{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "google-sheets-api", "name": "Google Sheets API", "vendor": "Google", "vendorUrl": "https://developers.google.com/workspace/sheets", "kind": "http-api", "category": "spreadsheets", "summary": "REST API from Google for reading and writing Google Sheets spreadsheets, covering cell values, ranges, formulas, formatting, tables and comments. Access is by OAuth 2.0, and a six-tool MCP server is in Developer Preview.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-sheets-api", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-sheets-api.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-sheets-api.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-sheets-api.json", "repo": "https://github.com/googleapis/google-api-nodejs-client", "license": "Proprietary service under the Google APIs Terms of Service. The client libraries are Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "http", "streamable-http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@googleapis/sheets" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "google-api-python-client" } ], "auth": "oauth", "authNotes": "OAuth 2.0, set up by a person in a Google Cloud project with a consent screen. No partner or sales approval. drive.file is non-sensitive and covers only files the user opens with the app. spreadsheets and spreadsheets.readonly are sensitive and need extra verification for a public app, and drive and drive.readonly are restricted. Scopes apply to a whole spreadsheet file, not one sheet. Service accounts work, and their calls count as one user for quota. An API key reads only files shared with anyone who has the link. The MCP server also needs sheetsmcp.googleapis.com enabled, your own OAuth client and Developer Preview Programme membership.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Standard use of the Sheets API has no additional cost, and a free Google account can start without a card or contract. Quotas are 300 reads and 300 writes a minute per project and 60 each per user, with no daily limit. Google says exceeding the quota request limits is planned to incur charges to the Cloud billing account later in 2026, with no price published and 90 days' notice promised. There is no separate sandbox; a test spreadsheet in any account does that job (https://developers.google.com/workspace/sheets/api/limits; https://developers.google.com/workspace/tools-safety).", "priceSummary": "Free", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the Sheets API docs, the limits page or the discovery document (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 6, "popularity": { "githubStars": 12262, "npmWeekly": 1859932, "pypiWeekly": 31750331, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://developers.google.com/workspace/sheets/api/guides/concepts", "capabilities": [ "sheets.read", "sheets.write", "sheets.formulas", "sheets.tables" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "official", "free-tier", "mcp", "oauth", "typescript", "python", "enterprise", "status-page" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-07", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 76.3, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 33, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 722, "categoryRank": 1, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 74, "maintenance": 85, "payments": 35, "reliability": 90, "schema": 83, "security": 80, "transparency": 80 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Batch updates apply atomically and count as one request, and the drive.file scope limits an app to files the user picks. Quotas are 300 reads and 300 writes a minute per project, reads are by range with no row filter or paging, and a person must complete OAuth consent first.", "bestFor": "Agents reading and writing cells, formulas and formatting in spreadsheets people already keep in Google Sheets.", "strengths": [ "spreadsheets.batchUpdate takes 74 request kinds, applies them atomically and counts as one request against quota", "Public discovery document for v4 (revision 20260930, 17 methods, 273 schemas) and Markdown copies of doc pages at .md.txt URLs", "drive.file is a non-sensitive scope that limits an app to the files a user opens with it, and spreadsheets.readonly exists for reading", "No Sheets incident on the Workspace status dashboard since 12 November 2025, read on 8 October 2026", "Standard use costs nothing, with no daily request cap inside the per-minute quotas" ], "weaknesses": [ "Quotas are 300 reads and 300 writes a minute per project and 60 each per user per project", "No row filter, query or paging on reads. An agent asks for A1 ranges and trims with a fields mask", "No idempotency key, so a values.append retried after the 180-second timeout can add the rows twice", "The MCP server is Developer Preview, and its update_spreadsheet tool carries destructiveHint false although it can delete sheets, rows and ranges", "Scopes apply to a whole spreadsheet file, not one sheet, and overage charges planned for later in 2026 have no published price" ], "agentNotes": [ "Ask for drive.file where the user picks the files. spreadsheets and spreadsheets.readonly are sensitive scopes and need extra verification for a public app", "Send valueInputOption=USER_ENTERED to write formulas. With RAW the string =1+2 is stored as text", "Put related changes in one spreadsheets.batchUpdate. It counts as one write request and none of it applies if any request is invalid", "Pass ranges and a fields mask on spreadsheets.get and leave includeGridData off for large files", "Back off exponentially on 429 and 503, and keep to one request a second per spreadsheet. After a timeout on values.append, read the range before retrying" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 76.