Microsoft Excel
What it is: The world's most popular data analysis tool. Spreadsheets, pivot tables, Power Query, formulas.
What It Does Best
Everyone knows it. Billion users worldwide. Zero training for basic analysis. Universal business language.
Ad-hoc exploration. Fastest way to look at data, try formulas, build quick reports. No code setup.
Business communication. Executives understand Excel. Easier to share findings than code or SQL.
Pricing
Microsoft 365: $7-$22/user/month
One-time: $160 (Excel only) or $250 (Office suite)
When to Use It
✅ Quick, one-time analysis
✅ Datasets under 100k rows
✅ Sharing with non-technical stakeholders
✅ Financial modeling and budgets
When NOT to Use It
❌ Large datasets (>1M rows, use databases)
❌ Automated pipelines (Python better)
❌ Version control needed (files, not code)
❌ Reproducible analysis (hard to track changes)
Bottom line: Don't be a snob about Excel. It's fast, universal, and perfect for 80% of business analysis. Learn Power Query and you're unstoppable.