Moving from a spreadsheet to a CRM as a solo pro

A spreadsheet is free and flexible, and it is often the first client list. Here is what it does not do, and when moving to a CRM is worth it.

Comparison

A file you fill in and check yourself, with no reminders and no automatic replies.

Comparison
	A spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets)	Standin
Starting price	A spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets): Often free or already paid for	Standin: Free, then 49 € a month (Pro) or 149 € a month (Max)
Free plan	A spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets): Yes	Standin: Yes, with no time limit
Setup	A spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets): You create your own columns and tabs	Standin: The CRM is generated for your trade from a few sentences
Client requests	A spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets): Nothing: you copy each request by hand	Standin: The copilot reads each request, creates the record and drafts the reply with your information
Phone	A spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets): No	Standin: The copilot picks up: included in Max, a 39 € monthly add-on on Pro
Built for	A spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets): Everyone, for everything	Standin: Solo pros and small service businesses

A spreadsheet has real strengths

It costs nothing, you know how to use it, and it adapts to anything. For a dozen regular clients, it is often enough. Nobody should switch tools on principle.

What it will never do

A spreadsheet does not tell you that a quote has been waiting for an answer for ten days. It does not see a new client's email come in, and it does not reply while you are busy. Everything in it is something you typed, often in the evening, often late.

So the cost never shows up anywhere: it is the client who got no reply and went elsewhere, or the invoice nobody followed up on.

Moving to Standin without retyping everything

Standin imports your contact file as a CSV, which any spreadsheet can export, and maps each column to the right field. You keep your history and you start for free.

Choose a spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets) if

You have few clients, who always come back through the same channel.
You almost never receive new requests in writing.

Choose Standin if

Requests arrive every week and some go unanswered.
You forget to follow up on quotes or invoices.
You want a client's full history in one click.

Information about the other tool checked on September 16, 2026

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