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Ask HN: De-Googling my life: Alternatives to Google Sheets?

47 points by adrianmsmith ↗ HN
I am trying to de-Google my life.

But I like Google Sheets (simple UI, synchronizes between computers, free/affordable).

Have any of you had good experiences with a similar product but from another smaller company? (Like replacing Google Analytics with Plausible/Fathom/etc.)? E.g. a spreadsheet product from a small company costing $5-$10/month, something like that?

Thanks in advance!

55 comments

[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 117 ms ] thread
Brajeshwar
I haven't used it extensively besides some trial but I have heard good words about OnlyOffice. Check out their family pack (I think this is one time) https://www.onlyoffice.com/docspace-family-pack.aspx
lcof
Onlyoffice is IMHO the best alternative to Google sheets. Services like infomaniak’s kDrive includes it, and for personal free gsuite-like suite, check out ik.me
arcastroe
The OnlyOfffice desktop app is a pretty good and free alternative to Microsoft Office Suite. You can simply install it on your local machine for offline access.

OnlyOfffice is also self-hostable as a web app for a cloud alternative to Google Sheets.

Filebrowser is a self-hostable alternative to Google Drive.

There's a pull request open to integrate OnlyOffice with Filebrowser for self-hosted google-drive + google docs.

https://github.com/filebrowser/filebrowser/pull/1420

robin_reala
If you’re using a Mac / iOS then Numbers? It’s obviously not a webapp, but it comes with your device, has a simple UI, and syncs via iCloud.
gorkemcetin
One option is Retable, and there is a one time payment option as well.
alentred
You can try Zoho, including the Zoho sheets and their other products. It is not as polished, but does the job.
qntmfred
can I piggyback this post to see if anybody has any good alternatives to Google Photos? I've been a happy user for years, but I increasingly worry that Google doesn't have the resources/focus anymore to rely on them to keep all my memories safe. automatic backup of photos/videos on my phone is the killer feature for me.
COGlory
NextCloud can auto-upload from your phone. If you want better tagging/photo management on top of that, you can setup PhotoPrism with it.

If you don't want to self-host, you can get a NextCloud storage share from Hetzner.

john-radio
I think Dropbox has all the features you mentioned from Google Photos, except possibly for tag-style albums instead of directory-style, and photo-focused tooling such as cropping and so on.
j_h_o
https://github.com/immich-app/immich

Runs on my Android device, auto backing up photos and videos. I've been running this for over a year - it's great.

ianschmitz
I’m running Immich on my home server and it has been great. The syncing on iOS doesn’t seem to want to automatically upload so I have to manually go in and click the sync button sometimes. Otherwise it’s been great!
barbazoo
Weird, iOS here too and syncing works. Sometimes takes a minute for a photo I just took to show up in the app but it will eventually. Is that what you mean?
barbazoo
Same here. Feels so good to have my photos under my control. Make sure they’re backed up properly though!!!
sircastor
I have all my photos sync to my Synology NAS. Because of iOS restrictions, I have to open the specific photo app probably once a month (there’s an accompanying reminder), but other than that, it’s very set and forget.
ktm5j
I host my own Seafile server behind a wireguard vpn that I use for cloud file storage. I love it. There's an app that runs on my phone that automatically uploads photos whenever I take them. Highly recommend!

https://www.seafile.com

flowmotion
I can highly recommend Ente Photos[0]. It has automatic backup, and a very good replication architecture for maximum reliability[1]. It's also super easy to use and everything is encrypted by default.

[0] https://ente.io/

[1] https://ente.io/reliability

zipping1549
Aside from obvious privacy advantages, is the software better than/on par with Google Photos? Their object detection is top-notch(I guess that's what you get when there's literally whole internet worth of data we give them) and it's one of the major things that my partner uses it. I don't think she'll be happy with lesser one for effectively double the price...
yoavmmn
I’ve used Nextcloud only for file storage/sync, but they have what you’re looking for: https://nextcloud.com/office/
nojs
The sheets app is horrible, it’s not a realistic alternative to Google Sheets.
HackerThemAll
Comparing free, hobby project to an office suite developed by many dozens highly paid programmers every day for 17 years. Yes, that makes sense.
RcouF1uZ4gsC
I would actually be wary of all online spreadsheets.

You are letting very valuable data reside primarily on someone else’s computers. It is harder to backup, migrate, etc.

