A spreadsheet only knows what you type into it, and it only looks backwards. Cuéntamo does on its own the work you do by hand in Excel (importing the statement, categorising, squaring the balance) and also tells you how much money you'll have. No lock-in: you bring your sheet when you start and take your data with you whenever you want. Here's the comparison, point by point.
This comparison is written by the Cuéntamo team: we are an interested party. Who we are.
Feature
Cuéntamo
Excel / spreadsheet
Tracking your money
No bank login handed to anyone
Yes
Yes
Private (no ads, no data selling)
Yes
Yes
Import statements (CSV/Excel/ODS/broker) and match them against what was expected
Yes
Copy, paste and clean up
Import without typing or handing over your login (Habeas extension, local-first)
Yes
—
Automatic transaction categorisation
Yes
By hand
Balance anchors: confirm your real balance and get warned if anything throws it off
Yes
—
Undo and redo transactions (a whole import with Ctrl+Z)
Yes
—
Log from your phone in two taps
Yes
Awkward
Expense splitting and debts (who owes whom)
Yes
By hand
Charts always up to date
Yes
You build them
Blank sheet: any column or formula you can think of
What the app offers
Yes
Works offline
Needs a connection
Yes
What a spreadsheet doesn't do
Balance forecast per account, day by day, with warnings before you go into the red
Yes (6 months free, 5 years on Más)
You build it
"Can I afford it?" on your real forecast
Yes
—
Net worth and investments, with a mortgage that updates itself
Yes
By hand
Self-employed module (Spanish VAT, income tax, record books)
Yes (optional)
You build it
Price and data
Cost
Free, no transaction limit · Más €4.99/month
Free / Office licence
Your data stays yours
Yes (export everything, and your transactions to Excel)
Yes (your file)
Platform
Web · installable app (iPhone, Android, desktop)
Desktop · mobile spreadsheet apps
Looking for an alternative to Excel?
If you've landed here, the sheet is probably starting to weigh on you: an afternoon a month pasting in the statement and fixing dates and signs, one badly dragged formula that throws the balance off without warning and, after all that work, a sheet that only tells you what already happened. Cuéntamo solves all three.
Where they overlap
A spreadsheet and Cuéntamo have more in common than it seems: both let you track your money without handing your bank login to anyone, with no ads and with your data in your hands. Cuéntamo imports your Excel when you start and lets you export all your data whenever you want, including your transactions to Excel with the running balance. So far, a draw.
Where Cuéntamo beats the work you do by hand
The statement goes in on its own. Upload the CSV, Excel or ODS file you download from your bank or broker and Cuéntamo detects the columns and the date format, remembers each bank's setup and matches the transactions against what you already had forecast. It even reads the disguised ".xls" files some banks hand out, without you having to re-save them in Excel.
Or with no file and no login handed over. With Habeas, a free local-first browser extension, you log in to your bank yourself and it reads the transactions in your own browser: your login and your data never pass through Cuéntamo or a third party. It doesn't work with every bank yet.
It categorises for you. It learns from how you classify your transactions and suggests the category for new ones. No more assigning them one by one.
Your balance doesn't lie. You confirm an account's real balance on a date (an anchor) and, if a later change throws it off, it warns you with the exact difference and lets you undo back to where it matched. In a sheet, a broken formula can go unnoticed for months.
Real undo. Ctrl+Z reverts a transaction, a deletion or a whole import.
On your phone, in two taps. A floating button with shortcuts to your categories: tap, pick, enter the amount, done. It installs as an app on iPhone, Android and desktop.
Who owes whom. Split an expense between several people, track debts and settle up. And whoever takes part joins from a link, without signing up.
And what a spreadsheet doesn't do
It tells you how much money you'll have. From your salary and your bills, Cuéntamo projects each account's balance day by day (6 months on the free plan, up to 5 years on Cuéntamo Más) and warns you before an account goes into the red. In Excel, that means building the whole recurring-payments projection yourself and keeping it up to date.
"Can I afford it?" Drop a specific purchase into your real forecast and see how your balance lands.
Net worth and investments. Accounts, portfolio at market value and, on Cuéntamo Más, a mortgage that pays itself down (variable-rate too, with the Euribor) and a car that depreciates.
And if you're self-employed in Spain, an optional module that works out quarterly VAT and income tax and keeps the official record books from your transactions, with no formulas of your own.
No lock-in
What you like about your spreadsheet, that the data is yours, stays: you import your Excel (CSV/XLS/XLSX/ODS) when you start and export everything whenever you want. The only thing you leave behind is maintaining it by hand.
Where the spreadsheet is still ahead. A blank sheet has no limits: if you want a column or a calculation Cuéntamo doesn't offer, in Excel you can build it in a moment. And a file opens offline and doesn't depend on anyone else; Cuéntamo needs a connection, although your data goes with you whenever you want.
Bring your spreadsheet and try it
Free, no limit on accounts or transactions, no ads and no card. Import your spreadsheet (CSV/Excel/ODS), let it categorise and forecast for you, and if it doesn't win you over, export your data and walk away. No bank connection.
It depends on how much you enjoy building your own sheets. A spreadsheet gives you total freedom, opens offline and doesn't depend on anyone, as long as you do the work: pasting the statement, categorising and keeping the formulas right. An app like Cuéntamo does that work on its own and adds what you'd have to build by hand in a sheet, such as a per-account balance forecast or a warning before you go into the red. If you're unsure, start on the free plan and take your data with you whenever you want.
Yes. Cuéntamo imports transactions by file (CSV, Excel XLS/XLSX and ODS) with automatic column detection and matching. You can export your spreadsheet to CSV and upload it, or import the Excel file directly. And if you ever want to leave, you can export all your data at any time, and your transactions to Excel: no lock-in.
In a sheet you can log invoices, but VAT, income tax and the record books are yours to build, formula by formula. If you're self-employed in Spain, Cuéntamo has an optional module that works out quarterly VAT and income-tax returns and keeps the record books from your transactions. You can try it free for 14 days, and after that it comes with Cuéntamo Más.
A spreadsheet is free (Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc) or included with your Office licence. Cuéntamo has a free plan with no limit on accounts or transactions, no ads and a 6-month forecast; the Más plan costs €4.99/month (€49.90/year), with a forecast of up to 5 years, and an Early Bird price of €3.99/month for early subscribers. What you gain is time: no longer maintaining the template by hand.
It doesn't connect to your bank (for privacy, just like your Excel). You upload the statement you download from your bank (CSV, Excel, ODS) or from your broker, or use the Habeas browser extension (local-first), where you log in to your bank yourself and it reads the transactions in your own browser (it doesn't work with every bank yet). Cuéntamo interprets it, matches the transactions and categorises them. Neither Cuéntamo nor your spreadsheet asks for your bank login.
Yes. Just as an Excel file is yours, in Cuéntamo you can export all your data whenever you want. It's also private: no data selling, no ads. The difference with the spreadsheet is all the work it saves you, not who owns your data.
An indicative comparison between running your finances in a spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc) and doing it with Cuéntamo, written in July 2026 and reviewed on 1 November 2026. Each tool has its place: the right choice depends on your situation and preferences. Cuéntamo's features and prices may change; always check the official information. "Excel" is a trademark of Microsoft, with which we are not affiliated. If something's missing or you'd like to suggest an improvement, write to [email protected].