head to head · open source
gspread vs gridcraft
gspread has 7,510 GitHub stars, 981 forks, 73 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. gridcraft has 2,701 stars, 1,119 forks, 101 open issues and last shipped yesterday. gspread leads on adoption by 178% (7,510 vs 2,701 stars). gspread is written in Python under MIT; gridcraft is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. gspread has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, gridcraft 41%. gridcraft was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| gspread | gridcraft | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.5K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-07-30 | 2026-10-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 981 | ⑂ 1.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick gspread if
- You weight community size — 7.5K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick gridcraft if
- You want the gridcraft feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and gridcraft fits your workflow better
About gspread
gspread is a Python client library for the Google Sheets API v4 that lets Python code open, read, write, format, and share Google Sheets spreadsheets without hand writing HTTP requests against the Sheets REST endpoints.
read the full gspread overview →
About gridcraft
GridCraft is an open source, clean room reimplementation of Microsoft Excel written in pure Rust, aimed at desktop users, browser users, and AI agents that need to drive a spreadsheet programmatically.
read the full gridcraft overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is gspread or gridcraft more popular?
gspread has 7,510 GitHub stars and gridcraft has 2,701. gspread has the larger community by that measure.
Are gspread and gridcraft free?
Both are open source. gspread is licensed under MIT and gridcraft under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between gspread and gridcraft?
gspread is written in Python and gridcraft in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, gspread or gridcraft?
Choose gspread if you want the larger community (7,510 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose gridcraft if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.