Comparison

Numbers vs Microsoft Outlook

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Numbers

Design impressive spreadsheets with a flexible canvas, interactive charts, and powerful functions. Collaborate with others and access your work across devices. Includes tools for data analysis and text composition.

Highlights
  • Apple-designed templates
  • Flexible canvas for layout
  • Interactive charts and pivot tables
  • Hundreds of powerful functions
  • Cross-device compatibility via iCloud
  • Collaboration and real-time editing
  • Import/export Excel and CSV files
Features
Read full description

Numbers is now part of Apple Creator Studio, an amazing collection of Apple’s most powerful creative apps designed to help you bring your ideas to life. The suite includes Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage — plus premium content and intelligence features in Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and Freeform, all in one simple plan. Creating, viewing, and editing spreadsheets in Numbers, as well as collaborating in real time, does not require a subscription. Create gorgeous spreadsheets with Numbers on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Get started with Apple-designed templates for everything from a home budget to an invoice. Add tables, charts, text, and images anywhere on the flexible canvas. Animate your data with interactive charts, find patterns with pivot tables, and use hundreds of powerful functions. Get Started Quickly • Work from iPhone, iPad, Mac, or even a PC with iCloud.com • Select from a wide variety of Apple-designed templates • Add from a library of shapes, tables, and charts with pre-defined styles • Import and edit Microsoft Excel and CSV files Create Beautiful Spreadsheets • Place tables, charts, text, and images anywhere on the flexible canvas • Create a form on iPhone or iPad to quickly enter data on the go • Draw or write with Apple Pencil on iPad Formulas for Everyone • Choose from hundreds of powerful functions, including XLOOKUP and RegEx • Search the integrated function browser for built-in help and sample formulas • Easily add stock information to spreadsheets • See results from a single formula across multiple cells using spilling arrays Everything Adds Up Beautifully • Use pivot tables and categories to see your data in a whole new way • Quickly organize and summarize tables to gain new insights • Insert gorgeous 2D and 3D charts, including bar, column, line, area, pie, donut, and radar charts • Animate data with interactive column, bar, scatter, and bubble charts • Easily filter through large tables for specific values, text, or duplicate entries • Change values in cells using sliders, steppers, checkboxes, pop-ups, and star ratings Share with Anyone • Share your spreadsheet publicly or collaborate with specific people using iCloud or Box • Make changes from any device and see a list of changes from others in real-time • Export your spreadsheet in CSV, TSV, PDF, and Microsoft Excel Apple Intelligence • Use Writing Tools to proofread, rewrite, summarize, and compose text • Create your own fun images with Image Playground based on a description Some features of Apple Creator Studio require an Apple Intelligence–capable device. For full system requirements and usage limits for Apple Creator Studio intelligence features, see Apple Support article 125029.

About

Microsoft Outlook

Consolidate all your email accounts and calendars into one streamlined application. Manage your inbox, schedule meetings, and access files from various cloud services. Enhance productivity with AI-powered writing assistance and smart inbox features.

Highlights
  • Unified inbox for multiple email accounts
  • Smart inbox sorting
  • Quick swipe actions
  • Meeting scheduling and availability sharing
  • File access from cloud storage
  • AI-powered email summarization and drafting
  • Editing of Office documents
Features
Read full description

Outlook lets you bring all your email accounts and calendars in one convenient spot. Whether it’s staying on top of your inbox or scheduling the next big thing, we make it easy to be your most productive, organised and connected self. Here's what you'll love about Outlook for iOS: - Focus on the right things with our smart inbox - we help you sort between messages you need to act on straight away and everything else. - Swipe to quickly schedule, delete and archive messages. - Share your meeting availability with just a tap and easily find times to meet with others. - Find everything you're looking for, including files, contacts, and your forthcoming trips. - View and attach any file from your email, OneDrive, Dropbox, and more, without having to download them to your phone. - Open Word, Excel, or PowerPoint attachments to edit them directly in the corresponding app and attach them back to an email. - Recap extra-long email threads in an instant with Summarise with Copilot* - Type a few words to have Copilot* jump-start your writing with an outline or draft - Before sending off your email, use Coaching with Copilot* to get tips and suggestions that help improve the overall tone, sentiment, and clarity *Microsoft 365 Personal/Family subscription or business account enabled with Copilot required to use Copilot features -- Outlook for iOS works with Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Outlook.com (including Hotmail and MSN), Gmail, Yahoo Email, and iCloud. -- To make an in-app purchase of a Microsoft 365 Family or Personal subscription, open the app, go to Settings, and tap on Upgrade next to your Outlook.com or Hotmail.com account. Subscriptions begin at $6.99 a month in the US, and can vary by region. With a Microsoft 365 subscription, you get 1TB of storage for each user, access to all features in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch, and you can install Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote on PCs or Macs. Microsoft 365 subscriptions purchased from the app will be charged to your iTunes account and will automatically renew within 24 hours prior to the end of the current subscription period, unless auto-renewal is disabled beforehand. To manage your subscriptions or to disable auto-renewal, after purchase, go to your iTunes account settings. A subscription cannot be cancelled during the active subscription period. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Privacy and Cookies: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=521839 Terms of Use: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=530144 Contract Summary: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/outlook/contract-summary Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=2259814

