After Zoho Writer, it was time to get on and try Zoho Sheet. Instead of just writing about what it is, this time, I decided I will compare it with a similar product; Google Spreadsheet though it is not a separate entity anymore. It is now available from Google Docs & Spreadsheets
As I was researching on this, I came across this fact-sheet. This could be pretty old. But I will not be so specific about the details on what I list here. I tested both applications on Firefox 1.5.0.7
Rows and Columns
Zoho Sheet
I did not come across anything that stated the max rows and cols. But this is how far I went
Max Rows – 150. You can keep inserting rows.
Max Cols – AZ. For average use I think this is more than sufficient.
Google Spreadheet
Max Rows – 100. Insert after that
Max Cols – T. Insert after that
Usability
Zoho Sheet
Very easy to use. The user interface resembles a desktop spreadsheet. Standard tasks like align, sort, changing font, accomplished with single click
Google Spreadheet
Easy to use. Some standard tasks like sort need more than a click as these functions are placed in a separate tab.
Features
There are a lot of features on both these applications. But I have listed the ones that set them apart.
Zoho Sheet
- Starts with three default sheets. Sheets can be renamed.
- Has a fill series option which Google Spreadsheet does not have.
- You can create charts with Zoho which is not available in Google Spreadsheet. The charts get updated as you update values in the cells. Charts can be made public and shared with others.
- Comments can be inserted on cells
- Looks like there is a problem in un-merging merged cells.
Google Spreadsheet
- Starts with one sheet. More sheets can be added.Sheets can be renamed.
- Google Spreadsheet has a Formula tab which makes it very very simple to apply sum, average and a host of other Math, Financial, Logical, Date, Statistical formulae
Finally…
Both apps can export the online document to CSV, HTML, PDF, Excel and OpenDocument and allow you share, publish your spreadsheets. The Look and Feel of Zoho is better compared to Google SpreadSheet. You can upload Excel spreadsheets to both applications.
If you need a bare minimum spreadsheet to calculate a few things, you can use the Google Spreadsheet. If you need something more, then I suggest you try out the Zoho Sheet.
We all love screenshots, don’t we? Here is one screenshot from each of the applications
Zoho Sheet
Google Spreadsheet
Disclaimer: This is just my opinion on what I had observed from these two applications after using them for a while for my own purpose. I might be wrong in mentioning something and features could have been added/removed by the time I write this. I cannot be held responsible for anything you do after reading this post. Always check with the application websites for details before using the application. Above all, I neither work for Google nor for Zoho.
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