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GridCraft

6.5kstorytold/gridcraft

A free, open source spreadsheet app that works like Excel: the ribbon, 500+ formulas, charts and real .xlsx files. Mac, Windows, Linux and the browser.

View on GitHub

Build a stack with GridCraft

Pick parts from it and the projects that work well with it. We check the licences together and write a prompt for your AI.

GridCraft
WordCraft
DeckCraft
PdfCraft

Your stack

Tick the parts you want to use. Projects whose parts are not listed yet can be added whole; the prompt tells your AI to find the right pieces in their code.

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Why we picked it

GridCraft rebuilds the Excel workflow as a fast, native, open source app: the ribbon, formula bar, fill handle and shortcuts, with more than 500 functions including dynamic arrays and LAMBDA, and .xlsx as its native format. It's free under MIT or Apache 2.0, but it's an early alpha, so keep copies of important workbooks.

About GridCraft

GridCraft is a free, open source spreadsheet app from the ArtCraft team, built to work like Microsoft Excel. It has Excel's ribbon, formula bar, Name Box, sheet tabs and shortcuts, and uses .xlsx as its native format. It runs on Mac, Windows, Linux and FreeBSD, and in a web browser.

What it can do

  • Familiar from the first cell. Excel's ribbon, formula bar, fill handle, coloured formula references, Format Cells, Paste Special and keyboard shortcuts, including ribbon access keys.
  • 500+ functions. Including dynamic arrays, LET, LAMBDA and structured table references.
  • Real Excel files. .xlsx is the native format, with styles, themes and formulas. Old .xls workbooks open with their values and formulas.
  • Samples to start from. Built-in sales, budget and grades workbooks show what it can do.
  • In your browser too. The same app runs as a web page you can host anywhere.
  • Works with AI assistants. An MCP server lets an assistant like Claude build, fill and analyse spreadsheets, headless or in a running window.

Part of the Crafting Apps

GridCraft is one of the Crafting Apps, a family of free, open source creative and office apps from ArtCraft, each a clean-room rebuild of a well-known paid app written from scratch in Rust. The best known is PhotoCraft, a Photoshop-style photo editor. They share the same approach: familiar menus and shortcuts, fast native apps on every major system, a version that runs in your browser, and commands an AI assistant can drive.

GridCraft, LibreOffice Calc, ONLYOFFICE Docs or Microsoft Excel?

All four are spreadsheets. The difference is how familiar they feel, how mature they are, and what they cost.

GridCraftThis page

Best forExcel users who want a free, familiar alternative to try

Copies Excel's ribbon and shortcuts, with 500+ functions and .xlsx as its native format. Only weeks old.

How mature
Alpha (2026)
Open source
Yes (MIT or Apache 2.0)
Cost
Free
LibreOffice Calc

Best forA free, proven spreadsheet

The best-known free spreadsheet, part of LibreOffice. Powerful and stable, though it looks less like modern Excel.

How mature
Very mature
Open source
Yes (MPL 2.0)
Cost
Free
ONLYOFFICE Docs

Best forExcel-like editing in a browser, self-hosted

An office suite with an Excel-style spreadsheet and good .xlsx compatibility, desktop or self-hosted online.

How mature
Mature
Open source
Yes (AGPL 3.0)
Cost
Free; paid editions
Microsoft Excel

Best forComplex models and work that needs perfect compatibility

The standard, with Power Query, PivotTables and Copilot. Closed source and paid through Microsoft 365.

How mature
Industry standard
Open source
No
Cost
Subscription

A quick way to choose: need a dependable free spreadsheet today? Use LibreOffice Calc. Want Excel-style sheets in the browser on your own server? Try ONLYOFFICE. Running complex business models? Excel is still the safe choice. Want a fast, free, Excel-like app to try? Try GridCraft.

How to get it

  • Easiest: download it from the GridCraft page on getartcraft.com, or from the latest release on GitHub.
  • Every system: installers for Mac (Apple silicon and Intel), Windows (including ARM), Linux (AppImage, Flatpak, .deb, .rpm) and FreeBSD.
  • In a browser: a web version runs the whole app in a modern browser, and you can host it yourself.
  • For scripts and AI assistants: the gridcraft-cli tool runs the same commands without opening the app and includes an MCP server.

Good to know

  • Alpha. GridCraft is in alpha: the core workflow works end to end, and it covers 89% of Excel's ribbon commands, but its team estimates it's about 50% ready for real work. Fidelity on real-world .xlsx files is the next big job. These are the team's own estimates; nobody has tested them independently yet.
  • Changing very fast. New versions arrive every few days, so expect bugs and update often.
  • Built with AI help. The ArtCraft team uses AI coding agents heavily, which is how so much appeared so quickly. Test it on your own files before you rely on it.
  • No Microsoft code. It's a clean-room rebuild, written from public file specifications and by observing how Excel behaves, not from Microsoft's code.
  • Licence: MIT or Apache 2.0, your choice. Free to use, including at work. The ArtCraft and GridCraft names and logos have their own, stricter terms.

What you can build with it

  • Budgets, invoices and lists without a Microsoft 365 subscription
  • Opening and editing .xlsx files someone sent you
  • Formulas with dynamic arrays, LET and LAMBDA
  • Quick spreadsheets in a browser on any computer
  • Letting an AI assistant build or analyse spreadsheets through MCP

Building blocks

GridCraft is made of parts you can use on their own in your project. Copy a prompt to have your AI assistant add one for you, and see the licence card for what you may do with them.

  • The spreadsheet app

    Free to use, even in closed products

    The desktop app: Excel's ribbon, formula bar and shortcuts, 500+ functions and charts, with .xlsx as its native format.

    Use it to build

    • Budgets and invoices
    • Editing .xlsx files
    • Small business spreadsheets
    View code
    Technical details
    Name
    gridcraft
    What it is
    Other
    How to use it
    Install it and use it
    Install
    Download from getartcraft.com/apps/gridcraft
    Licence
    MIT License (read from LICENSE-MIT and LICENSE-APACHE (MIT OR Apache-2.0))

  • Build spreadsheets from scripts and AI assistants

    Free to use, even in closed products

    Works with workbooks without opening the app, and includes an MCP server that can also connect to a running GridCraft window.

    Use it to build

    • Automated reports
    • AI assistants that analyse data
    View code
    Technical details
    Name
    gridcraft-cli
    What it is
    Command-line tool
    How to use it
    Install it and use it
    Install
    Download gridcraft-cli from github.com/storytold/gridcraft/releases, then run: claude mcp add gridcraft -- gridcraft-cli mcp
    Licence
    MIT License (read from LICENSE-MIT and LICENSE-APACHE (MIT OR Apache-2.0))

Works well with

  • WordCraft

    16k

    A free, open source word processor that works like Microsoft Word: the ribbon, styles, tables, track changes and real .docx files. Mac, Windows, Linux.

    • MIT License

  • DeckCraft

    4.3k

    A free, open source presentation app that works like PowerPoint: themes, charts, animations, presenter view and real .pptx files. Mac, Windows, Linux.

    • MIT License

  • PdfCraft

    17.8k

    A free, open source PDF app that works like Acrobat: read, search, combine, split, comment on, fill and protect PDFs. Private, offline, no account.

    • MIT License

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