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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Google Sheets

    Score8.9 out of 10
    N/AGoogle 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.N/A

    Microsoft Power BI

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Power BI is a visualization and data discovery tool from Microsoft. It allows users to convert data into visuals and graphics, visually explore and analyze data, collaborate on interactive dashboards and reports, and scale across their organization with built-in governance and security.

    $168

    per year per user

    Pricing
    Google SheetsMicrosoft Power BI
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Power BI Pro
    $14
    per month (billed annually) per user
    Power BI Premium
    $24
    per month (billed annually) per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Google SheetsMicrosoft Power BI
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—Power BI Desktop is the data exploration and report authoring experience for Power BI, and is available as a free download.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Google SheetsMicrosoft Power BI
    Considered Both Products
    Google
    Chose Google Sheets
    Google Sheets is a standard product that works really well for its functionality. I don't think it's missing anything in what it's been intended for it might not just be the tool for everything (eg big stacks of data)
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    Chose Microsoft Power BI
    Microsoft Power BI has more templates and the control panel for modifying data visualizations is more powerful with more choices of line charts, bar charts, maps/scatter points than Google Sheets, which is limited to simple bar charts and pie charts.
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    97%
    Would buy again
    90 Answers
    96%
    Would buy again
    110 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    86 Answers
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    103 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    89 Answers
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    112 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    49 Answers
    99%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    69 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    60 Answers
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    73 Answers
    Features
    Google SheetsMicrosoft Power BI
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Google Sheets and Microsoft Power BI
    Feature
    Google Sheets
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Power BI
    8.1
    198 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Pixel Perfect reports00 Ratings8.1169 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards00 Ratings8.6197 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates00 Ratings7.7180 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Google Sheets and Microsoft Power BI
    Feature
    Google Sheets
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.9
    196 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Drill-down analysis00 Ratings8.4193 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities00 Ratings7.7193 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages00 Ratings7.4143 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration00 Ratings8.2191 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Google Sheets and Microsoft Power BI
    Feature
    Google Sheets
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.9
    189 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Publish to Web00 Ratings8.1179 Ratings
    Publish to PDF00 Ratings7.7174 Ratings
    Report Versioning00 Ratings7.7145 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling00 Ratings8.3148 Ratings
    Delivery to Remote Servers00 Ratings7.9111 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Google Sheets and Microsoft Power BI
    Feature
    Google Sheets
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.7
    189 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)00 Ratings8.3183 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization00 Ratings8.1168 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics00 Ratings7.2138 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining00 Ratings7.339 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Google Sheets and Microsoft Power BI
    Feature
    Google Sheets
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Power BI
    8.3
    180 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Multi-User Support (named login)00 Ratings8.6169 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model00 Ratings8.1148 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)00 Ratings8.1160 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control00 Ratings8.149 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)00 Ratings8.5141 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Google Sheets and Microsoft Power BI
    Feature
    Google Sheets
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.9
    162 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Responsive Design for Web Access00 Ratings7.6152 Ratings
    Mobile Application00 Ratings7.5133 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile00 Ratings7.8155 Ratings
    Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding
    Comparison of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) / Embedding features of Google Sheets and Microsoft Power BI
    Feature
    Google Sheets
    -
    Ratings
    Microsoft Power BI
    7.6
    116 Ratings
    2% below category average
    REST API00 Ratings7.7104 Ratings
    Javascript API00 Ratings7.485 Ratings
    iFrames00 Ratings8.055 Ratings
    Java API00 Ratings6.769 Ratings
    Themeable User Interface (UI)00 Ratings7.291 Ratings
    Customizable Platform (Open Source)00 Ratings8.444 Ratings
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    Google SheetsMicrosoft Power BI
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    Microsoft Excel
    Score9 out of 10
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    Score8.1 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Microsoft Excel
    Score9 out of 10
    Jaspersoft Community Edition
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    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Google SheetsMicrosoft Power BI
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.1
    (93 ratings)
    8.6
    (199 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.6
    (3 ratings)
    Usability
    8.7
    (55 ratings)
    8.3
    (115 ratings)
    Availability
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (52 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.5
    (82 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (81 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.8
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Google SheetsMicrosoft Power BI
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Google
    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)
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Has significantly improved collation of data and visualisation especially with business across Europe. Has given me the ability to see the Site availability at the click of a button to see which Site is in the "money" and seize opportunities based on Market data
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Google
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Options for data source connections are immense. Not just which sources, but your options for *how* the data is brought in.
    • Constant updates (this is both good and bad at times).
    • User friendliness. I can get the data connections set up and draft some quick visuals, then release to the target audience and let them expand on it how they want to.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Google
    • Ease of use - I collaborate with a lot of folks on these and a lot of them have trouble using it.
    • Would love more live features; for example, being able to have cells react to other inputs (checkboxes, etc) with reactive formatting
    • More cross-usability with other Google products; it's hard to think of drawbacks honestly, this is a pretty seamless software.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • It would be easier for users could Microsoft Power BI and Excel used the same programming languages.
    • Would like to see the online version of Microsoft Power BI be as powerful as the desktop version.
    • Publishing a Microsoft Power BI file online and then having to save the file is somewhat redundant.
    • Would like to export each page or chart as an image.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Google
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Power BI is an excellent and scalable tool. It has a learning curve, but once you get past that, the sky is the limit and you can build from the most simple to the most complex dashboards. I have built everything from simple reports with only a few data points to complex reports with many pages and advanced filtering.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Google
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Automating reporting has reduced manual data processing by 50-70%, freeing up analysts for higher-value tasks. A finance team that previously spent 20+ hours per week on Excel-based reports now does it in minutes with Microsoft Power BI's automated Real-time dashboards have shortened decision cycles by 30-40%, enabling leadership to react quickly to sales trends, operational bottlenecks, and customer behavior.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Google
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Google
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Google
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    It is a fantastic tool, you can do almost everything related with data and reports, it is a perfect substitutive of Power Point and Excel with a high evolution and flexibility, and also it is very friendly and easy to share. I think all companies should have Power BI (or other BI tool) in their software package and if they are in the MS Suite, for sure Power BI should be the one due to all the benefits of the MS ecosystem.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    It was integrated with our erp easily and was accessible on cloud.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Google
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Power BI is free. If I didn't want to create a custom platform (i.e. my organization insisted on an existing platform that I *had* to use), I'd use Microsoft Power BI. For any start-up or SMB, I'd just use Claude & Grok to build it quickly, also for free. Would not pay for Tableau or Sigma anymore. Not worth it at all.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Google
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Scalability
    Google
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Google
    • 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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Power BI usage reduced the effort of analytical reports creation by about 80%
    • Empowered all the level of employee to be more vigilant of the data and business insights, gained the profit of 8% overall.
    • AI-powered predictive analytics improved forecasting accuracy by 17%, that topped the overall sales.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Microsoft Power BI Screenshots

    Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Turns insights into impact for business usersScreenshot of Power BI integrates easily with Microsoft 365Screenshot of Microsoft Power BI - AI-Powered CapabilitiesScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Copilot can be used to create reportsScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Data HubScreenshot of Microsoft Power BI - Scales as organizational needs grow