Back in the day, if you wanted to build a web app, you had to… well, build it. The whole nine yards of app development. Fortunately, being a maker is more manageable these days with tooling that turns something as simple as your spreadsheet into a web app.
Today, we’ll show you how to quickly turn a spreadsheet into a web app using sheet.best.
Let’s take a look!
How Does sheet.best Work?
Unlike other spreadsheet-to-app tools (or no-code tools in general), sheet.best turns your spreadsheet into an API.
Put simply, sheet.best treats your spreadsheet as a database. Then, it packages it into an API you can connect to any other application, whether a website or a customer relationship management tool.
Since sheet.best is simple to use, you won’t need additional tutorials other than our documentation.
Step 1. Format Your Source Sheet to Turn It into a Web App
You can use any spreadsheet tool:
- Microsoft Excel
- Google Spreadsheets
- Google Drive
- Upload a .CSV file
Then, prepare your sheet for upload. The first row will be the reference row, so make sure you use the right properties (e.g., Name, date, etc.).
(In the back-end, sheet.best will turn your formatted spreadsheet into a JSON response, but you don’t need to worry about it if you’re not tech-savvy.)
Step 2. Connect Your Spreadsheet to sheet.best
The process is a bit different depending on where you host your spreadsheet. In general, we recommend Google Sheets since it’s already a web app, so sheet.best will be able to access it easily.
But even if you use Excel, it won’t be a problem. Read on!
Turning Your Google Sheet and Google Drive Sheets into a Web App
- Visit your Google Sheet/Google Drive folder and click ‘Share’
- Change the Sheet permissions to ‘Anyone with the link’
- Copy the link
If you want to make changes to your Google Sheet via the API, make sure you’ve enabled Editor access.
Next, log in to sheet.best:
- Hit the big green ‘+CONNECTION’ button
- Name your connection
- Select your ‘Connection Origin’ from the list
- Paste your Google Sheets/Drive link
- Get your connection link
Turning Your Excel Spreadsheet into a Web App
If you prefer “hard copies,” log in to sheet.best:
- Hit the big green ‘+CONNECTION’ button
- Name your connection
- Select your ‘Connection Origin’ from the list -> ‘File Upload’
- Upload your file
- Get your connection link
These steps are going to start turning your spreadsheet into a REST API.
Next up…
Step 3. Use Your Brand New REST API!
From this point onwards, your spreadsheet works like any other API.
Pull Data from Your API
If your API spreadsheet is a central source of truth that you don’t want to change, make GET requests to your connection link.
Send Data to Your API
Suppose you’re using your new app as, for example, a lightweight CRM. In that case, you’ll want to keep your sheet automatically updated by sending data to it.
All you have to do is send POST requests to your connection link.
Similarly, if you want to delete or update your rows, you’ll use DELETE, PUT, and PATCH requests.
How Advanced Is sheet.best?
Pretty advanced, depending on your knowledge level. You’ll easily launch something no-code and noteworthy, even if you’re a first-time builder.
If you’re familiar with JSON or programming languages, you’ll get your advanced setup launched in minutes!
You get all the security benefits, including HTTPS headers and authentication with API keys.
For any questions, we’ve prepared extensive documentation to get you set up with sheet.best.
Step 4. Use Cases
Back-end for Your Apps
Since sheet.best takes care of your app’s back-end, you can use it to launch your MVP or your app faster, with only the front-end needing your expertise. For example, a lot of users use sheet.best in tandem with Next.js to get online faster.
CRM & CMS
Raise your hand if you’ve ever organized your client information in a spreadsheet. (Hand’s raised over here!) Using a full-fledged customer relationship management tool like Hubspot can be a bit much for new and up-and-coming businesses.
You can start by integrating your sheet.best API with a Next.js repo to create a lightweight CRM.
Similarly, if your website doesn’t run on a powerful content management system like WordPress or Webflow, you can hack it and start building your content portfolio with sheet.best.
Business Analytics
If you need data (but don’t have the time to set everything up), you can use your sheet.best API with PowerBI, Microsoft’s business analytics tool. It’s an elegant solution that gives you high visibility without the high development costs.
Internal Projects
We haven’t met a biz ops manager who didn’t juggle at least ten internal projects at the same time. But with scarce development resources, intrapreneurship can be downright hard.
Turning your spreadsheet into a web app (or anything else) is a great way to prove your idea has merit and get stakeholders to commit additional resources to your project.
Turning a Spreadsheet into a Web App Is Simpler than It Looks!
The entire world runs on databases. And by turning your simple spreadsheet into a database, sheet.best unlocks powerful options for your next project and build. All you have to do is prepare your spreadsheet and sign in to your account.
We’ll take it from there so you can focus on what you do best: building amazing things.
Try sheet.best free! Get 1 connection and up to 100 requests per month. Upgrade as you scale and experience fantastic support to bring your next project to life.