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Coax vs Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets are free but they only track what you already know. Coax discovers every SaaS app in 15 minutes — including shadow IT, unused licenses, and security risks that manual tracking will never catch.

Quick Comparison

Discovery Method
Coax:Automated email + IdP scan
Spreadsheets:Manual survey & audit
Time to Full Inventory
Coax:15 minutes
Spreadsheets:Weeks to never
Shadow IT Coverage
Coax:Complete (including free tools)
Spreadsheets:Only known apps
Security Monitoring
Coax:Real-time OAuth & risk scoring
Spreadsheets:None
Data Freshness
Coax:Continuous, automated
Spreadsheets:Stale on day one

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Discovery

Automated app discovery

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

Shadow IT detection

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

Free & trial app tracking

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

Continuous monitoring

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

App risk classification

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

Cost Optimization

Unused license detection

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

Duplicate app identification

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

Spend dashboards

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

Renewal alerts

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

ROI recommendations

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

Security & Compliance

OAuth permission analysis

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

GDPR compliance monitoring

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

SOC 2 readiness support

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

EU data residency

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

Security risk scoring

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

Setup & Operations

15-minute setup

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

Automatic data refresh

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

No manual data entry

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

Scales with company growth

Coax:
Spreadsheets:

Why Choose Coax

See What Spreadsheets Can't

Spreadsheets only track apps you already know about. Coax scans email metadata and IdP records to discover every SaaS app — including shadow IT, free tools, and trials that never show up in manual audits.

Always Up to Date

A spreadsheet is outdated the moment you save it. New apps appear daily, employees leave, subscriptions change. Coax continuously monitors your SaaS landscape so your inventory is always current.

Security You Can't Spreadsheet

Spreadsheets can't analyze OAuth permissions, score security risks, or monitor compliance. Coax automatically identifies apps with dangerous permissions and flags compliance gaps before they become incidents.

Scales Without Extra Work

At 50 employees, a spreadsheet is tedious. At 200, it's unmanageable. At 500, it's fiction. Coax scales automatically — whether you have 50 or 1,000 employees, discovery and monitoring just work.

See Coax in Action

Related Resources

Feature

Shadow IT Discovery

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SaaS Cost Optimization

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Coax vs Zylo

Compare Coax with Zylo for SaaS management and cost optimization.

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Coax vs Torii

See how Coax compares to Torii for SaaS management.

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What Is SaaS Sprawl?

Understand the hidden cost and security risk of unmanaged SaaS growth.

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SaaS Cost Optimization Strategies

Proven strategies to reduce your SaaS spend without sacrificing productivity.

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Frequently Asked Questions

You can try, but spreadsheets only track apps you already know about. Studies show the average mid-market company has 3-4x more SaaS apps than IT is aware of. Spreadsheets miss shadow IT, can't detect unused licenses automatically, and provide zero security monitoring.
While the spreadsheet itself is free, the hidden costs are significant: 10-20 hours per month maintaining it, 25-35% SaaS overspend from missed unused licenses, and security incidents from unmonitored shadow IT. Most companies find that a dedicated tool like Coax pays for itself in the first month through cost savings alone.
If you have more than 50 employees or more than 30 SaaS applications, spreadsheets become unreliable. Key signs: your inventory is always outdated, you're surprised by renewal charges, you can't answer security audit questions quickly, or you suspect employees are using apps IT doesn't know about.
Coax scans email metadata for SaaS-related communications (welcome emails, receipts, notifications) and identity provider records for SSO and OAuth connections. This catches free tools, trial accounts, apps on personal credit cards, and shadow IT that no manual survey or audit can reliably detect.
Yes. Even companies with 50 employees typically have 100+ SaaS applications, many unknown to IT. Coax typically identifies 25-35% cost savings in the first scan — far exceeding its cost. Plus, you get security monitoring and compliance support that spreadsheets simply can't provide.

Ready to ditch the spreadsheet?

Book a 15-minute demo and see every SaaS app in your organization — automatically.