As a marketer, my Monday usually begins to dive into the performance reports of the previous week. Excel leaves with campaign data, social post-mortems, budget assignments, advertising expenditure analyzes and much more. Sometimes there is enough data to let my head turn.
How you can judge is not the data analysis that I like to do. But it is the only way to know whether our campaigns actually work. So I started looking for the best AI tools for Excel to save me time.
First of all, I tried to create custom Google scripts and macros for small, specific tasks – things such as accessing data, basic personalization, etc. However, the maintenance of these scripts for projects was a pain and was clearly not scalable.
After trying many AI tools for Excel, I put together five of the best below.
Table of contents
How I tested the best AI tools and plugins for Excel
While there are many Excel-based AI tools, the challenge is to find messy, real data. For example, I tried to use a tool for evaluating answers for an ambassador for an ambassador program and put it in a closer choice.
Unfortunately, it rated AI-generated answers and half-hearted answers very high (8/10!). Ai loves Ai, I think.
After this error, I decided to create a number of criteria for testing the remaining tools and plugins. In particular, I tested them for:
- accuracy. I am often dealing with really big and messy data records, as I am sure that many of them are. This means that calculations and formulas can be complex. A AI tool has to do these tasks exactly.
- Using friendliness. There is nothing worse than a confusing tool. Excel itself can be confusing enough, so a AI tool should not have a difficult learning curve. I’m looking for a clean dashboard, clear setup instructions and good UX.
- Speed and reliability. We turn to the AI to increase efficiency. A tool must be quick and reliable if I will invest time and money in it.
- Functional area. You can do Much in Excel with AI. I prefer solutions with several AI functions, so I don’t often have to change the tools.
Note: I downloaded an example table with YouTube subscriber data for testing purposes, which are to be used in every tool to remove potential variables.
The best AI tools and plugins for Excel
- Ajelix
- Gptexcel
- Chatt
- Formizer
- Formula offered
1. Ajelix
Pricing: Free plans are available with limits. Pro plans cost 20 USD/user/month. Expert plans cost $ 50/user/month and business plans cost $ 200/user/month.
If you are looking for an all-in-one-AI solution for Excel, Ajelix is one of my top picks. It is very popular to generate and optimize Excel and Google app scripts. But when I saw that it had more than 15 tools for data analyzes, Excel and AI, I was definitely curious to try it out.
I started with the AI analyst function to calculate the average engagement rate of my YouTube data. This included the combination of metrics such as views, time, CTR etc. and the measurement of the effects of each individual.
Here was the edition:
The formula worked great. However, what impressed me was everything I got with it. There was an explanation for the formula, possible mistakes that I could make (guilty!), Often asked questions that were adapted to my data, and even an alternative formula.
It was also expected what I needed next – to adapt the weight of every metric to get a precise engagement rate. In any case, above average on my simple question.
Then I wanted to see if this experience extended to the other features of the platform. So I decided to take the business intelligence tool for a shoot. My query was to identify patterns in my data records and to generate a diagram for better visualization. The tool took a few minutes, but the final diagram was pretty good.
What I like:
- User -friendly and tailored to business owners and founders.
- Advanced Business Intelligence functionality distinguishes it from other tools on this list.
- Explains every step of the formulas generated and scripts together with additional questions.
- Offers alternative formulas.
What I don’t like:
- Ajelix is only available in certain countries. My country was not supported, so I had to use a VPN to test it. This slowed down my overall speed.
- Free plans are limited to three news a day. Pro plans (250/news per day) cost 20 US dollars per month with chat.
2. Gptexcel
Pricing: Free plans are available. Paid plans cost $ 6.99 per month.
GPTEXCEL is a practical and inexpensive tool for users to optimally use the AI functions for Excel. It looks the same as Chatgpt, but with custom Excel entry requests and functions such as formulas, scripts, SQL, etc.
I tested the general chat for the first time with a simple task. I provided the YouTube data and asked you to give me the top 10 of videos. It was pretty good and I liked how it tried to explain his argument by the backend Python code.
Then I switched to the formula generator. I wanted an Excel formula to find the titles of my top performance videos based on click rates. My goal was to use this data to understand the types of videos that I should prioritize in the future.
Not bad. Although this was helpful, I realized that I could not visualize the patterns I was only looking for with formulas. Then I decided to test the script function.
With the script tool you can explain what your script should do, or you can reverse the process by explaining GPTEXCEL with a script and the tool.
I made my table available and asked the tool to generate a script that creates a bar diagram. I put this script in my Google leaves (Extensions > App Scripts) and clicked Run. The edition was a decent diagram in which each video was classified in the context of the subscribers obtained.
Next time I would also add a secondary metric that contributes to contextualizing these subscribers. Do shorter, more printed videos help me to win more subscribers, or are the longer with higher retention rates more effective? That would also help me to understand the quality of my supporters and the loyalty that I built.
In contrast to other tools on this list, GPTEXCEL is easier. You have to say exactly what you are looking for, including column names, data areas, etc., or it can select the wrong ones. I expected more “intelligence” for a AI tool, but for what it costs every month, I cannot complain.
Overall, I was quite satisfied with the ability of the tool to follow my instructions and to provide scripts and formulas, which largely worked.
What I like:
- User -friendliness, guided processes and Excel native functions.
- Generated diagrams and diagrams help you to quickly visualize complex data.
What I don’t like:
- The free level is limited to just four inquiries per day, which you quickly exhaust when you are new to arrange AI for Excel. While the paid level is affordable, they are limited to 100 inquiries per day. So I would recommend this tool for easy use.
- Quite fundamental, no guided data analysis or auto -correction.
