Software Alternatives & Startups
Register | Login

Gnumeric VS SmoothCSV

Compare Gnumeric VS SmoothCSV and see what are their differences

Gnumeric

Gnumeric

Rating
0 reviews
Alternatives Is it good?
SmoothCSV

SmoothCSV is the ultimate CSV editor for macOS, Windows, and Linux — open huge files in seconds and edit with a familiar spreadsheet UI.

Rating
0 reviews
Alternatives Is it good?
STATUS: Project Governance
STATUS: Project Governance — lightweight project governance for professional project managers and consultants. Keep RAID, decisions and actions live, then export client-ready status reports. For iPhone, iPad and Mac. sponsored

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Gnumeric seems to be more popular. It has been mentioned 2 times since March 2021.

social mentions
2 vs 0
Office Suites popularity
83% vs 17%
alternatives listed
62 vs 40

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Gnumeric
SmoothCSV
Website gnumeric.org smoothcsv.com
Pricing —
Official pricing
Company — 2025
Listed in
Office Suites Spreadsheets Project Management Databases +1
Spreadsheets Office Suites CSV Editors Linux macOS Windows +3

About Gnumeric and SmoothCSV

In their own words, as submitted to SaaSHub.

Gnumeric
SmoothCSV

No description of Gnumeric yet.

SmoothCSV is a fast, full-featured CSV editor for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It focuses on making CSV editing feel familiar: grid editing like Excel, keyboard-first workflows like VS Code, and careful preservation of details like encoding, delimiter, and original quoting. It also brings together...

Read more about SmoothCSV

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Gnumeric 4 features
SmoothCSV 5 features
  • Lightweight
    Gnumeric is known for being lightweight and faster to load compared to other spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel or LibreOffice Calc, making it ideal for users with older hardware or for those who need quick access to spreadsheets.
  • Accuracy
    Gnumeric is renowned for its calculation accuracy, often outperforming other spreadsheet programs in complex mathematical computations, which is beneficial for users who require precise numerical results.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source application, Gnumeric allows users to modify and distribute the software according to the GPL license, fostering a community of contributors and enabling transparency and customizability.
  • Compatibility
    Gnumeric supports a wide range of file formats, including Excel (.xls and .xlsx), allowing users to open and save documents in these formats which ensures interoperability with other spreadsheet tools.

Possible disadvantages

  • Limited Features
    While Gnumeric covers most basic and advanced spreadsheet functionalities, it lacks some of the more sophisticated features found in Excel or Google Sheets, such as advanced data visualization tools and certain analytic functions.
  • User Interface
    The user interface of Gnumeric may seem outdated or less intuitive compared to modern spreadsheet applications, which might not appeal to users accustomed to more polished UIs.
  • Ecosystem Integration
    Gnumeric does not integrate as seamlessly into productivity ecosystems compared to solutions like Microsoft Excel, which benefits from integration with other Microsoft Office applications.
  • Community Support
    Although Gnumeric is open-source, the community is smaller compared to bigger suites like LibreOffice or Microsoft Office, which might limit the availability of tutorials, forums, and third-party support resources.
  • Fast and Lightweight
    SmoothCSV is designed to be a fast, lightweight CSV editor that can handle large files efficiently without the bloat of full spreadsheet applications like Excel or Google Sheets.
  • Simple and Intuitive Interface
    The application provides a clean, spreadsheet-like interface specifically tailored for CSV editing, making it easy to view, edit, and manipulate CSV data without unnecessary complexity.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    SmoothCSV is available for multiple platforms, allowing users on different operating systems to use the same tool for their CSV editing needs.
  • Supports Multiple Delimiters
    Beyond standard CSV files, SmoothCSV supports various delimiter-separated formats such as TSV (tab-separated values) and other custom delimiters, making it versatile for different data formats.
  • Free to Use
    SmoothCSV is available as a free tool, making it accessible to anyone who needs a dedicated CSV editor without having to pay for expensive software licenses.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Gnumeric
SmoothCSV

Overall verdict

  • Gnumeric is a good choice for users who need a reliable, fast, and accurate spreadsheet tool, particularly for complex calculations and data analysis. It may lack some advanced features found in mainstream commercial products, but it makes up for this with its precision and performance.

