movable tables and smooth scrolling. Critics cite weak keyboard support and nagging upgrade prompts.27recommend
- VisiDataFree terminal tool for exploring, filtering and sorting large files and databases quickly. Critics agree that editing fields it doesn't understand can lose data.26recommend
- cell terminal spreadsheet editorQuick, low-latency spreadsheet in the terminal with Vim keybindings, so you can skip Google Sheets or Emacs org-table. Critics report doubled characters on input.12recommend
- GnumericFree, lightweight spreadsheet that opens Office and OpenDocument files, handles large CSV files smoothly, and is preferred over LibreOffice Calc by several people.11recommend
- NobieA free, native spreadsheet app that works with Excel xlsx files, evaluates formulas, and suits agents and humans. Critics say it lacks pivot table editing and some features.11recommend
- sc-imFree terminal spreadsheet editor with Vim keybindings; people like being able to open files in it. Common caveat: it is buggy and sometimes crashes.9recommend
- IronCalcPeople recommend IronCalc as a free, open source spreadsheet engine that is light and fast, with a low barrier to try it.8recommend
- TreeSheetsRecommended as a free, keyboard-friendly tool for notes and hierarchical data. Some find it uglier than Obsidian, though they see good ideas in it.5recommend