Screenshots

Numbers4 screens
Microsoft Outlook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Numbers at none against Microsoft Outlook's 4. Numbers also leads on ads (none vs shown). Microsoft Outlook's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (9.3M vs 223K). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Microsoft Outlook sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Numbers asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Microsoft Outlook holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Microsoft Outlook has 9.3M ratings behind it against 223K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 50% of Numbers's written reviews are positive against 64% of Microsoft Outlook's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Numbers ships an update every 3 months, Microsoft Outlook weekly. Both last shipped on October 15, 2026.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Numbers versus Microsoft Outlook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNumbersMicrosoft Outlook
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (223K ratings)4.8 (9.3M ratings) — better
Positive reviews49.9% of reviews64.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings223K9.3M — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#11 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size631 MB472 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperApple Inc.Microsoft Corporation

Customer experience

Numbers

All ratings223,202 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral3.5%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews4,973 reviews
Positive49.9%
Neutral9.5%
Negative40.6%

Microsoft Outlook

All ratings9,312,782 ratings
Positive96.6%
Neutral2.5%
Negative0.9%
Written reviews7,616 reviews
Positive64.4%
Neutral7.8%
Negative27.8%

User reviews

Numbers

From 223K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Intuitive interface
  • 🚀 Seamless integration with Apple ecosystem
  • 🚀 Great for basic spreadsheet needs
  • 🚀 Visually appealing charts and formatting

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • 🐛 Compatibility problems with Excel files
  • 🐛 Limited functionality compared to Excel
  • 🐛 Frustrating editing experience on mobile
  • 🐛 Disappearing spreadsheets after updates

Microsoft Outlook

From 9.3M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great for corporate email
  • 👍 Customizable and user-friendly
  • 🚀 Seamless integration with Microsoft 365
  • 👍 Solid email and calendar functionality

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and unstable at times
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 🔒 Security issues with password resets
  • 👎 Limited file attachment options

Bugs and requests

Numbers

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Frozen headers issue
  • Keyboard and text editing problems
  • Spreadsheet data loss after updates
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
  • Slow performance and loading times

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to lock individual cells
  • More advanced formula and function support
  • Improved collaboration and sharing options
  • Better mobile interface and keyboard integration
  • Customizable templates and formatting options
Show 1 more
  • Pivot table and data analysis features

Microsoft Outlook

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Frequent crashes when adding accounts
  • Delayed email notifications and syncing issues
  • Inability to delete emails in bulk
  • Calendar reminders not working as expected

Requested features

4 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Improved search and filtering capabilities
  • Better integration with native iOS apps and services
  • Enhanced calendar management features

In-app purchases

None

Numbers

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Microsoft Outlook

Subscriptions4
  • Microsoft 365 Basic$1.991 Month
  • Microsoft 365 Personal$9.991 Month
  • Microsoft 365 Family$12.991 Month
Show 1 more
  • Microsoft Copilot Pro$20.001 Month

Questions

Is Numbers free?
Numbers is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Microsoft Outlook free?
Microsoft Outlook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Numbers or Microsoft Outlook?
Microsoft Outlook is rated higher. Numbers averages 4.6 out of 5 from 223K ratings, while Microsoft Outlook averages 4.8 from 9.3M ratings.
Do Numbers or Microsoft Outlook have ads?
Microsoft Outlook shows ads; Numbers does not.
Which is updated more often, Numbers or Microsoft Outlook?
Numbers ships an update every 3 months, and Microsoft Outlook weekly. Most recently, Numbers was updated on October 15, 2026 and Microsoft Outlook on October 15, 2026.

Other comparisons