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Desktop App

VisiData

Explore and clean spreadsheet-style data right in your terminal.

Visit VisiData4.5
  • Rating

    4.5 / 5

  • Pricing

    Free

  • Difficulty

    Advanced

  • Works on

    macOS, Linux, Windows

Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com

What is VisiData?

VisiData is a terminal interface for exploring and arranging tabular data. It opens formats such as CSV, TSV, JSON, SQLite and Excel files, among many others. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows through WSL, and needs Python.

Third-party open-source projects. We are not affiliated with their authors; repositories are provided as-is by their maintainers. Review each project's license, code and security before installing. See our Disclaimer.

Pros: what VisiData does well

  • Opens big data files quickly
  • Supports many file formats
  • Keyboard-driven and fast

Cons: where it falls short

  • Needs Python and terminal comfort
  • Windows use goes through WSL

Who VisiData is for

Analysts who want to inspect and tidy data without opening a spreadsheet app.

Who can skip it

People who prefer a point-and-click spreadsheet.

VisiData alternatives

Not sold on VisiData? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.

OpenRefine

Focus: data cleaning and data wrangling. Shares spreadsheet and csv with VisiData. Rated 4.6 (VisiData: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows

DBeaver

Focus: database, sql and query. Shares data and open source with VisiData. Rated 4.6 (VisiData: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows

jq

Focus: json and filter. Shares data and command line with VisiData. Rated 4.7 (VisiData: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows

Miller

Focus: json and data wrangling. Shares csv and command line with VisiData. Rated 4.6 (VisiData: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux

qsv

Focus: data cleaning and data analysis. Shares csv and command line with VisiData. Same 4.5 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows

Free alternatives to VisiData

Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.

DbGate

Focus: database, sql and nosql. Shares open source and github with VisiData. Adds Web. Same 4.5 rating.

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows

Atuin

Focus: shell history, terminal and sync. Shares command line and open source with VisiData. Rated 4.7 (VisiData: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux

chezmoi

Focus: dotfiles and config management. Shares command line and open source with VisiData. Adds Offline. Rated 4.7 (VisiData: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows

htop

Focus: process viewer, system monitor and terminal. Shares command line and open source with VisiData. Rated 4.7 (VisiData: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux

direnv

Focus: environment variables, shell and projects. Shares command line and open source with VisiData. Rated 4.6 (VisiData: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux

hyperfine

Focus: benchmark, speed test and performance. Shares command line and open source with VisiData. Rated 4.6 (VisiData: 4.5).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
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