[Spreadsheet AI]Spreadsheet AI Showdown (Excel Copilot vs WPS AI vs Qwen)

Summary: One table to understand the boundaries, pricing, and ideal users of mainstream spreadsheet AI tools.

1. Pain Point: So Many Spreadsheet AI Tools — Which One Should You Actually Pick?

Search "spreadsheet AI" in any app store and you'll get a long list: Copilot inside Excel, WPS AI inside WPS Spreadsheet, Qwen, ChatGPT, Kimi, Wenxin Yiyan... Just reading the names is overwhelming.

The reality most people run into looks more like this:

  • A colleague recommends a tool, but you can't install it — your company only allows Office, or your machine only runs WPS.
  • You pay up, but the formulas the AI writes simply don't work — they look right but throw #REF! (reference error, meaning the formula points to a cell that doesn't exist) when you run them.
  • Excel has too many buttons and you can't find where AI lives — turns out you need a Microsoft 365 Copilot license first.
  • A general chatbot "gets" plain English but goes blind when it touches your local file — it can't see what's on your screen, so you end up copying and pasting data back and forth.

This article sorts it out for you: how many categories the mainstream "spreadsheet AI tools" actually fall into, what each one can and can't do, and who each one is for. By the end, you can pick based on your budget and your software environment — no more asking around.

2. What You'll Get: A Comparison Table Plus a Selection Recommendation

After reading this, you'll walk away with two things:

  1. A comparison table: covering six mainstream tools across seven dimensions — Functional Boundaries / Pricing Tier / Chinese-Language Capability / Formula Generation Quality / PivotTable Support / Offline Capability / Learning Curve. Every cell is in plain language; no inflated "scores."
  2. A selection conclusion: a three-step recommendation based on whether you mainly use Excel or WPS, whether you're willing to pay, and whether you work with Chinese or English data.

We can't promise you'll become "invincible" after reading this — but we can promise you'll see clearly which path fits you, and you'll stop wasting money and time on the wrong tools.

3. Hands-On: Putting All Six Tools to the Test

Step 1: Line Up the Six Contestants

The six contestants we've invited today split into two camps:

  • Embedded-in-Office: AI lives right inside your Excel or WPS Spreadsheet, can read the file on your screen, and edit cells directly.
    • Microsoft 365 Copilot (embedded in Excel; shortened to "M365 Copilot" below)
    • WPS AI (embedded in WPS Spreadsheet)
  • General Assistant: you open a web page or app, describe your need, and it gives you text / formulas / code that you copy back into the spreadsheet yourself.
    • Qwen (Alibaba)
    • ChatGPT (OpenAI)
    • Kimi (Moonshot AI)
    • Wenxin Yiyan (Baidu)

Tip: General assistants can't see your files. To get targeted advice, you have to paste a few rows of your spreadsheet into the chat as "context."

Step 2: One Comparison Table to See the Full Picture

Note: All features, pricing, and capability boundaries are sourced from publicly released official materials between 2024–2025. Subscription tiers and features may change at any time — please refer to the latest official product documentation before purchasing.

