Excel Replacement?

[blufrog]

Hi,

I'm one of the Office 2019 people that is getting screwed by Micr🤬s🤬ft over their refusal to renew a digital certificate in Office 2019. 🤬🤬🤬

I use Excel a lot for math and engineering, and use the graphing functionality quite significantly.

Is there a good/better replacement for Excel on Mac? I haven't really used or looked at Numbers. Can it compete with Excel?

Hell...I'm even considering putting Lotus SmartSuite in a VM (I used it in the 1990s and I'm still nostalgic about it). I'm really not too fussed, but would prefer a Mac-native alternative.

Like millions before me, I'm slowly moving away from Microsoft/PC (but not for the usual reasons). I'm about two uses away from being able to ditch my PC entirely, but now Micro$oft have screwed things with breaking Office!!!

I WILL NEVER USE SUBSCRIPTION SOFTWARE!

 

[bogdanw]

Have you tried LibreOffice? https://www.libreoffice.org/download/

 

[Mousse]

I use Excel a lot for math and engineering, and use the graphing functionality quite significantly.

If your graphing is limited to 2 axle, LibreOffice Calc can handle the job. If you need XYZ graphing, it can't do that.

Is there a good/better replacement for Excel on Mac?

No spreadsheet is better than Excel on Windows. That's the power of the Dark Side.

 

[blufrog]

Have you tried LibreOffice? https://www.libreoffice.org/download/

I have used OpenOffice, but not for years. I see LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice - is it much better than OpenOffice?

 

[bzgnyc2]

Hi,

I'm one of the Office 2019 people that is getting screwed by Micr🤬s🤬ft over their refusal to renew a digital certificate in Office 2019. 🤬🤬🤬

I use Excel a lot for math and engineering, and use the graphing functionality quite significantly.

Is there a good/better replacement for Excel on Mac? I haven't really used or looked at Numbers. Can it compete with Excel?

Not generally but depending on your situation it may be good enough.

Also try OnlyOffice. They have the best compatibility with Word documents that I've seen. Their spreadsheet component lagged Excel's functionality in the past but I believe they are catching up.

Euro-Office (an upcoming fork of OnlyOffice) might be a good one to follow.

SoftMaker Office might be good as a commercial solution (that has a one-time license option) but I haven't tried it.

Depending on your actual needs you should also consider non-spreadsheet solutions like BI tools (unfortunately, Tableau Desktop, one of the top BI solutions, now subscription), GNU Octave, and other dedicated data analysis and visualization tools.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Numbers is good at what Numbers does... it's not Excel but it's not bad. It's gained mail merge and Pivot Table ability in the past couple of years, and to be honest the only thing I really miss from Excel is some text formatting options (e.g. being able to adjust the angle of text, helpful if you're dealing with a lot of small columns).

 

[chown33]

In your position, I'd do my own evaluation of any suggested replacement.

I'd pick a few existing spreadsheets that are typical representatives . I'd also pick a few others that contain complex things, or unique things that can only be done with a particular feature. I'd then import those spreadsheets into each app and print the results to PDF without making any changes or edits, to evaluate the default fidelity to original. The PDFs will make it easier to compare the outputs. I'd also make sure I had the output PDFs produced by Excel, because those are the references.

That's just the evaluation for fidelity and correctness. You'd have to separately evaluate how well the UI works for you.

 

[bogdanw]

I have used OpenOffice, but not for years. I see LibreOffice is a fork of OpenOffice - is it much better than OpenOffice?

LibreOffice is regularly updated, OpenOffice is rarely updated.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apache-openoffice-for-mac.2393401/
I rarely used spreadsheets, so I can't say which is better.

 

[blufrog]

In your position, I'd do my own evaluation of any suggested replacement.

I'd pick a few existing spreadsheets that are typical representatives . I'd also pick a few others that contain complex things, or unique things that can only be done with a particular feature. I'd then import those spreadsheets into each app and print the results to PDF without making any changes or edits, to evaluate the default fidelity to original. The PDFs will make it easier to compare the outputs. I'd also make sure I had the output PDFs produced by Excel, because those are the references.

That's just the evaluation for fidelity and correctness. You'd have to separately evaluate how well the UI works for you.

When I actually thought about what I used Excel for, it was nothing crazy. For the real heavy-lifting I have other math tools or I write small computational programs.

I'll give Numbers more of a chance. I'm otherwise happy with everything else. I only had Office just for Excel.

 

[theluggage]

Euro-Office (an upcoming fork of OnlyOffice) might be a good one to follow.

