Microsoft Excel vs. Google Sheets for data analysis: The Main Difference

Priya Bawa

She has started her career as a Content Writer and writes on blogs related to career.

Source: Safalta

These are practically identical in terms of equations and calculations. This suggests that many of their characteristics are similar.
This post will compare two programmes and highlight the significant differences between Excel and Google Sheets. 

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Table of Content:
1) What exactly is Excel?
2) What exactly is Google Sheets?
3) The Most Significant Differences Between Excel and Google Sheets
4) Google Spreadsheet vs. Excel: Google Sheets Wins on Cost
5) The Differences in the Highlights and Features of Excel and Google Sheets:


What exactly is Excel?

Users may arrange, organise, and compute data in a spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel. Data analysts and other consumers can make the information simpler to examine when data is added or updated by arranging it using software such as Excel. Excel has several boxes called cells that are organised in rows and columns. These cells contain data. Excel is included in the Microsoft Office and Office 365 suites and is interoperable with other Office programmes. The spreadsheet application is available for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.
 
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What exactly is Google Sheets?

Google Sheets is a spreadsheet application that is accessible over the web. So does that imply it's essentially just Google's equivalent of Microsoft Excel? Almost, but not quite.
 
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The Most Significant Differences Between Excel and Google Sheets
  • If you use Microsoft Excel, you must physically save the file. In the case of Google Sheets, however, you may focus on building the sheet and conducting the important work, and your sheet will be immediately saved to your Google Drive.
  • If you wish to utilize macros in Excel or a spreadsheet, you should know that Google Sheets now supports macros. As a result, Google Sheets has emerged as a viable competitor to Microsoft Excel.
  • When it comes to data analysis and visualization, Microsoft Excel is still the preferable option. As Excel has more formulae saved, you cannot beat Microsoft Excel in utilizing it for constructing financial models with simplicity. For instance, if you want to design a flowchart or a Gantt chart in Excel, you can use the built-in formula, but you must do it manually in Google Sheets.
  • In terms of cost, Google Sheets is free. You are free to use them anytime and anywhere you wish. If you want to sign up for a business membership, you must pay $5 per month. Google will give you savings if you pay for a year in advance. Microsoft Office is not free. Microsoft Office 365 (just the online edition) costs $8.25 a month for a single user. In terms of affordability, Google Sheets proves to be a far superior option to Microsoft Excel.

Google Spreadsheet vs. Excel: Google Sheets Wins on Cost

Why? Because it's free!

When choosing a spreadsheet application, the cost is frequently one of the initial (and sometimes the most significant) criteria. Microsoft Excel is not free, and you may purchase it as a single product or as part of the Microsoft 365 subscription. But, you will be charged monthly or yearly for it. At the time of writing, a Microsoft 365 membership would cost $70 per year. Excel now has a free online version, although it lacks the capabilities seen in the 365 subscription version. Google Sheets, on the other hand, is completely free to use. Google Sheets, on the other hand, is completely free to use.

While Google offers expensive G-suite services, the free Google Sheets version provides the same functionality. As a result, many freelancers and small businesses use Google Sheets. This is also a smart Google approach, as many students, instructors, and small businesses that cannot purchase Microsoft Excel begin with Google Sheets and other Google products. And once you've been acclimated to a certain spreadsheet tool, you'll attempt to remain with it in most circumstances.
 
The Differences in the Highlights and Features of Excel and Google Sheets:

Google Sheets is the winner of the collaboration:

Most collaborative organisations already use Google Sheets, and because it's entirely online, spreadsheets are simple to share. If Google Sheets' web-based nature is a disadvantage in terms of capabilities and functions, it is a major advantage in terms of cooperation. Google Sheets offers far superior collaboration capabilities than Excel. While Excel has made headway in facilitating collaboration and making it easier to use, it is still not as fluid as Google Sheets. If you need to communicate with someone using

Excel, for example, these Excel files must be kept on OneDrive or SharePoint. While these products are utilized by large business clients, the majority of people are familiar with Google Drive, which is where you keep your Google Sheets. Collaboration in Google Sheets is effortless, as several users may edit the same sheet from different devices (be it a desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile). You don't need to bother storing your Google Sheets files because they are saved in real-time. This is also available in Excel in Microsoft 365, although it is not available in previous versions. Overall, Google Sheets has an advantage when it comes to cooperation.
 
