Free Equals alternatives: 6 apps ranked by verified data

Facts checked Nov 8, 2026AppBreakup editorialHow we rank

6 of the 6 Equals alternatives we track can be used for free (free, open source, or with a free plan). Metabase, Rows and Google Sheets rank highest, with facts last verified Nov 8, 2026.

Quick comparison

#	App	Pricing	Verified price	Open source	Platforms	Verified facts	Score
1	Metabase	Open source	$100/month (Starter)	Yes	Web, Self-hosted	5 of 5	74.3
2	Rows	Free plan + paid	$8 per user/month ($6 billed annually)	No	Web	5 of 5	66.2
3	Google Sheets	Free	—	No	Web, iOS, Android	3 of 3	65.0
4	Microsoft Power BI	Free plan + paid	$14 per user/month (Pro, paid yearly)	No	Web, Windows, iOS +1	5 of 5	61.8
5	DaData Studio (Looker Studio)	Free plan + paid	$9 per user per project/month	No	Web	4 of 4	59.4
6	Zoho Analytics	Free plan + paid	$60 a month for 5 users, billed monthly	No	Web, iOS, Android +1	7 of 7	55.9

1. MetabaseTop pick
Best for: Startups and product teams wanting quick, self-hosted dashboards on top of their own database
Open sourceSelf-hostableWeb, Self-hosted
74.3
score / 100
Why switch from Equals
Open-source BI you can self-host for free, with a simple question builder over your database.
Pros
Free open-source edition with unlimited users
Point-and-click question builder plus a SQL editor
Easy to self-host with Docker or a single JAR file
Popular choice for embedding analytics in a product
Cons
Row-level permissions and SSO need a paid plan
Lighter data modelling than Tableau or Power BI
Paid cloud plans start at a noticeable monthly base price
Visit Metabase Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.387
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.1563
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Metabase a good Equals alternative?
Verified facts
5 of 5 verified
License
AGPL (Open Source Edition)
Checked Nov 8, 2026metabase.com(opens source in a new tab)
Free plan
Open Source, unlimited users
Checked Nov 8, 2026metabase.com(opens source in a new tab)
Starting price
$100/month (Starter)
Checked Nov 8, 2026metabase.com(opens source in a new tab)
Free trial
14 days
Checked Nov 8, 2026metabase.com(opens source in a new tab)
Self-hosting
Docker or JAR
Checked Nov 8, 2026metabase.com(opens source in a new tab)
2. RowsAcquired
Best for: Small teams building live reports from SaaS data in a spreadsheet format
Free plan + paidWeb
66.2
score / 100
Why switch from Equals
Spreadsheet with built-in data integrations and AI, with a free plan and far lower prices.
Pros
Integrations work like spreadsheet functions
Published sheets look clean enough to share as reports
AI extracts and analyses data from PDFs and imports
Cons
Future uncertain after joining Superhuman
Not a relational database; records and permissions are basic
AI task limits are tight on the free plan
Visit Rows Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.360
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.1563
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Rows a good Equals alternative?
Verified facts
5 of 5 verified
Free plan
Yes, $0
Checked Nov 8, 2026rows.com(opens source in a new tab)
Plus plan
$8 per user/month
Checked Nov 8, 2026rows.com(opens source in a new tab)
Owner
Superhuman
Checked Nov 8, 2026rows.com(opens source in a new tab)
Starting price
$8 per user/month ($6 billed annually)
Checked Nov 8, 2026rows.com(opens source in a new tab)
Pro plan
$79/month + $8 per user/month
Checked Nov 8, 2026rows.com(opens source in a new tab)
3. Google Sheets
Best for: Teams sharing trackers, budgets and lists that several people update
FreeWeb, iOS, Android
65.0
score / 100
Why switch from Equals
Free spreadsheet with connectors and add-ons, if manual or scripted imports are acceptable.
Pros
Live multi-user editing and cell comments with no file passing
Free, with Apps Script automation and many add-ons
Edits Excel files directly
Cons
Slows down noticeably with large datasets
No equivalent to Excel's Power Query or VBA
Offline use needs Chrome or Edge
Visit Google Sheets Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.338
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.15100
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Google Sheets a good Equals alternative?
Verified facts
3 of 3 verified
Free plan
Anyone with a Google account
Checked Nov 8, 2026workspace.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
Offline mode
Yes
Checked Nov 8, 2026workspace.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
Excel files
