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Google Sheets Reviews & Insights

Score8.9 out of 10

764 Reviews and Ratings

Top industries

Based on 52,803 HG Insights installations.

Community Insights for Google Sheets

Synthesised from 51 verified reviews.


Synthesised from 51 reviews


Google Sheets is a widely adopted tool primarily addressing organizational needs for data handling and collaborative workflows, serving as a central repository for diverse information. Reviewers frequently highlight its robust collaboration and sharing capabilities, with 47% commending its ability to facilitate simultaneous multi-user access and effortless information exchange across teams and with external partners. Its ease of use is also a significant advantage, noted by 39% of users, who appreciate its intuitive interface and simple learning curve. The product's free or low-cost nature is a substantial benefit, with 27% of reviewers citing significant cost savings by eliminating the need for expensive software licenses. While excelling in accessibility and collaboration, Google Sheets faces limitations in advanced functionality compared to Microsoft Excel, a concern raised by 14% of reviewers, who point to deficiencies in advanced features, pivot table rigidity, and a lack of keyboard shortcuts. Similarly, 14% of users report difficulties with advanced formulas, limited options, and a desire for more intuitive error messages. Performance issues, particularly when handling large datasets, are a notable pain point, with 16% of reviewers experiencing slow loading times, sluggishness, or even freezing and crashing. Despite these limitations, Google Sheets is a critical tool for data organization and tracking, a use case cited by 37% of users, and for broader data management, processing, and reporting, mentioned by 27%. Its collaborative nature also contributes to improved file sharing and real-time editing, preventing information silos and enhancing team efficiency, as noted by 18% of reviewers. The platform's overall value proposition centers on its ability to provide a cost-effective, highly collaborative, and accessible solution for everyday data management and analysis, though it may require workarounds or alternative tools for highly complex or large-scale analytical tasks.


  • Robust collaboration and real-time sharing capabilities
  • High ease of use and intuitive interface
  • Significant cost savings due to its free or low-cost nature
  • Effective for data organization, tracking, and management
  • Efficient for basic calculations and formula management
  • Limitations in advanced functionality compared to Microsoft Excel
  • Challenges with advanced formulas and limited function options
  • Performance degradation and sluggishness with large datasets
  • Inconsistent utility and performance of integrated AI features
  • Rigidity in pivot table functionality and fewer keyboard shortcuts
What other products like Google Sheets have you used or evaluated?

From 51 reviews

Reviewers frequently identify a range of alternative spreadsheet and data management tools they have used or evaluated in comparison to Google Sheets. Microsoft Excel stands out as the most commonly cited alternative, mentioned by 29% of reviewers. This indicates its pervasive presence in data handling workflows and its status as a primary benchmark for comparison. Other tools, while less frequently cited, also appear in the competitive landscape, suggesting a diverse ecosystem of solutions for similar tasks. Airtable and Apple Numbers are each mentioned by 8% of reviewers, indicating their role as notable, albeit less universal, alternatives. LibreOffice is cited by 6% of reviewers, suggesting its use among a smaller segment of the user base. The consistent identification of these tools, often in conjunction with one another, highlights that users frequently evaluate multiple options to meet their specific data organization and analysis needs, reflecting a mixed sentiment across these various platforms.

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel and Apple Numbers

Airtable

Microsoft Excel, Airtable and Apple Numbers

Apple Numbers

Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers and LibreOffice

What positive or negative impact (i.e. Return on Investment or ROI) has Google Sheets had on your overall business objectives?

From 51 reviews

Google Sheets has significantly impacted business objectives for many organizations, primarily by enabling substantial cost savings and improving data management. Reviewers frequently highlight the financial benefits, with 27% noting that the product's free or low-cost nature eliminates the need for expensive software licenses and complex development, thereby optimizing direct costs. Concurrently, 27% of reviewers report enhanced capabilities in data organization and tracking, which has led to better performance monitoring, strategic decision-making, and improved inventory management. The platform's collaborative features are also a strong positive, with 18% of reviewers citing improved file sharing and real-time editing, which prevents information silos and enhances team efficiency. This collaborative environment, alongside other features, contributes to time savings, as indicated by 14% of reviewers who experienced faster data manipulation and quicker project completion. While overwhelmingly positive, a small segment of reviewers (4%) noted limitations, particularly regarding row quantity for large datasets, which occasionally necessitated workarounds or alternative tools.

Cost Savings

In the world of CRM's it's tremendously cheap

Data Organization and Tracking

Upper Management can see directly through updates

Collaboration and Sharing

Time savings : Instead of emailing excel files back and forth, multiple team members work on the same file, saving a lot of time.

Besides Google Sheets, what other software do you regularly use? How likely would you be to recommend it to a friend or colleague?

