A Google Sheets alternative for tracking your portfolio

Portfolio Terminal is a free alternative to a Google Sheets portfolio tracker: it reads your broker's file and works out dividends, FIFO gains and what is inside your ETFs without formulas. Google Sheets stays the better pick for a do-it-yourself sheet of US stocks, but Google says GOOGLEFINANCE quotes may be delayed up to 20 minutes and most international exchanges are not supported.

prices checked October 5, 2026by Julien Esnault, who makes Portfolio Terminal8 sources

Import My PortfolioSee a live portfolio
01Which one

Google Sheets or Portfolio Terminal: who each one suits

choose google sheets if
  • You enjoy building your own sheet and mostly hold US or major-exchange stocks.
  • You want to share and edit the tracker with someone else in real time.
  • You need the data next to a budget or a FIRE spreadsheet you already maintain.
choose portfolio terminal if
  • You hold mutual funds, or listings on exchanges GOOGLEFINANCE doesn't cover.
  • You want dividends, FIFO realized gains and ETF look-through computed for you.
  • You are tired of fixing formulas when a ticker or a broker export changes.
02Side by side

The same eight questions, asked of both

side by sidechecked October 5, 2026
QuestionGoogle SheetsPortfolio Terminal
Free planFree with a Google account, GOOGLEFINANCE included.[1]Free with no holding limit. A guest mode works without an account.[2]
Paid plansNo paid plan needed for GOOGLEFINANCE.[1]Nothing to buy today. A Pro plan is in development at $9/month billed yearly ($11 monthly), with a waitlist.[2]
How holdings get inManual: import broker CSVs into a sheet yourself.[3]Upload a CSV or Excel file or a PDF statement, paste a table, or drop a screenshot from any broker. Transaction-history CSVs from 10 brokers are read directly, plus a generic format. No automatic broker sync.[4]
DividendsNot among GOOGLEFINANCE's attributes; build it yourself.[3]Dividends received by month and year, a 12-month projection, and the next ex-dividend dates of your holdings.[5]
What is inside your ETFsNo.[3]Yes. The companies inside your funds, from the issuers' full holdings files for 30 US ETFs and the top 10 holdings for other funds.[6]
Realized gainsBuild it yourself with formulas.[3]FIFO lot by lot, or average cost, with a CSV export in IRS Form 8949 column order.[7]
Tax reportsNone.[3]None.
PlatformsBrowser, iOS, Android.[1]Web. Installable on a phone or desktop home screen (PWA); no app-store app.[8]
03Limits

Best for, and one honest limit each

fit and limits2 tools

Google SheetsGoogle, Mountain View, USA

Best forFree do-it-yourself tracking of US and major-exchange stocks, for people comfortable writing formulas.

LimitQuotes may be delayed up to 20 minutes, most international exchanges are not supported, and history can't be read through the API.[3]

Portfolio TerminalJulien Esnault, independent developer, France

Best forInvestors with US or European brokers who want a free web tracker with ETF look-through, FIFO gains and risk in plain English, without linking a bank login.

LimitNo automatic broker sync: you re-import a file or a screenshot when your holdings change. Prices come from Yahoo Finance and can lag the market by several minutes.[4]

04Switching

Moving from Google Sheets

steps3 steps
  1. 01Copy your holdings range from the sheet and paste it, or upload the CSV your broker exports for the dated trades.
  2. 02Check every line Portfolio Terminal read before it is saved.
  3. 03Keep the sheet for anything it does beyond the portfolio.
05Questions

Google Sheets alternatives: what people ask

questions4 answered

Is GOOGLEFINANCE real-time?

Not always. Google's help page says quotes are not sourced from all markets and may be delayed up to 20 minutes, are not for trading, and that history cannot be read through the Sheets API or Apps Script.

Is there a free alternative to a Google Sheets portfolio tracker?

Yes. Portfolio Terminal is free with no holding limit; a Pro plan is in development at $9 a month billed yearly, and nothing is for sale today (checked October 5, 2026). Portfolio Performance is a free open-source desktop option.

Does GOOGLEFINANCE work for European stocks and funds?

Partly. Google's help page says GOOGLEFINANCE does not support most international exchanges and that mutual fund attributes are not supported; its data disclaimer lists Paris and Xetra among the exchanges it covers, with a 15-minute delay.

What does Portfolio Terminal not do that a sheet can?

Free-form formulas, live collaboration on one file, and automatic broker sync (neither does a sheet, but some paid trackers do). When your holdings change, you import a new file or screenshot.

Other trackers, same eight questions

Or see all of them on one grid: the best free portfolio trackers, compared.

SharesightalternativeSnowball AnalyticsalternativegetquinalternativeParqetalternativeDeltaalternativeFinaryalternativeKuberaalternativePortfolio PerformancealternativeMicrosoft Excelalternative

Sources, read on October 5, 2026

Prices and plans are quoted as each vendor prints them, in its currency, on the day above. They change; the linked page is the one to trust. Found something out of date? Write to julien.esnau@gmail.com and the page is corrected with the date.

  1. [1]workspace.google.com/intl/en/products/sheets
  2. [2]portfolio-terminal.com#pricing
  3. [3]support.google.com/docs/answer/3093281
  4. [4]portfolio-terminal.com/import
  5. [5]portfolio-terminal.com/dividend-tracker
  6. [6]portfolio-terminal.com/etf-overlap
  7. [7]portfolio-terminal.com/csv-portfolio-tracker
  8. [8]portfolio-terminal.com/llms.txt
Try it on your own holdingsFree, no card, no bank login. Import a file or a screenshot and check every line before it is saved.Start Free Migration

Portfolio Terminal is made by the author of this page, so read the comparison with that in mind: every statement about Google Sheets links to Google Sheets's own pages, and Portfolio Terminal's limit is stated as plainly as theirs. Nothing here is investment advice.