Compared
Tourouter vs Google Sheets
A spreadsheet and a group chat will run a weekend of shows, and you should use them for that. They stop working around the second or third real run, when the plan changes while you are driving, three people have three versions, and the money is in a photo of a napkin. Tourouter is what you move to at that point.
Google Sheets is free, everyone already has it, and it will hold anything you type into it. That is its whole strength and its whole problem. It knows nothing about tours: it will not tell you a drive is eleven hours, it will not send tonight's load-in time to the drummer, and it will not add up what the run made unless someone builds the formula and nobody breaks it.
Google Sheets's site and pricing were last read on . If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.
Pick Google Sheets if
- One local show, or a weekend of them, with a band that is all in one car.
- You are still deciding whether to tour at all and want to sketch the numbers.
- Everyone in the band reads the sheet every day and nobody ever edits the wrong cell.
- You have a system that works and the money is small enough that a mistake does not hurt.
Pick Tourouter if
- More than two people need the plan, and the plan changes after you leave.
- You have argued in a car park about which version of the schedule was current.
- You want tonight's day sheet on every phone without anyone opening anything.
- You want to know what the tour made, and who paid for what, without rebuilding a formula at 1am.
Side by side
What each one does, in plain words. Where we are not sure, we say so rather than guess.
| What matters | Google Sheets | Tourouter |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free. | Free to plan. $59 for a one-off tour, or $49 a month for unlimited tours. |
| Day sheets | One tab per day if you build it, shared by link. Nobody is told when it changes. | A day sheet for every date, sent to everyone by text and email each morning, plus the app and a tour book PDF. |
| Routing | A column of cities. Drive times are whatever someone looked up. | Dates on a map with drive times between cities, so a bad route shows up before you book it. |
| Money | Whatever formulas you write. Every tour rebuilds them, and one wrong cell breaks the total. | Expenses, revenue, guarantees and settlement per show, with the tour total always right. |
| Venues and contacts | Typed in each time. The phone number for the venue you played last year is in last year's sheet. | Venues and contacts kept across tours, with notes on each. |
| Crew | Everyone with the link can edit everything, or nobody can. | Editors change the plan. Crew and viewers see it. Free and unlimited. |
| Offline | Yes, with the Sheets app. | Not yet. The app needs a connection. |
| Setup | As long as it takes to build the template, and again next tour. | Add the dates, attach the venues, invite the band. The template is the product. |
What each one costs
Both in US dollars. Google Sheets's prices are as published on ; check their site before you decide.
Google Sheets
- FreeWith a Google account.
- Your timeBuilding the sheet, keeping it current, and telling everyone when it changes.
Tourouter
- Free to planNo time limit. Pay when the tour goes live.
- Tour Pass, $59 one timeOne tour, up to 45 days, 2 editor seats.
- Band, $49 a monthOr $490 a year. Unlimited tours, 3 editor seats.
- Roster, $149 a monthOr $1,490 a year. Unlimited teams, 10 editor seats.
- Crew and viewers, freeUnlimited, on every plan.
Common questions
The ones people ask when they are choosing between the two.
Is a spreadsheet really fine for touring?
For one show or a weekend, yes, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling something. It stops being fine when more than two people need the plan, the plan changes while you are travelling, and nobody is sure which version is current. That is usually the second or third run.
Can I import my existing spreadsheet?
You add the dates and venues into Tourouter; a typical run takes under an hour to set up, and the venues and contacts are kept for next time. There is no one-click import from Sheets today.
What does Tourouter do that a sheet cannot?
Send the day to everyone by text each morning, work out drive times, keep venues and contacts across tours, and keep the money right without a formula anyone can break.
What if I stop paying?
A finished tour stays readable, settleable and exportable for good. Your history does not get locked up because a plan lapsed.
Try it on your next run. Planning is free.
Add your dates, invite your crew, and see the whole thing in one place. Nothing to pay until the tour goes live.
Start planning freeSee the other comparisons