7 Reasons Excel is Better Than Notion If You Use It Right

With its elegant interface, all-in-one approach, and flexible structure, Notion has certainly caught everyone's attention lately. While it excels in certain areas (no pun intended), Microsoft Excel still remains the ultimate powerhouse for data management, automation, and data analysis. Before you jump on the Notion trend and throw Excel into the digital trash can, check out the top reasons why Microsoft's spreadsheet tool still outperforms Notion in crucial areas.




Although Excel may seem old-fashioned at first glance, if used efficiently, it can be much more productive and powerful than Notion.

7 Pivot tables and interactive dashboards

Slicer in use in Excel

Although Notion recently introduced various chart types (vertical, horizontal, line and donut charts) for databases and allows you to place multiple charts on a page, it still can't compete with Excel's extensive range of charts and pivot tables. The latter in particular are particularly powerful at summarizing, analyzing and deriving meaningful insights from large data sets in Excel.

You can even create an ultimate cover sheet with an interactive dashboard in Excel that combines charts, slicers, and other dynamic elements to display important data in real time. Notion definitely has shortcomings in the area of ​​interactive reporting and advanced data visualization.


If you want to learn more about creating interactive dashboards in Microsoft Excel, read the following post.

6 Advanced formulas and functions

MIN function in Excel

Notion's basic formulas can help you create an expense manager, habit tracker, subscription tracker, and other simple databases. However, if you want to perform complex calculations and data transformations, you definitely need to leverage Excel's vast library of advanced formulas and functions to accomplish such tasks.


These Excel functions offer unparalleled flexibility and automation capabilities, allowing you to gain meaningful insights in seconds. This level of precision, control and speed is simply not possible with Notion, and it feels limited when working with a large database. For example, in Excel, you can use the INDEX & MATCH function if you want to extract information about a specific item or product from a large database. The possibilities here are endless.

5 Robust collaboration features

Enter password and expiration date in the Excel worksheet

While both Notion and Excel allow for real-time collaboration, the latter is actually a step ahead with several data protection features. When you generate a sharing link, Excel offers the option to protect it with a password. You can even set an expiration date so that the link becomes invalid after a certain date and time. Excel also offers the flexibility to encrypt a confidential spreadsheet with a password.


4 Flexibility and adaptation

Formatting tables in Excel

Unlike Notion, you can use all of Microsoft Excel's features offline, which greatly increases productivity when working from remote locations or on the go with an unreliable internet connection. Notion doesn't even let you open your workspace without an internet connection.

While Notion has several automation tools like buttons, synced blocks, and integration with third-party apps, Excel goes a step ahead with advanced options like macros and VBA. Macros allow you to record actions in a specific language that you can reuse with a single click. VBA was designed to give programmers the ability to write instructions to automate tasks and create personalized solutions. Basically, you can put Excel on autopilot and create your repetitive complex spreadsheets in a jiffy.


Excel is also quite customizable. You can change any part of your chart, dashboard, table, etc. Notion's options are quite limited here. Another advantage of Excel is the ability to extend its functionality with an extensive add-on store.

3 Microsoft Copilot integration

Copilot in Excel

For anyone who frequently uses Microsoft Excel, I highly recommend checking out the Copilot Pro subscription to get access to the company's AI bot in Excel. It essentially acts as your personal assistant, understanding your spreadsheets as thoroughly (or better) as you do, and allowing you to perform specific tasks and gain valuable insights using only text prompts instead of complex formulas.


Notion also offers an AI assistant, but its features are mainly limited to copywriting, language translation, and long-page summarization. Notion AI's integration with databases is limited.

2 Performance and scalability

Insert chart for pivot table in Excel

If your large database contains hundreds of columns and rows, Notion's performance will definitely suffer. Excel handles huge amounts of data efficiently. Since Excel now supports Python, you can also run Python commands, process data, and get real-time results with just one click. It depends on your Python skills to enhance your spreadsheets as you like.


1 Learning curve and familiarity

Microsoft Excel has been around for decades, with a familiar spreadsheet interface that you've known for years. Excel is easy to get started with, and if you run into any difficulties, there are plenty of online tutorials to help you out.

In comparison, Notion often seems confusing to new users and it takes some time to understand the features and hidden menus.

Excel is still the king of data management

While Notion certainly has the edge when it comes to personal knowledge management overall and offers a wide variety of use cases, it is Microsoft Excel that gets my vote when it comes to large databases and advanced analytics. Its flexibility and power remain unrivaled and I simply cannot imagine Notion being able to compete with Excel in this area.


With the right approach and sufficient knowledge, you can enhance your Excel setup with interesting projects. Visit our dedicated post to discover the best cool projects you can create using only Excel.

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