As I understand it that's not a stand-alone application yet - its a browser-based, collaborative Google Docs/Office 365 alternative that can be integrated in to a "private" cloud service (some assembly required) - so organisations can run their own collaborative editing apps without trusting Google or MS with their data. Interesting, but maybe not a solution here.

 

[Fishrrman]

It's not hard...

Numbers.
LibreOffice
OnlyOffice
etc.

Try all of them.
Pick the one or two you like the best...

 

[Thirio2]

I’m retired so I don’t need the graphing support of excel. Numbers does not come close to the functionality of excel. If I ever need those capabilities I have an old Windows computer that I can use. I have not tried any of the other programs so I can’t help you there.

 

[aespana]

Maybe Google Sheets? It works really good if you don't need nothing complicated.

For me, it is a really good alternative and it is free.

 

[NoBoMac]

Personally, I'd go with LibreOffice Calc instead of Numbers.

LibreOffice Calc has more Excel functions than Numbers (507 vs 256), so more Excel like. Seen some odd results in date/time math with Numbers (though will admit, have not used Numbers in years). LibreOffice is also Windows, Linux so if move to one of those environments, no migration/conversion required. And Google Sheets is originally based on OpenDocument standards (aka what LibreOffice writes) so another platform that should read in easily should the need arise.

 

[bzgnyc2]

As I understand it that's not a stand-alone application yet - its a browser-based, collaborative Google Docs/Office 365 alternative that can be integrated in to a "private" cloud service (some assembly required) - so organisations can run their own collaborative editing apps without trusting Google or MS with their data. Interesting, but maybe not a solution here.

Ah thanks -- the OnlyOffice from which it forked is still available standalone and didn't realize Euro-Office only pulled the browser-based components. Hopefully the capabilities and functionality between these two won't diverge much...

 

[berb]

I use Excel a lot for math and engineering, and use the graphing functionality quite significantly.

Have a look at OnlyOffice.

In no way am I a power user, but for me OnlyOffice has replaced Microsoft Office for Mac because of bloat. The direction Apple is heading with Numbers, Pages, Keynote, etc, doesn't interest me.

Alternatively if you have a Microsoft Office Windows perpetual license, consider Crossover.

 

[ChrisA]

...I haven't really used or looked at Numbers. Can it compete with Excel?
...

I think you need to look at Numbers. People's biggest complaint about Numbers is that it is not EXACTLY like Excel, and some of the Excel macros do not work. I think Apple would argue that Numbers is not intended to be an exact clone but rather something that is a little nicer to use.



But seriously, I bet Numbers can open your existing Excel files, unless you have crafted some complex macros. Those might have to be re-written.

 

[SnowCrocodile]

Hi,

I'm one of the Office 2019 people that is getting screwed by Micr🤬s🤬ft over their refusal to renew a digital certificate in Office 2019. 🤬🤬🤬

I use Excel a lot for math and engineering, and use the graphing functionality quite significantly.

Is there a good/better replacement for Excel on Mac? I haven't really used or looked at Numbers. Can it compete with Excel?

Hell...I'm even considering putting Lotus SmartSuite in a VM (I used it in the 1990s and I'm still nostalgic about it). I'm really not too fussed, but would prefer a Mac-native alternative.

Like millions before me, I'm slowly moving away from Microsoft/PC (but not for the usual reasons). I'm about two uses away from being able to ditch my PC entirely, but now Micro$oft have screwed things with breaking Office!!!

I WILL NEVER USE SUBSCRIPTION SOFTWARE!

It all depends on whether you plan on using your documents on the phone / iPad and whether you need cross platform compatibility.

As long as you don't need any advanced functionality like power query or tables (the specific Excel function, not just a plain table), both Numbers and Libre Office will work just fine. Between these two, LO is more like Excel in UX.

If you need to use your documents on mobile devices, Numbers makes it a lot easier. Using Open Document Format on iOS / iPadOS is a lot more difficult than it should be, and using MS Office format (which Libre Office can save in by default) most likely requires another subscription, unless you already have a purchased version of Office compatible suite that still works.

The only full featured free Libre Office client for mobile that I am aware of is Collabora and it is absolutely horrible. It has more bugs than a dead raccoon, and about as fast.

If you work with the same documents in Windows or Linux, then it's LO because there's no Numbers for non-Apple OS and using the web app sucks eggs (probably by design).

Not generally but depending on your situation it may be good enough.