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 74, "maintenance": 85, "payments": 35, "reliability": 90, "schema": 83, "security": 80, "transparency": 65 }, "provenanceScore": 94 }, "connect": { "install": "npm install @googleapis/sheets", "http": "curl \"https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4/spreadsheets/$SPREADSHEET_ID/values/Sheet1!A1:D10\" \\\n -H \"Authorization: Bearer $GOOGLE_ACCESS_TOKEN\"", "config": { "mcpServers": { "sheets": { "url": "https://sheetsmcp.googleapis.com/mcp/v1" } } } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/sheets.read", "tool": "https://letme.dev/google-sheets-api" }, "sameCompany": [ "gemini-api", "gemini-embedding", "vertex-ai-tuning", "google-model-armor", "google-imagen", "google-veo", "google-lyria", "google-speech-to-text", "google-adk", "google-secret-manager", "google-weather-api", "chrome-devtools-mcp", "google-maps-platform", "google-cloud-translation", "google-calendar-api", "google-drive-api", "gemini-cli", "google-ads-api", "google-forms", "gmail-api" ], "area": "business", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Google LLC", "domain": "google.com", "domainRegistered": "1997-09-15", "domainNote": "The endpoint is on googleapis.com, Google's API domain. google.com was registered in 1997.", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://developers.google.com/terms", "privacy": "https://policies.google.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://www.google.com/appsstatus/dashboard/", "changelog": "https://developers.google.com/workspace/sheets/release-notes", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The Google APIs Terms of Service (last modified 9 November 2021) name Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View.", "RDAP for google.com gives a registration date of 1997-09-15.", "www.google.com/.well-known/security.txt expires on 1 April 2030 and names g.co/vulnz, security@google.com and the vulnerability reward programme.", "Google publishes a discovery document for the API, not an OpenAPI spec.", "The MCP server is part of the Workspace Developer Preview Programme and can change.", "The Google privacy policy read on 8 October 2026 is the version effective 1 October 2026." ], "score": 94 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-sheets-api.json", "live": { "slug": "google-sheets-api", "probe": { "target": "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:11.430213573Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 400, "lastMs": 165, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 185, "p95ms24h": 673, "samples24h": 64, "samples30d": 64, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 64, "ok": 64 } ] }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "googleapis/google-api-nodejs-client", "version": "agentidentity-v3.2.0", "released": "2026-10-07", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:14:25.225453746Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@googleapis/sheets", "version": "18.1.1", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:14:21.513613578Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "google-api-python-client", "version": "2.201.0", "released": "2026-09-30", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:14:25.103740958Z" } ], "githubStars": 12263, "npmWeekly": 1859932, "pypiWeekly": 31750331, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://google.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2030-04-01T00:00:00z", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:38:39.75078566Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://developers.google.com/workspace/sheets/release-notes", "kind": "changelog", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:17:57.991043636Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "e2880ec22d35" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:11.430213573Z" } }, "answer": "Google Sheets API scores 76.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Grist's 50.1 (D), and leads in every scored category.", "b": { "slug": "grist", "name": "Grist", "vendor": "Grist Labs Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://www.getgrist.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "spreadsheets", "summary": "Grist is a spreadsheet-database hybrid from Grist Labs with typed columns and Python formulas, sold as a hosted service and as open-source software to self-host. Agents reach it through a REST API and an MCP server with OAuth.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/grist", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/grist.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/grist.