Free alternatives to Microsoft Excel
5 free programs that can replace Microsoft Excel, each pairing checked by Radar's AI reviewer or by Radar.
Microsoft Excel is the spreadsheet program used for budgets, reports, data tables, charts and everyday calculations, from students and small shops to finance and analyst teams. It is sold as part of Microsoft's office suite, and its files travel constantly by email and shared folders, which is why compatibility matters more than any single feature.
What to check before you switch:
- Open your most important .xlsx files in the new program and compare formulas, formatting, charts and pivot tables.
- Macros written in VBA, add-ins and external data connections are the usual trouble spots. They may need rewriting or may not work at all.
- If colleagues keep using Excel, test saving in its format and passing files back and forth, including comments and shared editing.
- Function names and keyboard shortcuts can differ, so allow some time to get used to them.
LibreOffice and ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors are among the options in the list below. Try your own files in more than one before you decide.
| Program | Ease | You need | Risk signals | Stars | Downloads this week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GridCraftMake spreadsheets with formulas, tables, charts and pivot tables, and open and save Excel .xlsx files. | Ease Adownload and open · Windows | Nothing extra | Attention · 1 | 6,938+337 in 5 days | 296,238 |
| ONLYOFFICE Desktop EditorsCreate and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations and PDFs on your computer, with good Word, Excel and PowerPoint file support. | Ease Adownload and open · Windows | Nothing extra | Few signals | 5,678+45 in 6 days | 372,003 |
| LibreOfficeA complete office suite to write documents, make spreadsheets and build presentations, and to open most common document formats. | Ease Adownload and open · Windows | Nothing extra | Few signals | 4,584+26 in 6 days | — |
| Ely OfficeA family of offline desktop apps for documents, spreadsheets, slides, PDFs, email, Markdown and Git. | Ease Adownload and open · Windows | Nothing extra | Attention · 1 | 1,146+79 in 4 days | 4,566 |
| Agent SkillsAnthropic's official pack of Claude skills, including the ones that make Word, PDF, PowerPoint and Excel files. | Ease Binstaller plus one simple step · Web | Other tools | Few signals | 185,896+1,905 in 5 days | — |
Frequently asked questions
Which free alternative to Microsoft Excel is the easiest to install?
GridCraft has the highest ease rating among the 5 options: A (download and open · Windows).
Is there a free alternative to Microsoft Excel for Windows, Mac and Linux?
Windows: GridCraft, ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors, LibreOffice, Ely Office, Agent Skills. macOS: GridCraft, ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors, LibreOffice, Ely Office, Agent Skills. Linux: GridCraft, ONLYOFFICE Desktop Editors, LibreOffice, Ely Office, Agent Skills.
Are the alternatives to Microsoft Excel really free?
4 of the 5 are completely free; 1 depends on a paid service or key for some features.
How can I tell whether an alternative is trustworthy?
Each card shows the risk signals found, with the evidence. 3 of the 5 have no signal rated attention or high. See also the guide How to find a GitHub project's official repository and avoid fake copies.