The Microsoft Excel app comes in several different forms — desktop Excel (the full Windows or Mac application), Excel Online (the browser version), Excel for iOS, Excel for Android, and a few specialized variants like Excel for iPad. Each has different feature coverage, different file size limits, different formula support, and different pricing models. Understanding which Excel you're actually using matters because feature parity across platforms isn't complete and probably never will be.

Desktop Excel (Microsoft 365 or perpetual Excel 2019/2021/2024) is the full-featured version. It supports all formulas, all chart types, VBA macros, Power Query, Power Pivot, and advanced add-ins. Files have minimum size limits (typically 1 million rows by 16,384 columns). Workbooks with large data, complex calculations, or VBA automation need desktop Excel. This is what most professional Excel users work in.

Excel Online (the browser version, accessed via office.com or Microsoft 365 web) is free with a Microsoft account and supports most basic Excel work. Cell formulas, basic charts, conditional formatting, PivotTables (read-only and limited authoring), and real-time collaboration with multiple users all work. What doesn't work: VBA macros, ActiveX controls, advanced add-ins, Power Query (in some plans), and some advanced chart types. For collaborative editing of moderately complex workbooks, Excel Online is the cleanest option.

Excel for iOS and Android are mobile apps that focus on viewing, light editing, and on-the-go updates. They support most everyday Excel operations — editing values, basic formulas, creating simple charts — but with a UI optimized for touch screens rather than the full desktop interface. Mobile Excel handles much smaller workbooks well; very large files may not open or may be slow.

For pricing: Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) is the subscription model — $7-$15 per month per user depending on plan, includes Excel desktop, Excel Online, Excel mobile, and the rest of Office (Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneDrive). Excel standalone (perpetual license, no subscription) is available as Excel 2024 or as part of Office Home & Student/Business — $150-$250 one-time. For most users, Microsoft 365 makes more sense for the cross-device access and cloud storage.

This guide walks through each Excel platform in detail, what works in each, pricing options, file compatibility considerations, and how to choose between subscription and perpetual licensing. It's intended for users deciding which version of Excel to use, IT admins planning team licensing, and anyone confused about why a feature available on their phone doesn't work in their browser or vice versa.

Desktop Excel is what most professional Excel users mean when they say "Excel". On Windows or macOS, the desktop app supports the full feature set: all formulas including dynamic arrays in newer versions, all chart types, VBA programming, Power Query (Get & Transform), Power Pivot, what-if analysis tools, advanced solver, and the full add-in ecosystem. Files can reach Excel's theoretical maximum of 1,048,576 rows by 16,384 columns per worksheet.

Microsoft 365 subscription (paid monthly or annually) includes the always-up-to-date version of desktop Excel plus 1 TB of OneDrive storage, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. The subscription model means you get new features as they're released — dynamic arrays, FILTER and SORT functions, the new native Checkbox, and other modern additions. For users wanting the latest Excel features and cross-device access, M365 is the right choice.

Perpetual Excel 2024 (or Office Home & Student 2024) is the one-time-purchase version. You pay once ($150-$250) and own the software permanently. The downside: feature updates are limited to security patches and minor fixes — you don't get new functions or new chart types until you buy the next version (typically every 3 years). For users who don't need cutting-edge features and prefer to avoid subscriptions, perpetual Excel works well.

The difference matters in practice. Excel 2024 perpetual doesn't have the new native Checkbox feature (added to M365 in late 2024). It doesn't have the newest AI-related features that Microsoft is rolling out to M365. It supports the dynamic array functions (SORT, FILTER, UNIQUE, SEQUENCE) that came in 2020, but it won't get whatever Microsoft adds in 2026 or later. For users who plan to use Excel actively for years, M365 generally has better total value.

For organizations, the licensing landscape is more complex. Microsoft 365 Business Standard ($12.50/month/user) provides desktop apps for up to 5 devices per user, web/mobile versions, and cloud collaboration. Microsoft 365 Apps for Business ($8.25/month/user) provides just the desktop apps without Teams/Exchange/SharePoint. Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 plans (much higher monthly cost) add compliance, advanced security, and enterprise features.