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/grist.json", "repo": "https://github.com/gristlabs/grist-core", "license": "Apache-2.0 for the community edition in gristlabs/grist-core. The full edition, which adds the MCP server, the OAuth server and audit log streaming, is proprietary and needs an activation key after a 30-day trial. Docs are CC BY-SA 4.0", "transports": [ "http", "streamable-http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://docs.getgrist.com/api", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "grist-api" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "grist-api" } ], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "Self-serve. A signed-in user creates an API key on the Developer page of account settings and sends it as `Authorization: Bearer`. The key carries its owner's full account access, and each account has one. The alternative is OAuth 2.0 with PKCE, used by the MCP server and by registered apps. The user approves any of seven scopes (`doc:read`, `doc:write`, `doc.schema:write`, `doc:download`, `doc:webhooks`, `user.profile:read`, `offline_access`) and can limit the grant to chosen sites, workspaces or documents. Access tokens last 1 hour and refresh tokens 60 days, and a grant can be revoked per app. Clients can register themselves by Client ID Metadata Document. Not every REST endpoint accepts an OAuth token.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free plan with 5,000 rows a document and 3,000 API calls a month per site, REST and MCP calls together, so an agent can start without a contract. Pro is $10 a user a month ($8 billed yearly) and Business $30 ($24 yearly, minimum 5 users), Enterprise through sales. API calls aren't priced, the MCP server is on every plan for now, and there's no separate sandbox. The self-hosted community edition is free (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "$10 / seat-mo", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the API docs, the OpenAPI file, the MCP docs or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": 34, "popularity": { "githubStars": 11900, "npmWeekly": 341, "pypiWeekly": 240, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://support.getgrist.com/rest-api/", "openapi": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gristlabs/grist-help/master/api/grist.yml", "capabilities": [ "sheets.records", "sheets.read", "sheets.write", "sheets.tables", "sheets.formulas" ], "tags": [ "official", "hosted", "self-hosted", "open-source", "mcp", "free-tier", "oauth", "api-key", "openapi", "webhooks", "python", "javascript" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-28", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 50.1, "grade": "D", "agentReady": false, "rank": 597, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 722, "categoryRank": 10, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 57, "maintenance": 78, "payments": 30, "reliability": 39, "schema": 63, "security": 62, "transparency": 61 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": -4, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-09-13. GHSA-9x4j-4rw5-3vmq, critical (CVSS 10.0), remote code execution through prototype pollution from an imported crafted document, affecting Docker images before 1.7.19 and fixed in 1.7.19. Four more advisories were published in the last 12 months, among them GHSA-7xvx-8pf2-pv5g (CVE-2026-24002, critical, 21 January 2026) on the pyodide sandbox option, fixed in 1.7.9. All five are fixed and published and none says whether hosted Grist was affected, so the deduction is reduced (https://github.com/gristlabs/grist-core/security/advisories)" ], "verdict": "OAuth tokens carry seven scopes, can be limited to chosen documents and expire after an hour, and the REST API has a public OpenAPI file with an add-or-update call. No status page, SLA terms, DPA or security.txt was found, and the docs say the hosted service has no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audit.", "bestFor": "Teams that want a relational spreadsheet with Python formulas and per-document OAuth grants for an agent, or that need to self-host.", "strengths": [ "OAuth 2.0 with PKCE and seven scopes, with `doc:read`, `doc:write` and `doc.schema:write` granted separately and the grant limited to chosen sites, workspaces or documents", "Access tokens last 1 hour, refresh tokens 60 days, and a user can revoke one app's grant from the Authorised apps page", "Public OpenAPI 3.0.0 file with 101 paths and 120 operations, including a read-only SQL endpoint and `PUT` on `/records` to add or update by key columns", "Limits are published with numbers per plan, with 10 concurrent requests per document and a 1 MB request body on every plan", "The core is Apache-2.0 and four releases were tagged between 29 July and 28 September 2026" ], "weaknesses": [ "No status page was found. status.getgrist.com redirects to a signup form, and the site footer and help centre link to none", "An API key carries its owner's full account access, and each account has one key, so it can't be limited to a document or revoked per integration", "The data security page says hosted Grist has no SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA or GDPR certification, and no DPA, sub-processor list or security.txt was found", "The MCP server and OAuth server are in the proprietary full edition, so the Apache-2.0 community edition has neither and the tool definitions aren't public", "Five security advisories were published in the last 12 months, two rated critical, the latest on 13 September 2026 with CVSS 10.0", "The Free plan allows 3,000 API calls a month across a site, with REST and MCP calls sharing the pool" ], "agentNotes": [ "Connect through OAuth, not an API key. Ask for `doc:read` alone for reading, and have the user pick Selected resources on the consent