3. Chatt
Pricing: Free plan available. $ 20/month for Chatgpt Plus. $ 200/month for Chatgpt Pro.
Chatgpt 4 -O is one of the best models for data analysis and display. According to Livebench.
Although I never had very luck with Chatgpt- und Excel requests, I was excited to see what had changed. I already use Chatgpt for content and research, so it was not a difficult elevator.
For this test, I wanted to see particularly how well chatted in a single chat data analysis, strategic thinking and content creating. So I uploaded my YouTube data to Chatgpt and asked you to identify the types of videos that do the best.
The answer was vague. It emphasized the top videos that are based exclusively on views. However, I liked the expandable table view format Chatgpt to present the views.
Although I could have accepted this answer from basic tools like GPTEXCEL, I was looking for more than that. I wanted to know details: Why did these videos work? What is the common pattern between you?
So I optimized the command prompt and asked you to analyze conclusions that we can make from the given view data and the click rate.
And this is where Chatgpt’s argumentation functions show. While some patterns were obvious, others, such as “male versions of traditional female problems”, highlighted important opportunities for contents. The form in this way helped me to unlock new clinia.
Then I asked Chatgpt to use this analysis in order to suggest top-class and effort issues with low loads. I had numerous content ideas within a few minutes to close the content plan of the next week.
Apart from the traditional chatt models, I also discovered a whole range of customer -specific GPTs created by Community members. Each user -defined GPT is trained in a certain data segment or a certain data industry, which means that the analysis is targeted and useful. There is even one for Excel macros and formulas.
What I like:
- Chatgpt is the most beginner -friendly tool on this list with the least learning curve.
- You can carry out data analyzes, create a strategy based on this data and then perform it in a single interface.
- GPT-4 (plus plan) can easily process large data records due to its increased token boundaries and large understanding functions.
- Custom GPTs are a great add-on for specialized industries such as science, marketing, etc.
What I don’t like:
- Chatgpt is susceptible to hallucination. I therefore recommend checking the accuracy of the output.
- Free plans cannot edit huge data records before you go into the usage limit.
- Chatgpt Plus for 20 US dollars per month is one of the more expensive options on this list. In view of the fact that you can use it for more than data analysis, I would argue that it is worth it.
4. Formizer
Pricing: 50 free credits per month, $ 7/month for the Pro plan (unlimited credits)
I am quite decent to put together basic Excel formulas. However, if you have to do with complex data records, your formulas can become equally complex. And I fight there. I could do the Formula 95% right, but then I have to do a wild goose hunting to find out why it doesn’t work as expected. Usually it is a false reference or a misguided locking clip.
These small mistakes are difficult to recognize in long formulas. And Excel error messages are also not that helpful in debugging.
So I turned to the AI to solve my Formula disease. In particular a tool calls Formizer. Formi could help me in two ways:
- Generate the usage formulas for my data.
- Explain the prescribed formal logic.
Let’s take a look at how it has to do with my YouTube data.
As a test, I asked you to create a formula to filter part of my video data. I wanted to see which videos had a long time and good storage. That sent me that:
I inserted it into my sheet and it worked well. While I got the data correctly, the formatting was switched off a little. However, that was a quick solution.
What I like:
- Thanks to the intuitive chat surface, quickly and easily to use.
- Creates complex formulas quickly.
- Budget-friendly unlimited plan option.
What I don’t like:
- The tool worked, but the user interface showed no preview of how the formula affects its sheet. I had to check manually whether everything worked and repair the formatting.
- I could not see the costs of the tool before registering what is a red flag for me. I understand that you optimize for registrations, but this is not the best user experience.
5. Formula offered
Pricing: Free plans are available with limits. Unlimited plans are 15 USD/month, $ 25 per month and $ 35/month variants.
The formula Bot looked promising when I opened it for the first time. The tool claims to process Excel data using Smart AI and Python. So I thought it was great to sort and clean large leaves.
I started with a simple query: “Sort the” Views “column in descending order and move the rest of the data with it.”
Then I uploaded my Excel file to the chat, but Formula bot could not process it directly. I had to swell in the section, click on my file again and only then recognize as a valid source.
When I finally left the data, I typed my question again. But it did not understand that “views” (small letters) with “views” (capital letters) corresponded. As soon as I explicitly mentioned, it turned my columns into lines.
Ultimately, I had to clean my data.
After the fix, I finally had a sorted list based on views. While this tool worked, the whole experience was pretty faulty.
The formula bot definitely requires some hand waste. It works best when your data is super clean and you know exactly what to ask. If you are a little okay, you can use this tool, but it is not the most beginner -friendly tool on the list.
What I like:
- Clean the cleaning interface.
- Offers downloadable, usable exits after some back and forth.
What I don’t like:
- The layout is not user -friendly. The source must be added manually to the chat, even after uploading.
- Cannot adapt to simple variations, such as B. case -sensitive formatting.
Make the best of Excel
Of all Ki tools for Excel I tested, I would rate chatt and Ajelix as my favorites.
Chatgpt had the feeling of having a strategic data analyst in my team-a one that could recognize patterns in my data and give me greater ideas, even if I didn’t know the right formula. It also helped that I didn’t have to learn a new tool. If you are an Excel beginner or just experiment with AI tools for Excel, Chatgpt is the best choice.
However, if you are part of a data -haired company, you would like to choose a more robust option like Ajelix. I found that Ajelix’s tools cover almost all possible Excel automation usage cases. It was developed for teams that require advanced reporting and automation for complex data analysis.
If you regularly deal with Excel, these AI tools save hours and carry out complex analyzes for your data. Less time to make Grunz means more time to find out what the data actually mean for your company.
Note from the publisher: This post was originally published in August 2024 and updated for completeness.