Excel Online is the browser version accessed via office.com, OneDrive, SharePoint, or Microsoft Teams. It's significantly more capable than most users realize. Cell formulas (including most modern ones like XLOOKUP, FILTER, SORT, dynamic arrays), basic charts (bar, line, pie, scatter), conditional formatting, basic PivotTables, sparklines, comments, threaded comments, and real-time co-authoring all work. For document-style workbooks that don't require advanced automation, Excel Online is genuinely competitive with desktop Excel.

What doesn't work in Excel Online: VBA macros (and any workbook that depends on them), ActiveX controls (any old Form Control checkboxes that were created on desktop), some advanced chart types (waterfall, funnel, treemap may have limited support), the full Power Query interface (basic Power Query works; advanced features require desktop), some Solver advanced options, and add-ins built with older COM APIs (modern Office.js add-ins do work).

The real strength of Excel Online is collaboration. Multiple users can edit the same workbook simultaneously, seeing each other's cursors and changes in real time. AutoSave keeps everyone's changes synced. Comments support threading for discussions about specific cells. For team workflows where multiple people need to interact with a single workbook, Excel Online is meaningfully better than desktop Excel with shared workbook mode.

For users without Microsoft 365 subscriptions, Excel Online is the easiest way to access Excel features for free. Create a free Microsoft account, go to office.com, and start a new Excel workbook. Files are saved to OneDrive (5 GB free) and can be downloaded as XLSX, CSV, PDF, or other formats. The user experience is good enough that many users with M365 subscriptions still prefer Excel Online for quick edits and collaboration.

Mobile Excel (iOS and Android) is the most-different version. The interface is heavily redesigned for touch — different ribbon layout, different keyboard, gestures replace mouse interactions. The functional scope is smaller but covers everyday operations. Most users use mobile Excel for viewing data, making small edits while traveling, or quickly checking values on the go rather than as primary editing.

Excel for iPad deserves separate attention because it's meaningfully more capable than Excel for iPhone or Android phones. The larger screen lets the iPad app preserve more of the desktop ribbon layout. Apple Pencil support enables handwriting recognition in cells and drawing annotations on data. Split-screen multitasking lets you reference data from one source while editing another. For sales professionals and field workers who use iPad as their primary device, Excel for iPad is a legitimate option for most everyday Excel work.

The iPad version still has limitations versus desktop. VBA macros don't work. Power Query is more limited. The largest workbooks (hundreds of MB) may not open or be slow. Add-ins are limited to modern Office.js apps. But for 80% of normal Excel work, iPad Excel performs well. With an iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard, the experience can rival a traditional laptop for many users.

File format compatibility across Excel platforms is generally good. All versions can open and save XLSX (the modern Excel format). Older XLS files (Excel 2003 and earlier) open in all versions but with feature limitations. CSV files import everywhere. The newest file features (some advanced charts, some dynamic array behaviors) may not display correctly in older versions, but the underlying data always travels.

Mobile Excel uses a slightly different file structure that occasionally causes issues. Workbooks created on mobile may not include some metadata that desktop expects, and very complex formulas created on desktop may not display correctly on mobile. For round-tripping (desktop → mobile → desktop edits), test the specific workflow with your specific workbooks before relying on it.

For organizations standardizing on Microsoft 365, the licensing approach is usually: Microsoft 365 Business Standard for most users (desktop apps, web/mobile, Teams, email), Microsoft 365 E3 for users needing compliance or advanced security features, and special-purpose licensing for users with unique needs. The per-user cost analysis usually favors the standard plan unless specific E3/E5 features are needed.

Office Scripts (the M365 replacement for VBA in many scenarios) deserves attention because it represents Microsoft's direction for Excel automation. Office Scripts are written in TypeScript and run in the cloud, which means they work in desktop Excel, Excel Online, and even some mobile contexts. They're integrated with Power Automate (formerly Microsoft Flow) for triggering scripts from cloud events or other Microsoft services.