screen", "Keep `doc.schema:write` off unless needed. The docs say formula editing lets its holder read any data in the document whatever the access rules", "Send requests for one document one at a time. The eleventh concurrent request gets 429, and no Retry-After header is documented", "Use `PUT /api/docs/{docId}/tables/{tableId}/records` with `require` to add or update by key, so a retried write doesn't create a duplicate row", "Use the `/records` endpoints, not the deprecated `/data` ones, and split large writes to stay under the 1 MB body limit" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "D", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 50.1 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 57, "maintenance": 78, "payments": 30, "reliability": 39, "schema": 63, "security": 62, "transparency": 50 }, "provenanceScore": 71 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install grist-api", "http": "curl -H \"Authorization: Bearer \u003cAPI-KEY-GOES-HERE\u003e\" https://docs.getgrist.com/api/orgs", "claudeCode": "claude mcp add --transport http grist https://docs.getgrist.com/api/mcp" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/sheets.records", "tool": "https://letme.dev/grist" }, "area": "business", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Pro (hosted)", "unit": "seat-month", "usd": 10, "note": "billed monthly, $8 billed yearly, 100,000 rows a document, 40,000 API calls per document per day" }, { "item": "Business (hosted)", "unit": "seat-month", "usd": 30, "note": "billed monthly, $24 billed yearly, minimum 5 users, 150,000 rows a document, 60,000 API calls per document per day" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Grist Labs Inc.", "domain": "getgrist.com", "domainRegistered": "2014-05-12", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.getgrist.com/terms/", "privacy": "https://www.getgrist.com/privacy/", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/gristlabs/grist-core/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The terms page is an End-User Licence Agreement between the user and Grist Labs Inc., covering its products, software, services and websites, governed by New York State law, with legal notices to 93 4th Ave, #1127, New York, NY 10003. It carries no date.", "The privacy policy has an effective date of 1 April 2019 and covers the websites, products and services. It names no retention periods.", "The REST API and MCP server answer at docs.getgrist.com and \u003cteam\u003e.getgrist.com, and OAuth at login.getgrist.com, all getgrist.com subdomains.", "No status page was found. status.getgrist.com redirects to a signup form because every subdomain is treated as a team site.", "www.getgrist.com/.well-known/security.txt and docs.getgrist.com/.well-known/security.txt return 404. SECURITY.md in the repository gives security@getgrist.com.", "RDAP for getgrist.com gives a registration date of 2014-05-12." ], "score": 71 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/grist.json", "live": { "slug": "grist", "probe": { "target": "https://docs.getgrist.com/api", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:11.613117891Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 251, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 256, "p95ms24h": 311, "samples24h": 21, "samples30d": 21, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-08", "probes": 21, "ok": 21 } ] }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T21:12:11.613117891Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Google", "b": "Grist Labs Inc.", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4", "b": "https://docs.getgrist.com/api", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP, Streamable HTTP", "b": "HTTP, Streamable HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth", "b": "OAuth or key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Free", "b": "Freemium", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary service under the Google APIs Terms of Service. The client libraries are Apache-2.0", "b": "Apache-2.0 for the community edition in gristlabs/grist-core. The full edition, which adds the MCP server, the OAuth server and audit log streaming, is proprietary and needs an activation key after a 30-day trial. Docs are CC BY-SA 4.0", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "6", "b": "34", "name": "Tools exposed" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-10-07", "b": "2026-09-28", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2021-11-09", "b": "no date given", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2026-10-01", "b": "2019-04-01", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "yes", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "12k stars, 1.9M npm/wk, 31.8M PyPI/wk", "b": "12k stars, 341 npm/wk, 240 PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Google Sheets API scores 76.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Grist's 50.1 (D), and leads in every scored category.