The user who asked whether WPS is "close enough to Excel" is asking the wrong question. The real question isn't which legacy tool most faithfully mimics another legacy tool. It's whether you're ready to stop settling for sluggish software that was designed before AI existed.
We understand the frustration. LibreOffice Calc feels heavy because it is heavy. It was built to compete with Excel from twenty years ago, and it shows. WPS Office, for all its polish, is still a clone. It replicates the same interface, the same formula bar, the same manual data cleanup. You're trading one imitation for another. Neither one asks: *What if a spreadsheet could learn what you're doing and help you finish faster?*
You mentioned basic formulas, data cleanup, and sharing files. These are exactly the tasks where an AI-native spreadsheet transforms the experience. Instead of remembering which function handles text splitting, you describe what you need in plain language. Instead of clicking through menus to remove duplicates, the sheet recognizes the pattern and offers to clean it for you. Instead of emailing static files back and forth, your work lives in a shared environment where everyone sees the same live data.
The audience assumptions here are important. You know spreadsheets. You aren't looking for a tutorial. You're looking for a tool that respects your time. That's what an AI-native approach delivers. It doesn't ask you to learn new shortcuts or memorize new syntax. It adapts to how you already work, then quietly removes the friction you didn't realize you were tolerating.
Here is our plain opinion: Stop searching for the closest replica of Excel. Start exploring a spreadsheet that treats your workflow as the starting point, not the compromise. The tools that mimic yesterday's interfaces will always feel a step behind. The tools built for how we actually work today will feel faster from the first click. That's the shift worth making.