I’ve been building a full system in Excel with VBA — dozens of macros, 200+ formulas, dashboards, logging, QA checks, the works. It runs fine now, but I’m starting to think ahead: when does “Excel MVP” turn into “time for a real app”?
Here’s what I’ve mapped so far:
Excel limits
• 1M rows per sheet
• 16k columns
• 2 GB file size
• Real slowdowns hit earlier, usually at 50k rows or 20 MB
Why migrate
• Too many formulas cause lag
• Logs get huge and messy
• Multi-user is basically impossible
• Macro warnings make distribution a pain
Migration paths
• Next.js + Supabase + Vercel for a clean code path
• No-code UI (Framer, Glide) + Airtable for speed
• Agency/freelancers if you want fast delivery ($25k–$60k)
Timeline & cost
• Solo dev: 6–8 weeks
• Small freelance team: 3–5 weeks, $6k–$18k
• Agency: 3–6 weeks, $25k–$60k
When to stop pushing Excel
• Logs above 50k rows
• More than 10k formulas on one sheet
• File size above 20 MB
👉 Has anyone here actually sold or scaled a system while it was still in Excel?
👉 Or do most of you treat Excel as a private prototyping tool and move as soon as you validate?
What’s funny is Excel gives you total visibility — you can see every formula and trace every bug. Once you go to a web stack, you lose that transparency. Do you think the tradeoff is worth it?
I wonder if it’s smarter to migrate piece by piece instead of all at once. For example, port logs first, then dashboards, then exports. Has anyone here done a staged migration like that?
I’ve always thought Excel is underrated as a legit MVP container. You get formulas, persistence, and automation in one place. The big pain point for me was always multi-user - did anyone find a way around that before moving?