ArtCraft Guide › GridCraft
GridCraft: the free Excel alternative
Spreadsheets with formulas, charts and CSV — the free Excel alternative for normal humans.
What GridCraft does
GridCraft is the spreadsheet app: cells, formulas, sorting, filtering and charting for budgets, trackers and small-business books. It imports and exports CSV so your data moves freely, and covers the 90% of spreadsheet work that never needed pivot tables on a million rows. If you have been paying for an office suite just to open the occasional xlsx, GridCraft is the exit.
Key features
- Layer/document workflow modelled on the tool it replaces — muscle memory transfers
- Open, standards-based file formats so your work is never locked in
- Rust-native performance: fast launch, smooth on modest hardware
- Runs 100% locally — no account, no cloud upload, no telemetry traps
GridCraft vs Excel: the honest take
For everyday excel work, GridCraft covers the core loop well and the price is unbeatable. Power users will hit edges — specialized plugins, pro color pipelines and niche formats are where the paid incumbent still wins. Our rule of thumb: try GridCraft first for a week; you will know quickly whether your work lives inside or outside its 90%.
Who it's for
- Students and teachers who need real tools without license gymnastics
- Indie makers and small teams cutting software costs to zero
- Anyone who left Excel over subscriptions but still needs the workflow
How to get it
GridCraft ships with the ArtCraft suite on GitHub. Follow the download guide for step-by-step install and verification.
FAQ
Is GridCraft free forever?
It is open source — the code is public, so even if the project direction changed, the current apps stay usable and forkable.
Does it open my existing files?
It targets the common interchange formats for its category; check the download page notes for the current list for GridCraft.
Where do I report bugs?
On the project's GitHub issue tracker — it is actively maintained and releases land frequently.