Office Scripts can't do everything VBA does — there are still scenarios (deep COM automation, low-level Windows API calls, third-party add-in interactions) where VBA remains the only option. For automation that's just "do these Excel operations programmatically" — clean up a dataset, generate a report, format a workbook — Office Scripts work and are cross-platform. New automation projects should generally prefer Office Scripts unless there's a specific reason to use VBA.

Power Query (Get & Transform Data) is one of the most-useful Excel features that works inconsistently across platforms. Full Power Query works in desktop Excel. Limited Power Query works in Excel Online (you can refresh existing queries but creating complex new ones is restricted). Power Query doesn't work in mobile Excel at all. For workbooks that depend on Power Query for data integration, plan to use desktop Excel for the data work, then share refreshed results via Excel Online or mobile for consumers.

The Microsoft 365 ecosystem advantage is that all platforms share the same OneDrive storage. Open a workbook on desktop, edit on iPad on the train, open on Excel Online from a different computer, finish editing on desktop. AutoSave keeps everything synced. This cross-device fluidity is one of the biggest reasons to choose Microsoft 365 over perpetual Office.

Excel app reviews on iOS App Store and Google Play average around 4.5 stars, which is high for productivity apps. The main complaints in reviews tend to be: feature differences vs. desktop (some users expect mobile to do everything desktop does), occasional file corruption when editing very large files, and the requirement for an M365 subscription for full editing (some users feel the free version is too limited).

For organizations migrating to or evaluating Microsoft 365, the practical questions to ask: How many users need full desktop Excel vs. just web/mobile? How much OneDrive/SharePoint storage will the team consume? Does the team need Teams collaboration or Outlook email integration? Are there compliance requirements that favor E3/E5 over Business Standard? The answers drive licensing decisions and often mean a mix of plan types across the organization.

For individual users on a budget, the Microsoft 365 Personal subscription ($7/month or $70/year) is the best general-purpose option. It includes desktop Excel for one user across 5 devices, Excel Online, Excel mobile, 1 TB OneDrive, plus Word/PowerPoint/Outlook. The cost is reasonable and the value is substantial — equivalent perpetual licensing for the same features would cost $400+ as a one-time purchase.

For families, M365 Family ($10/month or $100/year) covers up to 6 users with the same feature set per user. Each user gets 1 TB OneDrive. The math works out to ~$1.67/month per user for the family plan vs. $7/month for individual subscriptions — substantial savings if you have multiple family members using Office.

For very light Excel users (occasional editing, simple files), Excel Online's free tier may be sufficient. Combined with OneDrive's 5 GB free storage, this provides genuine no-cost Excel access. Many users with occasional needs go years without paying for Office because the free tier covers their actual use.

For developers and technical users, Microsoft 365 Developer Program provides free M365 licenses for development/testing purposes. This includes Excel desktop, full M365 services, and developer tools. It's free but restricted to non-production use — perfect for learning Excel features, testing add-ins, or building integrations without paying for production licenses.

Microsoft Excel is the most-used spreadsheet application worldwide, and the choice of which Excel app to use depends on what you're trying to do. For professional analytics, financial modeling, and automation: desktop Excel via Microsoft 365 subscription. For collaboration and team workflows: Excel Online (free) or M365 Business. For light editing and on-the-go access: mobile Excel. For occasional, simple use: Excel Online's free tier may be sufficient.

The practical recommendation for most professional users in 2026: Microsoft 365 Personal ($7/month) or Microsoft 365 Family ($10/month for up to 6 users). This gives you the most flexibility — desktop for serious work, online for collaboration, mobile for travel, 1 TB cloud storage, and access to new features as they roll out.

The subscription model has downsides (recurring cost, dependency on Microsoft) but the value-per-dollar is better than perpetual licensing for actively-used Excel. Whether you ultimately choose M365 or perpetual Office 2024, the most important thing is matching the Excel platform to your actual workflow rather than buying based on perceived prestige or someone else's recommendation. Try the free tier first when possible; upgrade once you hit limits.