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Formulas:

Winner: a Tie

Both programmes utilise a large number of formulae, and while one could be leading at any one time, the other quickly catches up. Excel and Google Sheets are neck and neck when it comes to formulae. Yet, if I had to pick a winner, I'd go with Google Sheets. To begin with, Google Sheets contains more formulae than Excel. It also features several formulas that may be used with the web because it was designed as a web-based application. With Google Sheets, for example, a formula called IMAGE allows you to easily put a picture into a cell by providing its URL.

Additionally, Google Sheets introduced dynamic array formulae like SORT, FILTER, and UNIQUE far sooner than Excel. And, while these new formulae are available in Excel in Microsoft 365, they are not available to users who do not have Microsoft 365. But, in the case of Google Sheets, everyone has access to these new formulae (as well as all new functionality as soon as they are introduced).
 
While Excel has been catching up in the formulae department, they have lately begun working on additional formulas that are not available in Google Sheets. For example, they added a new lookup formula called XLOOKUP, as well as a new formula called LET. I believe Google Sheets and Excel will keep working on the formulae while also copying each other. 

Microsoft Excel allows users to arrange, organize, and compute data in a spreadsheet. When data is added or changed, data analysts and other users can make it easier to study by organizing it using software such as Excel. Excel contains a number of boxes known as cells that are structured in rows and columns. These cells hold information. Excel has included been included in the Microsoft Office and Office 365 suites and works with other Office applications. The spreadsheet app is compatible with Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.

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What are the benefits of using Google Sheets to analyse data?

Google Sheets allows people to edit, organize, and analyse many sorts of data. It supports collaboration, and several users may edit and format files in real time, with a revision history to trace any alterations made to the spreadsheet.

What is it that Google Sheets cannot accomplish that Excel can?

What does Excel offer that Google Sheets does not? Excel distinguishes itself from Google Sheets with sophisticated capabilities such as built-in advanced statistical tests, richer data analysis tools, additional shortcuts for your keyboard, and a capability to import data from a variety of outside sources.
 

What is one of the primary distinctions between Google Sheets and the Excel quizlet?

Spreadsheets, like Excel, allow you to interact with several sheets within a single spreadsheet file. Unlike Excel, which starts with three sheets per file by default, Google Spreadsheets starts with a single sheet.
 

What is the distinction between Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets?

Google Sheets is the favoured collaboration application. In terms of statistical analysis and visualization, Excel is unrivalled. Any analysis must be carried out by hand. Excel may be used in offline mode.
 

What are the similarities and differences between Excel and Google Sheets?

Despite these differences, Google Sheets and Excel have numerous commonalities. Users may use both programmes to create and modify spreadsheets, conduct calculations with formulae, and adjust the presentation of their data with formatting choices.
 

How many people use Google Sheets versus Excel, Spreadsheets' various lives

min. Have you ever considered how many people use spreadsheets? According to some estimates, over 800 million individuals use Microsoft Excel, while another 160-180 million use Google Sheets. Not bad for a product that began as a simple visual calculator.
 

what is the difference between Excel and Google Sheets?

Excel has a capacity of 1,048,576 rows and 16,384 columns. In comparison to MS Excel, Google Sheets can only accommodate 2,000,000 Cells (Cells, I mean). Excel also offers more formulas/functions than Google Sheets. Excel provides excellent performance.

 

Which function is missing from Google Sheets?

The NOT function in Google Sheets is a useful function that allows you to negate a logical value or phrase. In other words, if the function's input is TRUE, the function returns FALSE. Likewise, if the input is FALSE, the method returns TRUE.
 

Can I use Excel if Google Sheets is available?

Using the "Download" option, you may convert Google Sheets files to Excel files. Google Sheets allows you to save your spreadsheets in a format that Microsoft Excel can open.
 

Do businesses prefer Google Sheets or Excel?

Most businesses rely on Microsoft Excel to meet their various and different spreadsheet requirements. Excel, on the other hand, is less than suitable for commercial needs due to the programme's significant managerial overhead and high inherent mistake risks.