Alteryx Designer alternatives: 2 apps ranked by verified data

Facts checked Oct 29, 2026AppBreakup editorialHow we rank

Common reasons people leave Alteryx Designer: expensive per-user annual pricing, and desktop app is Windows only; Macs need a virtual machine. We ranked 2 alternatives by how directly each one replaces Alteryx Designer, then by reviews, real visits and how recently each app's facts were checked against its own website. OpenRefine currently ranks first.

Quick comparison

#	App	Pricing	Open source	Platforms	Verified facts	Score
1	OpenRefine	Open source	Yes	Windows, macOS, Linux	5 of 5	62.6
2	Microsoft Excel	Free plan + paid	No	Web, Windows, macOS +2	4 of 4	50.3

1. OpenRefineTop pick
Best for: Researchers, librarians and journalists cleaning messy spreadsheets without writing code
Open sourceWindows, macOS, Linux
62.6
score / 100
Why switch from Alteryx Designer
Free desktop tool for quick cleaning and deduplication of a single messy dataset.
Pros
Clustering merges inconsistent spellings in a few clicks
Full undo history that can be replayed on new data
Data stays on your own machine
Reconciliation against Wikidata and other services
Cons
Struggles with very large datasets that don't fit in memory
No built-in scheduling or automated pipelines
Advanced transforms need its own GREL expression language
Visit OpenRefine Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.387
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
Freshness ×0.1585
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is OpenRefine a good Alteryx Designer alternative?
Verified facts
5 of 5 verified
License
BSD-3-Clause
Checked Oct 29, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
Platforms
Windows, macOS, Linux
Checked Oct 29, 2026openrefine.org(opens source in a new tab)
Latest version
3.10.0
Checked Oct 29, 2026openrefine.org(opens source in a new tab)
Local processing
Yes
Checked Oct 29, 2026openrefine.org(opens source in a new tab)
Wikidata upload
Yes
Checked Oct 29, 2026openrefine.org(opens source in a new tab)
2. Microsoft Excel
Best for: Analysts and finance teams who need PivotTables, Power Query and large models
Free plan + paidWeb, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
50.3
score / 100
Why switch from Alteryx Designer
Power Query handles repeatable cleaning steps for teams already on Microsoft 365.
Pros
Deepest feature set of any spreadsheet, including Power Query and data models
Huge pool of templates, training and people who already know it
Free web version for basic editing and co-authoring
Cons
Windows desktop is the most complete; Mac and web lag on some features
Large workbooks get slow and are easy to break
Full features need a Microsoft 365 subscription
Visit Microsoft Excel Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.346
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
Freshness ×0.1585
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Microsoft Excel a good Alteryx Designer alternative?
Verified facts
4 of 4 verified
Worksheet size
1,048,576 rows by 16,384 columns
Checked Oct 29, 2026support.microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab)
Free version
Excel for the web
Checked Oct 29, 2026microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab)
Desktop app
Included in Microsoft 365 Personal
Checked Oct 29, 2026microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab)
Starting price
$9.99/month (Microsoft 365 Personal)
Checked Oct 29, 2026microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab)