Spreadsheets and data analysis: AI tools compared (13)

What spreadsheets and data analysis tools are for

AI spreadsheet and data analysis tools help you organise information, query files and explore databases. Depending on the service, you can ask a question in everyday language, generate SQL or prepare a chart. They can support operations teams, analysts and managers who work with business data. The practical change concerns how an analysis gets started. For example, examining customer returns by reason might previously involve combining files, filtering rows and building a summary table. With a suitable tool, you can request an initial breakdown, then verify the categories, calculations and results. Bricks analyses data files and creates dashboards. Wren AI turns natural language questions into queries and visualisations. These capabilities can help you explore a question, but they do not establish what an indicator should mean. You still need clear definitions and a check on the quality of the underlying data.

Example uses:

• Explore a customer returns file to group reported reasons and inspect records assigned to unsuitable categories.
• Describe a business question in everyday language to prepare a SQL query for an informed review.
• Build a dashboard from validated data so your team can review activity using shared definitions.
• Identify missing values in a file before preparing an analysis or distributing a report to colleagues.
• Compare spending categories while checking how records are grouped and which periods the calculations cover.

Our picks by need

These picks follow simple rules applied to the verified data, with no partnership or affiliate link:

• Best scored : AITable.ai. 93/100 on our access and transparency grid.
• Cheapest paid option : Nomic Atlas. First plan at $10 per month.

The main tools at a glance

AITable.ai 93/100

AITable.ai helps people managing data and projects create linked tables, forms, and dashboards. It also supports automation between applications and AI assistants built from internal data. Features: Organize data in linked tables; Build forms and dashboards; Automate actions between applications. Entry price: $18 per month, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser and API. Data hosting: China.

Wren AI 83/100

Wren AI serves teams querying databases in plain language. It produces SQL queries, creates charts and dashboards, and lets users define data relationships and business rules. Features: Query databases in plain language; Produce SQL queries; Create charts and dashboards. Entry price: $179 per month, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser, API, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. Data hosting: Several regions.

Airtable 80/100

Airtable helps people organize data in linked tables and create internal applications from descriptions. It also automates tasks between services and uses AI agents to analyze and enrich records. Features: Organize data in linked tables; Create internal applications from descriptions; Automate tasks between multiple services. Entry price: $20 per month, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser, Windows, macOS, iPhone and iPad, Android, and API. Data hosting: Several regions.

Vanna 78/100

Vanna serves teams querying databases through questions. It generates SQL queries, displays results as tables and charts, controls access by user and embeds a data assistant in applications. Features: Turn a question into an SQL query; Query multiple types of databases; Present results as tables and charts. Entry price: $50 per month, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser and API. Data hosting: Several regions.

MinusX 63/100

MinusX helps people analyzing data ask questions in everyday language and write SQL queries. It creates dashboards, monitors metrics, flags anomalies and prepares presentations and reports from analyses. Features: Query data in everyday language; Create and edit dashboards; Write SQL queries. Entry price: $20 per month, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser, browser extension, Slack, and API.

Bricks 58/100

Bricks serves users analyzing CSV, Excel, and PDF files. It turns data into dashboards, charts, reports, and presentations, with visualizations that can be changed through written instructions and dashboards available for sharing or export. Features: Analyze CSV, Excel, and PDF files; Create dashboards from data; Produce charts and reports. Entry price: $17.5 per month, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser. Data hosting: United States.

Text2SQL.ai 58/100

Text2SQL.ai writes SQL queries from questions for people querying databases. It takes database structure into account, explains and corrects queries, and produces tables and charts from the results. Features: Write an SQL query from a question; Take a database's structure into account; Explain and correct queries. Free tier available. Runs on: web browser, Windows, macOS, Linux, and API. Data hosting: Several regions.

Better Analyst 55/100

Better Analyst helps people analyze data through conversation. It supports cleaning and combining data, creating charts and dashboards, and scheduling reports and alerts as part of their analysis work. Features: Analyze data through conversation; Create charts; Build dashboards. Entry price: $20 per month, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser and Slack. Data hosting: Several regions.

RTutor 48/100

RTutor analyzes data files through conversation for people who want to produce statistics and charts. It generates and executes R or Python code and provides downloadable analysis reports. Features: Analyze a data file through conversation; Generate and execute R or Python code; Produce charts and statistics. Free tier available. Runs on: web browser.

Julius AI 45/100

Julius AI helps people working with data analyze files through conversation and create charts. It also connects data sources, prepares reports and presentations, and schedules recurring analyses. Features: Analyze data files through conversation; Create charts; Connect data sources. Entry price: $192 per year, with a free tier. Runs on: web browser, iPhone and iPad, Android, and browser extension.

The category in figures

Of the 13 tools in the category, 13 (100%) offer a free tier, 62% have a public API and 3 have a French interface. The median entry price, per month, is $20 (across 9 tools with a published price). 7 disclose where data is hosted, 0 of them in Europe or on device.

Also useful

These tools belong to another category but also cover this need:

• ChatGPT ChatGPT helps people write texts, search for information, and analyze files and tables. It also supports image
• Ai2 Asta Ai2 Asta helps people conducting research find scientific papers and write summaries with citations. It also a
• AI2SQL AI2SQL lets people working with databases turn requests into SQL queries. It explains existing queries, correc
• FigureLabs FigureLabs lets users preparing scientific figures create illustrations from text or sketches. It also provide
• dbForge AI Assistant dbForge AI Assistant lets people working with SQL create queries from requests and adapt them to database stru
• Fiscal.ai Fiscal.ai lets people analyzing companies query financial data and compare metrics and results. It also provid
• No-Code Scraper No-Code Scraper extracts website data for people who want to define the information they need without coding.
• SQLAI.ai SQLAI.ai serves people writing or correcting SQL queries. It turns requests into queries, explains how they wo
• Genius Sheets Genius Sheets lets finance teams connect QuickBooks or Xero to a spreadsheet to build custom reports. It conso

Choosing well and avoiding pitfalls

Start with your actual sources, whether files, linked tables or databases. Test questions whose answers you already know. Check French comprehension, business terminology and access to the generated queries or calculations. Review connectors, exports and whether an analysis can be reproduced later. Examine permissions, hosting and retention before granting access to internal data. For shared work, check how definitions and dashboards are maintained across the team. Compare billing against users, processing activity and required connections, including any conditions that could affect repeated analysis or access to your saved work.

A valid query can answer the wrong question. Joins may duplicate records, while filters can silently remove relevant cases. Check definitions, missing values and reporting periods before interpreting a chart. Compare results with an independent calculation on familiar data. Limit access to personal information and use read-only permissions when exploring a database. Keep the processing steps so you can explain and reproduce conclusions. Visual clarity does not establish that the underlying analysis is sound.

To compare with the cost of using an AI model directly, see the API price calculator.

Free or paid?

Free plans generally let you test imports, questions and visualisations within restricted usage. File handling, connections or sharing may be limited. Paying becomes useful for recurring analysis, connected business sources or team governance. Check that you can retrieve your data and results in a usable format, especially if you later change tools or working processes.

Tools in the category with a free tier: AITable.ai, Wren AI, Airtable, Vanna, MinusX, Bricks, Text2SQL.ai, and Better Analyst.

For which jobs?

The profiles that use these tools most, based on the use cases documented by publishers: data analysts, developers, small business owners, marketers, researchers, and accountants and finance teams.