AI tools for Excel — feature matrix
Twelve tools, twenty-five capability dimensions, side by side. The structured complement to our long-form review — the same data, in a format you can scan in 60 seconds. Updated 10 May 2026.
Dr Waqas Rafique · About
How to read this matrix
Rows are capability dimensions (price, audit trail, exports, etc.); columns are tools. Cells use ✓ (full support), ◑ (partial / specific tier), ✗ (not supported), or a specific value (price, dataset size). Numbers are pulled from each vendor's published documentation as of May 2026 and may have changed.
The matrix lists 12 tools across 4 categories: full analytics platforms (DataHub Pro, ChatGPT Advanced Data Analysis), formula generators (Ajelix, Formula Bot, GPT Excel, Numerous AI), BI dashboards (Polymer, Tableau, Power BI, Domo, KNIME), and Microsoft-native (Copilot for Excel).
Pricing & commercial terms
| Dimension | DataHub Pro | Ajelix | Formula Bot | GPT Excel | Copilot for Excel | Numerous AI | ChatGPT | Polymer | Tableau | Power BI | Domo | KNIME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price (per user / month) | £29 | $9 | Free / paid | Free / paid | £24.70 (M365 add-on) | $10 | $20 (Plus) | $25 | $75 | £8.20 (Pro) | Custom only | Free (OSS) |
| Free trial / tier | 14-day trial | Free trial | Free tier | Free tier | 30-day trial | Free trial | Free tier | Free trial | 14-day trial | Free tier (Power BI Free) | Free trial | OSS desktop is free |
| Annual contract required | ✗ Month-to-month | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ◑ M365 binding | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ◑ Capacity tier annual | ✓ | n/a (OSS) |
| "Talk to sales" required | ✗ Self-serve only | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ◑ Higher tiers | ✓ Above starter | ◑ Premium tier | ✓ All tiers | n/a |
| UK-built / UK-based | ✓ London | ✗ Latvia | ✗ US | ✓ UK | ✗ US | ✗ US | ✗ US | ✗ US | ✗ US (Salesforce) | ✗ US | ✗ US | ✗ Germany / OSS |
Core capabilities
| Dimension | DataHub Pro | Ajelix | Formula Bot | GPT Excel | Copilot for Excel | Numerous AI | ChatGPT | Polymer | Tableau | Power BI | Domo | KNIME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spreadsheet-native (Excel/CSV in) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ◑ Better with warehouse | ✓ |
| Formula generation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ◑ DAX | ✗ | ◑ Code nodes |
| KPI dashboards | ✓ | ✗ | ◑ Basic charts | ✗ | ◑ In Excel only | ✗ | ◑ Per-conversation | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Holt-Winters forecasting | ✓ Auto-tuned | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ◑ Limited | ✗ | ◑ If asked | ◑ Plug-in | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cohort retention analysis | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ◑ If asked | ◑ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ◑ |
| RFM segmentation | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ◑ If asked | ◑ | ◑ Custom | ◑ Custom | ◑ | ◑ |
| Anomaly detection | ✓ Auto | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ◑ | ✗ | ◑ | ◑ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Natural-language Q&A on data | ✓ Tool-use | ◑ Formulas only | ◑ Limited | ◑ Formulas only | ✓ | ◑ Per-cell | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ (Pulse) | ✓ (Copilot) | ✓ | ◑ |
Auditability & trust
| Dimension | DataHub Pro | Ajelix | Formula Bot | GPT Excel | Copilot for Excel | Numerous AI | ChatGPT | Polymer | Tableau | Power BI | Domo | KNIME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deterministic AI tool-use (no hallucinated maths) | ✓ Pandas trace | ◑ Generated formula visible | ✗ Free-form | ◑ Generated formula visible | ◑ Suggested formulas visible | ✗ | ✓ Code visible | ✗ | ✓ Calc audit | ✓ DAX audit | ◑ | ✓ Workflow visual |
| Call trace shown alongside answer | ✓ Default | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ◑ Code Interpreter | ✗ | ◑ Audit panel | ◑ Lineage view | ✗ | ✓ |
| Audit log of all queries | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ◑ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Data residency (UK/EU) | ✓ EU/UK only | ◑ EU | ✗ US | ✓ UK | ✓ Configurable | ✗ US | ◑ Enterprise plan | ✗ | ✓ Configurable | ✓ Configurable | ◑ | ✓ Self-host |
