Is CData proving too complex or not user-friendly enough for your SQL data management needs? You’re not alone. Plenty of our users migrated to SQL Spreads from CData’s Excel add-in, attracted by an exceptionally intuitive interface and the promise of a leaner stack. Here’s everything you need to know about the top CData competitors this year.
CData: A comprehensive solution
CData has long been a popular tool for connecting and managing SQL data, offering a wide range of integrations across databases, cloud apps, and business systems. It’s spreadsheets Excel add-in, CData Connect Spreadsheets, is a tool designed to streamline bringing data into popular analytics platforms like Excel and Google Sheets. It allows the user to connect to over 250 systems, select the desired data, and sync changes back to the original sources.
Why look for alternatives to CData’s Excel add-in?
Despite its strong functionality, many users find themselves frustrated with certain aspects of the CData Excel Add-In, Connect Spreadsheets. While it offers a wide array of features, its confusing interface and over-complicated functionality can be overwhelming. With a product geared more toward team members with a developer role, this can be particularly convoluted for non-technical teams and business users. Previous Cdata users also mention performance issues with slower updates and refresh processes compared to other options, especially when dealing with large datasets or frequent changes.
On top of that, CData’s pricing structure – subscriptions based on the number of connections, queries, and users – often becomes costly, particularly for small to mid-sized businesses. While there is a free version, its capabilities are so limited it will hardly be useful for any significant processes. For users seeking simpler, more cost-effective solutions that still meet their SQL data management needs, these challenges have prompted the search for more intuitive alternatives.
In this article, we’ll explore the top CData Excel Add-In alternatives available in 2025 for managing SQL data. Whether you’re looking for better ease of use, more flexibility, or reduced costs, these alternatives may offer the right solution for your needs.
Don’t have time to read this article? Spend just one minute on this video instead to find out why SQL Spreads is the CData alternative for you
CData Excel Add-In alternatives in this article:
1. SQL Spreads: The easiest way to manage SQL data directly in Excel
When it comes to managing SQL Server data directly from Excel, SQL Spreads is the go-to choice for businesses seeking a user-friendly, cost-effective, and powerful solution. Unlike CData, SQL Spreads is tailored specifically for non-technical users, making it an excellent choice for teams with minimal technical expertise.
Why choose SQL spreads?
- Simple and intuitive interface: Unlike CData, which can feel overwhelming with its complex setup and configuration options, SQL Spreads offers an easy-to-navigate interface. It enables users to connect to SQL Server databases from Excel, make changes directly within the spreadsheet, and save those changes back to the database, all from within the familiar Excel environment – ideal for business users and teams without technical expertise.
- Cost-effective: SQL Spreads offers a more affordable pricing structure compared to CData, with unlimited connections to unlimited SQL Server databases on all plans. This makes SQL Spreads a more attractive option for small to medium-sized businesses.
- Exceptional Performance: SQL Spreads is praised for its fast and efficient handling of data, offering superior performance compared to CData Connect Spreadsheets, particularly when updating records or managing large datasets.
- Data validation built-in: SQL Spreads instantly validates data entries in Excel against the data types in your SQL Server database, ensuring that your data is always consistent and accurate before it’s pushed back into the system. This is a huge benefit over CData’s sometimes complex validation rules.
- Auditing and tracking capabilities: SQL Spreads provides built-in change tracking, for enhanced data integrity and accountability. Distinct Designer and Editor roles – where Designers control all configurations and Editors only perform safe, guided edits – enable non-technical end-users to safely update SQL Server data through Excel, providing secure and user-friendly data management.
Real customer feedback
Users consistently praise SQL Spreads for its simplicity and reliability. Many mention how easy it is to manage SQL data without needing IT intervention. SQL Spreads enables business teams to keep SQL data updated with little training, which is a major advantage over the more complicated CData platform.
Ready to dive straight into SQL Spreads? Our free trial gives you access to all the benefits, like better performance, safeguarded database through permission roles, and data validation with minimal setup time
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2. Devart: Efficient and complex
Devart is another alternative to CData, offering a wide range of database management tools. However, its various Excel add-ins are quite basic tools with less advanced functionality and poorer options to safeguard data integrity. The Devart Excel add-ins may be best suited for those requiring – and able to invest in – a comprehensive Devart package.
Pros:
- Connects to multiple sources: The Excel add-ins can connect to multiple sources when opting for a pricier tier, and might be an easy option for those already paying for a larger bundle. The basic version for a perpetual license may be more budget friendly, but then offers only modest functionality, with limited options to safeguard data integrity.
- Helpful visuals: Devart offers useful visuals while working with updates, clearly displaying changes to data before committing.
Cons:
- Basic functionality: The Devart add-in has limited advanced functionality and may quickly prove too simple for the user’s needs.
- Complicated set-up: Compared to SQL Spreads, Devart’s Excel Add-in is not intuitive to set up, requiring implementing their Visual Query Builder to set up data importing.
