Fontics vs Google Sheets
Google Sheets is great for collaboration, but it has no What-If Analysis menu: Goal Seek, Data Tables, Scenario Manager, Solver and trace arrows are not built in, and some have come from separate add-ons. Fontics brings all that together and more in one add-in, with the power of Excel analysis, so Google Sheets is ready for institutional-grade investment, credit and valuation work.
Last reviewed by Admin.
Facts about Google Sheets come from Google's public pages and other public sources, listed under Sources. Prices are list prices as of the review date.
Short answer
- Google Sheets is free, browser-based and built for real-time collaboration, and Gemini can now build and edit spreadsheets on eligible paid plans.
- What it lacks natively is the analyst's toolkit: Goal Seek, Data Tables, Scenario Manager, Solver and Trace Precedents or Dependents are not built in. Add-ons have long filled some of these gaps one tool at a time, or analysts move the model to Excel.
- Fontics runs inside Google Sheets on your model's own formulas: scenario sets, tornado charts and data tables, multi-driver goal seek and solvers, Monte Carlo, formula audits and deep traces. The same modules work in Excel, and move either way between the two.
you need a shared, browser-based sheet for trackers, data collection or light models, with live collaboration and Google Workspace sharing.
your models live in Google Sheets (or move between Sheets and Excel) and you need institutional-grade scenarios, sensitivities, solvers, Monte Carlo and audits.
At a glance
What each tool is built to do. A dot means it can be done, but you prompt for it or set it up yourself each time.
| Stage | Job | Google Sheets | Fontics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build | Build a model from scratch | YesYou build it; Gemini on paid plans | No |
| Write and fix formulas | Yes | No | |
| Data wrangling, pivots, charts | YesPivot tables, charts, QUERY, Connected Sheets | No | |
| Plain-language questions | PartlyGemini, eligible paid plans | No | |
| Analyze | Scenario analysis | PartlyNot built in | Yes10+ scenarios in a minute |
| Sensitivity and tornado charts | PartlyNot built in | YesRank drivers in seconds | |
| Stress tests and break-evens | PartlyManual, by changing inputs | Yes | |
| Multi-driver goal seek and solvers | PartlyNot built in | Yes | |
| Monte Carlo simulation | PartlyRAND() formulas, by hand | Yes1,000+ runs, add-on from $5/month | |
| Review | Valuation review (DCF/LBO drivers, DLOM, Black-Scholes) | No | Yes |
| Formula audit | PartlyShow formulas, color-coded references | Yes | |
| Deep precedent and dependent traces | PartlyNot built in | Yes | |
| Platform | Same answer every run | Yes | YesAI-free |
| Excel for Mac | Not applicableRuns in any browser | Yes | |
| Google Sheets | It is Google Sheets | YesSame plan | |
| Same modules in Excel | Separate product | YesPortable either way |
Side by side
| Fact | Google Sheets | Fontics |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Google's browser-based spreadsheet, free with a Google account and part of Google Workspace. | An add-in that runs inside Google Sheets (and Excel) on your existing model. |
| What-if tools | No What-If Analysis menu. Goal Seek, Data Tables, Scenario Manager and Solver are not built in; add-ons provide some of them, each separately.[1][2] | Scenario sets, tornado charts and data tables, break-evens, multi-driver goal seek and solvers, all in one add-in. |
| Sensitivities | No built-in Data Tables. Flex each input by hand, copy the model per case, or use a data-table add-on.[2] | Select many drivers at once; Fontics ranks them in a tornado chart and stress-tests the top ones with native Sheets charts. |
| Scenarios | No built-in Scenario Manager. Typically a scenario switch built into the model by hand.[2] | Define 10+ scenarios and run them in about a minute, with outputs side by side in a new sheet. |
| Goal seek and solvers | Not built in. Goal Seek add-ons have long been available in the Google Workspace Marketplace, usually one input at a time.[1] | Multi-driver goal seek and break-evens, e.g. the exit multiple and leverage that hit a 20% IRR. |
| Monte Carlo | No module. Possible with RAND()-based formulas, built and maintained by hand. | Monte Carlo module, 1,000+ runs, add-on from $5/month. |
| Formula tracing | No built-in Trace Precedents or Dependents; workarounds use color-coded references, Find, scripts, or third-party add-ons.[3][4] | Deep traces of precedents and dependents across sheets, plus formula audits. |
| Excel portability | Imports and exports .xlsx; Excel add-ins and their results do not carry over. | One plan covers Excel and Google Sheets. Modules are portable either way, so an analysis set up in one runs in the other. |
| AI | Gemini in Sheets builds and edits spreadsheets on eligible paid Workspace and Google AI plans.[5][6] | AI-free and 100% deterministic: same inputs, same answer, every time. |
| Price | Free with a Google account; included in Google Workspace plans. | Free Core plan; paid plans $20 and $50/month; Monte Carlo add-on from $5/month |
Choose Google Sheets if
- You need a shared tracker, pipeline or data-collection sheet that many people edit live.
