List of differences with other spreadsheets
See a full list of differences between HyperFormula, Microsoft Excel, and Google Sheets.
LINEST
Section titled “LINEST”Unlike Excel, HyperFormula requires a constant stats argument because the output dimensions are determined before evaluation. For example, =LINEST(A1:A10,B1:B10,TRUE(),D1) returns #VALUE!; use TRUE() or FALSE() directly for stats. See LINEST limitations for supported constants and input-sizing requirements.
Numerical results can differ for nearly dependent predictors and nearly perfect fits. Coefficient standard errors are sensitive to conditioning, and the F statistic is sensitive to residuals close to machine precision. For an effectively perfect multiple regression, Excel and HyperFormula can return different large finite F values even when the coefficients agree.
Very large or very small input scales can also cause substantial differences in coefficients and statistics, including for a single predictor with a non-perfect fit. HyperFormula does not reproduce Excel’s loss of predictors or zero standard errors observed at extreme scales. Rescaling inputs to more moderate units can reduce numerical errors in both engines.
General functionalities
Section titled “General functionalities”| Functionality | Examples | HyperFormula | Google Sheets | Microsoft Excel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dependency collection | A1:=IF(FALSE(), A1, 0) ISREF(A1) |
Dependencies are collected during the parsing phase, which finds cycles that wouldn’t appear in the evaluation.CYCLE error for both examples. |
Dependencies are collected during evaluation.0 for both examples. |
Same as Google Sheets. |
| Named expressions and named ranges | SALARY:=$A$10 COST:=10*$B$5+100 PROFIT:=SALARY-COST A1:=SALARY-COST |
Only absolute addresses are allowed (e.g., SALARY:= $A$10). Named expressions can be global or scoped to one sheet only. They can contain other named expressions. |
Named expressions are not available. Named ranges can be used to create aliases for addresses and ranges. |
Named ranges and scoped named expressions are available. |
| Named expression names | ProductPrice1:=42 | A name must be distinctive from a cell reference (case-insensitive), so ProductPrice1 is invalid. See complete naming rules. |
A name that is a valid cell reference is allowed if the column address is at least 4-letter long, so ProductPrice1 is valid. |
A name that is a valid cell reference is allowed if the column address is at least 4-letter long, so ProductPrice1 is valid. |
| Applying a scalar value to a function taking range | COLUMNS(A1) | CellRangeExpected error. |
Treats the element as length-1 range. Returns 1 for the example. | Same as Google Sheets. |
| Coercion of explicit arguments | VARP(2, 3, 4, TRUE(), FALSE(), “1”,) | 1.9592, based on the behavior of Microsoft Excel. | GoogleSheets implementation is not consistent with the standard (see also VAR.S, STDEV.P, and STDEV.S function.) |
1.9592 |
Ranges created with : |
A1:A2 A$1:$A$2 A:C 1:2 Sheet1!A1:A2 |
Allowed ranges consist of two addresses (A1:B5), columns (A:C) or rows (3:5). They cannot be mixed or contain named expressions. |
Everything allowed. | Same as Google Sheets. |
| Formatting inside the TEXT function | TEXT(A1,“dd-mm-yy”) TEXT(A1,“###.###”) |
To support all date, time and currency formats, set stringifyDateTime and stringifyCurrency configuration options. |
A wide variety of options for string formatting is supported. | Same as Google Sheets. |
| Cell references inside inline arrays | ={A1, A2} | The array’s value is calculated but not updated when the cells’ values change. | The array’s value is calculated and updated when the cells’ values change. | ERROR: invalid array |
| SPLIT function | =SPLIT(“Lorem ipsum dolor”, 0) | This function works differently from Google Sheets version but should be sufficient to achieve the same functionality in most scenarios. Read SPLIT function description on the Built-in Functions page. | Different syntax and return value. | No such function. |
| DATEVALUE function | =DATEVALUE(“25/02/1991”) | Type of the returned value: CellValueDetailedType.NUMBER_DATE (compliant with the OpenDocument standard) |
Cell auto-formatted as regular number | Cell auto-formatted as regular number |
| TIMEVALUE function | =TIMEVALUE(“14:31”) | Type of the returned value: CellValueDetailedType.NUMBER_TIME (compliant with the OpenDocument standard) |
Cell auto-formatted as regular number | Cell auto-formatted as regular number |
| EDATE function | =EDATE(DATE(2019, 7, 31), 1) | Type of the returned value: CellValueDetailedType.NUMBER_DATE. This is non-compliant with the OpenDocument standard, which defines the return type as a Number, while describing it as a Date serial number through the function summary. |
