Numbers vs Microsoft Excel

Numbers

• Mac, iPad and iPhone owners who want a spreadsheet at no cost
• Home budgets, invoices and checklists started from a template
• Laying out several tables and charts on one sheet

Microsoft Excel

• People who need a full desktop spreadsheet on Windows or Mac
• Analysts working with PivotTables, Power Query and Python
• Households: Microsoft 365 Family covers 1 to 6 people
• Occasional users who only need the free browser version

Numbers

• There are no Windows or Android apps; on a PC, Numbers is available only in a browser through iCloud.com.
• Magic Fill, premium templates and the Content Hub need an Apple Creator Studio subscription at $12.99 per month or $129 per year.
• Apple's compatibility list marks Excel macros, data validation, external data and slicers as not supported when a workbook is imported.

Microsoft Excel

• The Windows and Mac apps need a Microsoft 365 subscription or a one-time Office purchase; only the web and mobile versions are free.
• Excel for the web and the mobile apps have many, but not all, desktop features; macro-enabled workbooks open in a browser but the macros do not run.
• Copilot needs a paid subscription, has usage limits, and on shared plans works for the subscription owner only.
• Microsoft 365 Business Basic ($7.00 per user / month paid yearly, or $5.40 without Teams) includes only the web and mobile versions of Excel.

Numbers

Flexible canvas

Tables, charts, text and images can be placed anywhere on a sheet, so one page can hold several separate tables alongside the charts that draw on them.

Functions, pivot tables and categories

Hundreds of functions, including XLOOKUP and RegEx, with a built-in function browser. Pivot tables and categories group and summarize a table's data.

Charts

2D and 3D charts including bar, column, line, area, pie, donut and radar, plus interactive column, bar, scatter and bubble charts that animate data.

Real-time collaboration

Share a spreadsheet publicly or with specific people through iCloud or Box and see their changes as they happen. Collaborators can join from a Mac, iPad, iPhone or a PC browser.

Excel and CSV files

Imports and edits Microsoft Excel and CSV files and exports to Excel, CSV, TSV and PDF. Apple publishes a feature-by-feature list of what carries over from Excel.

Magic Fill and premium content

For Apple Creator Studio subscribers, Magic Fill suggests contents or formulas for empty cells from patterns in nearby data. Subscribers also get premium templates and the Content Hub's photos and graphics.

Microsoft Excel

Copilot in Excel

Edits formulas, tables and formatting from a written request and suggests formulas for the data. It needs a Microsoft 365 subscription and a workbook saved to OneDrive with AutoSave on.

PivotTables and charts

PivotTables calculate, summarize and analyze data to show comparisons, patterns and trends, and work with PivotCharts, slicers and timeline controls.

Power Query

Imports or connects to external data from files, databases, the web and Azure, then reshapes it before loading. It is available in Excel for Windows, Mac and the web; support on Mac and the web is newer than on Windows.

Python in Excel

Python formulas run in the grid using Anaconda libraries such as pandas and Matplotlib. It comes with eligible Microsoft 365 plans; a $24 per user / month add-on gives faster premium compute.

Co-authoring

Several people can work in one workbook stored in OneDrive or SharePoint Online and see each other's changes within seconds. In the Windows and Mac apps this requires a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Templates

Microsoft offers free Excel templates in more than 40 categories as ready-made starting points for common spreadsheets.

Numbers

• Numbers$0

  Create, view and edit spreadsheets on Mac, iPad, iPhone and iCloud.com, with real-time collaboration, pivot tables, charts and Excel import and export.

• Apple Creator Studio$12.99

  per month, or $129 per year

  Adds premium templates, the Content Hub media library, Magic Fill and image generation in Numbers, plus Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro and Pixelmator Pro.

Microsoft Excel

• Free$0

  Excel for the web for 1 person, with sharing and real-time collaboration and 5 GB of cloud storage. Works on web, iOS and Android.

• Microsoft 365 Personal$9.99

  per month, or $99.99 per year

  1 person signed in on up to 5 devices, 1 TB of cloud storage, and the Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook desktop apps with Copilot.

• Microsoft 365 Apps for business$10.00

  per user / month, paid yearly

  Desktop versions of Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Outlook for up to 300 employees, with 1 TB of cloud storage per user.

• Microsoft 365 Family$12.99

  per month, or $129.99 per year

  Everything in Personal for 1 to 6 people, with 1 TB of storage per person. AI features are for the subscription owner only.

• Microsoft 365 Premium$19.99

  per month, or $199.99 per year

  Everything in Family, plus extensive Copilot usage and agentic AI features such as advanced research and analytics.

• Office Home 2024$179.99

  one-time purchase for 1 PC or Mac

  Classic 2024 desktop versions of Excel, Word, PowerPoint and OneNote, with no upgrade path to the next major release.

Numbers

• Annual discount

  About 17% less on the yearly plan

  Apple Creator Studio is $129 per year or $12.99 per month. Twelve monthly payments come to $155.88, so the yearly plan costs about 17% less.

• Education

  Students and educators: $2.99 a month

  Verified college students and educators pay $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year for Apple Creator Studio. Apple calls it a limited-time offer, and it cannot be shared through Family Sharing.

• Other savings

  3 months free with a new Mac or iPad

  Buyers of an eligible new Mac or iPad can try Apple Creator Studio free for 3 months, claimed within 3 months of activating the device.

Microsoft Excel

• Annual discount

  Save up to 17% by paying yearly

  Microsoft 365 Personal is $99.99 a year against $9.99 a month, Family $129.99 against $12.99 and Premium $199.99 against $19.99.

• Education

  Students save 50% on Microsoft 365 Personal

  Verified college and university students get Microsoft 365 Personal at half price. Student status has to be re-verified each year to keep the discount.

• Education

  Office 365 A1 free for eligible schools

  Educators and students with an eligible education email address get Office 365 A1 at no cost, which includes the web versions of Excel and the other core apps.

• Nonprofit

  Nonprofit staff pricing on Microsoft 365 E3

  Eligible nonprofits can buy Microsoft 365 E3, with desktop, web and mobile versions of Excel, for $9.75 per user / month paid yearly.

• Lifetime license

  Office Home 2024 one-time purchase

  $179.99 buys the classic 2024 desktop versions of Excel, Word, PowerPoint and OneNote for 1 PC or Mac, with no subscription.