Google Sheets

Score8.8 out of 10

644 Reviews and Ratings

What is Google Sheets?

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.

Categories & Use Cases

Spreadsheet

Kaley White View profile

Data and Systems Analyst at Radformation (51-200 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

My department uses Google Sheets to track information such as task assignments and regulatory requirements. We also occasionally use it for data analysis and visualization. We do have a few more advanced Google Sheets that include Apps Scripts.

Pros

Collaboration, especially simultaneous
Document sharing
Connecting multiple Sheets

Cons

Tables. It's way behind Excel in this respect!
Missing some useful formatting, like sub- and superscripts
Color picker is not as usable as Microsoft Office's

Return on Investment

Suggestion mode has saved us so much time with redlining!
As a Google shop, my organization loves Sheets's seamless integration with other GSuite tools, especially GDrive.
Automations, such as formulas and Apps Scripts, have saved the finance and sales teams a bunch of time.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued)

Other Software Used

Airtable, Zapier, Google Drive

Steve Crawford

Youth Pastor at Grace Bible Church of Hutchinson, KS (1-10 employees employees)

Pros

Helps coordinate accurate data
Helps eliminate inefficiencies and unnecessary busy work
Helps us prepare guests lists and rosters for events

Cons

Quicker response time when scrolling (seems jarring at times)
Better printing formatting (when you want to print a spreadsheet)
More aesthetically pleasing (sometimes appears very basic)

Return on Investment

Google Sheets has allowed us to put on successful major events
Google Sheets has allowed us to improve our inter-office teamwork and coordination
Google Sheets has helped us reduce inaccuracies and embarrassing mistakes

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Excel and Apple Numbers

Other Software Used

Google Calendar, Google Drive, Mailchimp, Apple Numbers, Todoist: To-Do List & Task Manager, Wix, Zoom

Amanda McCombs View profile

Client Success Operations Analyst at Usherpa (11-50 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Google sheets to track and update projects in real time by multiple people in various locations. We also use it as a bridge between other applications and Tableau via Zapier.

Pros

Easier than Excel to create formulas and conditional formats, etc
Integrates with almost anything so can be easily used as a workaround to link two programs that aren't integrated with each other
Makes sharing work and updates very seamless

Cons

Would love to see better AI that takes more of the guesswork out of formulas, especially for newer users
Sometimes there are glitches with the horizontal scrollbar

Return on Investment

It's all ROI for us because it is an included part of the Google product suite
It's more mobile friendly than Excel and can be shared real time, so things get done more quickly with less back & forth

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Excel

Other Software Used

Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server, Tableau Prep, UserGuiding, ActiveCampaign, monday.com, Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)

Verified User

Manager in Finance and Accounting (201-500 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Google Sheets for period closing checklist, schedule building/updating, invoice analysis, P&L review/anaysis and across the company. The good thing about Google Sheets is the history audit trail so you can see who changes what and when. You can also protect certain columns, cells to prevent formulas from being changed, while sharing with multiple people you can select different permissions per person.

Pros

audit trail
different permissions per person
integrating with different applications for automation

Cons

formulas, specifically highlighting duplicating values and removing them (or just one set of duplicated values)
printing headers, selected cells
AI help with formulas

Return on Investment

quicker closing times
better tracking of real time updates to vendor banking information
traking of emails going through automation process by integrating with Google Sheets to be updated when emails are sent out

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Excel and Smartsheet

Other Software Used

Smartsheet, Microsoft Excel, Excel Analyzer

Verified User

Contributor in Sales (501-1000 employees employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use it for everything from deal tracking to 1:1 prep, and it makes it super easy to collaborate together across our team. It’s easy to copy sheets and update the fields, making it more dynamic than Excel. I can report on metrics to leadership as well.

Pros

Ease of use
Speed
Consistency

Cons

Product Updates
AI Implementation
Enablement

Return on Investment

Increased performance
Better reporting on data
More deals closed

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Smartsheet

Other Software Used

Okta, Slack, Rippling