- Your model is simple enough that a few manual input changes answer the question.
- You want a free, browser-based spreadsheet with Google Workspace sharing and permissions.
What Google Sheets does well
- Real-time collaboration and comments, with nothing to install.
- Free, runs in any browser, on any operating system.
- Google Workspace sharing, version history and permissions.
- Gemini for building and editing sheets on paid plans.
Choose Fontics if
- Your DCF, LBO, project finance or real estate model lives in Google Sheets and you need scenarios, sensitivities and break-evens without copying it to Excel.
- You need Goal Seek, Data Tables or Solver-style analysis that Sheets does not have built in, in one add-in instead of several.
- You want Monte Carlo, formula audits and deep traces on a Sheets model before IC.
- Your team or your clients split between Excel and Google Sheets, and analyses need to run in both.
Where Fontics is not the right tool
- Fontics is not a spreadsheet: you still build and keep the model in Google Sheets or Excel.
- It does not add collaboration features; Sheets already does that well.
What Google Sheets does well
- Real-time collaboration and comments, with nothing to install.
- Free, runs in any browser, on any operating system.
- Google Workspace sharing, version history and permissions.
- Gemini for building and editing sheets on paid plans.
Where Fontics is not the right tool
- Fontics is not a spreadsheet: you still build and keep the model in Google Sheets or Excel.
- It does not add collaboration features; Sheets already does that well.
How Fontics fits into Google Sheets
Fontics installs from the Google Workspace Marketplace. Your model stays exactly as it is.
- 01
Keep your model in Sheets
Build and share the model in Google Sheets as you do today. Fontics does not change it.
- 02
Run the analysis
Select the inputs to flex and the output you care about (IRR, DSCR, equity value), then run scenarios, a tornado, solvers or Monte Carlo.
- 03
Move freely to Excel
Results land in new sheets with native charts. The same modules run in Excel, so the analysis follows the model either way.
Who uses each
Google Sheets
Startups, funds, family offices and teams that standardize on Google Workspace, plus anyone who needs a shared, browser-based spreadsheet.
Fontics
Investment, credit and valuation professionals who work in Google Sheets, or across Sheets and Excel: funds and family offices on Google Workspace, lenders and advisors whose clients send Sheets models, and teams that want one toolkit in both spreadsheets.
Pricing
Google Sheets
- Free with a Google account.
- Included in Google Workspace business plans. Gemini features need an eligible paid plan.[6]
Fontics
- Core is free forever, Transactions is $20/month and Institutional is $50/month.
- Monte Carlo is an add-on from $5/month ($5 on Core, $10 on Transactions and Institutional).
- Every plan covers Excel and Google Sheets.
FAQ
Does Google Sheets have Goal Seek or Data Tables?
Not built in. Google Sheets has no What-If Analysis menu; Goal Seek and data-table tools have long been available as separate add-ons, usually one task each. Fontics provides scenarios, data tables, multi-driver goal seek and solvers in one add-in.
Can I trace precedents and dependents in Google Sheets?
Not natively: Sheets has no Trace Precedents or Dependents arrows, though some add-ons and browser extensions add them. Fontics adds formula audits and deep traces across sheets.
Does a Fontics analysis built in Excel work in Google Sheets?
Yes. Modules are portable either way between Excel and Google Sheets, and one plan covers both.
Is Google Sheets good enough for institutional analysis?
With Fontics, yes: scenarios, sensitivities, solvers, Monte Carlo and audits run on your Sheets model's own formulas, the same way they do in Excel.
Does Fontics change my Sheets model?
No. Analysis runs in new sheets and your original model is left intact.
Sources
- 1.Google Workspace Marketplace, Goal Seek: What-If Analysis add-on
- 2.Google Workspace Marketplace, Ponder: goal seek and data tables for Sheets
- 3.Info Inspired, Formula auditing in Google Sheets
- 4.Lido, How to trace dependents in Google Sheets
- 5.Google Workspace Updates, Build and edit complex spreadsheets with Gemini in Google Sheets · 22 Apr 2026
- 6.Jotform, How to use Gemini in Google Sheets in 2026
Vendor features and prices change often. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it. Product names are trademarks of their owners; Fontics is not affiliated with them.
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