Compare/a spreadsheet
Handshake vs a spreadsheet
Updated
The spreadsheet is the world's default personal CRM: a free Google Sheet or Excel file with names, notes, and a 'last contacted' column. Handshake is a free, local-first desktop app that keeps the spreadsheet's virtues – plain, portable, yours – and adds what rows can't do: a visual map of who connects to whom.
Respect where due: a spreadsheet is free, universal, infinitely flexible, and requires zero new tools. For twenty contacts and real discipline, it honestly works – plenty of careful people run their networks from a sheet for years.
It breaks in two places. First, structure: relationships are between people, and rows can't hold them – you can't see that Sarah introduced you to Tom, or that your whole design world hangs off one person. Second, writing: real notes about people don't fit in cells. Handshake keeps the plain-text soul (every person is a markdown file) and adds the graph the grid can't draw.
At a glance
| a spreadsheet | Handshake | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (Sheets) or Office license | Free, open source (MIT) |
| Where your data lives | Google's cloud, or a local file | Plain markdown files on your device |
| Platforms | Everywhere | macOS, Windows & Linux desktop |
| Works offline | Excel yes; Sheets partially | Fully offline – no account |
| Data format | Rows and cells – portable but flat | Already plain text; nothing to export |
| Seeing your network | A grid; relationships are invisible | A spatial board of your whole network |
| Auto-sync / enrichment | None | None – you decide who's on the map |
| Open source | n/a | Yes (MIT) |
Competitor details checked July 2026 – check their site for current pricing.
Where a spreadsheet wins
Zero adoption cost
You already have it, you already know it, it opens anywhere. No new tool beats a familiar one you'll actually use.
Arbitrary flexibility
Sort, filter, pivot, formula – model whatever you want, instantly.
Where Handshake wins
Relationships exist
Ties with warmth, introduction chains, backlinks – first-class objects on a visual board, not a column of initials in a cell.
Notes are documents
A full markdown page per person – highlights, links, structure – instead of a paragraph crammed into cell H2.
Still just files
You lose none of the spreadsheet's portability: a Handshake network is a folder of plain text, versioned automatically by a built-in Time Machine.
The honest verdict
Choose a spreadsheet if…
- Your network is small and a simple list genuinely suffices
- You'll be disciplined about updating a sheet (be honest)
- You need collaborative editing on the data
Choose Handshake if…
- You want to see the network, not scroll it
- You write real notes about people
- You want plain-text portability with structure on top
Questions
- Is a spreadsheet good enough as a personal CRM?
- For a small network and a disciplined owner – honestly, sometimes yes. It breaks when relationships matter (rows can't hold who-knows-whom) and when notes outgrow cells. That's the point where purpose-built tools earn their keep.
- Can I import a spreadsheet into Handshake?
- Handshake stores people as markdown files with simple frontmatter, so a sheet of names and details converts with a small script or by hand. There's no built-in CSV importer yet – it's on the list.
Try the local-first way
Handshake is free, open source, and takes about two minutes to meet your network. If it's not for you, your notes are plain markdown – nothing lost.