Why not use open office and some type of cloud sync? You are in control of the data. With open formats you can even switch software as you want while keeping your data unaffected.

Cheer2171
> reside primarily on someone else’s computers

> Why not use ... cloud sync

If you have your openoffice files just sitting unencrypted in s3 or Dropbox, this is no different

WhackyIdeas
We don’t use GA or any alternative in its place and we do just fine really.
alexfromapex
Get a Synology NAS it has spreadsheets you can share and host yourself.
ilrwbwrkhv
Just get Excel. It is indeed one of the best pieces of software ever made.
Borg3
Really? People still like those Microsoft bloated products? How come. I remember Office 2000. Nice and small, quick and easy to use. 2003 wasnt bad either, but you start to feel the direction. 2007 was last usable office for me. Anything later is just downhill ride.

Luicky, I can avoid all those tools mostly. I feel sad for those who cannot.

HackerThemAll
Get out of your cave. 1.2 billion people use Office.
robin_reala
But do they want to, or are they forced to by the companies they work in? I mean, I have to use Powerpoint for collaboration on presentations, but I’d be very happy to never touch it again.
cosmotic
Many (most?) don't have an option. Their employer pays the office 365 bill and won't pay for an alternative. You're also stuck with file compatibility problemsif you use a potentially superior product.
ilrwbwrkhv
You know while I would mostly agree with you, Excel is still amazing. There is nothing like it in the market. Google Sheets look like a child's toy in comparison.
Borg3
Excel as a spreedsheet is good tool, no doubt about it. The problem is the bloat that Microsoft brings with new versions.

Personally, I use Gnumeric for Win32. Its old, but it does the job for me.

cykros
If it's all you need, it's all you need. But comparing Gnumeric to Excel is a bit like comparing nano to emacs.
cykros
Tell me you don't scratch the surface of what Excel is capable of without saying it directly.

Use PowerQuery and PowerPivot for a few months and then try to go to Google Sheets, LibreOffice, Gnumeric, or any of the other supposed replacements.

It's like comparing the Gimp to Photoshop, except that I might be being unfair to the Gimp in this situation.

macshaggy
Agreed. I'm a Data Analyst and as much as I use numpy/pandas/matplotlib for a lot of my work. When it comes to sharing the data that my work is based on I usually need to export it to Excel with the calculations.

There is just a need to use the more complex features to do things and that can also show how changing a variable affects the overall analysis. I can't give people a python script or jupyter notebook and tell them to do x or y or z.

I can recreate all my calculations in excel, using python, with the same graphs and visuals, and give them instructions on what cells relate to what variables that affect the analysis so they can experiment for themselves.

With Google sheets, LibreOffice, etc., I haven't seen that kind of functionality.

mmh0000
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nbkaYsR94c

That video changed my entire outlook (punny) on Excel. Before, I was of the opinion that, "a spreadsheet app is a spreadsheet app". But, no. Excel is insanely complex and capable. After a few years of Excel, I have a really difficult time using anything else.

andy99
People who are using spreadsheets for making lists of things or opening csv files have lots of options. Most people who require the functionality of excel are probably already using it and know they need it.
adrianmsmith
Yeah that's great advice, I used to use Excel before I moved to Google Sheets and I think for my purposes it would do fine. I don't really use the sharing features of Google Sheets myself to be honest.

I appreciate this wasn't one of my requirements in my original post, but is there a way to view or even edit Excel files on a phone? Not that I use that feature of Google Sheets much (the iPhone app is one of the least usable and worst apps in any category I've ever used) but it's nice to have in a pinch.

(I bought a Nokia Windows Phone back in the day, 10 years ago now I guess, and I was excited to hear it came with Excel! But I think I never got it to work.)

ilrwbwrkhv
Office 365 gives you all of that. It is a subscription but if you really use spreadsheets for everything like I do, it is worth it. Also, Excel is insanely more powerful than Sheets.
barbazoo
How about Excel and local (shared via file sync)?
frizlab
Numbers is actually great (the desktop app) if you are in the macOS ecosystem.
hodgesrm
Serious question: Why would you want to get rid of Google Sheets?

* Anything that's shared will have the same issues with data. Plus it forces other users to join some product they've never heard of.

* Local hosting would require time that would probably be better to spend elsewhere.

* Google Sheets is extremely mature and stable.