The gridmoo blog
Long-form pieces on owning your tools
instead of renting them.
Why the spreadsheet is still the most honest piece of software ever shipped, and what you can actually do with one.
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Restaurant · Anti-subscription · 8 min read · Updated May 2026
Stop Paying Toast $79/mo for Food Cost Reports. Use Excel.
Toast charges $79–$165/mo for inventory, food cost and labor reports that are two spreadsheet tabs. Here's the Excel workbook that gives you the same numbers — paid once.
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Salon · Anti-subscription · 7 min read · Updated May 2026
Cancel Vagaro. Run Your Solo Salon in Excel.
Vagaro is $30–$50/mo for booking + reporting most solo stylists barely use. The actual chair economics are two Excel tabs. Here's the workbook + the free booking stack.
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Construction · Anti-subscription · 8 min read · Updated May 2026
BuilderTrend Is $399/mo. Job Costing Is Two Excel Tabs.
BuilderTrend charges $399/mo for project management most small builders use 20% of. The job-costing math is two spreadsheet tabs. Here's the Excel workbook — paid once.
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Coffee Shop · Anti-subscription · 7 min read · Updated May 2026
Square Charges $45/mo for Coffee Shop Reports. Excel Is Better.
Square for Restaurants Plus + Loyalty stacks to $80+/mo. The actual cafe numbers — bean cost, daily sales, shift labor — are a one-time workbook. Here's the stack.
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Dental · Anti-subscription · 7 min read · Updated May 2026
Stop Renting Treatment-Plan Software. Excel Tracks Conversion.
Dental practice management charges $300–$600/mo. The two numbers that move revenue (treatment-plan conversion, chair time profit) are Excel tabs. Here's the workbook.
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Bakery · Anti-subscription · 6 min read · Updated May 2026
Bakery Software Is $89+/mo. Batch Yield Is an Excel Tab.
BakeSmart and Cybake charge $89–$299/mo for batch-yield + preorder management most small bakeries use 15% of. The math is two Excel tabs. Here's the workbook.
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Photography · Anti-subscription · 7 min read · Updated May 2026
Stop Paying $40/mo for Studio Software. Excel Knows If Your Shoots Are Profitable.
Studio Ninja, Iris Works, Sprout Studio: $35–$65/mo to track shoots, contracts, and bookings. Per-shoot profit math is two Excel tabs. Here's the workbook.
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Real Estate · Anti-subscription · 7 min read · Updated May 2026
Real Estate CRMs Charge $60+/mo. The Deal Pipeline Is Excel.
Top Producer is $60+/mo. KvCORE is $99+. Wise Agent $32. The actual deal pipeline + commission forecast is one Excel workbook. Pay once, own forever.
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E-commerce · Anti-subscription · 7 min read · Updated May 2026
The Shopify App Stack Is $200+/mo. Margin Math Is Excel.
A typical DTC Shopify store stacks $200+/mo in apps for analytics, inventory, and ad ROAS. The actual margin math is two Excel tabs. Here's the workbook.
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Fitness · Anti-subscription · 7 min read · Updated May 2026
Mindbody Is $169+/mo. Class Profitability Is Two Excel Tabs.
Mindbody charges $169+/mo for the studio software stack. The class profitability and member lifecycle math is two Excel tabs. Here's the workbook.
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Cleaning · Anti-subscription · 7 min read · Updated May 2026
Jobber Is $69+/mo. Crew Efficiency Is Two Excel Tabs.
Jobber and Housecall Pro charge $69–$249/mo for service-business CRMs. The job costing + crew efficiency math is two Excel tabs. Here's the workbook.
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Personal Finance · Opinion · 7 min read · Updated May 2026
Why a Spreadsheet Beats Notion for Personal Finance.
Notion personal finance templates look beautiful but can't do real formulas. A spreadsheet does the math, costs less, and works offline. Here's the side-by-side.
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Freelancer · Anti-subscription · 9 min read · Updated May 2026
Cancel Bonsai. Run Your Freelance Business in Excel + Free Tools.
Bonsai is $300/yr for an all-in-one freelance OS. The actual modules (CRM, contracts, invoicing, time tracking) unbundle into one spreadsheet + free tools. Here's the stack.
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Freelancer · Anti-subscription · 8 min read · Updated May 2026
Cancel FreshBooks. Run Your Solo Bookkeeping in Excel.
FreshBooks Plus is $360/yr for solo bookkeeping + invoicing. The actual bookkeeping is two spreadsheet tabs. The invoicing is a Stripe link. Here's the workbook and the unbundle.
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Personal Finance · Anti-subscription · 7 min read · Updated May 2026
Cancel Empower / Personal Capital. Track Net Worth Without the Sales Calls.
Empower is 'free' personal finance — except you're the product. They harvest your account balances to qualify you for wealth advisory sales calls. Here's the spreadsheet that doesn't.
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Personal Finance · Anti-subscription · 7 min read · Updated May 2026
Cancel Rocket Money. Use This Excel Workbook Instead.
Rocket Money is $144/yr to auto-detect subscriptions and negotiate bills. The auto-detect is one search in your bank statement. The negotiation is one phone call. Here's the workbook and the trick.
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Personal Finance · Opinion · 7 min read · Updated May 2026
How Much Are You Actually Paying for Personal Finance Apps Per Year?
Stack up YNAB, Monarch, Sharesight, Rocket Money, Goodbudget, and a debt payoff app. The annual total is $1,200+. Here's the math, the alternatives, and a calculator.
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Freelancer · Anti-subscription · 10 min read · Updated May 2026
Cancel HoneyBook. Use This Excel Workbook + 3 Free Tools Instead.
HoneyBook is $468/yr to bundle pipeline tracking, contracts, payments, and scheduling. Unbundle: one Excel workbook + Calendly + Stripe Payment Links + Dropbox Sign = $0/mo.
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Personal Finance · Anti-subscription · 9 min read · Updated May 2026
Cancel Monarch Money. Use This Excel Workbook Instead.
Monarch is $180/yr for bank-linked net worth tracking. The Plaid connection breaks every 4-6 weeks. The actual net worth formula is one SUMIFS line. Here's the workbook.
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Freelancer · Anti-subscription · 9 min read · Updated May 2026
Cancel Keeper Tax. Use This Excel Workbook Instead.
Keeper Tax is $240/yr for AI-categorized deductions and CPA review. The actual quarterly tax math is three formulas in a spreadsheet. Here's the workbook and the formulas.
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Personal Finance · Anti-subscription · 8 min read · Updated May 2026
Cancel Sharesight. Use This Excel Workbook Instead.
Sharesight is $19/mo for a portfolio tracker. A spreadsheet plus one GOOGLEFINANCE() formula does the same job for $0/month, forever. Here's the workbook and the trick.
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Personal Finance · Anti-subscription · 7 min read · Updated May 2026
Cancel YNAB. Use This Excel Workbook Instead.
A full pay-once Excel budgeting system that replaces YNAB's $15/mo subscription. Daily Log, Monthly Dashboard, recurring expenses, savings goals — free download.
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Why Excel.
You already have it.
It opens offline.
Your data stays on your machine.
Every formula is readable.
No subscription. No login. No platform.
Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and Apple Numbers all open .xlsx files for free. Sheets and Numbers are free outright.
What this isn't: a phone app, a quick-tap logger, or a real-time collaboration tool. These are desk-and-keyboard files for weekly reviews and monthly numbers.