head to head · open source
gspread vs IronCalc
gspread has 7,507 GitHub stars, 978 forks, 73 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. IronCalc has 4,166 stars, 184 forks, 256 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. gspread leads on adoption by 80% (7,507 vs 4,166 stars). gspread is written in Python under MIT; IronCalc is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. gspread has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, IronCalc 4%. IronCalc was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (spreadsheet), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | IronCalc | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.5K | ★ 4.2K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-07-30 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 978 | ⑂ 184 |
| 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 IronCalc if
- You want the IronCalc 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 IronCalc 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 IronCalc
IronCalc is a spreadsheet engine and set of tools. It is the main engine of the IronCalc ecosystem, and it lives in the Rust open source spreadsheet ecosystem. The project provides a work in progress engine, an xlsx reader, and an xlsx writer. It is designed to be embedded, self hosted, or run in the browser.
read the full IronCalc overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is gspread or IronCalc more popular?
gspread has 7,507 GitHub stars and IronCalc has 4,166. gspread has the larger community by that measure.
Are gspread and IronCalc free?
Both are open source. gspread is licensed under MIT and IronCalc under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between gspread and IronCalc ?
gspread is written in Python and IronCalc 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 IronCalc ?
Choose gspread if you want the larger community (7,507 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose IronCalc if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.