# Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API) vs NocoDB

> NocoDB scores 75.7 (BB) on agent readiness against Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)'s 58.5 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do sheets read. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-excel-graph-vs-nocodb
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-excel-graph-vs-nocodb.md (~2,250 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-excel-graph-vs-nocodb.min.md (~780 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-excel-graph-vs-nocodb.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-08

NocoDB scores 75.7 (BB) on agent readiness against Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)'s 58.5 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do sheets read.

- Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API): grade C, 58.5/100, rank #399 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/microsoft-excel-graph.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/microsoft-excel-graph.json
- NocoDB: grade BB, 75.7/100, rank #37 of 629. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nocodb.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nocodb.json

## Which one, for what

### Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API) (C)

Good for: Agents working on .xlsx files that already live in a Microsoft 365 tenant, and for using Excel's calculation engine through function endpoints.

Watch for: Reference pages list delegated permissions only and mark application permissions as not supported

### NocoDB (BB)

Good for: Teams that want Airtable-style typed records with the option to self-host, and an agent that reads, filters and writes records or builds schema through MCP with a narrow allowlist.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 97 against 62
- Security & auth, 71 against 65
- Payments & pricing, 30 against 15
- Maintenance & community, 87 against 53

Also in its favour:
- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better
- No incidents deducted, where Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API) loses 4 points for them

Watch for: 5 requests a second per user on every plan, shared by all of that user's tokens, with a 30-second block after a 429


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API) | NocoDB | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 62 | 97 | NocoDB +35 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 85 | even |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 74 | NocoDB +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 65 | 71 | NocoDB +6 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 15 | 30 | NocoDB +15 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 53 | 87 | NocoDB +34 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 75 | 76 | NocoDB +1 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **58.5 · C** | **75.7 · BB** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API) | NocoDB |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Microsoft | NocoDB Inc |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0` | `https://app.nocodb.com` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Your plan | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT (SDKs) | Sustainable Use License 1.0 since January 2026 (source-available, not OSI-approved; AGPL-3.0 before). NocoDB Cloud is a proprietary service under NocoDB's Terms of Service |
| Tools exposed | none | 199 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | no | yes |
| Last release | 2025-09-19 | 2026-09-29 |
| Terms last updated | 2025-10-01 | 2025-10-14 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-09-01 | 2026-03-20 |
| Customer content may train models | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | not found in the text |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | 835 stars, 2.9M npm/wk, 1.6M PyPI/wk | 65k stars, 6.3k npm/wk |

## Verdicts

**Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API).** Ranges, tables, charts and 366 worksheet function endpoints are reachable over REST with a public OpenAPI, and a non-persistent session lets an agent test changes without saving them. The reference pages list delegated permissions only, with Files.ReadWrite as the least privileged scope, and writes take no idempotency key.

**NocoDB.** API tokens and MCP connections are limited by permission category and by base, and an MCP connection registers only the tools it is allowed. The v3 REST API has a public OpenAPI file. Requests are capped at 5 a second per user, REST writes take 10 records a call, and the Free plan stops at 1,000 API calls a month.

## Before you call either

### Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)

1. Create a session with POST /workbook/createSession and send `workbook-session-id` on every call. Persistent sessions expire after about 5 minutes idle
2. Set `persistChanges` to false when you only need a calculation or a chart image, so nothing is saved to the file
3. Send one request at a time per workbook and wait for each response. Microsoft warns that parallel writes cause throttling, timeouts and merge conflicts
4. Add rows in one call with a two-dimensional `values` array, and check the table before repeating a row add that returned 504
5. Read bounded addresses such as A1:D500. A whole-column range such as C:C returns null for values, and writes to it are refused

### NocoDB

1. Create a fine-grained token limited to the bases and categories the task needs. Send it as `xc-token` or as a Bearer token
2. Stay under 5 requests a second across all tokens of one user. After a 429, honour `Retry-After` or wait 30 seconds
3. Send REST writes in batches of 10 records. The MCP record tools take up to 100, counted as one API call per 10 records
4. Write date filters with a sub-operator, such as `(due_date,eq,exactDate,2026-06-01)`, and put no space after `~and` or `~or`
5. Use `/records/upsert` with a merge key so a repeated write updates the record instead of adding a duplicate

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API) or NocoDB?

NocoDB scores 75.7 (BB) on agent readiness against Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)'s 58.5 (C), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Do Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API) and NocoDB need an API key?

Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API) uses an OAuth sign-in. NocoDB takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API) and NocoDB without installing anything?

Yes. Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API) has a hosted endpoint at https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0 and NocoDB at https://app.nocodb.com.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-excel-graph-vs-nocodb.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-excel-graph-vs-nocodb.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "microsoft-excel-graph", "b": "nocodb"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare microsoft-excel-graph nocodb`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/microsoft-excel-graph.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nocodb.json

## Other comparisons with Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API) or NocoDB

- [Airtable vs Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-microsoft-excel-graph.md)
- [Baserow vs Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baserow-vs-microsoft-excel-graph.md)
- [Coda (Superhuman Docs) vs Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coda-vs-microsoft-excel-graph.md)
- [Coda (Superhuman Docs) vs NocoDB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/coda-vs-nocodb.md)
- [Google Sheets API vs Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-microsoft-excel-graph.md)
- [Google Sheets API vs NocoDB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-sheets-api-vs-nocodb.md)
- [Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Graph workbook API) vs Smartsheet API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/microsoft-excel-graph-vs-smartsheet.md)
- [Airtable vs NocoDB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/airtable-vs-nocodb.md)
- [Baserow vs NocoDB](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/baserow-vs-nocodb.md)
- [NocoDB vs Smartsheet API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nocodb-vs-smartsheet.md)