Microsoft Excel vs Kilonotes
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Microsoft Excel
This powerful productivity app allows you to create, view, and edit spreadsheets on the go. Manage data, perform calculations, and analyze information with robust formatting and charting tools. Share your work easily with others.
- Create, view, and edit spreadsheets
- Data analysis with charts and graphs
- Budgeting and accounting tools
- Customizable tables and formatting
- Share files with collaborators
- Draw and annotate with ink
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Review files and run data analysis on the go. Customise tables the way you want with robust formatting tools and great features. Excel lets you build your spreadsheet to meet your specific needs. Get the power of AI with Copilot in your favourite apps when you sign in with your Microsoft 365 subscription. Create templates, edit spreadsheets, organise charts and share with ease when you download Microsoft Excel. Tables and Spreadsheets: Create, Calculate and Analyse • Jump-start your budget, task list, accounting or financial analysis with Excel’s modern templates. • Rich productivity features and formatting options make your workbook easier to read and use. Productivity App: Review, Edit and Work Anywhere • Refresh sheet data or update your task list from anywhere. • Spreadsheet features like sort and filter columns help focus your reviews. • Create, duplicate, hide and unhide sheets easily. Data Analysis: Discover Key Insights on the Go • Analyse data using charts and graphs. • Highlight key insights using chart labelling features. • Visualise data at a glance. Finance Budgeting and Accounting: Simplify Personal Finance • Use spreadsheets and charts to help manage budgets. • Familiar tools to help you drill down to your exact finance needs. • Calculate tax estimates, personal finances and more. Draw and Annotate with Ink: Capture Ideas on the Page • Make notes, highlight your worksheet, create shapes or write equations using the draw tab feature on devices with touch capabilities. Sharing Made Easy: Collaborate Anywhere • Share your files with a few taps to quickly invite others to edit, view or leave comments directly in your workbooks. • Copy the content of your worksheet in the body of an email message with its format intact or attach or copy a link to your workbook for other sharing options. • Send worksheet content in an email while preserving formatting or send a link to your workbook. AI Assistance with Copilot* • Summarise data and highlight trends quickly. • Generate charts and tables from raw data with simple prompts. • Get intelligent recommendations for budgeting and forecasting. REQUIREMENTS: 1 GB RAM or above To create or edit documents, sign in with a free Microsoft account on devices with a screen size smaller than 10.1 inches. *Unlock the full Microsoft 365 experience with a qualifying Microsoft 365 subscription for your phone, tablet, PC and Mac. This app is provided by either Microsoft or a third-party app publisher and is subject to a separate privacy statement and terms and conditions. Data provided through the use of this store and this app may be accessible to Microsoft or the third-party app publisher, where applicable, and transferred to, stored and processed in the United States or any other country where Microsoft or the app publisher and their affiliates or service providers maintain facilities. Please refer to Microsoft's EULA for Terms of Service for Microsoft 365 on iOS. By installing the app, you agree to these terms and conditions: http://aka.ms/eula
Kilonotes
This app offers a digital notebook experience for handwritten notes, PDF annotation, and study organization. It features freehand drawing, text extraction, AI assistance for learning, and customizable templates to enhance productivity and learning.
- Handwritten note-taking
- PDF annotation and markup
- AI assistant for learning
- OCR text extraction
- Customizable notebooks and templates
- Recording function
- Global PDF search
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We sincerely invite you to join us in exploring more efficient ways of taking notes and jointly reshape the modern learning mode. As a companion exploring new ways of taking notes, Kilonotes can meet your various needs. Whether it is recording class notes, annotating PDFs, doing test exercises, studying online courses, or organizing reading notes, Kilonotes will be your reliable study partner. Let's take good notes together. [Breakthrough the limitations of paper] ·Handwriting can be moved, scaled and rotated freely ·You can undo what you entered ·The size of the eraser can be adjusted to control the erasing range ·Scale paper function to make writing more comfortable You can insert pictures or photos, and combine text and pictures to deepen memory · Quick browsing function to help you quickly find what you need · Unlimited creation of paper, providing endless memory space ·Recording function, allowing you to take notes while listening to lectures ·Card function, create an exclusive knowledge base, you can create your card through pictures, brushes, and typing OCR function, convenient and fast text extraction A variety of fun-but-practical Journaling templates [Optimized reading experience] ·Global PDF search, quickly find what you need in the database · Outline function, convenient and fast positioning Multiple reading modes: eye protection, dark color, vision protection · Quick jump function, enter the page number to quickly navigate ·Translation function to help foreign language literature reading ·Extraction function, easy to collect important information ·PDF extension function, make reading and writing more free [Beyond the limits of the brush] · Change brush color, create custom colors, or pick any color with the eyedropper ·Adjustable brush width to adapt to various scenes ·Graffiti pen function, make notes more colorful [Custom Notebook] ·Provide many unique and beautiful covers for you to choose ·A variety of paper templates are available: blank paper, dot matrix paper, graph paper, to meet your needs ·You can import PDF and record freely in your own notebook [AI Assistant] • Built-in high-efficiency AI assistant helps you organize notes, expand knowledge points, and double your learning and work efficiency. • Exclusive AI problem-solving function supports selecting questions and sending them with one click, helping you easily overcome learning difficulties. [About subscription] Users can subscribe to the monthly subscription service of kilonotes to unlock advanced content, including custom time planning books. The subscription will be automatically renewed. If the user needs to cancel the subscription, the renewal needs to be closed 24 hours before the end of the current cycle. Users can close and cancel subscriptions and trials in their iTunes account. Contact us: feedback@top-stack.com Official website: https://www.kilonotesapp.com Privacy Policy: https://www.top-stack.com/page/ios_en_privacy.html User agreement: https://www.top-stack.com/page/Kilonotes_Terms_of_use_En.html
Screenshots
Verdict
Microsoft Excel and Kilonotes both sit at 4.7 stars, but that hides the real split: 71% of Kilonotes's written reviews are positive against 24% of Microsoft Excel's. Kilonotes also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). Microsoft Excel's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (1.5M vs 5K). On price, rating, update cadence and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Microsoft Excel sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Kilonotes sells 20 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Microsoft Excel against 4.6 for Kilonotes. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Microsoft Excel has 1.5M ratings behind it against 5K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 24% of Microsoft Excel's written reviews are positive against 71% of Kilonotes's.
