# Runway vs Datarails: Retire the spreadsheet for good

With Runway’s real-time updates and true collaboration, you get a planning experience that's more intuitive and designed for how modern finance teams operate.

## Trusted by fast-moving teams

## The core difference

Both Runway and Datarails give you data integration, version control, and collaborative workflows. The main differences are the modeling experience, how you explore scenarios, and the ability to have your whole team iterate in real time.

### Modeling environment

Runway connects to 750+ tools and brings everything into a single, live model that updates as your business does.

Datarails requires you to stay in spreadsheets. It layers automation and reporting on top of a familiar, but rigid, foundation.

### Scenario exploration

Runway lets you create a draft scenario, drag a hiring date or funding round on a timeline, and see every metric update instantly.

### Team collaboration

Runway lets teams adjust assumptions individually and watch the impact on the whole business.

Datarails limits other teams to submitting requests and waiting on updates from finance, while they own and control the master file.

## Simulate business decisions in real time

See how Runway works for the way your team actually plans. Faster decisions, fewer bottlenecks, and a model your whole team can use without managing formulas or maintaining versions.

### Platform breakdown

A side-by-side comparison of features between Runway and Datarails:

| Features                                 | Runway | Datarails |
|------------------------------------------|--------|-----------|
| Replaces Excel                           | ✔️     | ❌        |
| Strategic modelling interface             | ✔️     | ❌        |
| 750+ integrations                        | ✔️     | ❌        |
| Built for large model performance        | ✔️     | ❌        |
| Human-readable formulas                  | ✔️     | ❌        |
| Collaborative budget workflows           | ✔️     | ✔️        |
| Version control                          | ✔️     | ✔️        |

## Honest reviews—The good and the bad

### Customer Feedback:
- "Onboarding is fucking awesome" - Vivian
  
- "Runway is what Excel should have always been" - Will Simon, CFO at Mainspring
  [View original source](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/will-simon-93381b181_most-cfos-are-drowning-in-data-and-they-activity-7352025903490613250-WP31)

## Frequently asked questions

### What’s the difference between Runway and Datarails?
Most FP&A tools either make you work inside rigid templates built for a different business, or they let you build anything, and leave you completely on your own. Datarails chose flexibility: spreadsheet-first with more plumbing and controls, but still fundamentally dependent on Excel. Runway provides a structured surface to plan, model, and report, adapting to the way your business works.

### Does Runway replace spreadsheets completely, or can we still use Excel/Sheets?
Runway becomes your primary planning surface. You don't have to abandon spreadsheets entirely; teams often keep lightweight Excel or Sheets files for ad-hoc analysis. Runway acts as the source of truth for forecasts and reporting.