Compare · Generic tracking

Google Sheets alternative

Most tracking starts as a spreadsheet, because a spreadsheet can hold anything. It stays one until the day you stop filling it in on your phone. Log App keeps the "anything" part, one log per thing with your own variables and units, adds what a sheet makes you build yourself, the stats, a goal, reminders, a map and a summary, and brings your history along — export the sheet as CSV, import it into the log, and the entries are there. This page is honest about what you still give up.

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Facts about Google Sheets come from its public feature list as of September 2026 (google.com/sheets/about) and are kept general on purpose. If something has changed, tell us and we fix the page.

Side by side

Feature by feature

Feature	Google Sheets	Log App
Bringing your data across	Download as CSV or Excel any time; import anything.	CSV both ways. The import reads your file, matches its columns to the log and adds the entries; the export writes one CSV per log, which imports back.
Flexibility	Any column, any formula, any chart. Nothing Log App does is impossible in a sheet.	Number and text variables with units, a fixed set of formulas (sum, average, max, min, count, per day, week or month) and per-value stats for a grouping variable.
Entering data on a phone	The mobile app works but cells are small and dates need typing.	Tap plus, the date is now, the timer and location are one tap, the last values are remembered.
Stats	Whatever you write formulas for, kept correct by you.	Computed from the variables you set up, shown on the log card and in the log, no formulas to maintain.
Goals and streaks	Possible with conditional formatting and a helper column.	A rolling goal such as three times a week, a streak, a calendar heatmap and a progress bar.
Reminders	None in the sheet itself; use a calendar or a separate reminder.	A reminder at the time you usually log, learned from your entries, plus an inactivity nudge.
Photos, voice notes, location	Links to files in Drive; a location is a typed cell.	Photos, sketches and voice notes on the entry; a pin per entry and a map per log.
Analysis	Charts and pivot tables you build; add-ons or your own scripts for more.	An AI summary of recent entries in plain language with a suggested goal, from your data only.
Sharing	Share the sheet with anyone, edit together in real time.	Private to you. Shared logs are in development, not available yet.
Offline	Offline editing when enabled in the app.	Offline first; no account needed until you want sync.
Price	Free with a Google account.	Free for logging; premium lifts the AI-analysis and attachment limits and adds place search.

Who each one suits

Better for

Google Sheets is better if

You need formulas or charts Log App does not offer, or a pivot over many dimensions.
Several people fill in the same record, such as a family or a team.
The sheet is a hub other things read from, linked into a form, a document or another sheet.
Your columns are not values, but pictures, links or formulas that read across rows.

Log App is better if

The sheet died because filling it in on the phone was a chore.
You want a goal, a streak and a reminder without building them.
Photos, a voice note or a location belong on the record.
You keep several different logs and want each one with its own stats, in one app.

Switching

Moving from Google Sheets to Log App

Log App imports a CSV into any log: it reads the file on your device, works out the delimiter, the encoding and the date format, suggests what each column becomes, and shows you the entries before it writes any of them. So how much comes across depends on the export you can get out of Google Sheets — the steps below say what to do either way.

Look at your sheet's columns and pick the ones you actually filled in. Each becomes a variable; the column you filter by (exercise, habit, café, symptom) becomes the grouping variable with per-value stats.
Create the log in Log App, or start from the closest ready-made one, and set the units. Most sheets map to two to four variables.
Download the sheet as CSV (File → Download → Comma-separated values), then open the log's settings, choose "Import entries" and pick the file. A column you have no variable for yet can create one.
Read the preview before you commit. It says how many entries will be added and which rows it will skip — a date it could not read, a value the variable cannot hold, an empty row, or an entry the log already has. Up to 5,000 rows per file.
Spot-check a few imported entries against the sheet. If the mapping was wrong, "Undo this import" takes the whole batch back out to the Trash, where it stays for 30 days, and you can map the file again.
Log from today, and keep the sheet as an archive if you like. Settings → Export data writes your entries back out as CSV whenever you want them in a spreadsheet again.

Questions

Frequently asked

Can I import my spreadsheet into Log App?

Yes. Download it as CSV and import it from the log's own settings. The app detects the delimiter, the encoding (a Windows-1252 export from Excel included) and the date format, suggests what each column becomes, and shows you the entries it will add and the rows it will skip before it writes anything. Rows the log already holds are skipped, so re-importing a file you have already brought in does not duplicate it. The file is read on your device; nothing is uploaded.

What if the import gets it wrong?

Change the column mapping and look at the preview again; nothing is written until you tap Import. Afterwards, "Undo this import" removes that batch in one tap, and because deleting in Log App is a soft delete, the entries sit in the Trash for 30 days rather than disappearing.

Can I get my data back out of Log App?

Yes. Settings → Export data writes one CSV per log, or one log on its own from the card's "…" menu, over the date range you pick. An entry with several rounds becomes one row per round. Those files import back into the app, and that round trip is checked by a test on every build.

Does the import convert units or bring my formulas across?

No. A value is stored in the variable's own unit exactly as the file spells it, so convert in the sheet first if the units differ. A column you computed in the sheet is better left out and set up as a formula on the log, which then recalculates it for your whole history.

Can several people log into the same Log App log?

Not yet. Shared logs are in development. Today each account has its own logs; a sheet remains the better tool for a shared record.

What can a sheet do that Log App cannot?

Arbitrary formulas, pivot tables, custom charts and real-time collaboration. Log App trades that for fast entry, built-in stats, goals, reminders, attachments and a map.

The short version

A spreadsheet is the most flexible tracker there is, and if yours is working, keep it. Log App is for the moment the sheet stops getting filled in. It gives each thing you track a proper log with the stats, goal and reminder already built, and it brings the old rows with you: export the sheet as CSV, import it into the log, and export your entries back out whenever you want them in a spreadsheet again.

The log itself