Google Sheets

This Google Sheets review covers what the spreadsheet software is used for, its key features, Google Sheets pricing, how it compares with Microsoft Excel, and where it works as a database for low-code tools. Sheets runs in the browser and in mobile apps, saves every change to the cloud and lets multiple people edit the same file at once. It is completely free with a personal Google account and part of every Google Workspace plan. For individual users, small businesses and teams it is often the first place data lives and the simplest tool for online collaboration, and for no-code builders it is often the first backend: AppSheet, Glide and Softr all read and write Google Sheets.

What is Google Sheets used for?

Google Sheets is used for the same everyday analysis as any spreadsheet: budgets, sales and marketing reports, inventory lists, project management trackers, schedules and simple CRMs. Its strength is shared work. A project manager can share one tracker with the whole team, every person sees the latest version, and version history shows who changed what. Google Forms writes responses straight into a sheet, so the file becomes a live inbox for sign-ups, requests or survey answers.

For low-code teams, Sheets is also a lightweight data source. You create a table with one row per record, and an app builder turns it into a mobile or web app. Apps Script, Google's JavaScript platform, adds custom functions, menus and scheduled jobs. Connected Sheets lets analysts work with BigQuery or Looker data from a familiar sheet without writing SQL.

Key features

• Real time collaboration: simultaneous editing, comments, task assignments and easy sharing with view, comment or full edit access, plus version history to restore any earlier state.
• Formulas and functions: hundreds of formulas and functions familiar from Microsoft Excel, QUERY for SQL-style filtering and IMPORTRANGE to pull data from other files.
• Charts and pivot tables: charts, graphs and pivot tables for data analysis and data visualization; Looker Studio connects for dashboards when the built-in visualization tools are not enough.
• Tables: format a range as a table with column types and smart chips for people, files and dates, which keeps data consistent.
• Data validation: dropdowns, checkboxes and rules that stop bad input.
• Gemini in Sheets: create trackers, write and debug formulas and summarize data from a prompt, on Workspace plans that include Gemini (Google Sheets).
• Connected Sheets: analyze BigQuery and Looker data in a sheet, with pivot tables up to 200,000 rows and extracts up to 500,000 rows (Google Drive Help).
• Excel files: open and edit Excel spreadsheets directly without converting them, or convert them to Sheets format.
• Offline and mobile: Google Sheets can work offline in Chrome once offline access is on, and the iOS and Android apps edit files on any device.
• Apps Script and add-ons: automate tasks, call APIs and install add-ons from the Google Workspace Marketplace.

Google Sheets pricing

Google Sheets is free for individual users with a personal Google account; storage is shared with Gmail and Google Drive. Businesses pay per user for Google Workspace, which includes Sheets, Docs, Drive, Gmail and Meet. The Workspace pricing page showed euro prices from our location in September 2026 (Business Starter €6.80, Business Standard €13.60 and Business Plus €21.10 per user per month on monthly billing, with an annual discount). Third-party guides list the US annual prices as $7, $14 and $22 per user per month (Email Tool Tester).

• Free: Google Sheets with a personal account, including sharing, version history and offline use.
• Business Starter: 30 GB pooled storage per user; Gemini only in Gmail and Vids.
• Business Standard: 2 TB per user and Gemini across Sheets, Docs and other apps.
• Business Plus: 5 TB per user and more security and admin controls.
• Enterprise: custom pricing.

The cost surprise to check is where the features you want sit. Gemini in Sheets needs Business Standard or higher, and Workspace is billed per user, so a team of 20 pays for 20 seats. Apps Script quotas are also far lower on free accounts: triggers can run 90 minutes a day and scripts send email to 100 recipients a day, against 6 hours and 1,500 on Workspace (Apps Script quotas). Every script run stops after 6 minutes on either account.

Getting started: create your first spreadsheet

Open sheets.google.com or Google Drive, sign in and create a blank spreadsheet or start from a template such as a budget, schedule or project tracker. Everything saves to Google's cloud storage as you type, so there is no save button and no file to email around. Type formulas as in Excel, add a chart from the Insert menu and share the file with the Share button. The search bar in Drive finds any spreadsheet by name or content. Sheets works like the other Google apps, so anyone who knows Google Docs finds the menus familiar. Without an internet connection you need offline mode switched on first.

Google Sheets vs Excel for data analysis

Google Sheets is better for collaboration, sharing and work in the browser; Microsoft Excel, part of Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365, is better for heavy analysis, data management at scale and large data sets. Excel offers Power Query, Power Pivot, more chart types and advanced functions that power users and financial modelers rely on, and it handles far more rows. Sheets caps a file at 20 million cells, and large sheets slow down well before that. In exchange, Sheets is free, needs no additional setup and has a gentler learning curve for most users. Many professionals use both: Sheets for shared trackers and quick everyday analysis, Excel for complex calculations. Because Sheets opens Excel files directly, moving Excel spreadsheets between the two is easy, though some macros, formulas and advanced Excel features do not carry over. For most users the right tool depends on the work: shared data and simple charts point to Sheets, advanced data analysis points to Excel.

Can Google Sheets be used as a database?

Yes, for small projects. Sheets works as a database when the data fits in one or a few tables, stays under tens of thousands of rows and is edited by a small team. Structure it like one: one header row, one record per row, one type of data per column, and an ID column. No-code tools then use it as a backend. AppSheet and Glide build mobile apps on a sheet, Softr builds portals on it, and Zapier or Make move rows between Sheets and other apps. You can run SQL-style queries with the QUERY function, but there are no relations between tables, no row-level security and no transactions. When an app grows beyond that, move the data to a real database such as Airtable, Baserow or a SQL database, and keep Sheets for reporting.

Where Google Sheets shines — and where it falls short

Strengths:

• Free, browser-based and beginner friendly, with most Excel formulas and features.
• Seamless collaboration with real time co-editing, comments and version history.
• Integrates with Google Forms, Workspace apps and most no-code and automation tools.
• Apps Script and Gemini add automation and AI without extra software.

Trade-offs:

• Slows down with large datasets; the hard limit is 20 million cells per file.
• Fewer advanced data analysis features than Excel, such as Power Query and Power Pivot.
• Weak as an app backend beyond small projects: no relations or row-level permissions.
• Offline use needs to be set up per browser in advance.

How Google Sheets compares

• Airtable: a relational database with a spreadsheet interface, forms and automations.
• Baserow and NocoDB: open-source, self-hostable spreadsheet databases.
• Smartsheet: spreadsheet-style project management for larger organizations.
• Coda and Notion: docs with tables inside pages.
• AppSheet: Google's no-code app builder that turns a sheet into an app.

Is Google Sheets worth it?

Google Sheets is worth it for almost anyone who needs a shared spreadsheet: it is free, fast to learn and the best option for teams that work together on the same data. It is the right tool for trackers, reports, forms and the first version of a no-code app. It is less suited to heavy analysis, very large data sets or apps with many users and permissions, where Excel or a real database fits better. If you want help turning a spreadsheet into an app or automating it, the low-code agencies and developers on LowCodeDevs can take it on.

Sources

• Google Sheets: features, Gemini, tables, Connected Sheets and offline use.
• Google Workspace pricing: plans, storage and Gemini availability.
• Files you can store in Google Drive: the 20 million cell limit and Connected Sheets limits.
• Apps Script quotas: runtime, trigger and email limits for free and Workspace accounts.
• Google Workspace pricing, Email Tool Tester: US prices.
• Google Sheets review, Flozic: features and limits (it gives a 10 million cell limit; Google's help center now says 20 million).
• Google Sheets vs. Excel, G2 and Coursera: the Excel comparison.