EtherCalc vs Zoho Sheet (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Zoho Sheet grades higher than EtherCalc: 3.6 against 3.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 9, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Zoho Sheet grades higher on features and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Zoho Sheet
Collaborative online spreadsheet with a free version
Which one is for you
Pick EtherCalc if
- Fits if you need a quick shared sheet for a meeting without making accounts
- Works for developers who want to host a shared sheet on their own server
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if the data is private, as anyone who knows a sheet's URL can read and write it unless a key is set
- Skip it if you want a full spreadsheet, since it is a basic shared grid
- Watch out: self-hosting on the internet needs a reverse proxy for TLS and rate limits
- Watch out: the docs list only Safari, Chrome and Firefox as tested, and there are no phone or desktop apps
Pick Zoho Sheet if
- Fits if it's just you and you want a free spreadsheet on the web, your laptop and your phone
- Works for teams on Zoho Workplace, WorkDrive or Zoho One, who already have it
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to buy your team a spreadsheet and nothing else, as there's no standalone Sheet plan
- Not for you if you need a finished desktop app, because the Windows and macOS ones are still in beta
- Tight if you work offline on an iPad, which the iPad app doesn't do yet
- Watch out: the Windows app doesn't sync offline edits automatically, and WorkDrive plans need 3 users
- Watch out: without a Zoho subscription the desktop apps are $10 a device, with no billing period shown
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAEtherCalcVery good | 3.6GPAZoho SheetExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree at ethercalc.net with no account, and free to self-host. Nobody charges for it, so it is free and substantial. | AFree for one person, and teams get it with Zoho WorkDrive from $2.50 a user a month billed annually, or Workplace from $3, when the lowest quarter in this category starts at $5.40 and the middle is $9.99. File storage and the rest of the office suite come along. WorkDrive plans start at 3 users. |
| Free plan and trial | ANo plan and no cap on record: open a sheet and start. Self-hosting is optional. | AThe version for individuals is free on the web and in the phone and desktop apps, with sharing and real-time collaboration included, and no cap a normal person meets. The team side has a 15-day trial of WorkDrive or Workplace with no card. |
| Features | CShared editing by URL and a REST API. It is a basic shared sheet, and the listing shows no apps and nothing beyond the grid. | BIt covers the whole spreadsheet job: 350-plus functions, 35-plus chart types, pivot tables, macros recorded or brought over as VBA, cell locking for named people, Zia suggesting charts and cleaning duplicates, and Data Connection pulling records from Zoho CRM or a CSV at a URL on a schedule. |
| Ease of use | BNo store rating on record. Open a page and type; there is nothing to set up on the hosted site. | B4.62 from 942 App Store ratings, short of the 4.7-from-1,000 an A wants. It opens Excel files as they are, and Zia answers questions about your data in plain English rather than making you write the formula. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with a documented REST API and a Drupal link. No desktop or phone app is listed. | AThe full set: web, Windows, macOS, iPhone and Android, with an API and links to Zoho CRM, Zoho Forms, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox and Box. The desktop apps are still labelled beta, though, and the iPad app can't work offline yet. |
| Best for | a spreadsheet you share by link with no sign-up | a free online spreadsheet with macros and locked cells |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: EtherCalc and Zoho Sheet. How we grade
Price against what you get
EtherCalc has no paid plan and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Zoho Sheet starts at $2.50 a month for each person and scores 3.3.
Zoho Sheet scores higher, and starts $2.50 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other spreadsheet and database tools on the chart, none scores higher than EtherCalc for less, and none scores higher than Zoho Sheet for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- EtherCalc is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Zoho Sheet also covers templates.
At a glance
| EtherCalc | Zoho Sheet | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $2.50 per user / month, billed annually (Zoho WorkDrive Starter) |
| Free plan | No plans or prices are published; the hosted site describes itself as needing no sign-up and no install. | Zoho offers a free version of Sheet for individuals, and describes the web, mobile and beta desktop apps as free to use. Teams subscribe through WorkDrive, Workplace or Zoho One. |
| Free trial | None listed | 15-day free trial of Zoho WorkDrive or Zoho Workplace, no credit card required |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | audreyt | Zoho Corporation |
| Price read from | github.com | zoho.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Worth knowing
EtherCalc
- Access is anonymous by design: anyone who knows a sheet's URL can read and write unless a key is configured.
- Internet-facing self-hosting needs a reverse proxy for TLS and rate limits, per the README.
