Benchmark of Top 14 AI Excel Tools to Boost Productivity
79% of companies report that they’ve already adopted AI agents, and two-thirds of those users say these agents have boosted productivity in measurable ways.1 We test and compare 14 AI Excel tools to see how they perform. Results show Claude Max emerged as the top performer, scoring high in both accuracy and capabilities. Summary of other results:
- Best for accurate calculations → Claude Max, R2 Copilot, Quadratic
- Best for guided step-by-step explanations → Tryshortcut, Formula Bot
- Best for multi-language communication → GPTExcel
- Best for visual data exploration → Quadratic
See the benchmark methodology details, feature comparison of AI excel tools, and detailed results:
Performance of Excel AI tools
Read the benchmark section for more information on the performance test.
“NA” indicates that no public information was found.
* These info is filled based on the vendor claim, not our experience.
Read key features for more information.
“NA” indicates that no public information was found.
* Price of the most basic version is listed for each tool.
Claude Max
Claude Max, as a large language model, reached 60% accuracy. It provided not only answers but also detailed solutions, and if requested, it could generate a downloadable document. This combination of accuracy and usability makes it one of the strongest tools for complex problem-solving.
Figure 1. Answers of Claude Max
R2 Copilot
R2 Copilot, an Excel add-in, achieved about 60% accuracy. It sometimes provided the method of solving a problem instead of the actual solution. For complex cases, such as a six-year financial plan, it only completed part of the answer (e.g., just the first two years). This inconsistency reduced its reliability.
Quadratic
Quadratic also achieved 60% accuracy. A notable feature was its ability to provide code in Python and PHP, which were also used in generating visuals. Impressively, it automatically generated charts even when they weren’t requested. However, generating answers took longer compared to other tools.
Figure 2. A graph created with Quadratic to represent one of the answers from our benchmark
Tryshortcut
Tryshortcut demonstrated a 40% accuracy rate. Its primary strengths are providing detailed explanations and offering supplementary analysis, such as sensitivity testing, follow-up calculations. It is particularly valuable for financial modeling, as it allows users to customize outputs and provides downloadable solutions. The main limitation is that data analysis took longer than expected.
Figure 3. TryShortcut Excel sheet with chat
Formula Bot
The platform gave correct answers in about 40% of cases. However, it seems that the wrong answers are rooted in the misunderstanding of the question. Its explanations were very detailed, like a step-by-step lesson. It’s helpful for learning how Excel formulas work or understanding a data model. It offered useful trend summaries and insights. The free version doesn’t create charts, even though it claims to support them.
GPTExcel
GPTExcel achieved about 40% accuracy. The main issue was that it often misunderstood the question, and it didn’t give detailed explanations. On the positive side, the multi-language feature worked very well, smoothly supporting different languages. This makes it particularly useful for international teams, even if its problem-solving abilities are limited.
Figure 4. Dashboard of GPTExcel
GPTExcel AI Chat Bot is reliable for getting answers and understanding formulas, but it doesn’t go beyond the basics.
Paradigm
Paradigm reached 40% accuracy. The main challenge was reliability, the AI chat did not work consistently. I had to ask the same question four times to get a response. It provided little to no explanation or extra analysis, making it less dependable for serious use.
AJELIX
AJELIX also performed at 20% accuracy. Errors were usually due to wrong calculations rather than misinterpretation of the question. It didn’t provide explanations unless specifically requested, which limited usability. Still, it can be valuable for straightforward tasks and automation scenarios.
AI sheet by Huggingface
This open-source tool scored 20% accuracy. It produced different calculations and asked users for feedback, which felt experimental. A useful feature was that results could be downloaded. Still, its practical performance was very limited.
Figure 5. Dashboard of HuggingFace AI Sheets
ExcelAIBot
ExcelAIBot does not correctly answer any question in our benchmark. It allowed users to request formula generation or explanations for both Excel and Google Sheets. While its step-by-step explanations were clear, they weren’t very detailed and often didn’t provide the exact formula needed.
Carousel
Carousel was different in that it required an on-premise installation as an Excel add-in. In practice, it could not solve questions unless the data was already inside the spreadsheet, even if the problem was clearly written in chat. This limited its usefulness in our tests.
Numerous
Numerous was not designed for calculations and explanations. Instead, it pointed out how to generate formulas from short descriptions and offered features like sentiment analysis, translation, and text rewriting. In our experience, it was not useful for numerical problem solving but could support content-related tasks such as digital marketing or text categorization.
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Copilot is an AI assistant built into Microsoft 365 tools like Microsoft Excel, Word, and Teams. It helps users write, analyze, summarize, and automate tasks using existing files and data. Users can also chat with it to get help or use agents to handle repetitive tasks.
Microsoft claims that the Copilot chat can make complex calculations, provide explanations, and conduct extra analysis. Although the website of the vendor indicates that Microsoft Copilot has a free trial, the chatbot is not included.
Arcwise
Arcwise is an AI data analyst that works inside the spreadsheet, especially Google Sheets. It helps users explore, understand, and visualize the given spreadsheet data. Arcwise claims that the Excel AI tool chat can make calculations, provide explanations, and conduct extra analysis.
Evaluation of AI-powered Excel solutions
Benchmark
We put each AI tool through a standardized benchmark test. We used five scenarios that required different financial calculations:
- Discounted Free Cash Flow (DCF): Calculating the value of a project based on future cash flows. (1 question)
- Present Value (PV): Finding the current value of a future sum of money. (3 questions)
Example:
Your uncle, who is 65 years old today, is expecting to live for 10 more years. He wishes to invest $26,000 in an annuity that will make a level payment at the end of each year until his death. If the interest rate is 10.0%, what income can he expect to receive each year?
- Future Value (FV): Projecting the value of a current investment at a future date. (1 question)
Example:
Suppose your company’s defined contribution retirement plan allows you to invest up to $20,000 per year. You plan to invest $20,000 per year in a stock index fund for the next 30 years. Historically, this fund has earned 9% per year on average. Assuming that you actually earn 9% a year, how much money will you have available for retirement after making the last payment?
Each question has one correct answer. The performance score represents the percentage of correct answers across five tasks. We measured the tools’ accuracy within a 1% error margin.
Key features of AI-powered tools
We also scored each tool on these capabilities:
Calculation
AI-Excel tools can run complex formulas and queries for you. They handle tasks like sums, averages, loan payments, and database lookups. This saves you from typing complex formulas by hand.
Explanation
They break down the steps behind each formula or script. You can see how each part works in plain language. This helps you learn and trust the results.
Extra analysis
Some tools can provide more of a detailed analysis, such as running “what-if” scenarios, performing sensitivity analysis, and clarifying the approach used in the solution etc. This deeper insight lets you explore your data without leaving the spreadsheet.
FAQs
Further reading
- Enterprise AI Assistant to Boost Productivity
- Emotion AI Tools Backed by Real-World Testing
- Open Source HRIS Tools with Key Features
Reference Links
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