{"slug": "apple-numbers", "name": "Apple Numbers", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 6, "commenters": 11, "warners": 1, "score": 5.337, "rising": -0.64, "first": "2025-12-08", "latest": "2026-09-25", "why": "I recommend Numbers to the vast majority of users in our company, who mainly want to organize tabular data", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 4, "compare": 0, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 1, 0, 0, 3, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I recommend Numbers to the vast majority of users in our company, who mainly want to organize tabular data", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.apple.com/numbers/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Numbers", "Apple Numbers"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 788606944, "item_id": 49287934, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49287934", "by": "eszed", "date": "2026-08-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I recommend Numbers to the vast majority of users in our company, who mainly want to organize tabular data", "excerpt": "Numbers is essential, because it understands dates, better handles CSV files, and doesn't corrupt long numeric UIDs. But, you're right: Excel is for the complicated stuff. I recommend Numbers to the vast majority of users in our company, who mainly want to organize tabular data, and will never do any calculations with it. The financial folks are welcome to knock themselves out with their Excel wizardry. That separati", "context": "company IT/tech decision maker", "use_case": "organizing tabular data", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Rules for Using Spreadsheets"}, {"id": 773481283, "item_id": 48342580, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342580", "by": "LeoPanthera", "date": "2026-05-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "all of which are excellent", "excerpt": "Other options include Calligra (especially on KDE) https://calligra.org And Macs are bundled with Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, all of which are excellent.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft degrades functionality of perpetually-licensed offline products"}, {"id": 761336608, "item_id": 47583538, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47583538", "by": "bytesandbots", "date": "2026-03-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Numbers might meet most of the spreadsheet requirements", "excerpt": "Pivot Tables was the last big feature completely missing, which is now available. Numbers might meet most of the spreadsheet requirements, except some scripting requirements. There is Applescript for those who are inclined that way. For my own use cases, I use LibreOffice Calc, even on macos. I started using it an year ago, just to see if it can work at all. So far, I haven't had any blockers, but my usage is probabl", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Seeing Like a Spreadsheet"}, {"id": 760740336, "item_id": 47546271, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47546271", "by": "k310", "date": "2026-03-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I set up some trivial code in Numbers (Free Excel) and that worked very well.", "excerpt": "Would some kind of checklist work? For each designated time (morning, lunch, ... ) do not pass GO until all items are checked. I helped a med school instructor with zero budget, and fortunately enough, a bunch of iPads in the storage room. For a patient assessment class, he needed a big checklist, so I set up some trivial code in Numbers (Free Excel) and that worked very well. It even collaborates these days, though ", "context": "", "use_case": "medication checklist spreadsheet", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Best way to track medications for elderly family member?"}, {"id": 760154177, "item_id": 47509636, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47509636", "by": "aetherspawn", "date": "2026-03-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "dropped the desktop Office suite in favour of Pages and Numbers, which are both free and absolutely working fine", "excerpt": "A few months ago, on a price hike announcement for Office365 posted here to YC HN, I made a comment that MDM is expensive, had high MOQs (Mosyle, Jamf) and fundamentally still doesn\u2019t work as well as Windows and Intune. I also lamented that Microsoft keeps hiking prices and that it\u2019s silly we\u2019re normalising $20+ per user per month when we used to pay once for these things. I lamented how Apple hardware is now the sam", "context": "small business owner", "use_case": "spreadsheets", "switched_from": "Microsoft Office", "story": "Apple Business"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 797531024, "item_id": 49845689, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49845689", "by": "tombert", "date": "2026-09-25", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Both Apple Numbers and Mathematica still depend on a proprietary software package from a for-profit company", "excerpt": "Both Apple Numbers and Mathematica still depend on a proprietary software package from a for-profit company though. I think the only way we can actually solve the problem is to get a FOSS product up to snuff with Excel. I use Julia if I need really elaborate number crunching, but I don\u2019t view it as a substitute for Excel; the interactivity of spreadsheets is really useful, especially when you\u2019re actively developing s", "context": "", "use_case": "spreadsheets", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dutch governments builds alternative for Microsoft based on NixOS"}]}], "who": [{"by": "eszed", "context": "company IT/tech decision maker", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49287934", "date": "2026-08-13"}, {"by": "aetherspawn", "context": "small business owner", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47509636", "date": "2026-03-24"}, {"by": "alpaca128", "context": "Developer, daily driver M1 MacBook Pro", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47278858", "date": "2026-03-06"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["spreadsheets", "organizing tabular data", "medication checklist spreadsheet", "web browsing and office docs"], "compared": [{"slug": "microsoft-excel", "name": "Microsoft Excel", "co": 7, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "apple-pages", "name": "Apple Pages", "co": 5, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "keynote", "name": "Keynote", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "libreoffice", "name": "LibreOffice", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "gpui", "name": "GPUI", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47504112", "title": "Apple Business", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49841563", "title": "Dutch governments builds alternative for Microsoft based on NixOS", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49285268", "title": "My Rules for Using Spreadsheets", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48341578", "title": "Microsoft degrades functionality of perpetually-licensed offline products", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47556063", "title": "Seeing Like a Spreadsheet", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47543432", "title": "Ask HN: Best way to track medications for elderly family member?", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 3, "recommend": 3}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {"warn": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 797531024, "item_id": 49845689, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49845689", "by": "tombert", "date": "2026-09-25", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Both Apple Numbers and Mathematica still depend on a proprietary