Google Sheets can work as a quick, zero-setup database for experimental or prototype projects. Here’s a comparison of the main libraries and useful starting points.
Library options
After evaluating several libraries, these three are the most commonly used:
1. Sheetrock — simplest option for read-only display of sheet data in HTML
2. Tabletop — fetch Google Sheets data as JSON in JavaScript
3. Sheetsee — adds sorting, filtering and templating on top of Tabletop
Most useful reference (CRUD with Google Apps Script)
For read/write access (not just read), use Google Apps Script as a backend:
1 | https://gist.github.com/nyancodeid/abc7f2c3ce47eda753dee8a2b63070ab |
This lets you do full CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) by deploying a script as a web app endpoint.
Working examples
When to use this approach
Best for: prototypes, demos, internal tools with small datasets, and projects where you want non-technical collaborators to edit the data.
Not suitable for: production apps, large datasets, or anything requiring authentication and security.