Cell auto-formatted as date | Cell auto-formatted as regular number |
| EOMONTH function | =EOMONTH(DATE(2019, 7, 31), 1) | Type of the returned value: CellValueDetailedType.NUMBER_DATE. This is non-compliant with the OpenDocument standard, which defines the return type as a Number, while describing it as a Date serial number through the function summary. |
Cell auto-formatted as date | Cell auto-formatted as regular number |
| EDATE and EOMONTH results in February 1900 | =EDATE(DATE(1900, 1, 31), 1) =EOMONTH(DATE(1900, 1, 31), 1) |
With the leapYear1900 option set to true, February 1900 has 29 days, so both examples return 29 February 1900 (serial 60 with nullDate set to 1899-12-31). With the default false, both return 28 February 1900. |
28 February 1900 for both examples. Google Sheets does not treat 1900 as a leap year. | 28 February 1900 (serial 59) for both examples. Excel keeps the 1900 leap day only in the serial-to-date mapping (DAY(60) is 29); its month arithmetic treats February 1900 as having 28 days, so no EDATE or EOMONTH result is ever serial 60. |
| Empty cells in lookup search | =XLOOKUP(3, A1:A4, A1:A4, “NF”, 0, 2) where A1:A4 = 1, 2, (empty), 3 |
Empty cells are skipped during the search. A value that is present is found even when it sits past an interspersed empty cell (exact match is gap-independent), and approximate MATCH/VLOOKUP/HLOOKUP/XLOOKUP skip empty cells — but not empty strings — when finding the lower/upper bound. Returns 3. On an all-empty range in a binary search mode, HyperFormula returns the if_not_found result (never row 1). |
Skips empty cells in approximate search (parity with HyperFormula). | With binary search modes (search_mode ±2), a range with interspersed empty cells is not strictly sorted; per Excel’s documentation the result may be invalid, so a value past an empty cell is not reliably found. On an all-empty range in a binary mode, Excel returns the first row’s value. |
| Approximate lookup matching across value types | =XLOOKUP(“a”, A1:A2, B1:B2, “NF”, -1, 1) where A1:A2 = 10, 20 and B1:B2 = “x”, “y” |
Approximate MATCH, VLOOKUP, and HLOOKUP skip candidates whose type differs from the lookup value, in both linear and binary search. Approximate XLOOKUP follows Microsoft Excel’s ordering of numbers, text, logical values, and errors; empty cells are skipped (see Empty cells in lookup search). Returns "y" for the example. |
Approximate lookups ignore candidates whose type differs from the lookup value. Returns "NF" for the example. |
Same as HyperFormula, except that linear approximate XLOOKUP ranks an empty cell above every value: =XLOOKUP("z", A1:A4, B1:B4, "NF", 1, 1) where A1:A4 = 10, (empty), 20, “b” returns B2. |
| CONCAT function | =CONCAT(REPT(“a”, 20000), REPT(“b”, 20000)) | A result longer than 32767 characters is #VALUE!. |
Not checked. | #CALC!, which HyperFormula does not have. |
| CONCAT function | =CONCAT(F1:G1, E1) where E1 = #DIV/0! and F1 = #N/A |
An error in a single-cell reference is returned before an error inside a range, as for any argument that is not a range: the example returns #DIV/0!. |
Not checked. | Errors in references are taken in argument order, after errors in computed arguments: the example returns #N/A. |
| VALUETOTEXT function | =VALUETOTEXT(A1:B2) | With the array arithmetic mode disabled (the default), does not spill: the range is reduced to one value as in any function that takes one value, so this example is #VALUE!. With the mode enabled, spills one text per cell. |
Not checked. | Spills one text per cell of the range. |
| VALUETOTEXT function | =VALUETOTEXT(“a”, 0.99999999) =VALUETOTEXT(“a”, -0.00000001) =VALUETOTEXT(“a”, 1.99999999) |
The format is rounded down with no tolerance, so the examples return a (concise), #VALUE! and "a" (strict). |
Not checked. | A format up to about 1e-7 below a whole number is treated as that number, so the examples return "a" (strict), a (concise) and #VALUE!. |
Numbers converted to text by CONCATENATE, TEXTJOIN and & |
=CONCATENATE(1/3) =TEXTJOIN(“”, TRUE(), 0.1+0.2) =2^60&“” |
Written with up to 17 significant digits, as the shortest text that converts back to the same number: 0.3333333333333333, 0.30000000000000004 and 1152921504606847000. CONCAT and VALUETOTEXT write 15 significant digits, as Excel does. |
Not checked. | Written to 15 significant digits: 0.333333333333333, 0.3 and 1152921504606850000. |
| Booleans converted to text | =CONCAT(TRUE()) =VALUETOTEXT(FALSE()) =TRUE()&“” |
TRUE and FALSE in every language, in CONCAT, CONCATENATE, TEXTJOIN, VALUETOTEXT and &. |
Not checked. | The boolean names of the Excel language, for example PRAWDA and FAŁSZ in Polish. |
Built-in functions
Section titled “Built-in functions”Some built-in functions are implemented differently than in Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel.
