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: crypto and stock prices that update themselves, net worth that calculates itself, with a trend chart, multi-currency and logging expenses in seconds from your phone. Equally private: neither links your bank.
- Excel/Sheets: infinite flexibility, infinite upkeep.
- Neto: prices that update themselves, no broken formulas.
- Net worth calculates itself.
- 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 stock prices by itself, works out your net worth by itself (assets − debts, multi-currency) and lets you log its monthly and yearly trend, and turns expense logging into a seconds-long gesture on your phone. 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?
Yes, with Neto PRO. In Settings > Finance > Import data you get a CSV template and ready-made instructions so your AI assistant can adapt your spreadsheet to that format. You can import up to 2,000 transactions at a time; they come in as history (they count in your statistics and don't change your current balance) and you can undo each import. If you'd rather not migrate anything, just create your accounts with today's balance.
Does Neto update crypto and stock prices automatically?
Yes. Neto updates your crypto and stock prices automatically, 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 sends your data encrypted (HTTPS) to servers in the European Union and never sells it or shares it for commercial purposes.
Is Neto free like a spreadsheet?
Neto is free to start. The optional Neto PRO unlocks investment tracking with automatic prices and net worth history, at EUR 1.99/week or EUR 49.99/year on iPhone and EUR 2.39/week or EUR 59.99/year on Android.
Related: Neto vs YNABMint alternativenet worth trackinginvestment tracking.