- No safeguarding permissions: It offers no permission roles to limit access into the database, and there is no auditing functionality, with no way to track changes or which user made them.
3. Power Query: Streamlined for Excel users
Power Query, built into both Excel and Power BI, is a lightweight data transformation and querying tool ideal for users who primarily work in Excel and who are looking mainly to extract and prepare data. However, users working with larger datasets may find performance to suffer.
Pros:
- Excel integration: If your team already works with Excel, Power Query makes it easy to import, transform, and load SQL data directly into your spreadsheets.
- Ease of use: The graphical interface allows non-technical users to perform complex data transformations without writing code.
Cons:
- Limited to data transformation: Power Query is primarily designed to get data into Excel from various sources, allowing users to transform and clean data within the spreadsheet environment. While it is technically possible to use Power Query to import data back into SQL Server, however, it is not a reliable solution and is not recommended.
- Version control limitations: Power Query lacks built-in version control, making it difficult to track changes or collaborate efficiently across teams.
- Data security concerns: Power Query may not provide sufficient data security features for sensitive information, especially when integrating with external sources.
Don’t risk your database’s integrity by giving all users complete access to the database. SQL Spreads safeguards the data with clear permission roles for developers and users, along with change tracking and auditing for complete data integrity.
4. Azure Data Studio: Lightweight but limited
Azure Data Studio is a free, open-source, cross-platform database management tool designed for managing SQL Server and other databases. It offers a simplified interface ideal for database professionals who need flexibility, but users complain about frequent bugs and the lack of functionality.
Pros:
- Cross-platform support: Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux, offering more flexibility for teams with diverse operating systems.
- User-friendly interface: Features a clean design with integrated notebooks for combining queries, code, and results in one environment.
Cons:
- Limited advanced features: Lacks advanced, enterprise-level features, with limited functionality for complex tasks, and is best for querying or analysis.
- Stability issues: Users have reported bugs and stability concerns, such as crashes and performance lags, which can disrupt workflow.
- Best for developers: It is geared toward database professionals and is therefore difficult for non-technical users to handle.
- Steep onboarding: For those accustomed to traditional database management tools, Azure’s modern interface and features may not feel intuitive and may require a period of adjustment.
5. SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS): Classic and reliable
SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is the classic tool for managing SQL Server databases. It’s free, robust, and widely used by developers and IT professionals.
Pros:
- No cost: SSMS itself is free, making it an attractive option for businesses looking to cut down on software costs.
- Deep functionality: SSMS offers full control over SQL Server, including the ability to write queries, perform backups, and manage security settings.
Cons:
- Complexity: SSMS is built for database professionals. While powerful, it’s not particularly user-friendly for business teams or non-technical users.
- Performance issues: Users mention excessively slow load times, especially when managing larger data sets
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Limited to SQL Server: Unlike CData and other tools, SSMS is specifically designed for SQL Server and doesn’t provide support for other data sources.
Easy comparison of CData competitors for SQL data
| CData Excel Add-In | SQL Spreads | Devart Excel Add-In | SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) | Power Query | Azure Data Studio | |
| Bulk update performance | Slow | Quite fast incl. Tree Filter feature | Slow | Can be slower when updating larger datasets | Updates not recommended | Extremely slow, especially with large sets |
| Safeguard Data Integrity | Limited | Robust | Limited | Robust | Updates not recommended | Robust |
| Target Audience | Developer/technical role | Business users | Business users | Developer/technical role | Business Users | Developer/technical role |
| Ease of Use | Not as intuitive as the others | Easy | Easy | Steep learning curve | Updates not recommended | Not intuitive |
| Cost Effectiveness | Moderate to Low | High | Moderate, depending on requirements | High (free) | High when already using Excel/Power BI | High (free) |
Which SQL data management tool is right for you?
Each alternative to CData offers a unique set of strengths and weaknesses. If you’re looking for an easy-to-use, cost-effective solution for managing SQL Server data, SQL Spreads stands out as the best choice for non-technical users and teams that want to work directly in Excel.
For more advanced database management, tools like Devart’s Excel Add-in provide robust functionality but come at a higher cost and complexity. Meanwhile, if you’re already comfortable with SQL Server Management Studio, this free tool offers deep functionality for developers.
SQL Spreads: The leading CData Excel Add-In alternative
Ultimately, the right choice depends on your team’s needs, technical expertise, and budget. If you want an intuitive, affordable, and highly effective solution for managing SQL data, SQL Spreads is a standout option in 2025.
Setting up is as quick as a click, and your team can be up and running in less than an hour . That’s only slightly longer than it took you to read this and realize CData wasn’t the tool for you.
Don’t believe SQL Spreads will have your team seamlessly working with SQL data in no time? (Without creating a pile of tickets for your IT Department)
Try it yourself – 14 days for free
Want to learn more? Read about SQL Spreads features here, or contact us with your questions.
