Modern CSV vs OpenRefine (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Modern CSV and OpenRefine share a 2.8 GPA, both have a free plan and their prices can't be set side by side, so the choice depends on whether you care more about ease of use, where Modern CSV grades higher, or the free plan, where OpenRefine does.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on value for money, features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Modern CSV
Desktop CSV editor and viewer for Windows, Mac and Linux
OpenRefine
Free open-source desktop tool for cleaning and transforming messy data
Which one is for you
Pick Modern CSV if
- Fits if you edit big CSV files on a desktop and want to pay once
- Works for people who can live with the free version's feature set
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want formulas or a web app, as it is a desktop CSV editor
- Tight if you stay free, since date and time conversion, transpose and PDF export need Premium
- Watch out: a major version is free only if bought within 90 days of its release
- Watch out: the free version shows a startup popup, and Premium Personal can't be transferred
Pick OpenRefine if
- Fits if you have a messy list of names or addresses to tidy
- Works for people who reconcile data against Wikidata
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want to build models with formulas, as there's no formula grid
- Too light for charts or dashboards, since it is a cleaning tool
- Tight if you want paid support, as help comes from a forum and chat
- Watch out: expect a learning curve before the clustering features pay off
How we grade them
| 2.8GPAModern CSVGood | 2.8GPAOpenRefineGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | APremium Personal is $39 once, under a year of the $12 that a typical spreadsheet subscription costs. Business is $59 a licence. | AFree under the BSD 3-clause licence to download and run, with donations welcome. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe free version has no time limit and covers multi-cell editing, large files, find and replace, sorting and filtering. Premium features need a licence. | AFree outright, with no cap or paid tier. |
| Features | CEdits CSV and similar files, with analysis tools and filters. Date conversion, transpose and PDF export are locked to Premium, and it has no formulas. | CFaceting, clustering, reconciliation and undo. It cleans data well but has no cell formula grid, so it is a different job from a spreadsheet. |
| Ease of use | BInstall the program and open a file; no store rating on record. | CYou download and run it, then learn faceting and its expression language. No store rating on record, and the Windows zip includes its own Java. |
| Platforms and integrations | CA program for computers only, on Windows, Mac and Linux, with no phone or web version. | CA program for computers only, on Windows, Mac and Linux, linking to Wikidata and Wikibase. |
| Best for | a CSV editor with a free version and a one-time upgrade | cleaning messy data on your own computer |
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: Modern CSV and OpenRefine. How we grade
Where they differ
- Modern CSV can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- OpenRefine is open source, according to its own site.
At a glance
| Modern CSV | OpenRefine | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $39 one-time (Premium Personal) | Free |
| Free plan | Free version with no time limit: multi-cell editing, large-file handling, find and replace, sorting, filtering, themes and a read-only mode. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Made by | Modern CSV | OpenRefine contributors |
| Price read from | moderncsv.com | openrefine.org |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Modern CSV
- Date and time conversion, transpose, case conversion, file-system commands and PDF export are Premium features.
- Free upgrades cover minor versions; a major version is free only if bought within 90 days of its release.
- Requires Windows 10 or newer, macOS 13 or newer, or a listed Linux distribution such as Ubuntu 20+.
- The Free version shows a startup popup, at most once every 12 hours.
OpenRefine
- It is a data-cleaning tool, not a spreadsheet: there is no cell formula grid to build models in.
- Downloads are a Windows installer or zip, a Mac DMG and a Linux tar.gz; the Windows zip includes an embedded Java install.
- Support comes from a community forum and chat rather than a paid vendor.
Key features
Modern CSV
- Multi-cell editing
- Most commands work on several rows, columns or cells at once, and most have keyboard shortcuts you can change.
- Large file viewing
- A read-only mode loads big files fast with a small memory footprint; the site says up to 11 times faster than Excel.
- Analysis tools
- Statistics, column analysis, unique-value counts with a histogram, and a pivot table.
- Filters and find
- Filters use a query syntax; find and replace can preview a replacement and supports regular expressions.
- Formats and encodings
- Handles several delimiters, encodings and line endings, and imports and exports JSON and XML.
OpenRefine
- Faceting
- Drill through large datasets with facets and apply operations to the filtered view.
- Clustering
- Merges similar values to fix inconsistencies, using the project's heuristics.
- Reconciliation
- Matches your dataset to external databases through reconciliation services.
- Infinite undo and redo
- Rewind to any earlier state and replay the operation history on a new version of the data.
- Wikibase editing
- Contribute data to Wikidata and other Wikibase instances.
Plans
Modern CSV
Free$0
Use as long as you wish; Premium features need a license.
Premium Personal$39
one-time payment
Lifetime license assigned to one person and not transferable; works on any of their devices and platforms.
Premium Business$59
one-time payment per license
Can be reassigned to another user, one at a time; bulk price falls to $54 at 10 licenses and $49 at 20.
OpenRefine
Free$0
Free software under the BSD 3-clause license; the project accepts donations.
Ways to pay less
Modern CSV
- Other savings
Bulk pricing for Business licenses
Premium Business falls from $59 to $54 each at 10 licenses and $49 at 20, as shown in the buy page's bulk table.
OpenRefine
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Modern CSV or OpenRefine?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Modern CSV starts at $39 one-time (Premium Personal), and OpenRefine is free.
Which has a free plan, Modern CSV or OpenRefine?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Modern CSV and OpenRefine have a free plan.
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.