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Google Sheets API or Grist?" }, { "answer": "Google Sheets API uses an OAuth sign-in. Grist takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.", "question": "Do Google Sheets API and Grist need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Google Sheets API has a hosted endpoint at https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4 and Grist at https://docs.getgrist.com/api.", "question": "Can an agent call Google Sheets API and Grist without installing anything?" }, { "answer": "No open-source release is listed for Google Sheets API. Grist is open source (Apache-2.0 for the community edition in gristlabs/grist-core. The full edition, which adds the MCP server, the OAuth server and audit log streaming, is proprietary and needs an activation key after a 30-day trial. Docs are CC BY-SA 4.0).", "question": "Are Google Sheets API and Grist open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 90 against 39", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 83 against 63", "Agent ergonomics, 74 against 57", "Security \u0026 auth, 80 against 62", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 35 against 30", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 85 against 78", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 80 against 61" ], "also": [ "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better", "No incidents deducted, where Grist loses 4 points for them" ], "goodFor": "Agents reading and writing cells, formulas and formatting in spreadsheets people already keep in Google Sheets.", "slug": "google-sheets-api", "watchFor": "Quotas are 300 reads and 300 writes a minute per project and 60 each per user per project" }, { "aheadOn": null, "also": [ "Open source" ], "goodFor": "Teams that want a relational spreadsheet with Python formulas and per-document OAuth grants for an agent, or that need to self-host.", "slug": "grist", "watchFor": "No status page was found. status.getgrist.com redirects to a signup form, and the site footer and help centre link to none" } ], "job": { "capability": "sheets.read", "name": "Sheets read" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-google-sheets-api.json", "title": "Airtable vs Google Sheets API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-google-sheets-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baserow-vs-google-sheets-api.json", "title": "Baserow vs Google Sheets API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baserow-vs-google-sheets-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coda-vs-google-sheets-api.json", "title": "Coda (Superhuman Docs) vs Google Sheets API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coda-vs-google-sheets-api" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coda-vs-grist.json", "title": "Coda (Superhuman Docs) vs Grist", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coda-vs-grist" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-microsoft-excel-graph.json", "title": "Google Sheets API vs Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-microsoft-excel-graph" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-nocodb.json", "title": "Google Sheets API vs NocoDB", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-nocodb" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-seatable.json", "title": "Google Sheets API vs SeaTable", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-seatable" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-smartsheet.json", "title": "Google Sheets API vs Smartsheet API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-smartsheet" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-teable.json", "title": "Google Sheets API vs Teable", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-teable" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-microsoft-excel-graph.json", "title": "Grist vs Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-microsoft-excel-graph" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-grist.json", "title": "Airtable vs Grist", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-grist" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baserow-vs-grist.json", "title": "Baserow vs Grist", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baserow-vs-grist" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-nocodb.json", "title": "Grist vs NocoDB", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-nocodb" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-seatable.json", "title": "Grist vs SeaTable", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-seatable" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-smartsheet.json", "title": "Grist vs Smartsheet API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-smartsheet" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-teable.json", "title": "Grist vs Teable", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-teable" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 51, "edge": "google-sheets-api", "google-sheets-api": 90, "grist": 39, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 20, "edge": "google-sheets-api", "google-sheets-api": 83, "grist": 63, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 17, "edge": "google-sheets-api", "google-sheets-api": 74, "grist": 57, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 18, "edge": "google-sheets-api", "google-sheets-api": 80, "grist": 62, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "by": 5, "edge": "google-sheets-api", "google-sheets-api": 35, "grist": 30, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 7, "edge": "google-sheets-api", "google-sheets-api": 85, "grist": 78, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "by": 19, "edge": "google-sheets-api", "google-sheets-api": 80, "grist": 61, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Google Sheets API scores 76.