See your Excel workbook’s dependency graph in seconds.
Drop any .xlsxfile in your browser and get an interactive cross-tab dependency map — plus an instant audit panel that flags volatile functions, hardcoded numbers, errors, and circular references. No install. No Office Pro Plus. No AI subscription. Your file never leaves the browser.
Free for 3 files a month. No sign-up for one-off use.
Built for the people the big tools forgot: consultants on Mac, finance students, engineers who use Excel as a calc sheet, anyone who just inherited a 24-tab workbook.
“I just got handed this model and have no idea what it does.”
Understanding a multi-tab Excel workbook you didn’t write is one of the most universally annoying tasks in office work — and every existing tool either costs $200/year, requires a Windows install, or assumes you already pay for Office Pro Plus.
Native trace shows one cell at a time
Following the chain across 20+ tabs takes hours. The arrows die at sheet boundaries.
Excel Inquire is Office Pro Plus only
Mac and consumer Office users are excluded entirely from the one built-in tool that could help.
Macabacus is $200/year + COM install
Overkill if you just need to read one model someone handed you. And it doesn't run on Mac.
AI-assistant subscriptions add up
Claude for Microsoft 365, M365 Copilot, and similar plans start at $17–30/month and assume you already have a paid Excel install. Steep for occasional auditors.
How it works
Three steps. No account needed for the free tier.
- 01
Drop your .xlsx in the browser
No install. No sign-up for the free tier. Works on Mac, Windows, Linux, ChromeOS — any modern browser.
- 02
We parse it locally, in WebAssembly
Formula AST extraction runs entirely inside your browser tab. Your file is never uploaded to a server.
- 03
Explore the graph — and read the auto-audit panel
Click any cell to highlight its precedents and dependents across every sheet. The side panel surfaces volatile functions, hardcoded numbers, errors, and circular references the moment the file loads. Export the graph as SVG or PNG.
Note: first visit takes ~10–15 seconds while a 2.2 MB compressed WebAssembly bundle loads. Subsequent visits are instant from cache.
Auto-audit at a glance.
The moment your file loads, SheetLens walks every formula on every tab and surfaces the things that usually take an hour of squinting to find. Rule-based, deterministic, no LLM — the same checks a careful auditor would run, just instant.
- Click any flag to jump to the offending cells in the graph.
- Filter the graph by flag category (show only volatile chains, for example).
- Export the flag inventory as CSV for your audit memo.
- Volatile functions3
OFFSET ×2 · INDIRECT ×1
- Hardcoded numbers in formulas17
e.g. =A1*1.05 — the 1.05 is a magic constant
- Error cells7
#REF! ×2 · #N/A ×5 · #DIV/0! ×0
- Circular references0
Strongly-connected components in the dep graph
- External workbook links1
[Budget2025.xlsx] — values can't be resolved
- Inputs (cells with no precedents)42
Raw values you can edit to drive the model
- Outputs (cells with no dependents)8
Likely the model's results
- Named ranges12
Jump to definition from the panel
Illustrative numbers from a typical 24-sheet model.
Your file stays on your machine.
SheetLens parses your spreadsheet in WebAssembly inside the browser tab. The file bytes never reach our servers — not for the free tier, not for the Pro tier, not ever.
- No upload endpoint exists. Open DevTools → Network and check.
- Only your email and plan tier are stored, and only if you sign up for Pro.
- Works offline once the WASM bundle is cached.
- Suitable for confidential financial models, HR data, and unreleased budgets.
One honest exception: the AI Explainer (Pro only).
When you click Explainon a specific cell, that formula string — plus its sheet and cell address, the auto-audit flags applied to it, and the formula text of up to 10 immediate precedent cells — is sent to our API. Cell values, column headers, and the rest of the workbook are never sent. If you’d rather stay fully offline, just don’t use the Explainer; the dependency graph itself never makes a network call.
