Looking for the best AI tools for Excel? Here are my 5 favorite options

As a marketer, my Mondays usually begin with diving into the earlier week’s efficiency reviews. Excel sheets with marketing campaign information, social post-mortems, finances allocations, ad spend analytics, and extra. Generally, there’s sufficient information to make my head spin.

As you possibly can inform, information evaluation isn’t one thing I like doing. But it surely’s the one method to know if our campaigns are literally working. So, I began trying to find the very best AI instruments for Excel to assist me save time.

Initially, I attempted constructing out customized Google scripts and macros for small, particular duties — issues like fetching information, fundamental personalization, and so forth. Nonetheless, sustaining these scripts throughout initiatives was a ache and clearly wasn’t scalable.

So, after making an attempt out loads of AI instruments for Excel, I’ve compiled 5 of the very best ones under.

Desk of Contents

How I Examined the Finest AI Instruments and Plugins for Excel

• Accuracy. Usually, I’m coping with actually massive and messy information units, as I’m positive a lot of you’re. Which means calculations and formulation can get complicated. An AI software must deal with these duties precisely.
• Ease of use. There’s nothing worse than a complicated software. Excel itself may be complicated sufficient, so an AI software shouldn’t have a tough studying curve. I search for a clear dashboard, clear setup directions, and good UX.
• Velocity and reliability. We flip to AI to extend effectivity. A software must be fast and dependable if I’m going to take a position money and time in it.
• Vary of options. You are able to do a lot in Excel with AI. I desire options with a number of AI options so I don’t want to change instruments typically.

Be aware: For testing functions, I downloaded a pattern spreadsheet containing YouTube subscriber information for use in each software, eliminating potential variables.

1. Ajelix

Pricing: Free plans can be found with limits. Professional plans value $20/consumer/month. Skilled plans value $50/consumer/month, and Enterprise plans value $200/consumer/month.

If you happen to’re in search of an all-in-one AI answer for Excel, Ajelix is one in every of my prime picks. It’s fairly well-liked for producing and optimizing Excel and Google App Scripts. However, once I noticed it had 15+ instruments for information evaluation, Excel, and AI, I used to be positively curious to attempt it out.

I began with the AI analyst characteristic to calculate the common engagement fee of my YouTube information. This concerned combining metrics like views, watch time, CTR, and so on., and measuring the affect of every one.

Right here was the output:

The formulation labored nice. Nonetheless, what impressed me was all the things I obtained with it. There was an evidence of what the formulation does, any potential errors I may make (responsible!), continuously requested questions custom-made to my information, and even another formulation.

It additionally anticipated what I wanted subsequent — adjusting the burden of every metric to get an correct engagement fee. Particular overdelivery on my easy ask.

Then, I wished to see if this expertise prolonged to the opposite options of the platform. So, I made a decision to take the enterprise intelligence software for a spin. My question was to establish patterns inside my datasets and generate a chart for higher visualization. The software took a couple of minutes, however the finish chart was fairly good.

What I like:

• Person-friendly and tailor-made to enterprise house owners and founders.
• Superior enterprise intelligence performance units it aside from different instruments on this listing.
• Explains every step of the generated formulation and scripts, together with extra questions.
• Supplies alternate formulation.

What I don’t like:

• Ajelix is simply accessible in particular nations. My nation wasn’t supported, so I had to make use of a VPN to check it. That slowed down my total velocity.
• Free plans are restricted at three messages per day. Professional plans (250/messages per day) value $20/month, at par with ChatGPT.

2. GPTExcel

Pricing: Free plans can be found. Paid plans value $6.99 per 30 days.

GPTExcel is a useful and cost-efficient software for customers to get essentially the most out of AI options for Excel. It seems precisely like ChatGPT, however with customized Excel prompts and options like formulation, scripts, SQL, and so on.

I first examined out the final chat with a easy process. I offered the YouTube information and requested it to offer me the highest 10 performing movies. It carried out pretty nicely, and I appreciated the way it tried to elucidate its reasoning by way of the backend Python code.

Then, I moved to the Components generator. I wished an Excel formulation to search out the titles of my top-performing movies primarily based on click-through charges. My objective was to make use of this information to know the varieties of movies I ought to prioritize sooner or later.

Not unhealthy. Whereas this was useful, I spotted I couldn’t visualize the patterns I used to be in search of with simply formulation. That’s once I determined to check the Script characteristic.

With the Script software, you possibly can clarify what you need your script to do, or you possibly can reverse the method by offering GPTExcel with a script and having the software clarify it to you.

I offered my spreadsheet and requested the software to generate a script that creates a bar graph. I plugged that script into my Google Sheets (Extensions > App Scripts) and clicked Run. The output was a neat graph that ranked every video within the context of subscribers gained from it.

Subsequent time, I’d additionally add a secondary metric that helps contextualize these subscribers. Are shorter, punchier movies serving to me achieve extra subscribers, or are the longer ones with increased retention charges simpler? That may additionally assist me perceive the standard of my followers and the loyalty I’ve constructed.

In contrast to different instruments on this listing, GPTExcel is extra fundamental. It’s important to inform it precisely what you’re in search of, together with column names, information ranges, and so on., or it’d decide the unsuitable ones. For an AI software, I anticipated extra “intelligence,” however for what it prices month-to-month, I can’t complain.

General, I used to be pretty glad with the software’s capability to observe my directions and supply scripts and formulation that, for essentially the most half, labored.

What I like:

• Ease of use, guided walkthroughs, and Excel native options.
• Generated charts and graphs assist you to visualize complicated information shortly.

What I don’t like:

• The free tier is proscribed to solely 4 requests per day, which you’ll shortly exhaust when you’re new to prompting AI for Excel. Whereas the paid tier is inexpensive, you’re restricted to 100 queries per day. So, I’d advocate this software for gentle utilization.
• Pretty fundamental, no guided information evaluation or auto-correction.

