Tally vs Apple Numbers.
Tally and Apple Numbers are both spreadsheets that run on your Mac and work with Excel files. This page compares price, file formats and features.
| Feature | Tally | Apple Numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19 once | Free |
| Pay once, no subscription | Yes | –free |
| Opens and saves .xlsx directly | Yes | Partlyimport and export |
| Works offline | Yes | Yes |
| Every command open to a local AI agent | Yes | PartlyMCP, macOS 27 |
| Charts | No | Yes |
| Pivot tables | No | Yes |
| Real-time collaboration | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Mac | Mac, iPhone, iPad |
| Minimum macOS | macOS 14 | macOS 26 |
| Built-in AI | None; use your own agent | Paid Creator Studio |
Yes Yes Partly Partly No No
Price
Numbers is free on the App Store. An optional Apple Creator Studio subscription, which adds intelligence features, costs $12.99 a month or $129 a year. Tally costs $19 once, tax included, with no subscription and no account. It is free for 7 days with no card, one licence covers up to 3 of your Macs, every future update is included, and refunds are available within 30 days.
File formats
Numbers imports and edits Excel files, and saving to Excel format is an export that creates a worksheet for each table or for each sheet. In Tally, .xlsx is the native file format, read and written by Tally’s own code. A file saved from Tally keeps values, formulas, number formats, fonts, colours, borders, merged cells, frozen panes, filters and more.
Where Apple Numbers is ahead
- Numbers is free; Tally costs $19 once.
- Numbers has charts, including 3D charts, and pivot tables; Tally has neither in version 1.
- Apple describes Numbers as having hundreds of functions; Tally has 172.
- Numbers has real-time collaboration; Tally has no real-time collaboration.
- Numbers runs on iPhone and iPad as well as the Mac; Tally is Mac only.
Try Tally free for 7 days.
Then $19 once, for up to 3 of your Macs. No subscription and no account.
Requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
More comparisons
Sources
Checked against Apple Numbers’s own website and documentation on 13 November 2026. If something here is out of date, tell us and we’ll correct it.
- Numbers: Make Spreadsheets on the App Store
- Apple Creator Studio adds powerful new AI features and even more creative tools
- Apple Creator Studio (Apple Support 125029)
- Intelligence features in Apple Creator Studio (Apple Support 127888)
- Export to other file formats in Numbers on Mac
- Intro to pivot tables in Numbers on Mac
- Formulas and Functions Help
Numbers is a trademark of Apple Inc. Tally is not affiliated with it.