Convert or edit directly
Checked Nov 8, 2026workspace.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
4. Microsoft Power BI
Best for: Organisations on Microsoft 365 that want affordable, full-featured dashboards and reports
Free plan + paidWeb, Windows, iOS, Android
61.8
score / 100
Why switch from Equals
Low per-user pricing and deep Excel integration for teams already on Microsoft 365.
Pros
Free Desktop authoring app with strong data modelling
Lower per-user price than most enterprise BI tools
Fits closely with Excel, Teams and Microsoft Fabric
Cons
Desktop authoring app runs only on Windows
Sharing reports requires paid per-user or capacity licences
Licensing tiers and Fabric capacity options are hard to follow
Visit Microsoft Power BI Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.377
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Microsoft Power BI a good Equals alternative?
Verified facts
5 of 5 verified
Starting price
$14 per user/month (Pro, paid yearly)
Checked Nov 8, 2026microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab)
Premium Per User
$24 per user/month (paid yearly)
Checked Nov 8, 2026microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab)
Free desktop app
Power BI Desktop
Checked Nov 8, 2026microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab)
Platforms
Windows desktop app, web, mobile apps
Checked Nov 8, 2026learn.microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab)
Premium Per User plan
$24 per user/month (paid yearly)
Checked Nov 8, 2026microsoft.com(opens source in a new tab)
Da
5. Data Studio (Looker Studio)
Best for: Marketers and small teams reporting on Google Analytics, Ads and Sheets data
Free plan + paidWeb
59.4
score / 100
Why switch from Equals
Free Google dashboarding tool that connects to Sheets, BigQuery and many sources.
Pros
Free self-service tier
Native connectors for Google Analytics, Ads, Sheets and BigQuery
Shares and collaborates like a Google Doc
Reports can be embedded on any web page
Cons
Can get slow with large or blended datasets
Basic data modelling compared with Power BI
Many third-party connectors charge separately
Visit Data Studio (Looker Studio) Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.369
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Data Studio (Looker Studio) a good Equals alternative?
Verified facts
4 of 4 verified
Free tier
Self-service tier at no cost
Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
Pro price
$9 per user per project/month
Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
Community connectors
1,300+
Checked Nov 8, 2026cloud.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
Embedding
Embed reports on any web page
Checked Nov 8, 2026lookerstudio.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
6. Zoho Analytics
Best for: Small and mid-size businesses, especially Zoho users, wanting affordable self-service BI
Free plan + paidSelf-hostableWeb, iOS, Android, Self-hosted
55.9
score / 100
Why switch from Equals
Affordable BI with many SaaS connectors and an AI assistant, aimed at smaller businesses.
Pros
Free plan and published, user-based pricing
Hundreds of connectors with ready-made dashboards for common business apps
Cloud or on-premises deployment
Cons
Free plan is capped at 2 users and 10K rows
Paid tiers also cap data rows, with more rows sold as add-ons
Busy interface with many settings to learn
Visit Zoho Analytics Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.357
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Zoho Analytics a good Equals alternative?
Verified facts
7 of 7 verified
Free plan
Yes, 2 users and 10,000 rows
Checked Nov 8, 2026zoho.com(opens source in a new tab)
Free trial
15 days, no card
Checked Nov 8, 2026zoho.com(opens source in a new tab)
Data sources
500+
Checked Nov 8, 2026zoho.com(opens source in a new tab)
Deployment
Cloud or on-premise
Checked Nov 8, 2026zoho.com(opens source in a new tab)
Standard plan
$60 a month for 5 users, billed monthly
Checked Nov 8, 2026zoho.com(opens source in a new tab)
Premium plan
$145 a month, billed monthly
Checked Nov 8, 2026zoho.com(opens source in a new tab)
Extra users
From $8 per user/month
Checked Nov 8, 2026zoho.com(opens source in a new tab)

Quick comparison

1. MetabaseTop pick

Pros

Cons

Verified facts

2. RowsAcquired

Pros

Cons

Verified facts

3. Google Sheets

Pros

Cons

Verified facts

4. Microsoft Power BI

Pros

Cons

Verified facts

5. Data Studio (Looker Studio)

Pros

Cons

Verified facts

6. Zoho Analytics

Pros

Cons

Verified facts