Apple Numbers

Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to Apple Numbers

Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet (Google’s parent), Amazon and Facebook dominate the tech landscape. Their dominance is so broad they account for more than 20% of the S&P 500.

There are many things to admire about Apple’s hardware and software. Apple make great looking (albeit expensive) hardware. Over the years key successes include the iPhone, iPad, iPod, and the MacBook Air. The company designs its own hardware and software. This gives them the power to make an operating system and suite of apps that are tailor-made and optimized for their hardware. Apple also operates the Apple Music and Apple TV media distribution platforms.

macOS is Apple’s proprietary operating system for its line of Macintosh computers. Its interface, known as Aqua, is highly polished and built on top of a BSD derivative (Darwin). There’s a whole raft of proprietary applications that are developed by Apple for their operating software. This software is not available for Linux and there’s no prospect of that position changing.

In 2020, Apple began the Apple silicon transition, using self-designed, 64-bit ARM-based Apple M1 processors on new Mac computers. Maybe it’s the perfect time to move away from the proprietary world of Apple, and embrace the open source Linux scene.

Apple NumbersApple Numbers is a spreadsheet application which uses a free-form “canvas” approach that demotes tables to one of many different media types placed on a page. It’s a free download but not published under an open source license. And it’s not available for Linux.

What are the best free and open source alternative to Numbers?


1. LibreOffice Calc

LibreOffice Calc is a component of LibreOffice, a hugely popular office suite that’s compatible with other major office suites. We like the Function menu in the spreadsheet editor displays functions in a clear outline form. Its charts are clear and elegant even when processing complex data.

LibreOffice Calc
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2. ONLYOFFICE

Like LibreOffice, ONLYOFFICE is a high quality free and open source office and productivity suite.

ONLYOFFICE includes an online editing suite called ONLYOFFICE Docs. It combines text, spreadsheet, presentation and form editors that include features similar to Microsoft desktop editors (Word, Excel and PowerPoint). It works with most popular formats: DOCX, ODT, XLSX, ODS, CSV, PPTX, ODP, etc.

ONLYOFFICE is delivered either as SaaS or as an installation for deployment on a private network.

ONLYOFFICE Docs v7.4: Radar charts
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3. Gnumeric

Gnumeric is another excellent free and open source spreadsheet application. The software aims to offer high accuracy computations, expressive graphs, and a wide range of statistical analysis tools.

Gnumeric helps you keep track of information in lists, organize numeric values in columns and rows, perform and update complex calculations by defining each step of the calculation and modifying particular steps subsequently. The software can create and display or print graphical plots of data using bar plots, line graphs, pie charts or radar charts, implement complex optimization modeling or perform many other tasks involving numbers, dates, times, names or other data.

Gnumeric
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4. Calligra Sheets

Calligra Sheets is a fully-featured calculation and spreadsheet tool. It’s a competent tool to create and calculate various business-related spreadsheets, such as income and expenditure, employee working hours, etc. It’s not as strong as the other software featured here, but still worth investigating.

Calligra - Sheets
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All articles in this series:

Alternatives to Apple's Products
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Apple BonjourBonjour is an implementation of zero-configuration networking; technologies that includes service discovery, address assignment, and hostname resolution.
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Apple FaceTimeFaceTime is a videotelephony product for making video and audio calls. FaceTime forces many to stay locked into a proprietary world.
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Apple FinderFinder is the default file manager and graphical user interface shell for OS X.
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Apple NumbersKeyNote is a simple and elegant presentation software that's part of the iWork productivity suite.
Launchpad is a central location where you can view all your apps and easily open them.
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Apple MailMail is a simple email client offering the ability to send, receive, and view email with good organizing capabilities.
Apple MainStageMainStage is a music application designed for use in live performance. This software lets you run a live rig. Transform your keyboard, guitar, or vocal performance with an enormous collection of plug-ins and sounds.
Apple MapsMaps is a web mapping service that's available in over 200 regions around the world offering curated guides.
Apple MessagesMessages is instant messaging software for sending messages, images, videos, and documents. There's location data and stickers.
Mission Control offers a bird's-eye view of all your open windows, desktop spaces, and any apps in full screen or Split View, making it easy to switch between them.
Apple MotionMotion creates and edits motion graphics, titling for video production and film production, and 2D and 3D compositing for visual effects.
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Apple NotesNotes is a notetaking app designed to jot down quick thoughts or to save longer notes filled with checklists, images, web links, scanned documents, handwritten notes, or sketches.
Apple NumbersNumbers is a spreadsheet application which uses a free-form “canvas” approach that demotes tables to one of many different media types placed on a page.
Apple PagesPages is a word processor that's part of the iWork productivity suite. It's marketed as an easy-to-use application that allows users to quickly create documents.
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Apple PhotosPhotos is a photo management and editing application. Organize your collection into albums, or keep your photos organized automatically with smart albums.
Podcasts is an audio streaming service and media player application for playing podcasts.
Apple PreviewPreview is more than just an image viewer. The software provides a full set of markup tools. And it's a PDF editor.
QuickTime Player is a multimedia player which handles a wide range of picture, video, audio, and panoramic image formats.
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Apple SafariSafari is a graphical web browser which uses the WebKit and Nitro engines. It's the default web browser for Macintosh computers.
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Apple ShazamShazam identifies music, movies, advertising, and television shows. There’s nothing more annoying than hearing a new song not knowing the identity of the artist.
Shortcuts is a visual scripting application which allows users to create macros for executing specific tasks on their device(s).
Apple StickiesStickies is a small utility that lets users keep notes, lists and pictures in sticky notes on the desktop.
Apple StocksStocks lets you view stock quotes, interactive historical data charts and current breaking business news.
Apple System InformationSystem Information provides a system report containing detailed information about a Mac including its hardware specifications, networking interfaces, and installed software.
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Apple TextEditTextEdit is a basic word processor and text editor. It can open documents created in other word processing apps and can create HTML documents.
Time Machine is a built-in backup feature to back up your personal data automatically, including apps, music, photos, emails and documents.
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Apple VoiceOverVoiceOver is a screen-reader that tells you exactly what’s happening on your device.
XcodeXcode provides developers a unified workflow for user interface design, coding, testing, and debugging. It supports source code for many programming languages including Swift, C, C++, Python, Ruby and more.
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A User
A User
1 year ago

OpenOffice.org has received a major update in 9 years. Meanwhile LibreOffice, Collabora Office and Collabora Online have received significant updates