To remove the differences, create custom implementations of those functions.
| Function | Example | HyperFormula | Google Sheets | Microsoft Excel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TBILLEQ | =TBILLEQ(0, 180, 1.9) | 38.5278 | NUM | NUM |
| TBILLEQ | =TBILLEQ(0, 180, 2) | 0.0000 | NUM | 0.0000 |
| TBILLEQ | =TBILLEQ(“1/2/2000”, “31/1/2001”, 0.1) | 0.1128 | VALUE | VALUE |
| TBILLEQ | =TBILLEQ(0, 360, 0.1) | 0.1127 | 0.1097 | 0.1097 |
| TBILLEQ | =TBILLEQ(0, 365, 0.1) | 0.1128 | 0.1098 | 0.1098 |
| GCD | =GCD(1000000000000000000.0) | NUM | 1E+18 | NUM |
| COMBIN | =COMBIN(1030, 0) | NUM | NUM | 1.0000 |
| RRI | =RRI(1, -1, -1) | 0.0000 | NUM | 0.0000 |
| DAYS | =DAYS(-1, 0) | NUM | -1.0000 | NUM |
| DAYS | =DAYS(0, -1) | NUM | 1.0000 | NUM |
| DATEDIF | =DATEDIF(-1, 0, “Y”) | NUM | 0.0000 | NUM |
| RATE | =RATE(12, -100, 400, 0, 1) | -1.0000 | NUM | NUM |
| PV | =PV(-1, 0, 100, 400) | NUM | -400 | NUM |
| LCMP | =LCM(1000000, 1000001, 1000002, 1000003) | NUM | 5.00003E+23 | NUM |
| TBILLPRICE | =TBILLPRICE(0, 180, 1.9) | 5.0000 | NUM | 5.0000 |
| TBILLPRICE | =TBILLPRICE(0, 180, 2) | 0.0000 | NUM | 0.0000 |
| NPV | =NPV(1, TRUE(), 1) | 0.7500 | 0.5000 | 0.7500 |
| NPV | =NPV(1,B1) where B1 = true | 0.5000 | 0.0000 | 0.0000 |
| POISSON.DIST | =POISSON.DIST(-0.01, 0, FALSE()) | NUM | 1.0000 | NUM |
| POISSON.DIST | =POISSON.DIST(0, -0.01, FALSE()) | NUM | NUM | 1.0101 |
| DB | =DB(1000000, 100000, 6, 7, 7) | 15845.1000 | NUM | 15845.0985 |
| BETA.DIST | =BETA.DIST(1, 2, 3) | N/A | 1.0000 | NUM |
| BETA.DIST | =BETA.DIST(0, 1, 1, FALSE()) | NUM | 0.0000 | NUM |
| BETA.DIST | =BETA.DIST(0.6, 1, 1, FALSE(), 0.6, 0.7) | NUM | 0.0000 | 0.0000 |
| BETA.DIST | =BETA.DIST(0.7, 1, 1, FALSE(), 0.6, 0.7) | NUM | 0.0000 | 0.0000 |
| GAMMA | =GAMMA(-2.5) | -0.9453 | NUM | -0.9453 |
| BINOM.DIST | =BINOM.DIST(0.5, 0.4, 1, FALSE()) | N/A | NUM | 1.0000 |
| NEGBINOM.DIST | =NEGBINOM.DIST(0, 1, 0, FALSE()) | 0.0000 | N/A | NUM |
| NEGBINOM.DIST | =NEGBINOM.DIST(0, 1, 1, FALSE()) | 1.0000 | N/A | NUM |
| T.INV | =T.INV(0, 1) | NUM | NUM | DIV/0 |
| BETA.INV | =BETA.INV(1, 1, 1) | 1.0000 | 1.0000 | NUM |
| WEIBULL.DIST | =WEIBULL.DIST(0, 1, 1, FALSE()) | 1.0000 | 1.0000 | 0.0000 |
| HYPGEOM.DIST | =HYPGEOM.DIST(12.1, 12, 20, 40, TRUE()) | NUM | N/A | 1.0000 |
| HYPGEOM.DIST | =HYPGEOM.DIST(12.1, 20, 12, 40, TRUE()) | NUM | N/A | 1.0000 |
