Budget Spreadsheet: Excel or Google Sheets, Which Should You Use?

If you are about to set up a budget spreadsheet, or a tracker for bills, habits or a small business, one of the first questions is which program to use. Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets both handle everyday budgets and trackers well. The better choice depends less on features and more on how and where you like to work. Here is an honest comparison.

The short answer

• Choose Google Sheets if you want something free, want to update it from your phone, or share it with a partner or business partner.
• Choose Excel if you already have it, prefer working on a desktop, often work without an internet connection, or simply like keeping files on your own computer.

For a typical household budget or simple tracker, either one is more than enough.

Cost

Google Sheets is free with a Google account. There is nothing to install, and it runs in any modern web browser.

Excel comes either as a one-time purchase of a particular version or as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription. Many people already have it through work, school or a computer that came with it. If you already own it, cost is not a factor. If you do not, Google Sheets is the obvious starting point for a budget.

Using it on your phone

This matters more than people expect. Budgets and trackers work best when you add entries soon after you spend, not days later from memory.

Google Sheets has a mobile app for iPhone and Android, and changes sync to your account automatically. You can add a receipt at the checkout and see it on your laptop that evening.

Excel also has a mobile app, and it works well for viewing and light editing. Keeping the same file in sync across devices usually means storing it in OneDrive. If you keep your budget only on one computer, phone updates are not really part of the picture.

For both, setting up a template is easier on a computer. The phone is best for quick daily entries.

Sharing with someone else

If you share money with a partner, or keep the books with a business partner, Google Sheets is very convenient. You share a link, choose whether the other person can edit or only view, and you both see the same file in real time. There are no copies emailed back and forth.

Excel can also be shared and co-edited through OneDrive or SharePoint, and that works well inside households or businesses already using Microsoft. Outside that setup, people often end up sending files by email, which leads to the familiar question of which version is the latest.

Working offline

Excel is at home offline. The file lives on your computer and opens whether or not you have a connection.

Google Sheets is built for working online. It does have an offline mode that you can turn on for specific files, but it needs setting up in advance and is less dependable than a file saved on your own computer. If you often work with weak or no internet, Excel is the safer choice.

Mac and Windows

Both work on Mac and Windows. Google Sheets runs in the browser, so it behaves the same on any computer. Excel for Mac and Excel for Windows are very close for everyday budgets and trackers, though a few advanced features differ between them.

Apple Numbers is another option on Mac, but files made for Excel or Google Sheets do not always behave the same way in Numbers, so it is worth checking before you rely on it.

Privacy and where your data lives

With Excel, your file can stay on your own computer and nowhere else, unless you choose to save it to the cloud. With Google Sheets, your file is stored in your Google Drive, private to you unless you share it. Both are reasonable choices. It comes down to whether you prefer a local file or the convenience of the cloud.

Formulas and features

For budgets and trackers, the everyday tools are the same in both: SUM, SUMIF, drop-down lists, conditional formatting and charts. Excel has more depth for heavy data work. Google Sheets has a few handy extras of its own. For a monthly budget, a bill tracker or simple bookkeeping, you are unlikely to hit a limit in either.

One practical point: a file designed in one program does not always behave perfectly when opened in the other. Uploading an Excel file into Google Sheets usually works, but formatting, drop-downs and charts can shift.

How OPXVIA templates handle both

Because people use both programs, every OPXVIA template is built to work in each one rather than converted from one to the other.

• Excel: the download works in Excel 2016, 2019, 2021 and Microsoft 365, on Windows and Mac. No macros and no add-ins.
• Google Sheets: the instruction guide PDF in your download has one-click links. Sign in, click the link, choose Make a copy, and your own private copy is saved to your Google Drive.
• Two copies: a filled worked example so you can see how everything fits together, and a blank copy to type into.
• Light and dark: many templates come in a light edition, and some also in a dark edition.

We recommend the Google Sheets links rather than uploading the Excel file to Google Drive, because those versions are set up and tested for Google Sheets. There is no subscription and no bank connection, and you pay once.

So which should you pick?

If you want to update on the go or share with someone, start with Google Sheets. If you live in Excel already or want a file that works anywhere without internet, use Excel. And if you are not sure yet, a template that includes both lets you try one and switch later without starting over. You can browse all OPXVIA templates to see which ones fit your plans.