Compare software

Sheets vs VisiData: catalog facts
Sheets	VisiData
Best for: People who want to inspect or edit tabular data in a terminal	Best for: Exploring and cleaning CSV, JSON or Excel data quickly from the terminal
Free Free and open source under the MIT license.	Free Free and open source under GPL-3.0, supported by donations.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	macOS, Linux, Command line
Reads CSV files and standard input Can display and edit cells from the command line All 3 strengths for Sheets Reads CSV files and standard input Can display and edit cells from the command line Keyboard controls for navigation, selection, and undo	Opens dozens of data formats, including Excel and SQLite Handles millions of rows quickly All 4 strengths for VisiData Opens dozens of data formats, including Excel and SQLite Handles millions of rows quickly Instant histograms and terminal scatterplots Replayable sessions and batch mode
Uses a terminal interface	Keyboard-driven interface with many commands to learn Some formats need extra Python packages All 3 limitations for VisiData Keyboard-driven interface with many commands to learn Some formats need extra Python packages Windows use requires WSL
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: MIT	License: GPL-3.0
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Sheets github.com/maaslalani/sheets Catalog checked October 8, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for VisiData visidata.org github.com/saulpw/visidata Catalog checked September 23, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.