software package from a for-profit company", "excerpt": "Both Apple Numbers and Mathematica still depend on a proprietary software package from a for-profit company though. I think the only way we can actually solve the problem is to get a FOSS product up to snuff with Excel. I use Julia if I need really elaborate number crunching, but I don\u2019t view it as a substitute for Excel; the interactivity of spreadsheets is really useful, especially when you\u2019re actively developing s", "context": "", "use_case": "spreadsheets", "switched_from": "", "story": "Dutch governments builds alternative for Microsoft based on NixOS"}, {"id": 788606944, "item_id": 49287934, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49287934", "by": "eszed", "date": "2026-08-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I recommend Numbers to the vast majority of users in our company, who mainly want to organize tabular data", "excerpt": "Numbers is essential, because it understands dates, better handles CSV files, and doesn't corrupt long numeric UIDs. But, you're right: Excel is for the complicated stuff. I recommend Numbers to the vast majority of users in our company, who mainly want to organize tabular data, and will never do any calculations with it. The financial folks are welcome to knock themselves out with their Excel wizardry. That separati", "context": "company IT/tech decision maker", "use_case": "organizing tabular data", "switched_from": "", "story": "My Rules for Using Spreadsheets"}, {"id": 773481283, "item_id": 48342580, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48342580", "by": "LeoPanthera", "date": "2026-05-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "all of which are excellent", "excerpt": "Other options include Calligra (especially on KDE) https://calligra.org And Macs are bundled with Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, all of which are excellent.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft degrades functionality of perpetually-licensed offline products"}, {"id": 761336608, "item_id": 47583538, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47583538", "by": "bytesandbots", "date": "2026-03-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Numbers might meet most of the spreadsheet requirements", "excerpt": "Pivot Tables was the last big feature completely missing, which is now available. Numbers might meet most of the spreadsheet requirements, except some scripting requirements. There is Applescript for those who are inclined that way. For my own use cases, I use LibreOffice Calc, even on macos. I started using it an year ago, just to see if it can work at all. So far, I haven't had any blockers, but my usage is probabl", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Seeing Like a Spreadsheet"}, {"id": 760740336, "item_id": 47546271, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47546271", "by": "k310", "date": "2026-03-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I set up some trivial code in Numbers (Free Excel) and that worked very well.", "excerpt": "Would some kind of checklist work? For each designated time (morning, lunch, ... ) do not pass GO until all items are checked. I helped a med school instructor with zero budget, and fortunately enough, a bunch of iPads in the storage room. For a patient assessment class, he needed a big checklist, so I set up some trivial code in Numbers (Free Excel) and that worked very well. It even collaborates these days, though ", "context": "", "use_case": "medication checklist spreadsheet", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Best way to track medications for elderly family member?"}, {"id": 760160656, "item_id": 47510041, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47510041", "by": "chongli", "date": "2026-03-24", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Numbers has a lot of keyboard shortcuts", "excerpt": "Numbers has a lot of keyboard shortcuts [1]. Are there particular ones you're missing? Or is your issue that Numbers has different keyboard shortcuts from the ones you're used to in Excel? [1] https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/numbers/tana45192591/mac", "context": "", "use_case": "Spreadsheets", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple Business"}, {"id": 760154177, "item_id": 47509636, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47509636", "by": "aetherspawn", "date": "2026-03-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "dropped the desktop Office suite in favour of Pages and Numbers, which are both free and absolutely working fine", "excerpt": "A few months ago, on a price hike announcement for Office365 posted here to YC HN, I made a comment that MDM is expensive, had high MOQs (Mosyle, Jamf) and fundamentally still doesn\u2019t work as well as Windows and Intune. I also lamented that Microsoft keeps hiking prices and that it\u2019s silly we\u2019re normalising $20+ per user per month when we used to pay once for these things. I lamented how Apple hardware is now the sam", "context": "small business owner", "use_case": "spreadsheets", "switched_from": "Microsoft Office", "story": "Apple Business"}, {"id": 756461739, "item_id": 47278858, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47278858", "by": "alpaca128", "date": "2026-03-06", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "I have an M1 with 8GB and M2 with 16GB, and they are not comparable. I once ran the M2 smoothly for over 250 days without reboot with a bunch of applications open the whole time (at some point it just force-rebooted, fair enough). On the other hand I regretted the 8GB on my M1 Mini every time I used it. 8GB is perfectly fine for light use, but I'd argue if that's enough then you don't need the power of an M1+ process", "context": "Developer, daily driver M1 MacBook Pro", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "MacBook Neo"}, {"id": 756035969, "item_id": 47252248, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47252248", "by": "mikestew", "date": "2026-03-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "running the Numbers/Pages/Keynote apps", "excerpt": "I'm typing this on a 2012 MBP with 8Gb of RAM. That seemed like plenty when I bought it, and I did dev work in Xcode on the thing. Granted, it can only run Catalina, but it still gets the job done for what I use it for now. \"Now\" being web browser and running the Numbers/Pages/Keynote apps, which is about what anyone buying the Neo is going to do with it. After 14 years of service, though, he'll get to retire soon, p", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing and office docs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple Introduces MacBook Neo"}, {"id": 749593009, "item_id": 46849563, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46849563", "by": "divbzero", "date": "2026-02-01", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "This anecdote from history feels timely given the recent shift of Apple\u2019s iWork suite (Pages, Numbers, Keynote) from being bundled with Macs to being a freemium subscription. https://www.macrumors.com/2026/01/28/apple-updates-keynote-numbers-pages/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple: Our philosophy is to provide software for our machines free (1976)"}, {"id": 739093760, "item_id": 46193360, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46193360", "by": "sys_64738", "date": "2025-12-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used Apple Numbers for all my spreadsheeting", "excerpt": "I used Apple Numbers for all my spreadsheeting so it depends what you mean by \"serious financial work\". The vast majority of folk could probably get by without using Excel I am guessing.", "context": "", "use_case": "Spreadsheets", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft increases Office 365 and Microsoft 365 license prices"}]}