3. ChatGPT

Pricing: Free plan accessible. $20/month for ChatGPT Plus. $200/month for ChatGPT Professional.

ChatGPT 4-o is without doubt one of the greatest fashions for information evaluation and reasoning, according to LiveBench.

Though I had by no means had a lot luck with ChatGPT and Excel prompts, I used to be curious to see what had modified. I already use ChatGPT for content and research work, so it wasn’t a heavy raise.

For this take a look at, I significantly wished to see how nicely ChatGPT may carry out information evaluation, strategic pondering, and content material creation in a single chat. So, I uploaded my YouTube information to ChatGPT and requested it to establish the varieties of movies that carry out the very best.

The reply was obscure. It highlighted the highest movies primarily based solely on views. I did just like the expandable table-view format ChatGPT used to current the views, although.

Whereas I may have accepted this reply from extra fundamental instruments like GPTExcel, I used to be in search of greater than that. I wished to know specifics: Why did these movies work? What’s the widespread sample between them?

So, I tweaked the immediate and requested it to investigate inferences we are able to make from the given view information and clickthrough fee.

And that’s the place ChatGPT’s reasoning capabilities begin to present. Whereas some patterns have been apparent, others, like “male variations of historically feminine issues,” highlighted main content material alternatives. Phrasing it in that method helped me unlock new strains of pondering.

Then, I requested ChatGPT to make use of this evaluation to recommend high-potential, low-effort matters. Inside minutes, I had quite a few content material concepts to plug into the subsequent week’s content material plan.

Other than the standard ChatGPT fashions, I additionally found a complete vary of customized GPTs constructed by neighborhood members. Every customized GPT is skilled on a selected information phase or business, making the evaluation focused and helpful. There’s even one for Excel macros and formulation.

What I like:

• ChatGPT is essentially the most beginner-friendly software on this listing with the least studying curve.
• You may carry out information evaluation, create a method primarily based on that information, after which execute it, all inside a single interface.
• GPT-4 (Plus plan) can deal with giant datasets simply resulting from its elevated token limits and nice comprehension capabilities.
• Customized GPTs are a terrific add-on for specialised industries like science, advertising, and so on.

What I don’t like:

• ChatGPT is vulnerable to hallucination, so I like to recommend verifying the accuracy of the output.
• Free plans can’t deal with enormous information units earlier than hitting the utilization restrict.
• ChatGPT Plus at $20/month is without doubt one of the pricier choices on this listing. Nonetheless, on condition that you should utilize it for greater than information evaluation, I’d argue it’s value it.

4. Formularizer

Pricing: 50 free credit each month, $7/month for the Professional plan (limitless credit)

I’m pretty first rate at piecing collectively fundamental Excel formulation. However whenever you’re coping with complicated datasets, your formulation can get equally complicated. And that’s the place I wrestle. I’d get the formulation 95% proper, however then should go on a wild goose chase to determine why it is not working as anticipated. Often, it’s an incorrect reference or misplaced closing brackets.

These small errors are exhausting to identify in lengthy formulation. And Excel’s error messages aren’t all that useful for debugging both.

So, I turned to AI to assist resolve my formulation woes. Particularly, a software referred to as Formularizer. Formularizer may assist me in two methods:

• Generate ready-to-use formulation for my information.
• Clarify pre-written formulation logic.

Let’s take a look at the way it did with my YouTube information.

As a take a look at, I requested it to create a formulation to filter a part of my video information. I wished to see which movies had a excessive watch time and good retention. That is what it despatched me:

I pasted this into my sheet, and it labored nicely. Whereas I obtained the info accurately, the formatting was a bit off. Nonetheless, that was a fast repair.

What I like:

• Quick and simple to make use of, because of the intuitive chat interface.
• Generates complicated formulation quick.
• Finances-friendly limitless plan choice.

What I don’t like:

• The software labored, however the consumer interface didn’t present a preview of how the formulation impacts your sheet. I needed to verify manually if all the things was working and repair formatting.
• I couldn’t see the price of the software earlier than signing up, which is a pink flag for me. I get they’re optimizing for signups, however this isn’t the very best consumer expertise.

5. Formula Bot

Pricing: Free plans can be found with limits. Limitless plans are available $15/month, $25/month, and $35/month variants.

Components Bot appeared promising once I first opened it. The software claims to deal with Excel information utilizing sensible AI and Python, so I assumed it will be nice for sorting and cleansing giant sheets.

I began with a easy question: “Kind the column ‘Views’ in descending order and transfer the remainder of the info with it.”

Then, I uploaded my Excel file to the chat, however Components Bot couldn’t course of it immediately. I needed to go to the Sources part, click on my file once more, and solely then wouldn’t it acknowledge it as a legitimate supply.

After I lastly obtained the info loaded, I typed my query once more. But it surely didn’t perceive that “views” (lowercase) was the identical as “Views” (uppercase). As soon as I explicitly talked about that, it flipped my columns into rows (fail).

Finally, I needed to go and clear my information.

After the repair, it lastly gave me a sorted listing primarily based on Views. So, whereas this software did work, the entire expertise was fairly glitchy.

Components Bot positively requires some hand-holding. It really works greatest in case your information is tremendous clear and you already know precisely what to ask. If you happen to’re okay going forwards and backwards just a little you should utilize this software, however it’s not essentially the most beginner-friendly software on the listing.

What I like:

• Clear prompting interface.
• Supplies downloadable, usable outputs after some forwards and backwards.

What I don’t like:

• The format isn’t user-friendly. The supply must be added manually to the chat even after importing it.
• Can not adapt to easy variations, comparable to case-sensitive formatting.

Making the Most of Excel