Columns AI (formerly Columns) vs Formula Bot

Columns AI is an end-to-end data platform that connects messy files and live sources, automates transformations, and turns the results into charts and dashboards you can share. It is built around three products: Drive for ingesting and structuring files, Flow for no-code data pipelines, and Graph for branded visualizations.

The platform targets teams that need reliable data workflows without standing up a full engineering stack. You can connect Google Sheets, Airtable, Notion, Excel, databases, Snowflake, HubSpot, QuickBooks, Gusto, and HTTP APIs, then describe transformations in plain language instead of writing SQL.

Columns AI fits business operators, consultants, marketing and RevOps teams, analysts, and freelancers who need to move from raw inputs to client-ready visuals. Founder Shawn Cao previously built large-scale data infrastructure at Microsoft, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Formula Bot is an Excel and data analytics workspace where you upload spreadsheets or connect databases, then ask questions in plain English to get formulas, charts, cleaned tables, and written insights back in one chat. It handles .xlsx, .csv, and connected sources without requiring Excel plugins or VBA macros.

Most Excel AI helpers stop at formula syntax. Formula Bot also reshapes messy datasets, runs sentiment analysis on text columns, generates dashboards from templates, and shows the Python, SQL, or R code behind each answer so you can verify or export it. That mix targets analysts who want speed without hiding the logic.

Operations teams, BI analysts, and spreadsheet-heavy small businesses are the audience named in site testimonials. The free tier lets you try real questions with no credit card, while paid plans add premium models, scheduled reports, and shared workspaces.