Sheets is ideal for everyday collaborative spreadsheets; for heavy modelling or very large datasets, Excel keeps the edge.
About
In practice. What you can do with Google Sheets.
Google Sheets is a free online spreadsheet, the collaborative equivalent of Excel: formulas, charts, pivot tables, with simultaneous multi-user editing and automatic cloud sync.
For a freelancer or small team, it's often the default tool for tracking budgets, invoicing, or shared planning — without needing a dedicated project management tool. Its limits show up on very large datasets or complex calculations, where Excel remains more capable.
Practical uses
Track a budget or plan collaboratively.
Collect and analyse team data in real time.
Share a dashboard linked to Drive.
Features & use cases
Collaboration
Data visualisation
Analyse
Documentation
Pros and cons. What Google Sheets does well, and what to expect.
Pros
Real-time collaboration with version history.
Formulas, charts and .xlsx/.csv compatibility.
Easy connection to other Google services.
Browser-accessible, no install.
Cons
Limited performance on very large volumes.
Advanced features trail Excel.
Offline mode is imperfect.
When it makes sense. Keep Google Sheets, or challenge it?
Keep if
You want a real-time collaborative spreadsheet.
Your analysis needs stay reasonable.
Challenge if
You handle very large volumes or heavy financial models.
You rely on advanced Excel macros and functions.
Our verdict. What to know about Google Sheets.
Why this verdict
Great
Google Sheets is fairly easy to replace with an alternative, a free tier to test before paying, clearly documented use cases.
