Neto vs spreadsheets: app or Excel for your finances?
The spreadsheet is where almost everyone who takes money seriously starts: free, flexible, nothing to connect. The problem isn't starting — it's maintaining it. Here's how tracking your finances in Excel or Google Sheets compares to doing it in Neto, an app built precisely for people who got tired of their template.
TL;DRIn short
Spreadsheets win on total flexibility and zero cost. Neto wins on everything the sheet makes you do by hand: real-time crypto and stock prices, automatic net worth history, multi-currency and logging expenses in seconds from your iPhone. Equally private: neither links your bank.
- Excel/Sheets: infinite flexibility, infinite upkeep.
- Neto: live prices without broken formulas.
- Net worth and history calculate themselves.
- Logging a coffee: seconds on your phone vs opening the file.
What spreadsheets do brilliantly
Let's be fair: a well-built spreadsheet is unbeatable on flexibility. You can model anything, exactly your way, for free. If you enjoy maintaining it and your system works, you don't need to change.
Where the spreadsheet breaks
The pattern repeats everywhere: the template starts simple, grows, and ends up demanding a Sunday-afternoon ritual. Crypto and stock prices need updating (GOOGLEFINANCE-style formulas break, don't cover everything, and desktop Excel has nothing built in for crypto), net worth history has to be copied by hand each month, and logging an expense from your phone is annoying enough that you stop doing it. The system dies of friction, not of design.
What Neto automates
Neto does the three things that kill the template: it updates crypto and stocks in real time, saves your net worth history automatically (assets − debts, multi-currency), and turns expense logging into a seconds-long gesture on your iPhone. And it keeps the property you loved about the sheet: it never links to your bank, so your credentials stay yours.
Which one is right for you?
Stick with Excel or Google Sheets if your template is your hobby and you need custom modelling. Switch to Neto if you want the same control and the same privacy without the upkeep: fast logging, prices that update themselves, and the full picture of your wealth always current.
Frequently asked questions
Can I import my spreadsheet into Neto?
The usual path is starting fresh in a few minutes: create your accounts and assets with their current balances and Neto keeps the history from there. You don't need to migrate years of rows.
Does Neto update crypto and stock prices automatically?
Yes. Neto tracks your crypto and stocks with real-time prices — something spreadsheets only manage with fragile formulas or manual updates.
Which is more private, a spreadsheet or Neto?
Both are private in the sense that neither links to your bank. A cloud spreadsheet depends on your Google or Microsoft account, while Neto keeps your data encrypted and never shares it with third parties.
Is Neto free like a spreadsheet?
Neto is free to start. The optional Neto PRO unlocks real-time investment tracking and net worth history, at EUR 2.99/month or EUR 49.99/year.
Related: Neto vs YNAB, Mint alternative, net worth tracking, investment tracking.