- The documentation lists browsers tested as Safari, Chrome and Firefox only.
- It has no desktop or mobile apps.
Zoho Sheet
- There is no standalone paid Sheet plan; teams get it through a Zoho WorkDrive, Zoho Workplace or Zoho One subscription.
- The Windows and macOS desktop apps are labeled beta, and the Windows app does not sync offline edits automatically.
- Offline use is available on iPhone but not yet in the iPad app, which Zoho says is under development.
- Organizations without one of those subscriptions pay $10 per device for the Zoho Office desktop apps; the page does not show a billing period.
Key features
EtherCalc
- Shared editing by URL
- Anyone with a sheet's address can edit at the same time as others, per the site title.
- No account needed
- The repository describes it as a web spreadsheet with no sign-up and no install.
- REST API
- A documented API creates and reads sheets over HTTP.
- Self-hosting
- Runs with docker compose or an npm install, with no Cloudflare account required.
Zoho Sheet
- Real-time collaboration with cell locking
- Collaborators edit and comment on a spreadsheet together. Cells can be locked for everyone or for specific people, earlier versions restored, and each change reviewed in the audit trail.
- Zia AI assistant
- Zia suggests charts and pivot tables for a data set and answers questions about the data in plain English. A ChatGPT-powered option generates sample data, formulas and VBA macro code.
- Data cleaning
- An automatic Data Cleaning tool finds duplicate entries, missing values and inconsistent data and suggests fixes that are applied with a click.
- Charts, pivot tables and functions
- More than 35 chart types, a pivot table builder and more than 350 built-in functions, plus custom functions for a team's own logic.
- Excel files and VBA macros
- Works with XLS, XLSX and XLSM files as well as CSV and TSV. Existing VBA code can be reused, and macros can be recorded or written from scratch.
- Data connections
- Data Connection pulls records from Zoho apps such as CRM, Books and Campaigns, and from CSV, RSS or HTML sources by URL, and refreshes them on a schedule.
Plans
EtherCalc
Free$0
Hosted at ethercalc.net with no account, or self-hosted with Docker or npm.
Zoho Sheet
Free$0
The version for individuals: spreadsheets on the web and in the mobile and desktop apps, with sharing and real-time collaboration.
WorkDrive Starter$2.50
per user / month, billed annually ($3 monthly); min. 3 users
Zoho WorkDrive with the Zoho Office Suite, including Sheet, and 1 TB of team storage for 3 to 10 users.
Workplace Standard$3
per user / month, billed annually ($4 billed monthly)
Zoho Workplace: Sheet, Writer and Show alongside Mail with 30 GB per user, WorkDrive, Cliq and Meeting.
WorkDrive Team$4.50
per user / month, billed annually ($6 monthly); min. 3 users
3 TB of team storage for 3 to 10 users, a 50 GB upload limit per file and data recovery for up to 120 days.
Workplace Professional$6
per user / month, billed annually ($7 billed monthly)
100 GB of mail storage per user, 1 TB of team file storage, email retention and eDiscovery, and the Connect intranet.
WorkDrive Business$9
per user / month, billed annually ($11 monthly); min. 3 users
5 TB of team storage for 3 to 10 users, custom workflows, data loss prevention policies and an admin audit trail.
Ways to pay less
EtherCalc
No public discounts listed.
Zoho Sheet
- Annual discount
Lower WorkDrive rates with annual billing
WorkDrive Starter is $2.50 per user a month billed annually against $3 billed monthly. Team is $4.50 against $6 and Business $9 against $11.
- Annual discount
Lower Workplace rates with annual billing
Workplace Standard is $3 per user a month billed annually against $4 billed monthly, and Workplace Professional is $6 against $7.
- By country
Lower price shown to buyers in India
On October 9, 2026 the price list behind the WorkDrive pricing page gave Starter as ₹140 per user a month billed annually for India, against $2.50 in US dollars. Workplace Standard was ₹99 against $3.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, EtherCalc or Zoho Sheet?
As of Nov 12, 2026, EtherCalc is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $2.50 a month for each person for Zoho Sheet. EtherCalc is free, and Zoho Sheet starts at $2.50 per user / month, billed annually (Zoho WorkDrive Starter).
Which has a free plan, EtherCalc or Zoho Sheet?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both EtherCalc and Zoho Sheet have a free plan.
Which platforms do EtherCalc and Zoho Sheet run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Zoho Sheet lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.