// Pseudocode of what happens on file drop const file = await event.dataTransfer.files[0].arrayBuffer(); const sheets = await ExcelJS.load(file); // browser const ast = formualizer.parseAll(sheets); // WASM, browser const graph = buildCrossSheetEdges(ast); // browser renderGraph(graph); // browser // Network calls made in this flow: 0
Pricing
Pay once for the one model you need to read. Pay monthly if reading other people’s spreadsheets is just your life now.
Free
Kick the tires.
- 3 files per month
- Up to 5 sheets per file
- Cross-tab dependency graph
- Full audit panel (volatile, hardcoded, errors, …)
- Watermark on exports
- No sign-up required
Pay-per-file
Just got handed one model?
- Unlimited sheets for that file
- All export formats, no watermark
- Re-open the file for 30 days
- Upgrade to Pro for AI explanations
- No subscription
Pro
RecommendedFor consultants & frequent auditors.
- Unlimited files & sheets
- AI formula explainer (Claude Haiku)
- Saved bookmarks of past audits
- Priority support
- Cancel anytime
Prices are in USD, before any local tax (VAT / GST / consumption tax), which is added at checkout where applicable.
For comparison: traditional audit add-ins start at $200/year and need a Windows Excel install; AI-assistant subscriptions for Office run $17–30/month and still need a paid Excel install; built-in Excel Inquire requires an Office Pro Plus / Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription ($22+/user/month).
How it compares
We’re not the most powerful auditor on the market. We’re the only one that runs in a browser tab with no subscription.
“AI assistants for Excel” refers to subscription products such as Claude for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft 365 Copilot. Pricing accurate as of June 2026; competitor pricing changes — consult vendor sites for current rates.
| Tool | Price | Runs in browser | Mac support | No install | No subscription | Cross-tab graph |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SheetLens | $0 / $4.99 / $9 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Excel Inquire | bundled w/ Office Pro Plus | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Macabacus | $200/year | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| RefTreeAnalyser | €45 perpetual | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| AI assistants for Excel | $17–30/mo subscription | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Native Excel trace | free w/ Excel | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Frequently asked questions
Is my workbook really safe? Confidential financials, HR data, etc.
Yes. There is no upload endpoint. Parsing happens in WebAssembly inside your browser tab. Open DevTools → Network and you'll see zero requests carrying your file. We only receive an email and plan tier — and only if you sign up for Pro.
Why is first load slow?
We ship a ~2.2 MB compressed WebAssembly bundle so we can parse formulas without a server. First visit is roughly 10–15 seconds on a typical connection. After that the browser caches it and it loads instantly.
Does it handle INDIRECT, OFFSET, named ranges, or Tables?
Common cases yes; some indirect references that resolve at runtime are flagged with a warning marker rather than silently misdrawn. Structured Table references and named ranges are supported. External-workbook links ([Book]Sheet!A1) are shown but not followed.
What's the AI formula explainer?
An optional Pro feature: click any formula and get a plain-English explanation generated by Claude Haiku. Only the formula string and minimal context are sent — never your full workbook. Disabled on the Free tier so we don't have to pass LLM costs onto free users.
Why is there no free unlimited tier?
Honestly: because we'd have to subsidize the API costs of the AI explainer, and we'd rather keep the lights on. The Free tier is intended as a real evaluation tier (3 files/month, 5 sheets/file) — generous enough to decide whether to pay $4.99 once, not a substitute for it.
Refunds?
14-day refund on Pro. Pay-per-file is non-refundable (digital, instant value delivered) — that's why the free tier exists, so you can see it works before paying.
Is it ready to use?
Yes — drop a file at /app right now. Free covers 3 files a month with no sign-up; pay $4.99 to unlock a single big workbook, or $9/month for unlimited files plus the AI explainer.
Stop scrolling through 24 tabs with a pen and paper.
Drop an .xlsx and see its dependency graph in seconds. Free for 3 files a month, no sign-up — the file never leaves your browser.