Google Sheets vs Excel: Which Is Better for Your Work in 2026?

Someone on your team built the budget in Excel. Someone else runs the project tracker in Google Sheets. Now you’re emailing attachments back and forth, copying data between the two, and wondering whether everyone should just pick one.

Both are excellent spreadsheets, and the honest answer is that each wins in different situations. Google Sheets was built for the browser and for many people editing at once. Excel was built as a desktop powerhouse and has spent years adding cloud collaboration. The right choice depends on how big your data is, how complex your analysis gets and how your team already works.

This comparison breaks it down by collaboration, data limits, advanced features, AI and cost, then gives a clear recommendation by use case.

The quick verdict

Key takeaway: Pick based on your ecosystem and your heaviest use case. If your hardest spreadsheet is a shared tracker, use Sheets. If it’s a 200,000-row model, use Excel.

Collaboration and sharing

Google Sheets was collaborative from day one. You share a link, and everyone with access works in the same live file. You see other people’s cursors, leave comments, assign action items and roll back changes from version history. There’s nothing to install, and it works the same on Windows, Mac and Chromebook.

Excel has closed much of the gap. Co-authoring lets several people edit the same workbook at the same time, and changes from others appear quickly. But there are conditions. According to Microsoft, the file must be saved in OneDrive, OneDrive for Business or SharePoint Online, it must use a modern format (.xlsx, .xlsm or .xlsb), and desktop co-authoring requires a Microsoft 365 subscription. Files on on-premises SharePoint or a local drive don’t co-author, and people on older Excel versions can fall back to Excel for the web.

In practice, Sheets still feels smoother for groups that live in the browser, while Excel co-authoring works well once everyone is on Microsoft 365 and saving to OneDrive or SharePoint. If you’re still deciding where your files should live, see our comparison of iCloud vs Google Drive vs OneDrive.

Data limits and performance

Limits matter once your data grows past a few thousand rows.

A few practical points:

• Excel’s limit is per sheet, so a workbook can hold several sheets of up to 1,048,576 rows each, subject to your computer’s memory.
• Sheets’ limit is per file, counting every cell across all tabs, including empty cells in the grid. Google doubled the cap to 20 million cells for new, existing and imported files, with rollout starting September 10, 2026.
• Speed depends on the job. Desktop Excel on a capable machine usually handles heavy formulas and large lookups faster. Google has been improving Sheets performance with large files, but very formula-heavy files can still feel slow in a browser.

If you regularly work with millions of rows, neither spreadsheet is the right home. That’s when a database or a BI tool makes more sense. Our Power BI vs Tableau comparison covers the next step up.

Advanced analysis features

This is where Excel pulls ahead for power users.

Where Excel leads

• Power Query: A built-in tool to import, clean and reshape data from files, databases and web sources, with steps you can refresh.
• Power Pivot and the Data Model: Relate multiple tables and build measures, closer to a BI tool inside a spreadsheet.
• PivotTables: Deeper options for grouping, slicers, timelines and PivotCharts. Our pivot table tutorial walks through them.
• What-if analysis: Goal Seek, Scenario Manager, Data Tables and the Solver add-in for modeling.
• Python in Excel: Microsoft says it’s available for Business and Enterprise users in Excel for Windows (Current Channel from Version 2408), Excel for Mac and Excel on the web, with a paid add-on for premium compute.
• VBA macros for automating desktop tasks, plus Office Scripts for Excel on the web.

Where Google Sheets leads

• Web-native functions: Functions such as IMPORTRANGE, IMPORTHTML and GOOGLEFINANCE pull in data from other sheets and the web.
• Google Forms: Form responses flow straight into a sheet, which is perfect for sign-ups, surveys and requests.
• Apps Script: JavaScript-based automation that connects Sheets with Gmail, Calendar, Drive and outside APIs.
• Connected Sheets: Workspace users with BigQuery access can analyze large BigQuery datasets from a familiar spreadsheet interface, with scheduled refreshes.

Both support the everyday features most people need: filters, conditional formatting, charts, pivot tables, XLOOKUP and dynamic array formulas.

AI assistants: Copilot vs Gemini

Both tools now include AI helpers, and they change fast.

• Excel with Microsoft 365 Copilot can suggest formulas, highlight patterns, create PivotTables and charts, and answer questions about your data in plain English. Availability depends on your Microsoft 365 plan and licenses. See our take on whether Microsoft 365 Copilot is worth it.
• Google Sheets with Gemini can generate tables, write formulas, summarize data and help build charts. Which Gemini features you get depends on your Google Workspace plan.

For practical prompts that work in both, read how to use AI in Excel and Google Sheets. Whichever you use, check AI-generated formulas before you rely on them.

Cost and licensing models

Prices change often and vary by plan and region, so check the official pricing pages before you buy. Here’s how the models work:

The bigger cost question is usually your whole productivity suite, not the spreadsheet. If your business already pays for Microsoft 365 for email and Teams, Excel is effectively included. If you’re on Google Workspace, Sheets is.

Security and admin control

Both platforms offer business-grade controls through their admin consoles: sharing restrictions, multi-factor authentication, data loss prevention on higher plans and audit logs. The bigger risk in either tool is oversharing, such as “anyone with the link can edit” files containing customer or payroll data.

Set sharing defaults to your organization only, review externally shared files regularly, and turn on multi-factor authentication for everyone. If you’re on Microsoft’s side, our guide on how to secure Microsoft 365 covers the key settings.

Which should you choose? A use-case guide

• Small business owner tracking sales, inventory or jobs: Google Sheets for shared, simple trackers. Switch to Excel if you start building pricing models or financial forecasts.
• Finance and accounting teams: Excel. Accountants, auditors and lenders commonly expect Excel files, and features such as Power Query and what-if analysis matter.
• Marketing and operations teams: Google Sheets for campaign trackers, content calendars and form-driven workflows.
• Data analysts: Both. Excel for heavy modeling and Power Query, Sheets for sharing results and pulling from BigQuery.
• Students and freelancers: Either free version covers most needs. Match whatever your clients or school use.

Where to start

1. List your 5 most important spreadsheets and note their size, who edits them and how complex the formulas are.
2. Check your existing suite. If you already pay for Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, start there.
3. Test your biggest file in both tools. Open it, refresh formulas and try your pivot tables.
4. Set a team rule, such as “shared trackers live in Sheets, financial models live in Excel.”
5. Standardize sharing settings so files don’t leak outside the company.

Conclusion

Google Sheets wins on effortless collaboration and browser-first simplicity. Excel wins on power, data capacity per sheet and advanced analysis. Most businesses don’t need to ban one. They need a clear rule for which tool handles which job, plus sensible sharing settings. Start with the suite you already pay for, test your heaviest file, and switch only where the other tool clearly does the job better.

Sources

• Microsoft Support: Excel specifications and limits — 1,048,576 rows by 16,384 columns, PivotTable limits
• Google Workspace Updates: Doubled cell limits in Google Sheets now generally available — 20 million cell limit and September 2026 rollout
• Google Drive Help: Files you can store in Google Drive — Google Sheets size limits
• Microsoft Support: Collaborate on Excel workbooks at the same time with co-authoring — co-authoring requirements
• Microsoft Support: Python in Excel availability — platforms and channels for Python in Excel
• Google Docs Editors Help: Analyze and refresh BigQuery data using Connected Sheets — Connected Sheets capabilities