The Problem
Anyone who works with Excel regularly knows the frustration: you need a complex formula combining SUMIF with text functions like MID, LEFT, or CONCATENATE, maybe throw in some VLOOKUP, and suddenly you're juggling nested parentheses, trying to remember the exact syntax, and debugging why your formula returns #VALUE! instead of the answer you need.
A simple task like "sum all values in column A where column B says 'Approved'" should take seconds, not minutes of Googling syntax and counting parentheses.
After spending too much time wrestling with Excel formulas instead of actually working with my data, I decided there had to be a better way.
The Solution
That's why I built FormulaAI - an AI-powered tool that generates Excel formulas from plain English descriptions.
Just describe what you want to do in natural language, and get the exact formula you need in seconds.
How It Works
FormulaAI uses AI to understand your intent and translate it into proper Excel syntax. It handles:
- Complex conditional logic (SUMIF, COUNTIF, IF statements)
- Text manipulation (MID, LEFT, RIGHT, CONCATENATE)
- Lookups and references (VLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH)
- Date and time calculations
- Nested functions with proper parentheses matching
- Array formulas
For example:
You say: "Sum all values in column A where column B says 'Approved'"
FormulaAI gives you: =SUMIF(B:B,"Approved",A:A)
You say: "Count how many times 'John' appears in column C"
FormulaAI gives you: =COUNTIF(C:C,"John")
The tool works for both Excel and Google Sheets - the formulas are compatible with both platforms.
Why I Built This
After 20+ years working with industrial automation and data systems, I've spent countless hours building spreadsheets for everything from process monitoring to financial analysis. The frustration of remembering exact function syntax, dealing with nested parentheses, and debugging formula errors never went away.
Whether you're:
- Building financial models
- Analyzing data sets
- Creating automated reports
- Learning Excel formulas
- Working under time pressure
FormulaAI saves time and eliminates syntax errors. Instead of spending minutes (or longer) constructing complex formulas with multiple nested functions and ensuring all parentheses match correctly, you describe what you need and get a working formula instantly.
Tech Stack
Frontend: HTML/CSS/JavaScript
Backend: Node.js/Express
AI: Major LLM API
Auth: Google OAuth
Hosting: Vercel
Features
✅ 3 free formula generations without login
✅ More daily formulas when you sign in with Google
✅ Works for Excel and Google Sheets
✅ Instant generation - get formulas in seconds
✅ Live demo on the homepage to try before signing up
Try It Out
The tool is live at: getformulaai.com
No credit card required - just describe your formula in plain English and see the magic happen.
I'd love your feedback! What Excel formulas do you struggle with most? What features would make this more useful for your workflow?
Example Use Cases
Financial Analysis:
"Calculate the average of column D where column E is greater than 1000"
→ =AVERAGEIF(E:E,">1000",D:D)
Data Validation:
"Check if the value in A2 exists anywhere in column F"
→ =COUNTIF(F:F,A2)>0
Text Manipulation:
"Extract the first 5 characters from cell B2"
→ =LEFT(B2,5)
Conditional Logic:
"If C2 is greater than 100, multiply by 0.9, otherwise keep the original value"
→ =IF(C2>100,C2*0.9,C2)
Tags: #excel #googlesheets #productivity #ai #spreadsheets #automation #devtools #webdev
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