# Grist

21 Hacker News commenters recommended Grist and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as an open source, self-hostable database that works like a spreadsheet, with Python, webhooks and row-level access control.

## Why people recommend it

- Open source and self-hostable (6 comments): "It's self-hostable (and the community version is FOSS I think), and really useful in a way I find better than just a spreadsheet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46192511)) "Your use case (specifically with Forms) seems aligned with Grist, which is also open source" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47100970)) "your company to me represents a win for free/open software and cross-country collaboration" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46880215))
- Database behind a spreadsheet interface (4 comments): "Grist[1] is great for this stuff, at first glance its a spreadsheet but that spreadsheet is backed by a SQLite database" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46883907)) "It's a db not a spreadsheet but it's basically the tool I actually needed when I would reach for excel." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47827824)) "Brings over column types, references, simple formulas, attachments etc" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182106))
- Automations, Python and API access (3 comments): "You can run python as a column/ cell and it doesn't have a lot of the limitations of Airtable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49175945)) "I find Grist (via API) and n8n much more applicable and process oriented than core DS pandas" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49669425)) "Grist can react to changes in your data automatically, sending emails or firing webhooks." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47598307))
- Used for manufacturing and forms (3 comments): "Grist forms are open source and were used to keep the toilets clean at FOSDEM" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46879203)) "they have built their entire manufacturing process management on it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49200306)) "Manufacturing ops is a pretty common use case in Grist." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49271948))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Airtable](https://hackerapproved.com/p/airtable.md): 22 recommend
- [Baserow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/baserow.md): 6 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Grist", https://hackerapproved.com/p/grist/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).