Microsoft Excel vs Notion

Two Tech stack tools side by side: what each does, what it costs and who it suits.

The verdict Side by side Plans and pricing Who each is for Other options

The verdict

On the data we hold, Notion comes out ahead. Here is why, point by point.

What the data says

Both have a free plan, so you can try each before you pay.
In our Tech stack ranking, Notion places 31 and Microsoft Excel 45 of 72.

Side by side

Microsoft Excel and Notion compared
At a glance	Microsoft Excel	Notion
Starts at	$8.33/mo	€9.50/mo
Free plan	Yes	Yes
API	Yes	Yes
MCP server	Not known yet	Yes
Links	Visit	Visit

Plans and pricing

Microsoft Excel

Free (web apps)Free web and mobile versions with a Microsoft account, with 5 GB of OneDrive storage.Free
Microsoft 365 PersonalFor 1 person; desktop apps with Copilot, 1 TB cloud storage.$9.99/mo
Microsoft 365 FamilyFor 1 to 6 people; AI features for the subscription owner only, up to 6 TB storage.$12.99/mo
Microsoft 365 PremiumFor 1 to 6 people; extensive Copilot usage and agentic AI features.$19.99/mo
Office Home 2024One-time purchase for 1 PC or Mac; Word, Excel and PowerPoint.$179.99/one_off

Notion

FreeFree forever for individuals; limited blocks for teams of 2 or more, 10 guests, 7 days page history.Free
PlusFor small teams, with unlimited blocks and file uploads and 30 days page history.€11.50/mo/seat
BusinessIncludes Notion Agent, AI meeting notes, enterprise search, SAML SSO and 90 days page history.€23.50/mo/seat

Prices as the vendors list them. They change often; the final price is on their sites.

Who each is for

Choose Microsoft Excel if…

Finance, operations and sales teams that build models, clean data exports and make reports, especially when the company already runs on Microsoft 365.

Visit Read the review

Choose Notion if…

Small and growing teams that want one place for documents, wikis, databases and light project management, and are willing to set the structure up themselves.

Visit Read the review

Other options worth a look

Tool
Airtable
Combines spreadsheet simplicity with database structure so teams build custom workflows, trackers and apps without code.
Tech stack
From $20/mo yearlyFree planAffiliate link
Sign up on Airtable
Tool
Coda
Combines documents, spreadsheets, and databases into one workspace for building custom trackers and internal tools.
Tech stack
From $10/moFree plan
Sign up on Coda
Tool
Perplexity
Get instant answers to questions backed by live web search results and inline source citations.
Tech stack
From $20/moFree plan
Sign up on Perplexity
Tool
Google Workspace
Bundle business email, shared documents, spreadsheets, and video meetings in one cloud subscription.
Tech stack
From €6.80/moAffiliate link
Sign up on Google Workspace
Tool
Anthropic API
Call Claude models from your own code to build AI applications, agents, and automations.
Tech stack
Sign up on Anthropic API
Tool
RudderStack
Collects event data and routes it to your warehouse and 200+ business tools with open-source infrastructure.
Tech stack
From $265/moFree plan
Sign up on RudderStack