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Grist's 50.1 (D), and leads in every scored category. Both do sheets read.", "verdicts": { "google-sheets-api": "Batch updates apply atomically and count as one request, and the drive.file scope limits an app to files the user picks. Quotas are 300 reads and 300 writes a minute per project, reads are by range with no row filter or paging, and a person must complete OAuth consent first.", "grist": "OAuth tokens carry seven scopes, can be limited to chosen documents and expire after an hour, and the REST API has a public OpenAPI file with an add-or-update call. No status page, SLA terms, DPA or security.txt was found, and the docs say the hosted service has no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audit." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-grist", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-grist.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-grist.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-grist.min.md" }, "markdown": "Google Sheets API scores 76.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Grist's 50.1 (D), and leads in every scored category. Both do sheets read.\n\n- Google Sheets API: grade BB, 76.3/100, rank #33 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/google-sheets-api.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-sheets-api.json\n- Grist: grade D, 50.1/100, rank #597 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/grist.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/grist.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Google Sheets API (BB)\n\nGood for: Agents reading and writing cells, formulas and formatting in spreadsheets people already keep in Google Sheets.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 90 against 39\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 83 against 63\n- Agent ergonomics, 74 against 57\n- Security \u0026 auth, 80 against 62\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 35 against 30\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 85 against 78\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 80 against 61\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n- No incidents deducted, where Grist loses 4 points for them\n\nWatch for: Quotas are 300 reads and 300 writes a minute per project and 60 each per user per project\n\n### Grist (D)\n\nGood for: Teams that want a relational spreadsheet with Python formulas and per-document OAuth grants for an agent, or that need to self-host.\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Open source\n\nWatch for: No status page was found. status.getgrist.com redirects to a signup form, and the site footer and help centre link to none\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Google Sheets API | Grist | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 90 | 39 | Google Sheets API +51 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 83 | 63 | Google Sheets API +20 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 57 | Google Sheets API +17 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 80 | 62 | Google Sheets API +18 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 30 | Google Sheets API +5 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 85 | 78 | Google Sheets API +7 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 80 | 61 | Google Sheets API +19 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -4 | |\n| **Total** | | **76.3 · BB** | **50.1 · D** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Google Sheets API | Grist |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Google | Grist Labs Inc. |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4` | `https://docs.getgrist.com/api` |\n| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |\n| Auth | OAuth | OAuth or key |\n| Pricing | Free | Freemium |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary service under the Google APIs Terms of Service. The client libraries are Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 for the community edition in gristlabs/grist-core. The full edition, which adds the MCP server, the OAuth server and audit log streaming, is proprietary and needs an activation key after a 30-day trial. Docs are CC BY-SA 4.0 |\n| Tools exposed | 6 | 34 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |\n| llms.txt | no | no |\n| Last release | 2026-10-07 | 2026-09-28 |\n| Terms last updated | 2021-11-09 | no date given |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-01 | 2019-04-01 |\n| Customer content may train models | yes | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |\n| Popularity | 12k stars, 1.9M npm/wk, 31.8M PyPI/wk | 12k stars, 341 npm/wk, 240 PyPI/wk |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Google Sheets API.** Batch updates apply atomically and count as one request, and the drive.file scope limits an app to files the user picks. Quotas are 300 reads and 300 writes a minute per project, reads are by range with no row filter or paging, and a person must complete OAuth consent first.\n\n**Grist.** OAuth tokens carry seven scopes, can be limited to chosen documents and expire after an hour, and the REST API has a public OpenAPI file with an add-or-update call. No status page, SLA terms, DPA or security.txt was found, and the docs say the hosted service has no SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audit.