Why this product is good

  • Gnumeric is a free and open-source spreadsheet application that is part of the GNOME Free Software Desktop Project. It is highly regarded for its accuracy, especially in statistical operations, and it offers a wide range of features comparable to other spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel. Gnumeric is lightweight, which makes it fast and efficient, and it supports various file formats, including Excel, making it easy to share and collaborate with users of other spreadsheet programs.

Recommended for

    Gnumeric is recommended for data analysts, researchers, and students who require a robust spreadsheet application for statistical analysis and computational tasks. It is also suitable for Linux users seeking a native spreadsheet solution, as well as users who prefer open-source software solutions.

Overall verdict

  • SmoothCSV is a solid, purpose-built desktop CSV editor that makes viewing and editing tabular data far easier than a plain text editor or spreadsheet, offering a clean spreadsheet-like interface tailored specifically to CSV/TSV files.

Why this product is good

  • Provides a dedicated spreadsheet-style grid interface designed specifically for CSV and TSV files, making data easier to read and edit
  • Handles various delimiters, encodings, and quoting options, giving you fine control over how files are parsed and saved
  • Lightweight and fast compared to loading large CSVs into full office suites like Excel
  • Preserves raw CSV structure without unwanted auto-formatting that spreadsheet apps often impose (e.g., mangling dates or leading zeros)
  • Supports keyboard shortcuts and productivity features that streamline manual data cleanup and editing

Recommended for

  • Developers and data professionals who frequently open and edit CSV/TSV files
  • Users who need precise control over encoding, delimiters, and quoting
  • Anyone frustrated by Excel or Google Sheets altering their raw CSV data
  • People working with moderately large datasets who want a fast, focused editor rather than a heavy office suite
  • Data cleanup and manual editing tasks that don't require complex formulas or analytics

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Gnumeric 3 videos + Add
SmoothCSV 0 videos + Add

Gnumeric.....Abiword's twin sister.....

More videos

  • - Gnumeric Portable
  • - Gnumeric online XLS editor

No SmoothCSV videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Gnumeric
SmoothCSV
83% 83%
Office Suites
17% 17%
0% 0%
CSV Editors
100% 100%
100% 100%
Project Management
0% 0%
0% 0%
Linux
100% 100%

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Gnumeric and SmoothCSV.

What makes your product unique?

SmoothCSV's answer:

SmoothCSV tries to make CSV editing feel familiar: grid editing like Excel, keyboard-first workflows like VS Code, and careful preservation of details like encoding, delimiter, and original quoting. It also handles messy files with inconsistent column counts, and lets you run SQL queries directly on CSV data.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

SmoothCSV's answer:

Every feature is free to use, and it runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It keeps your file's format as it is when saving, including the original quoting, which many editors drop. It also brings SQL queries, multi-cell editing, and side-by-side CSV comparison into one app, and it gets regular updates.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

SmoothCSV's answer:

Tauri, Rust, TypeScript.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

SmoothCSV's answer:

Anyone who works with CSV files: software developers, data analysts, and people who need to check or fix CSV files without a spreadsheet app changing their data.

What's the story behind your product?

SmoothCSV's answer:

I've been building CSV editors since 2011. Spreadsheet apps kept reformatting my data (dates, leading zeros, long numbers), and text editors kept the data safe but lost the grid view, so I wanted a dedicated tool that does both. The current version is my third rewrite from scratch, started in 2024 and released in 2025.

User comments

Share your experience with using Gnumeric and SmoothCSV. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

Log in or Post with

Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Gnumeric 2 mentions
SmoothCSV 0 mentions
  • Ask HN: Why did Visual Basic die?
    Gnumeric is actually a good excel. The stats routines are shared with R so if ever someone demonstrates a bug, it is fixed! Free, fast, accurate. Pick any three! http://gnumeric.org. - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
  • Any Suckless Excel like tool?
    I can recommend http://gnumeric.org/. It is really fast, accurate and relative light weight compared to libreoffice calc. Source: over 3 years ago

Tracking SmoothCSV since May 2026.

Alternatives to Gnumeric and SmoothCSV

When comparing Gnumeric and SmoothCSV, you can also consider the following products.

Loading...