Output & collaboration
| Dimension | DataHub Pro | Ajelix | Formula Bot | GPT Excel | Copilot for Excel | Numerous AI | ChatGPT | Polymer | Tableau | Power BI | Domo | KNIME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Branded DOCX export | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ◑ | ◑ | ◑ | ✗ |
| Branded PPTX export | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ◑ | ◑ | ✓ | ✗ |
| PDF export | ✓ | ✗ | ◑ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ◑ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Scheduled reports (recurring email) | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ◑ |
| White-label per client (agency mode) | ✓ Included | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ◑ Higher tier | ✓ Enterprise | ✓ Premium | ✓ | ✗ |
| Multi-user collaboration | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ◑ Team plan | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ Server |
Deployment & scale
| Dimension | DataHub Pro | Ajelix | Formula Bot | GPT Excel | Copilot for Excel | Numerous AI | ChatGPT | Polymer | Tableau | Power BI | Domo | KNIME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time to first dashboard | ~30 sec | n/a | ~5 min | n/a | ~2 min | n/a | ~5 min | ~15 min | ~1 day | ~1 day | ~1 week | ~30 min |
| Max dataset size (rows) | ~5M | ~100K | ~100K | ~50K | ~100K | Per-row | ~500K (sampled) | ~1M | 50M+ | 50M+ | 50M+ | 50M+ |
| Self-hostable / on-prem | ✗ Cloud only | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ◑ M365 GCC | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ Server | ✓ Report Server | ✗ | ✓ Self-host |
| SSO / SAML | ◑ Roadmap | ◑ | ◑ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ Enterprise | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Summary — one line per tool
| Tool | Best for | One-line summary |
|---|---|---|
| DataHub Pro | SaaS founders, agencies, finance teams (under 500 staff) | End-to-end auditable AI analytics on spreadsheets at the lowest credible UK price (from £29/mo). |
| Ajelix | One-off Excel formula generation | Cheap and narrow — great for “write me a VLOOKUP”, not for analysis. |
| Formula Bot | Free-tier formula generation | Most popular formula bot. Free tier sufficient for one-off jobs. |
| GPT Excel | UK-built formula + macro generation | UK alternative to Ajelix and Formula Bot. Free tier. |
| Copilot for Excel | Excel-grid-native AI for M365 users | Best if you’re already paying for M365 Business Standard or higher. |
| Numerous AI | Bulk row-wise classification | =AI() function for Sheets/Excel. Niche, but the niche is genuinely useful. |
| ChatGPT (ADA) | Open-ended ad-hoc analysis | Powerful, ephemeral. Each conversation is isolated — not a workflow tool. |
| Polymer | Quick BI dashboards from cloud data | AutoExplorer suggests interesting cuts. Cloud-first, not spreadsheet-first. |
| Tableau | Enterprise BI with central data team | Industry standard. Beautiful, deep, expensive. Time-to-first-insight: days. |
| Power BI | Microsoft-shop enterprise BI | Deep integration with M365. Steep DAX learning curve. |
| Domo | Multi-source enterprise BI | 1000+ connectors. Pricing opaque. Targeted at large orgs with many data sources. |
| KNIME | Reproducible data-science pipelines | Open-source visual workflow tool. Powerful for those willing to learn the paradigm. |
Methodology & sourcing
All data points pulled from each vendor's published documentation, pricing pages, and public reviews on G2 and Capterra as of 10 May 2026. Where capability is gradient (e.g. "limited dashboards"), classified as ◑ rather than ✓ to err on the side of fairness to alternatives. No affiliate links; no compensation from any vendor on this page.
If you spot a factual error, email hello@datahubpro.co.uk and we'll correct within 48 hours.
The long-form review
This matrix is the structured cousin of the 2026 long-form review — same data, more nuance per tool, with notes on when each one wins and falls short.
Read the long-form review →