{"slug": "numbers", "name": "Numbers", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 3, "commenters": 3, "warners": 0, "score": 2.692, "rising": 0.35, "first": "2026-03-24", "latest": "2026-08-13", "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": 3, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 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", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.apple.com/numbers/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["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": 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. 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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"}]}