Microsoft Excel vs Numbers

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 110 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

1. [R1] Microsoft Excel 2/5 · US Comes up Short on Key Excel Features: Key features missing that drive poor productivity - Would not recommend unless you are desperate and it’s free too. Simple key features are missing from the iOS version of Microsoft Excel… >> Poor graph features >> “Advanced File” option(s) missing >> User interfaces are weak compared to Windows Desk / Lap top versions >> Etc…Etc…Etc
2. [R6] Microsoft Excel 3/5 · US App is missing a lot of functionality: App for Excel is missing many simple features that are in the desktop version.
3. [R54] Numbers 2/5 · US Cumbersome, lots of clicks to do common tasks: I’ve used Excel since moving on from Lotus-123. So not quite fair in that Numbers has but a year of use. I find Number’s extensive use of tabs, and drop down menus slow, and not intuitive. It also isn’t organized as I expect it to be (having used Excel for decades). Stuff thatI do frequently (sorting, filtering, formatting text, outlining cells, qu
4. [R78] Numbers 2/5 · US Lacking Basic Features: Wish this native platform would be as intuitive and reflective in capabilities as its competitors. Missing basic functions like print selected cells and other formulas.
5. [R3] Microsoft Excel 3/5 · US Typical Microsoft: Does not support vba macros Does not support editing without paying Wow i can see my data but….. Sometimes the bottom and top toolbars disappears when you scroll down and you have to hit fx to get it back or scroll up. This is not always convenient. This is cumbersome and can lead to errors
6. [R9] Microsoft Excel 3/5 · US So close but not quite there yet: I like using the app on my M4 IPad Pro, however, I wish Microsoft would give it the full functionality we get on windows PCs
7. [R56] Numbers 3/5 · US Still Learning…: Don’t use this every day but it’s still not particularly intuitive.
8. [R62] Numbers 3/5 · US Confused: It is confusing to use with no explanations on how to do anything I am trying to do with numbers. If it were easier to understand I would not have to keep calling to get understanding. But if you want me to keep calling because I don’t get it, I’ll just keep calling.
9. [R4] Microsoft Excel 1/5 · US Constantly logged out: How many times can I get logged out of an account? Every time I go to use this I am required to log in again. It is almost impossible to use this program offline.
10. [R10] Microsoft Excel 1/5 · US Microsoft's sign in system makes their products unusable: Literally have to sign in every time I try to open a document or join a teams call. It never remembers me and it never works to log n. It's so horrible. I literally have two separate paid 365 accounts and Microsoft cannot let me sign into either one. There's always some random error message that says something like "something went wrong". N
11. [R53] Numbers 3/5 · US I dont like using this for work: It’s slow and lags a lot, Ive had a lot of instances where the app doesn’t sync so I lose a lot of work.
12. [R66] Numbers 1/5 · US It Just Sucks (TM): Every day is a new bug discovery: each menu for setting a cell’s background color jumps around, one icon is purple for some reason, the app reloads every time I switch apps, scroll position keeps resetting. It’s embarrassing how little Apple cares about quality now. What a mess.
13. [R18] Microsoft Excel 1/5 · US Paid App: Using it On my iPad isn’t for free
14. [R63] Numbers 1/5 · US I HATE the subscription models. Pure GREED: Stay away from this program. Forcing users into paying monthly rent is theft because software is a product not a service. It adds up to hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years, and is a tax you pay to the feudal landlords Adobe, Microsoft, Autodesk, Spotify, and now also Apple. Greed is the only motivation and it is demonic it slowly ruins the co
15. [R94] Numbers 2/5 · US Stop pushing in-app subscriptions please: This is a fine app and it works well. Apple nailed it long ago. What is disgraceful in my opinion is that they have chosen with this new version (which mostly isn’t) to bake upsells into the program in prominent places, in the pathetic pursuit of more subscription dollars. I have no interest in this “Creator Studio" thing, and really, that should be enou
16. [R40] Microsoft Excel 1/5 · US From a good product to a buggy mess: Please stop using AI in development! Your product is now full of bugs, and users have basically become your testers. Files don't open right, files don't save right, among other glitches. I only use it out of habit since I've subscribed for years, but I'm already moving to alternatives.
17. [R48] Microsoft Excel 1/5 · US i don’t mind writing again and again abt this: Extremely frustrating experience. The software gives vague error messages and the recognition capability is awful. Even correctly formatted data is not recognized properly. The support and guidance are not useful. Needs major improvement.
18. [R104] Numbers 1/5 · GB Stupid time waster: This app has been around for decades, and it is still a source of irritation and a time waster. You can’t do anything serious with this app: it calculates percentages incorrectly, and you can’t format or highlight/shade text or cells that contain formulas… It’s stupid and a nutcase.