Also try OnlyOffice. They have the best compatibility with Word documents that I've seen. Their spreadsheet component lagged Excel's functionality in the past but I believe they are catching up.

Russian made software, that is sold in Russia as R7 office - named after the first Soviet ICBM to capitalize on official ideology of aggressive militarism. They are trying to obfuscate their roots by selling OO via a Latvian subsidiary that is registered to a Singapore shell company, but the owner is the same and the developer is a Russian software company.

It may be OK for some people.

Euro-Office (an upcoming fork of OnlyOffice) might be a good one to follow.

SoftMaker Office might be good as a commercial solution (that has a one-time license option) but I haven't tried it.

I tried it a long time ago on Android and it was fine, but I don't know how long that one-time license will last.

Depending on your actual needs you should also consider non-spreadsheet solutions like BI tools (unfortunately, Tableau Desktop, one of the top BI solutions, now subscription), GNU Octave, and other dedicated data analysis and visualization tools.

 

[_Spook_]

Numbers is good at what Numbers does... it's not Excel but it's not bad. It's gained mail merge and Pivot Table ability in the past couple of years, and to be honest the only thing I really miss from Excel is some text formatting options (e.g. being able to adjust the angle of text, helpful if you're dealing with a lot of small columns).

I use and love numbers, prefer it to excel.

 

[Tajhad]

I would have to agree with the people arguing about giving Numbers a try. It just "may" fit your needs. A lot of the "Numbers is weak, Excel is powerful" arguments are often done by people arguing about the "potential " of Excel - not what they actually use.
I came from a MS office workplace (not a power user).Used Excel. When I was out of that environment I soley used Numbers and am unsure what I am missing. Obviously some features that I never used.

As others have stated, if this doesn't fit the bill - try Libre Office. My only complaint about it - is it has too many features (I dont use them). The other one mentioned was EuroOffice. It might be worth a look - as many European Government Departments are using it - so I would image the "power/features" aspect is quite extensive.

 

[ignatius345]

Is there a good/better replacement for Excel on Mac? I haven't really used or looked at Numbers. Can it compete with Excel?

Really depends on what you’re using Excel for. If you’re an Excel power user and/or working in a corporate environment then most likely Numbers will not do what you need.

That said, Numbers might well fit the bill if your needs are less advanced. I think the only way to answer this it to fire it up and mess around with it.

I’m a huge fan of Numbers, personally. I really like how each tab is its own mini-canvas, which you can populate with multiple spreadsheets, charts, and even graphics and other embeded objects which, unlike Excel, can sit outside the area of a spreadsheet.

 

[josehill]

I use Excel a lot for math and engineering, and use the graphing functionality quite significantly.

That led me to think about whether a combination of an alternative spreadsheet coupled with a dedicated graphing solution might work for you. In a professional context, I'm most familiar with GraphPad Prism, though it's pricey and is really targeted for full-time scientific users. I haven't looked at non-specialist graphing packages in ages, but I wonder if there are any apps that stand out from the pack.

I miss the old days, when there were numerous programs like CricketGraph and DeltaGraph that addressed this niche. To this day, I think the early versions of CricketGraph were some of the best designed, most fit-for-purpose programs in Mac history.

 

[mk313]

Hi,

I'm one of the Office 2019 people that is getting screwed by Micr🤬s🤬ft over their refusal to renew a digital certificate in Office 2019. 🤬🤬🤬

I use Excel a lot for math and engineering, and use the graphing functionality quite significantly.

Is there a good/better replacement for Excel on Mac? I haven't really used or looked at Numbers. Can it compete with Excel?

Hell...I'm even considering putting Lotus SmartSuite in a VM (I used it in the 1990s and I'm still nostalgic about it). I'm really not too fussed, but would prefer a Mac-native alternative.

Like millions before me, I'm slowly moving away from Microsoft/PC (but not for the usual reasons). I'm about two uses away from being able to ditch my PC entirely, but now Micro$oft have screwed things with breaking Office!!!

I WILL NEVER USE SUBSCRIPTION SOFTWARE!

Because I haven't seen it mentioned yet & I'm a little unclear as to why you want to move away from Microsoft, if you are just against subscriptions, you can purchase a stand alone copy of Office that own't get upgraded features, but is also a tone time purchase. At some point in the future, it will probably meet the same fate as 2019 just did, but for me kit's worth it to keep Excel. I only spent $40 on my copy (Groupon runs sales pretty frequently), which is low enough that I consider it worth it to not have to learn to use a different program with different benefits and drawbacks.