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Google Sheets API\n\n1. Ask for drive.file where the user picks the files. spreadsheets and spreadsheets.readonly are sensitive scopes and need extra verification for a public app\n2. Send valueInputOption=USER_ENTERED to write formulas. With RAW the string =1+2 is stored as text\n3. Put related changes in one spreadsheets.batchUpdate. It counts as one write request and none of it applies if any request is invalid\n4. Pass ranges and a fields mask on spreadsheets.get and leave includeGridData off for large files\n5. Back off exponentially on 429 and 503, and keep to one request a second per spreadsheet. After a timeout on values.append, read the range before retrying\n\n### Grist\n\n1. Connect through OAuth, not an API key. Ask for `doc:read` alone for reading, and have the user pick Selected resources on the consent screen\n2. Keep `doc.schema:write` off unless needed. The docs say formula editing lets its holder read any data in the document whatever the access rules\n3. Send requests for one document one at a time. The eleventh concurrent request gets 429, and no Retry-After header is documented\n4. Use `PUT /api/docs/{docId}/tables/{tableId}/records` with `require` to add or update by key, so a retried write doesn't create a duplicate row\n5. Use the `/records` endpoints, not the deprecated `/data` ones, and split large writes to stay under the 1 MB body limit\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Google Sheets API or Grist?\n\nGoogle Sheets API scores 76.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Grist's 50.1 (D), and leads in every scored category.\n\n### Do Google Sheets API and Grist need an API key?\n\nGoogle Sheets API uses an OAuth sign-in. Grist takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.\n\n### Can an agent call Google Sheets API and Grist without installing anything?\n\nYes. Google Sheets API has a hosted endpoint at https://sheets.googleapis.com/v4 and Grist at https://docs.getgrist.com/api.\n\n### Are Google Sheets API and Grist open source?\n\nNo open-source release is listed for Google Sheets API. Grist is open source (Apache-2.0 for the community edition in gristlabs/grist-core. The full edition, which adds the MCP server, the OAuth server and audit log streaming, is proprietary and needs an activation key after a 30-day trial. Docs are CC BY-SA 4.0).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-grist.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-grist.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"google-sheets-api\", \"b\": \"grist\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare google-sheets-api grist`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/google-sheets-api.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/grist.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Google Sheets API or Grist\n\n- [Airtable vs Google Sheets API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-google-sheets-api.md)\n- [Baserow vs Google Sheets API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baserow-vs-google-sheets-api.md)\n- [Coda (Superhuman Docs) vs Google Sheets API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coda-vs-google-sheets-api.md)\n- [Coda (Superhuman Docs) vs Grist](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coda-vs-grist.md)\n- [Google Sheets API vs Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-microsoft-excel-graph.md)\n- [Google Sheets API vs NocoDB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-nocodb.md)\n- [Google Sheets API vs SeaTable](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-seatable.md)\n- [Google Sheets API vs Smartsheet API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-smartsheet.md)\n- [Google Sheets API vs Teable](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-teable.md)\n- [Grist vs Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-microsoft-excel-graph.md)\n- [Airtable vs Grist](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-grist.md)\n- [Baserow vs Grist](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baserow-vs-grist.md)\n- [Grist vs NocoDB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-nocodb.md)\n- [Grist vs SeaTable](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-seatable.md)\n- [Grist vs Smartsheet API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-smartsheet.md)\n- [Grist vs Teable](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grist-vs-teable.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-08", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Google Sheets API vs Grist", "url": "" } ], "description": "Google Sheets API scores 76.3 (BB) on agent readiness against Grist's 50.1 (D), and leads in every scored category. Both do sheets read. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Google Sheets API BB 76.3", "Grist D 50.1", "scores" ], "h1": "Google Sheets API vs Grist", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-google-sheets-api-vs-grist.png", "path": "/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-grist", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Google Sheets API vs Grist for AI agents, BB 76.3 vs D 50.1", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-08", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-grist" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2450, "slim": 730 }, "version": 1 }