EtherCalc is a real-time collaborative spreadsheet available from a browser with no sign-up, available also at no cost.
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Google Sheets
Score 8.9 out of 10
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Google Sheets is the spreadsheet app available on Google Workspace, or standalone, with a free plan for personal use and accessible via mobile apps for iOS and Android.
Ethercalc is very well suited for developing modern-day enterprise (smaller-mid size), finance and healthcare applications as it can do Real-time data pull from a variety of third-party apps, and has interoperability with CSV, Microsoft Excel and JSON files; It's available on all on all public clouds including AWS, GCP and Microsoft Azure and can be used as a Low code and no code development tool. Further, we can Develop applications on the go with good integration and visualization libraries and we can also do Tabulation and graphing along with ability to use it as an npm module, do Real time collaboration and editing. It is a very good tool for startups and government institutions. There is a considerable scope of improvement for using it in bigger enterprises as it needs key integration and interoperability functionalities. It can evolve in a variety of directions depending upon its integration with a variety of third party apps services and tools. As an analytics tool, for example, it needs integration with R, Scipy, Numpy and keras libraries. Availability within Ionic, NativeScript or Appgyer as an extension or a plugin will be very useful for it being used as a large enterprise low code/no code tool.
Google Sheets is well suited in two main areas: is free to use and you don't need to buy a license to use it, comparing to the most direct competitors ; collaboration is in my opinion the best advantage, with multiple people working together and seeing others working in real time. It's less appropriate in low connectivity environments (offline capabilities)
Collaborative planning : In the initial phase of project, Team leads and architects create a permission matrix along with the naming convention simultaneously, seeing who is editing / adding the details in real-time.
Cost tracking : We use this tool to track cloud resource usage monthly costs, so that we can analyse it and send out comms for high cost based resources. By storing cost data here, it's easy for use to store data of last couple of years.
Flexible documentation : For change logging of different scenarios we would need different / ad-hoc columns to be added on the fly, which makes using this tool much simpler then reputed third party tools.
I am not involved in the purchase/selection process, but my organization is a Google shop, and Sheets meets most of our spreadsheet needs and works seamlessly with our other tools. I don't anticipate our switching anytime soon.
It can easily handle most uses and functions. It is only for very large datasets or advanced analysis that it either lacks the proper functions or performance begins to slow. Most employees who continue to use competitors' products do so out of preference, familiarity with the user interface, or other surface-level reasons.
Like most Google products, Google Sheets rarely has outages or slowness, and when it does, connection is always momentarily restored. I can't recall a time when I've been unable to access Google Sheets but able to access other sites just fine. That said, errors aren't uncommon when handling large data volume. You know what they say about using spreadsheets as databases, but sometimes it's just the most convenient option, especially for smaller or one-off projects, and not being able to store large amounts of data hampers our ability to move quickly with scrappy prototypes or full solutions. It would be great if we could better integrate our data manipulation (Apps Script) with big data in the sheet.
Again, Google Sheets is no exception to Google's general high speed and reliability, but load times can be slow for larger amounts of data. I've used Sheets with Zapier and have used the Python API, and speed has never been an issue.
I have never contacted Google Sheets support, but Google Sheets makes it very easy to report an issue or suggest a feature from Sheets itself (Help > Help Sheets improve), and I've had mostly good experiences with support for other Google products.
EtherCalc has a low barrier to entry on training and end-user development. It is very easy for startups with considerable time pressure to deliver to use EtherCalc as a tool for tabulation, organization, collaboration and computation. It is also very useful for use cases in government institutions where there is a strong push for open source software-based ERP solutions or app development. These are the key reasons for the selection of Ethercalc.
I have found that I can do almost everything I could have done in Microsoft Excel faster and easier in Google Sheets. We recommend Google Sheets in 99.9% of our use cases and feel it meets the needs of our workers very well. I am sure there are other spreadsheet creation programs out there, but because we are already in the Google environment, adopting Google Sheets in very easy.
I'm not involved with the purchase, but I assume everything goes smoothly and that the pricing structure is predictable and reasonable. We do not get surprise fees.
Google Sheets works very well with multiple users. It's convenient to see in real-time who is collaborating in a sheet, down to the specific cell that they're viewing/editing. Linking Sheets across departments is convenient with the IMPORTRANGE function.
Very good opportunities on using it as a low code, no code tool with ionic open source platform. Able to meet needs of our customers and do real time deployment quickly
Very productive and useful for developing web APIs and PWAs on the cloud, tablet, mobile and a variety of surface devices (touch functions can be customized according to needs)
Spreadsheet for the next 100-150 years as it integrates well with React, Angular and Jquery libraries. Maintainable and readable code of spreadsheet
Low barrier to entry on training and end user development
Good analytics and accounting tool for startups
What you see is what you get interface
The ability to integrate with firebase and Dropbox is neat.
Don't need to pay for windows 365 license as it is free
Has a positive impact since I am not cursing excel for annoying problems(I don't want the new Pivot table format, I want to use Classic and I don't want to expand/collapse arrows. "x$#%")
[Haven't] looked at return on investment on work, but has "simplified" for basic and medium spreadsheets.
