ChatGPT for Excel
Shares rank 2 of 3 spreadsheet add-ins by recommenders
Helps people work through complex spreadsheets and tangled formulas inside Excel. Critics raise data-privacy concerns and frequent availability problems.
Helps people work through complex spreadsheets and tangled formulas inside Excel. Critics raise data-privacy concerns and frequent availability problems.
21 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 14
- approval share
- 33%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Handles complex spreadsheets and formulas
“Nice addition for get my head around those narley formulas”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “ChatGPT for Excel” “ChatGPT for Excel does really well on complex sheets.”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “ChatGPT for Excel”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Data privacy and security concerns
“I am worried about cases where an individual has chosen to integrate an add-in and then inadvertently leaks sensitive data”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “ChatGPT for Excel” “the poor UI and security story of COM add-ins and the inability to run on Excel for iOS”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “ChatGPT for Excel” “Chatgpt for Excel is still an office add-in running in the same sandbox though.”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “ChatGPT for Excel” - Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “ChatGPT for Excel”
Limited platform and regional availability
“every time I have tried it I get 'Currently Unavailable - please try again later'. Which is very unhelpful.”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “ChatGPT for Excel” “the poor UI and security story of COM add-ins and the inability to run on Excel for iOS”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “ChatGPT for Excel” “doesn't seem to be available for excel on macOS, disappointing”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “ChatGPT for Excel” - Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “ChatGPT for Excel”
- Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “ChatGPT for Excel”
Distracting and unreliable AI assistance
“These tools are irrelevant, disrupt flow and if anything just add noise to what one is doing.”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “ChatGPT for Excel” “a really smart but easily distracted and confused child”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “ChatGPT for Excel”
Other spreadsheet add-ins people recommend
The two most recommended other spreadsheet add-ins, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude for Excel | 11 | 4 | 73% | 8 | — | Approved |
| ChatGPT for ExcelThis page | 7 | 14 | 33% | 1 | — | — |
| Microsoft Copilot in Excel | 7 | 36 | 16% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
21 of the 22 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“If so, perfectly well, yes.”
“every time I have tried it I get 'Currently Unavailable - please try again later'. Which is very unhelpful.”
“This will make us save really much time.”
“I think this is a great use case for real world impact of AI.”
“doesn't seem to be available for excel on macOS, disappointing”
“a really smart but easily distracted and confused child”
“Nice addition for get my head around those narley formulas”
“all software nowadays only works outside my earth region”
“These AI in Excel products are a financial crisis waiting to happen.”
“the answer to the above question is a no, and should start with No.”
“the poor UI and security story of COM add-ins and the inability to run on Excel for iOS”
“I am worried about cases where an individual has chosen to integrate an add-in and then inadvertently leaks sensitive data”
“ChatGPT for Excel does really well on complex sheets.”
“Whoops— I forgot I had installed it when I just opened up the test results for the propriety work thing”
“This is a drop-in database analysis tool and nobody knows it.”
“"your chats, attachments, and workbook content — may be shared with OpenAI"”
“Chatgpt for Excel is still an office add-in running in the same sandbox though.”
“I don't know why you'd use this as an M365 subscriber in an enterprise”
“These tools are irrelevant, disrupt flow and if anything just add noise to what one is doing.”
“it has been excruciatingly slow for even the simplest spreadsheet”
“Except for pro and plus users in the EU eh…”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.