Microsoft Excel ships an update weekly, Kilonotes every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 14, 2026.
| Parameter | Microsoft Excel | Kilonotes |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (1.5M ratings) — better | 4.6 (5K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 24.1% of reviews | 71.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.5M — better | 5K |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #19 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 439 MB | 482 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Microsoft Corporation | Hefei T-Stack Information Technology Co., Ltd. |
Customer experience
Microsoft Excel
Kilonotes
User reviews
Microsoft Excel
From 1.5M App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💻 Powerful and feature-rich
- 🔍 Useful for data management and analysis
- 🔧 Convenient for on-the-go work
- 🤝 Good integration with Microsoft ecosystem
- 🤩 Excellent for personal and professional use
Room to improve
- 🔒 Subscription required for full functionality
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 📱 Limited features compared to desktop version
- 🤔 Confusing user interface changes
- 🤯 Frustrating syncing and file management issues
Kilonotes
From 5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Affordable
- 🚀 Lots of free features
- 👍 Easy to use and intuitive
- 👍 Customizable notebooks and pages
- 👍 Good alternative to paid apps
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
- 🐛 Syncing and backup issues
- 🔒 Lack of password protection or privacy features
- 👎 Limited free notebooks
- 👎 Some features locked behind paywall
Bugs and requests
Microsoft Excel
Reported bugs
5 issues- Inability to open or edit files
- Unexpected app closures
- Syncing problems with OneDrive
- Formatting issues when copying and pasting
- Slow performance on high-end devices
Requested features
5 requests- Conditional formatting options
- Ability to open password-protected files
- Improved Apple Pencil and keyboard support
- Customizable keyboard shortcuts
- Better compatibility with Dropbox and other cloud storage
Kilonotes
Reported bugs
3 issues- Notebooks and notes getting deleted or scrambled
- Lag and performance issues when writing or zooming
- Inconsistent behavior of the pen and eraser tools
Requested features
6 requests- Add more free sticker packs and templates
- Improve the lasso tool and image editing
- Implement iCloud or cloud sync
- Add a dark mode option
- Improve the audio recording and playback features
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- Allow more customization of notebooks and pages
In-app purchases
Microsoft Excel
- Office 365 Personal1 Month trial$5.991 Month
- Office 365 Personal1 Month trial$6.991 Month
- Microsoft 365 Personal Student1 Month trial$9.991 Month
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- Microsoft 365 Personal1 Month trial$9.991 Month
- Microsoft 365 Family1 Month trial2 variants$12.991 Month
- Office 365 Home1 Month trial$12.991 Month
- Microsoft 365 Premium Monthly1 Month trial$19.991 Month
- Microsoft Copilot Pro$20.001 Month
- Office 365 Personal$69.991 Year
- Microsoft 365 Personal1 Month trial$99.991 Year
- Office 365 Home$129.991 Year
- Microsoft 365 Family1 Month trial$129.991 Year
Kilonotes
- Cloud space monthly membership$0.991 Month
- Monthly Subscription$1.991 Month
- Quarterly Plan$4.993 Months
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- AIChat$5.991 Month
- Year Subscription1 Year trial$8.991 Year
- Annual Plan$9.991 Year
- Cloud space annual membership$9.991 Year
- ExamPolitics_2019_2023_testFree
- Summer Forest 2022 Handbook$0.99
- Xiaofen Diary 2022 Handbook$0.99
Show 10 moreShow fewer
- Fresh 2022 Handbook$0.99
- 康奈尔笔记$0.99
- Cartoon mistake book$0.99
- Paid Notebook$0.99
- Alice$1.99
- 咸鱼日常$1.99
- AI Points Products$1.99
- 月亮兔$1.99
- Paid Notebook$2.99
- Lifetime Access$19.99