From 51 reviews

Reviewers frequently utilize a diverse set of software tools in addition to Google Sheets, with a notable emphasis on cloud-based productivity and communication platforms. Google Drive emerged as the most frequently mentioned tool, cited by 18% of reviewers, indicating its widespread adoption for file storage, sharing, and general document management. Collaboration and communication remain key areas of software usage, with Slack and a broader category of collaboration/communication tools each mentioned by 12% of reviewers. This suggests a strong need for efficient team interaction and project coordination. Google Slides is also a commonly used application, mentioned by 10% of reviewers, highlighting its role in presentation creation. Furthermore, traditional spreadsheet software, including Microsoft Excel and Apple Numbers, continues to be relevant, with 10% of reviewers noting their regular use for data organization and analysis. The consistent mention of these tools across the 51 reviews points to their established utility in professional workflows, although specific qualitative feedback on their performance or user experience was not extensively detailed in the provided quotes. The overall sentiment for these tools, as indicated by the review data, is mixed, suggesting general utility without strong positive or negative descriptors in the available quotes.

Google Drive

Google Drive

Slack

Slack

Collaboration/Communication Tools

Slack, Fin by Intercom, Amplitude Analytics

Describe how you use Google Sheets in your organization. What are the business problems the product addresses and what is the scope of your use case?

From 51 reviews

Google Sheets serves as a foundational tool for organizations, primarily addressing business problems related to data handling and collaborative workflows. Reviewers frequently leverage the product for comprehensive data organization and tracking, a use case cited by 37% of users, acting as a central repository for financial records, project statuses, and customer information. Complementing this, 27% of reviewers highlight its utility for broader data management and tracking, encompassing tasks such as collecting, formatting, processing, and reporting operational data, as well as managing processes and budgets. A significant strength of Google Sheets lies in its collaboration and sharing capabilities, with 29% of reviewers noting its allowance for multiple users to work simultaneously and share information effortlessly across teams and with external partners. This is further supported by its collaboration and accessibility features, emphasized by 24% of reviewers, which enable real-time co-editing for remote teams and ensure access to current information from any location. Furthermore, Google Sheets is a critical tool for calculations and analysis, with 20% of reviewers using it for financial forecasting, performance metric tracking, and creating custom dashboards to derive business insights.

Data Organization and Tracking

I use this resource for so many reasons- I'll list out a few that come to mind: Prepare for weekly meetings, track important performance metrics, budget my region's expenses, create region incentive programs, and many other things.

Collaboration and Sharing

We use Google Sheets to keep track of just about everything: schedules, payments, student data, etc.

Data Management and Tracking

Google Sheets has been instrumental for collecting, formatting, processing, and sharing data in a meaningful way.

Please provide some detailed examples of areas where Google Sheets has room for improvement.

From 51 reviews

Google Sheets users frequently identify several areas where the product could be enhanced, particularly concerning its advanced capabilities and performance. A significant portion of feedback, cited by 14% of reviewers, highlights limitations when compared to Microsoft Excel, noting deficiencies in advanced functionality, pivot table rigidity, and a perceived lack of keyboard shortcuts. Similarly, 14% of users express concerns about formulas and functions, pointing to difficulties with advanced formulas, limited options, and a desire for more intuitive error messages. The integration and utility of AI features present a mixed picture, with 12% of reviewers noting both potential and current challenges, such as AI not performing as expected or slowing down sheets. Furthermore, performance remains a notable pain point for 8% of reviewers, especially when handling large datasets, leading to slow loading times and general sluggishness. An additional 8% of reviewers specifically reported performance issues such as freezing, stalling, or crashing when dealing with substantial amounts of data. These observations collectively suggest a desire for greater sophistication, improved usability in complex scenarios, and more robust performance from Google Sheets.

Excel Comparison

Pivot tables are functional but they feel rigid compared to Excel

Formulas and Functions

limited formulas

AI Features

the =AI function maxes out at 200 cells at a time and can really slow down the function of a sheet

Please provide some detailed examples of things that Google Sheets does particularly well.

From 51 reviews

Google Sheets is highly valued by reviewers primarily for its robust collaboration and sharing capabilities, which are highlighted by 47% of reviewers. Its ease of use is also a significant advantage, noted by 39% of reviewers, who frequently commend its intuitive interface and simple learning curve. Beyond these core strengths, the platform is recognized for its effectiveness in data handling and analysis, cited by 18% of reviewers, particularly with the aid of AI integrations like Gemini. Reviewers also frequently leverage Google Sheets for data organization and tracking, including project management and inventory, a use case mentioned by 14% of the sample. Furthermore, its ability to perform calculations and manage formulas efficiently is appreciated by 14% of reviewers, making it a versatile tool for various analytical and administrative tasks.

Collaboration and Sharing

share-able for collaboration

Ease of Use

Creating a sheet - super easy

Data Handling and Analysis

Organizing data in a meaningful way

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