Why teams choose Sigma vs Excel

See Sigma in action

We excel in the cloud

Work with data in the spreadsheet format—and functions—you already know.

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Dashboards that work the way you’ve always wanted

Don’t choose between speed-to-insight and scalability. Sigma dashboards get you both.

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Build powerful apps on your cloud data

Know how to use a spreadsheet? Now you can build a data application.

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Scale with unmatched performance

Generate sustainable revenue by using Embedded Applications with Sigma to sell data as a product to your existing customers.

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Don't take it from us, take it from our customers

Top teams choose Sigma.

See for yourself. Sigma is a G2 crowd favorite, backed by countless reviews.

“The best and possibly last BI tool you will ever need”

Verified User in Information Technology and Services

Sigma is enterprise BI with a spreadsheet UI.

FEATURE COMPARISON
As of May 16, 2025

Sigma

Excel

Data Scale
check yes

Built for cloud-scale data. Query billions of rows directly in the warehouse without crashing.

check no

Limited by local memory and file size. Slows down or breaks with large datasets.

Real Time Data Sources
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Live connection to cloud data warehouses.

check no

Requires manual data refresh or scripts; not built for real-time data.

Version Control
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Built-in version control for every workbook and dashboard.

check no

Limited or manual version tracking. Often managed by duplicating files or using external tools.

Data Lineage
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Full lineage tracking from source to cell. See exactly where data came from and how it was transformed.

check no

No native lineage. Dependencies are invisible and easy to break.

Workflows
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Build Data Apps with interactivity, writeback, and UI elements like forms and modals. Automate workflows on live data.

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Teams build ad hoc workflows that result in spreadsheet sprawl, data duplication, and version confusion.

Tabular Interface
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Familiar spreadsheet layout with rows, columns, and formulas — powered by live warehouse data.

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Native tabular/spreadsheet format that users know.

Query Performance
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Queries are optimized by the warehouse and Sigma’s proprietary intelligent engine.

check no

Not a query engine. Large datasets require manual optimization or cause lag.

Pivot Table
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Drag-and-drop pivot tables with dynamic grouping, filtering, and formatting on live data.

check yes

Robust pivot functionality, though limited to static or local data.

Live Editing
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Real-time collaboration like Excel. Multiple users can edit and comment simultaneously.

check yes

Easy real-time collaboration. Multiple users can edit and comment simultaneously.

Write Back
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Input data directly into governed tables in your cloud warehouse using a spreadsheet UI.

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Original spreadsheet UI. Breaks at large data volumes and can’t scale, govern, or sync inputs to real time sources reliably.

Dashboards
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Build rich, interactive dashboards on live data using a spreadsheet UI.

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Classic visualization options. Not designed for B+ row data sets.

Drill Down
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Right-click to drill into row-level data as easily as excel. No setup required.

check yes

Manual filtering or separate sheets needed to replicate drilldowns.

AI
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AI built into your live data workflows. Use natural language to query data, generate formulas, and enrich analysis.

check no

Can’t query company wide data. Limited scale, governance, and connectivity for enterprise AI use cases.

Additional resources