It runs into the same restrictions as OpenOffice, in that LibreOffice Calc lacks cloud support and real-time collaboration.

The kinds of features you need from your spreadsheet application can vary, though, with many users never coming close to needing the robust features of Microsoft Offices Excel.

For those of us that arent accountants crunching numbers every day, Microsoft Office, which includes Excel, can be prohibitively expensive.

Youre looking at paying 99 a year for a business user, 6.99 a month for home use, or 149.99 for an Office Home and Student 2019 license.

If you dont have that kind of money, or dont need those kinds of features, or simply want to save cash, there are plenty of viable alternatives to Microsoft Excel that are available in the cloud and installed on your computer.

SEE: IT budgeting: How to do it right (free PDF) (TechRepublic) 1.

Google Sheets Google Sheets is Googles cloud-based answer to Microsoft Excel, and its capable of doing the vast majority of what the average Excel user needs.

Its also hosted in the cloud and runs in a web browser, so its platform independent and can be run on Windows, macOS, and Linux systems.

As with Googles other office tools, Sheets features real-time collaboration that allows multiple users to edit a document at the same time.

Advanced features that some Excel users need are missing, though, so if youre an Excel power user its a good idea to find out if the features you need are available before migrating.

There have also been reported issues of formulas in Excel spreadsheets breaking when theyre uploaded to Google Sheets, so be aware that you could run into issues moving.xls or.xlsx files from your computer to Sheets.

On the plus side, scripting is still available in Google Sheets, though its JavaScript based and not Visual Basic for Applications.

SEE: How to avoid and overcome presentation glitches (free PDF) (TechRepublic) 2.

Microsoft Office Excel Online Not to be outdone by Google, Microsoft has created its own online version of Office, which includes a stripped-down version of Excel that is better compared to Google Sheets than to the desktop version of Excel.

Recommending Excel Online to the average Excel user is fine--it does all the basics of the desktop version while adding automatic cloud saving in OneDrive, and it has real-time collaboration tools that Office 365 and 2019 lack.

Many of the features you rely on are gone, restricted, or read-only--theres no VBA scripting, no creating external data connections, no find and replace, and no advanced charting features.

All of those capabilities exist in Excel Online, but theyre read-only.

Apache OpenOffice Calc When I talk to Windows users who hate the look of Microsoft Offices post-2007 interface, I always recommend Apache OpenOffice.

Calc, OpenOffices Excel alternative, does a good job looking and feeling just like Office 2003, which is great if youd prefer a time before the Office ribbon.

Prior to the advent of the cloud and the dominance of Googles online office tools, OpenOffice reigned supreme among those looking for a free Microsoft Office alternative.

This is especially true in the case of Calc, which retains most of the important advanced functions of Microsoft Excel, albeit in slightly different forms in some cases.

If youre an Excel power user thinking about migrating to OpenOffice, be sure to read the user guide --it will help you figure out if the functions essential for your work are available in Calc; if they are, you might have found your new favorite program.

There is one major drawback to OpenOffice, which is an issue with other free platforms: A lack of cloud support.

LibreOffice Calc Like OpenOffice, LibreOffice is a free office suite that includes its own Excel alternative, also called Calc.

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