Spreadsheets are fine… until they’re not.
They’re flexible, familiar, and free - but once your startup hits a certain speed, they start to break. Goals get buried, updates fall behind, and alignment slips through the cracks.
That’s the value of OKRs Tool - and why the ROI of switching is bigger than most teams realize.
Let’s break down the return you can expect when moving from spreadsheets to dedicated OKR software.
Why So Many Startups Still Use Spreadsheets
It’s not just you - 65% of startups still manage OKRs in spreadsheets, according to our latest research.
Why? Because spreadsheets are:
- Familiar - no learning curve
- Flexible - you can customize every field
- Free - especially for early-stage teams
But as companies grow, those same strengths become liabilities. Flexibility becomes inconsistency. Familiarity becomes fragmentation. And free? It starts costing you in time, alignment, and missed goals.
Spreadsheets might work when you’re 3–5 people. But they break fast when you try to scale habits across teams.
The ROI of Switching: What Actually Improves?
Once teams switch to OKRs Tool, the improvements show up fast — not just in how goals are tracked, but in how teams work together, communicate, and deliver. Here's what actually changes.
1. Less Time Chasing Updates
The spreadsheet struggle:
- Manual updates (if they happen at all)
- Team leads spend hours each week nudging for check-ins
- Data gets stale fast
With OKRs Tool:
- Built-in weekly check-in nudges
- Automated progress tracking
- Centralized dashboards with real-time status
ROI impact: Save 3–5+ hours per team lead, per week - and redirect that time to actual coaching, planning, or execution.
2. Higher Goal Completion Rates
In spreadsheets:
- Goals live in silos
- No visibility = no urgency
- Team members forget what they committed to
With OKRs Tool:
- Shared dashboards make progress visible
- Weekly reminders keep goals top of mind
- Real-time accountability builds momentum
ROI impact: Teams using OKRs Tool report up to 2x higher completion rates on key results.
3. Fewer Status Meetings
When check-ins are buried in Slack or stale spreadsheets, you’re forced to fill the gap with meetings. Lots of them.
OKRs Tool eliminates that need.
- Asynchronous check-ins replace Monday standups
- Dashboards reduce “where are we?” questions
- Leaders walk into 1:1s with live data already in hand
ROI impact: Cut 2–3 recurring meetings per team, per cycle - without losing visibility or alignment.
4. Better Cross-Team Alignment
In spreadsheets:
- Teams set goals in isolation
- Cross-functional dependencies get missed
- Everyone’s rowing, but in different directions
In OKRs Tool:
- Shared visibility across teams
- Clear ownership for every key result
- Dependencies are visible from the start
ROI impact: Tighter alignment across departments = fewer delays, duplicated efforts, and strategic misfires.
5. Real-Time Visibility for Leadership
Executives don’t have time to hunt through 7 tabs and 3 folders to understand what’s happening.
OKRs Tool gives them:
- A single dashboard view across all teams
- Real-time updates on progress, blockers, and wins
- Confidence to coach and course-correct early
ROI impact: Faster, smarter decisions - backed by real data, not gut feeling or stale slide decks.
6. Zero Admin Overhead
Spreadsheets need babysitting.
You have to:
- Set up formulas
- Copy/paste templates
- Remind everyone to update
- Manually summarize everything
OKRs Tool does all that automatically - and scales as your team grows.
ROI impact: Remove hours of admin work per cycle, especially as you add new teams or contributors.
Quick ROI Snapshot: Spreadsheets vs. OKRs Tool
Want the short version? Here’s how spreadsheets and OKRs Tool compare across the metrics that matter most for fast-moving teams.
This isn’t theoretical - these are the actual shifts teams report after switching. The gains in visibility, alignment, and follow-through don’t just save time - they change how teams operate.
What It’s Like to Switch From Spreadsheets to OKRs Tool
“For us, switching from spreadsheets to OKRs Tool enabled everyone on the team to have easy access to the status of all our OKRs, keeping track of each update with comments and charts. Also, being able to assign owners to KRs gives more accountability and alignment for updates.
The enhanced transparency helps teams proactively address bottlenecks, accelerating the achievement of our goals. It’s the difference between having a generalist tool (sheets) vs. a specialized tool (OKRs Tool), saving a lot of time.
And we haven’t even scratched all features available.”
— Everton Marcelino Jr, CTO & Co-Founder, Stift
Real-world teams like Stift don’t just save time - they get visibility, alignment, and momentum they couldn’t get in a spreadsheet.
The Dollar ROI of Switching to OKRs Tool
Let’s put some numbers to the impact:
If you’re a 10-person team with 2 team leads, switching from spreadsheets to OKRs Tool can save you an estimated $19,000/year - just in time alone.
Here’s how:
- Team leads reclaim 4 hours/week from chasing updates and prepping check-ins
- You eliminate 2 status meetings/week (30 mins x 5 people = 5 hours/week)
- That’s over 650 hours/year saved across the team
- At a modest $30/hour rate, that’s a $19,000 productivity boost
And that’s before you count higher goal completion, fewer delays, or better decision-making.
Not bad for a tool that costs $360/ year.
The Real ROI Is Momentum
Switching from spreadsheets to OKRs Tool isn’t just about saving time - it’s about building the systems that help your startup scale smarter.
- Goals stay visible
- Teams stay accountable
- Leaders stay in sync
That momentum? It compounds.
And when you're moving fast, that's the kind of ROI you can't afford to miss.