| HYPGEOM.DIST | =HYPGEOM.DIST(1, 2, 3, 4) | N/A | 0.5000 | NUM |
| HYPGEOM.DIST | =HYPGEOM.DIST(4, 12, 20, 40, TRUE()) | 0.1504 | N/A | 0.1504 |
| TDIST | =TDIST(0, 1, 1.5) | NUM | 0.5000 | 0.5000 |
| T.INV.2T | =T.INV.2T(0, 1) | NUM | NUM | DIV/0 |
| T.DIST | =T.DIST(1, 0.9, FALSE()) | NUM | NUM | DIV/0 |
| AVEDEV | =AVEDEV(TRUE(), FALSE()) | 0.4444 | 0.0000 | 0.4444 |
| LARGE | =LARGE(TRUE(), 1) | NUM | NUM | 1.0000 |
| COUNTA | =COUNTA(1,) | 2.0000 | 1.0000 | 2.0000 |
| XNPV | =XNPV(-0.9, A2:D2, A3:D3) where 2nd and 3rd row: 1, 2, 3, 4 |
10.1272 | 10.12716959 | NUM |
| SKEW | =SKEW(TRUE(), FALSE()) | 1.7321 | DIV/0 | 1.7321 |
| HARMEAN | =HARMEAN(TRUE(), “4”) | 1.6000 | 4.0000 | 1.6000 |
| GEOMEAN | =GEOMEAN(TRUE(), “4”) | 2.0000 | 4.0000 | 2.0000 |
| CHISQ.TEST | =CHISQ.TEST(A1:C2, A1:F1) | N/A | N/A | DIV/0 |
| BINOM.INV | =BINOM.INV(1, 0.8, 0.2) | 0.0000 | 1.0000 | 1.0000 |
| BINOM.INV | =BINOM.INV(-0.001, 0.5, 0.5) | NUM | 0.0000 | NUM |
| BINOM.INV | =BINOM.INV(10, 0, 0.5) | 0.0000 | NUM | NUM |
| BINOM.INV | =BINOM.INV(10, 1, 0.5) | 10.0000 | NUM | NUM |
| DEVSQ | =DEVSQ(A2, A3) | 0.0000 | 0.0000 | NUM |
| NORMSDIST | =NORMSDIST(0, TRUE()) | 0.5 | Wrong number | Wrong number |
| ADDRESS | =ADDRESS(1,1,4, TRUE(), “”) | !A1 | ‘’!A1 | !A1 |
| SEQUENCE | =SEQUENCE(0) | VALUE | N/A | CALC |
| INT | =INT(-8.9) | -8 | -9 | -9 |
| ISEVEN | =ISEVEN(2.5) | FALSE | TRUE | TRUE |
| ISODD | =ISODD(3.5) | FALSE | TRUE | TRUE |
| CEILING.MATH | =CEILING.MATH(-4.3, 2, 2) | -4 | -6 | -6 |
| FLOOR.MATH | =FLOOR.MATH(-4.7, 2, 2) | -6 | -4 | -4 |
| MUNIT | =ROWS(MUNIT(A1:A2)) where A1:A2: 3, 2 |
VALUE | Not checked | 2 |
A few of the rows above share a root cause worth stating once:
- Rounding toward zero, not down.
INTdiscards the fractional part rather than rounding toward negative infinity, so it differs from Excel and Google Sheets for negative input only.ROUNDDOWN/ROUNDUPare unaffected — they are defined in terms of zero in all three. ISEVEN/ISODDdo not truncate. They test the remainder of the value as given, so a value with a fractional part returnsFALSEfrom both. Excel and Google Sheets truncate to an integer first, so exactly one of the two is alwaysTRUE.CEILING.MATH/FLOOR.MATHhonour onlymode= 1. Excel and Google Sheets switch the negative-number rounding direction for any non-zeromode.
Microsoft Excel Google Sheets compatibility OpenDocument negative numbers rounding