Software Alternatives & Startups

Google Cloud Spanner VS Google Sheets

Compare Google Cloud Spanner VS Google Sheets and see what are their differences

Google Cloud Spanner

Google Cloud Spanner is a horizontally scalable, globally consistent, relational database service.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
Google Sheets

Synchronizing, online-based word processor, part of Google Drive.

Rating
0 reviews
Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Google Cloud Spanner seems to be more popular. It has been mentioned 18 times since March 2021.

social mentions
18 vs 0
Databases popularity
100% vs 0%
alternatives listed
170 vs 240+

Base details

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

Google Cloud Spanner
Google Sheets
Website cloud.google.com google.com
Pricing
Open source
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Google Cloud Spanner 6 features
Google Sheets 6 features
  • Scalability
    Google Cloud Spanner can automatically scale horizontally, providing robust support for large-scale applications. It can handle petabytes of data across millions of instances with ease.
  • Global Distribution
    Spanner enables globally distributed databases with strong consistency and low-latency reads, allowing applications to deliver seamless performance across the globe.
  • Strong Consistency
    Unlike many other distributed databases, Cloud Spanner offers strong transactional consistency, using Google's TrueTime API to ensure precise timestamp ordering that supports ACID transactions.
  • Fully Managed
    Cloud Spanner is a fully managed service, which means Google handles maintenance tasks such as updates, scaling, and provisioning, reducing the operational overhead for users.
  • SQL Support
    It provides support for SQL queries, making it easier for developers and teams familiar with SQL to integrate and manage their data workloads without needing to learn new paradigms.
  • High Availability
    Cloud Spanner is designed for high availability, with built-in redundancy and failover capabilities that ensure continuous operation even in the face of regional outages.

Possible disadvantages

  • Cost
    Google Cloud Spanner can be expensive compared to other database solutions, especially for smaller applications or startups with limited budgets.
  • Limited Ecosystem
    While growing, Spanner's ecosystem is not as mature as more established relational or NoSQL databases, which might lead to fewer third-party tools and integrations.
  • Complexity in Migration
    Migrating existing applications and data to Cloud Spanner can be complex and time-consuming, particularly for those coming from non-relational database systems.
  • Limited NoSQL Features
    For applications that require specific NoSQL features, such as unstructured data handling and schema flexibility, Cloud Spanner may not be the best fit compared to other NoSQL databases.
  • Regional Lock-in
    Although it offers global distribution, data residency and compliance requirements might limit some organizations to specific regions, which can affect the strategic deployment of an application.
  • Accessibility
    Google Sheets is cloud-based, allowing users to access their documents from anywhere with an internet connection, on any device.
  • Collaboration
    Multiple users can work on the same spreadsheet simultaneously, with real-time updates and the ability to see each other's changes.
  • Integrations
    Easily integrates with other Google Workspace apps like Google Drive, Docs, and Forms, as well as third-party services.
  • Cost
    Basic features are available for free, with additional advanced features accessible through affordable Google Workspace subscriptions.
  • Functionality
    Offers a wide range of built-in functions and formulas, supporting complex calculations and data analysis.
  • Version History
    Keeps a detailed version history of every change made, allowing users to revert to previous versions as needed.

Possible disadvantages

  • Feature Limitations
    Lacks some advanced features found in more robust spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel, such as certain data visualization and pivot table capabilities.
  • Data Limitations
    Less efficient at handling very large datasets, which can slow down user experience and affect performance.
  • Internet Dependence
    Requires a stable internet connection for optimal use, though offline capabilities are available but limited.
  • Privacy Concerns
    Storing sensitive data on cloud-based services can raise privacy and security concerns for some users.
  • Customization
    Limited customization options compared to some other spreadsheet software, particularly in terms of advanced scripting and macro functions.

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Google Cloud Spanner 1 video + Add
Google Sheets 3 videos + Add

Build with Google Cloud Spanner

Excel Online vs. Google Sheets

More videos

  • - Google Sheets Quickstart - Easy Tutorial 2018
  • - Airtable vs. Google Sheets

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
Google Cloud Spanner
Google Sheets
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
0% 0%
0% 0%
100% 100%

User comments

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

Google Cloud Spanner no reviews yet
Google Sheets no reviews yet

We have no reviews of Google Cloud Spanner yet. Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

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

Google Cloud Spanner 18 mentions
Google Sheets 0 mentions
  • SQL vs. NoSQL — stop asking the wrong question
    Also false. Postgres runs massive production workloads, and you'll hit product problems long before it's your bottleneck. And when you genuinely outgrow a single node, distributed SQL exists now — CockroachDB, Google Cloud Spanner, and... - Source: dev.to / 13 days ago
  • Golden Ticket To Explore Google Cloud
    Multiregion is possible in Google Cloud using Cloud Spanner, which allows you to replicate the database not only in multiple zones but also in multiple regions as defined in the instance configuration. The replicas allow you to read data... - Source: dev.to / about 3 years ago
  • /u/ryuuthecat wonders how a feature of google maps works. Engineer who programmed the feature responds with the answer
    Basically everything I touch is in-house, but a majority of it is available publicly. For instance: https://cloud.google.com/spanner/. Source: almost 4 years ago

View more

Tracking Google Sheets since Mar 2021.

Alternatives to Google Cloud Spanner and Google Sheets

When comparing Google Cloud Spanner and Google Sheets, you can also consider the following products.