Dimension M365 Copilot (Excel) WPS AI (Spreadsheet) Qwen ChatGPT Kimi Wenxin Yiyan
Type Embedded-in-Office Embedded-in-Office General Assistant General Assistant General Assistant General Assistant
Can it edit your local spreadsheet directly? Yes, embedded in Excel Yes, embedded in WPS Spreadsheet No, manual copy-paste No, manual copy-paste No, manual copy-paste No, manual copy-paste
Natural-language Q&A Strong — answers based on data in the table Strong — answers based on data in the table Strong (general conversation) Strong (general conversation) Strong (excels at long Chinese documents) Strong (excels at Chinese compliance)
Formula generation quality Strong — writes directly into cells Good to strong — often suggests column/row references Strong — but you must paste it back yourself Strong — but you must paste it back yourself Strong — but you must paste it back yourself Strong — but you must paste it back yourself
Formula explanation (turn formulas into plain language) Strong — explains directly in the side panel Moderate — gives the idea but sometimes stops halfway Strong (paste the formula into chat and ask) Strong (paste the formula into chat and ask) Strong (paste the formula into chat and ask) Strong (paste the formula into chat and ask)
Data cleaning / tidying Strong — can drive Power Query (a visual data-prep tool) Moderate — offers "Find & Replace / formula fallback" approaches Strong (gives approach + formula or script) Strong (gives approach + formula or script) Strong Strong
PivotTable support Strong — generates a PivotTable from a single sentence Moderate — you still have to click through a few manual steps Weak — recommends a script-based approach instead Weak — recommends a script-based approach instead Weak Weak
Chart insights Strong — inserts charts directly Moderate — suggests which chart to use Moderate Moderate Moderate Moderate
Cross-sheet aggregation (merging multiple sheets) Strong — Power Query can merge across sheets Moderate — manual "Consolidate" or Power Query Strong (approach + Power Query / VBA script) Strong (approach + Power Query / Python) Strong Strong
Chinese-language capability Moderate (works in Chinese; English still leads the official roadmap) Excellent (deepest localization) Excellent Strong (fluent Chinese since GPT-5) Excellent (Chinese-specialized) Excellent (Chinese-compliance focus)
Offline availability No (cloud-based) No (cloud-based; a few basic features can run locally) No No No No
Learning curve Low (just a handful of buttons) Low (just a handful of buttons) Moderate (you need to learn prompt writing) Moderate (you need to learn prompt writing) Moderate (you need to learn prompt writing) Moderate (you need to learn prompt writing)
Pricing tier (subject to official confirmation) Copilot Pro ≈ $20/month (personal); M365 Copilot ≈ $30/user/month (enterprise, requires E3/E5 base); Copilot Business ≈ $21/user/month (for SMBs starting 2025-12) Basic AI features free; WPS Premium Member (with full AI benefits) ≈ ¥188/year; Enterprise edition from ¥899/year Free quota on the app; API billed by token (the model's unit of measurement), with qwen-plus / max / flash tiers Free tier available; Plus ≈ $20/month; Pro at a higher tier (see official site for details) Free tier available; paid tiers exist (see official site for tiers and pricing) Free tier available; API billed by token, with some tiers starting as low as ≈ ¥0.8/million tokens (see official site for details)

Quick Glossary:

  • PivotTable: a table that lets you summarize data by dimension (e.g., "by department" or "by month") without writing formulas.
  • Power Query: the built-in "data prep tool" in Excel / WPS that merges across sheets and cleans data — AI can also call it.
  • Token: the unit AI models use to "read" text. The longer the text, the more tokens, and the higher the cost.

Step 3: Side-by-Side Run — Same Question, Six Answers

Let's pose a real question: A sales sheet has three columns — "Product / Quantity / Unit Price." How do you use a formula to calculate the total amount for each product?

A. Let M365 Copilot write it (edits your sheet directly)

Steps:

  1. Open Excel (you must already have an M365 Copilot license), select the data range.
  2. Click the Copilot button on the right, and type:
    Add a "Amount" column in column D, equal to column B times column C.
  3. It writes =B2*C2 directly into column D and fills it down — done in seconds.

B. Let WPS AI write it (edits your sheet directly)

Steps:

  1. Open the AI chat panel inside WPS Spreadsheet (entry point varies by version / membership).
  2. Type:
    Add "Amount" in column D, formula =B2*C2, fill down.
  3. It tries to write the formula directly. If it can't, it gives you a "copy the formula below" prompt — just paste it into D2.

C. Let a general assistant write it (you paste it back manually)

Steps:

  1. Open any of Qwen / ChatGPT / Kimi / Wenxin Yiyan.
  2. Type:
    I have a table where column B is quantity and column C is unit price. Please write the "Amount" formula in column D and fill it down.
  3. The AI replies: Enter =B2*C2 in cell D2, then fill down.
  4. You manually copy that formula back into cell D2, then drag the fill handle in the bottom-right corner down.

In short: Embedded-in-Office ≈ you speak, AI acts on your sheet; General Assistant ≈ you speak, AI drafts, you place the result.

Step 4: One More Question — What If the Formula Errors Out?

Scenario: you paste a formula into the sheet and the cell shows #REF! (reference error) or #VALUE! (type error).

  • Embedded-in-Office (M365 Copilot / WPS AI): select the cell that errored, ask the AI panel "Why is this formula erroring?" — the AI usually reads your formula directly and gives a fixed version.
  • General Assistant (Qwen / ChatGPT / Kimi / Wenxin): paste the erroring formula into the chat and ask "Why does this formula error out? How do I fix it?" It gives you the idea, but it can't edit your sheet directly — you still have to fill it back in yourself.

4. How They Work: Why "Embedded" and "General" Are Two Different Games

Spreadsheet AI tools may all seem to "read tables and write formulas," but underneath they split into two philosophies:

  • Embedded-in-Office (M365 Copilot / WPS AI) takes the "tool-calling" route: the AI receives structured data from your spreadsheet (which column is called what, how many rows there are). It can directly invoke Excel / WPS functions — write formulas, generate PivotTables, run Power Query — and write the result straight back into cells. You don't need to know how to assemble functions; the AI pushes the buttons for you.
  • General Assistant (Qwen / ChatGPT / Kimi / Wenxin) takes the "conversational advice" route: the AI only sees the few lines of text you paste into the chat. It gives you formulas, ideas, Python, or VBA scripts. The one who actually does the work is you — meaning you at least need to know copy-paste and how to read a formula, or even the best advice is wasted on you.

One line: Use a General Assistant to "build from scratch" or when you only "half-understand"; use an Embedded-in-Office tool when "the table is already in my hands and I just need it changed."

5. Pitfalls to Avoid: Five Lessons the Hard Way

  1. Pitfall #1: Assuming "having Excel means you have Copilot." Not true. Microsoft 365 Copilot is a separate license — on top of an M365 E3/E5 subscription, you buy another one (≈ $30/user/month, subject to official confirmation); individuals can buy Copilot Pro (≈ $20/month) for a subset of capabilities, but only in the personal apps. Check which tier your company has provisioned before you buy.
  2. Pitfall #2: WPS AI's entry point is buried deep. Different versions (WPS Personal / Education / Enterprise) and different membership tiers (Regular / Super / Premium) unlock very different AI features. Upgrade or activate the Premium membership before testing, or you'll just see the AI button grayed out.
  3. Pitfall #3: General assistants can't see your local files. If you say "help me look at this sheet," the polite reply is "please paste the table contents" — not because it isn't smart, but because it has no eyes.
  4. Pitfall #4: Never blindly trust the AI's formula. Even one written by M365 Copilot, the first time you use it, test it on 1–2 rows: are the column references right? Any division by zero (which triggers #DIV/0!)? Any empty cells throwing off the references? Once it works, then fill down in bulk.
  5. Pitfall #5: Pasting company sheets into public AI tools. General chatbots default to using your conversations for model training (unless you opt out). Company-sensitive data (salaries, customer lists, unreleased financials) is strictly forbidden in public tools. To process company data with AI, prefer Enterprise editions / private deployment, or turn on the "data not used for training" switch — see A5 Safety Red Lines for the full rules.

6. Going Further: From Picking the Right Tool to Using It Well

Now that you know "which one to pick," the next step is "how to use it well":

  • Want to build a spreadsheet from scratch? Read B1 (Build a Reimbursement Sheet in 10 Minutes) — get a minimum-viable version running first.
  • Want to master complex functions? Read B3 (AI Writing Complex Functions and Array Formulas) — let Copilot / Qwen write VLOOKUP / XLOOKUP / FILTER and more for you.
  • Need to clean 10,000 messy rows? Read B2 (One-Click Dirty Data Cleanup with AI) — pair it with Power Query.
  • Want dynamic PivotTables + dashboards? Read B11 (Turn Excel Data into a Report PPT with AI) and the T6 series (B21–B24), then graduate to Power BI + DAX (the formula language of Power BI).
  • Don't know where the data-safety line is? Read A5 (AI Office Safety Red Lines) — build privacy awareness before you start.
  • Want a broader AI tool showdown (not just spreadsheets)? Read A4 (Mainstream AI Tools Showdown) to understand the overall selection logic across ChatGPT / Qwen / Wenxin Yiyan / WPS AI / M365 Copilot.

Picking the right tool is just the starting line. The real gap is "how you describe your needs to the AI" — to close it, revisit A3 (Prompting Basics), which teaches you to turn "I want a nice-looking sheet" into words the AI actually understands; in the next article, D2, we compare text AI tools.

This article is a draft. All versions, pricing, and capability boundaries are based on publicly released official materials from 2024–2025. Subscription tiers and capabilities may change at any time — please refer to the latest official product documentation before acting on anything here.