5 alternatives to desk booking in Excel

Introduction

Managing desks with Excel might work for a small team, but as soon as you scale, it becomes a daily headache: slow, error-prone, and disconnected from how people actually work today. Modern desk booking tools automate everything Excel can’t: live availability, user access, analytics, and integrations.
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In this guide, we’ll walk you through hot desk booking software to replace your Excel spreadsheets: what features to look for, the best alternatives out there and how to implement it in your organization.

Why it may be time to replace Excel for desk reservations

Excel - or any kind of spreadsheet-based product - might seem like an easy fix for desk reservations, but it quickly turns into a time sink as your team scales. Admins spend hours manually updating sheets, chasing confirmations, and cleaning up duplicate or missed entries. Without automation, no-shows block valuable desks that sit unused, while others struggle to find a spot, wasting both time and real estate.

Beyond the day-to-day chaos, Excel gives you no insight into how your office is actually used. You can’t track attendance patterns, space utilization, or occupancy trends, which means every decision about your workplace is based on guesswork. The result is lost productivity, inefficient space allocation, and growing employee frustration. 

Replacing spreadsheets with a modern desk booking platform isn’t just about convenience, it’s about unlocking ROI on the longer term through automation, smarter space planning, and giving your employees an overall better experience.

Why switch to a dedicated desk booking system?

Modern workplaces need more than static grids and manual updates. Excel might capture who plans to come in, but it can’t keep up with the fast-changing nature of hybrid work. A dedicated desk booking platform gives teams flexibility, visibility, and control by allowing bookings to update instantly, preventing double reservations, and showing real-time desk availability.

Beyond automation, these platforms also have the ability to deliver the insights and structure that spreadsheets lack. Workplace analytics reveal which areas are most used, which days are busiest, and where space goes to waste, helping you right-size your office and improve the employee experience. Integrations with tools like Outlook, MS Teams, or Slack keep everything connected, while mobile access makes booking effortless. 

In short, it’s not just a replacement for Excel, it’s an upgrade to a smarter, data-driven way of managing your office.

What to look for in desk booking software?

The right desk booking platform should make it easy for employees to book a workspace while giving you full visibility into how desks, meeting rooms, and office zones are used. In other words, it should fit both your team’s daily workflow and your long-term space strategy.

So, what criteria to look for in a desk booking system? 

• Detailed analytics. Aim to have robust dashboards that show occupancy rates, booking trends, and peak office days so you can optimize layout and reduce underused space.
• Scaleability. As your company grows, the platform should handle more users and locations while offering dependable onboarding and technical help.
• Intuitive UI. Pick a platform that is simple to navigate, with a clean layout and clear visuals that make booking and managing spaces effortless for everyone. You want to reduce user friction of introducing a new tool as much as possible.
• Integrations. The best software connects your office ecosystem. Connecting easily with Outlook, Google Calendar, MS Teams, or Slack to align desk reservations with meeting schedules is key to avoid any kind of booking chaos.
• Real-time availability. Employees should instantly see which desks are free, booked, or occupied, reducing confusion and preventing double bookings.
• Flexible rules and permissions. A flexible platform adapts better to your work patterns. Look for the ability to set booking policies, team areas, or priority access to align desk use with hybrid work policies.

Download this desk sharing software requirements catalogue to learn more.

“deskbird is incredibly user-friendly and intuitive, making it easy for our team to book desks and meeting rooms efficiently. The real-time availability feature ensures we always have the latest information, reducing the chances of double bookings.”
deskbird's G2 review

Best desk booking software (that is not a spreadsheet)

1. deskbird 

Compared to spreadsheets, deskbird offers a complete, automated solution designed for the realities of hybrid work. Instead of manually tracking desk usage and updating static grids, deskbird provides an intuitive interface that syncs with your calendar tools and updates in real time. It combines smart workplace analytics, hybrid policy enforcement, and deep integrations with systems like MS Teams and Outlook, giving companies visibility and control that spreadsheets simply can’t provide.

deskbird’s main advantage is turning office data into clear insights that help optimize layouts, reduce unused space, and improve scheduling. The platform was built to handle those complexities, helping teams coordinate their presence, stay compliant with company policies, and reduce wasted space, giving both employees and visitors a more efficient workplace experience than any spreadsheet could offer.

deskbird Pricing

deskbird offers transparent pricing so teams only pay for the features needed and aligned with their stage of growth. Paid plans start at €2.50/user/month and can be complemented with add-ons for room bookings, visitors and user management.

2. Skedda

Skedda is a scheduling platform designed primarily for venue-style bookings, including coworking spaces, studios, and sports facilities. Its strengths lie in self-service room and desk booking, embeddable calendars, and public-facing scheduling workflows. For organizations managing external access or simple space reservations, it offers a lightweight experience.

3. Envoy

Envoy is primarily known for its visitor management and front-desk tools, offering features like badge printing, watchlists, emergency alerts, and basic desk and room booking. It’s strong in managing external access and improving office flow and safety through check-ins and analytics. However, when it comes to hybrid workplace coordination, some may feel it lacks more advanced features such as configurable hybrid policies, deeper data privacy controls that meet EU standards, and the flexibility to adapt to different team structures or regional needs.

4. Robin

Robin is a workplace management tool that offers desk and room booking, visitor tracking, and basic space analytics, along with options like digital signage and wayfinding. It’s mainly designed to help companies monitor how their office space is used and streamline scheduling. While Robin provides useful data insights and integrations for employees and guests, its focus leans more on space tracking than on supporting broader hybrid work coordination or flexible policy management.

5. Kadence

Kadence focuses on automating hybrid work coordination with tools that help teams manage attendance and space more efficiently. It includes smart check-ins, visual floor plans, and an AI-driven “Kadence Agent” that assists with bookings and scheduling. Users can set up office “neighborhoods” to organize teams and view live updates of who’s working on-site.

ROI of switching to a desk booking system

When teams move from Excel to a dedicated hot desking platform like deskbird, they gain efficiency, clarity, and real-time visibility that spreadsheets can’t match. A spreadsheet might help you list who sits where, but it can’t adapt to dynamic, hybrid work environments where people’s schedules change daily. 

Switching to a dedicated desk booking tool isn’t just about convenience; it’s a strategic upgrade. With real-time data, you finally see how your office is being used: which days are busiest, which zones sit empty, and how attendance trends shift over time. This visibility turns guesswork into smart, informed decisions.

Typical ROI results with deskbird include:

• Up to 30% reduction in office space costs by identifying and repurposing underused desks or areas
• Up to 20% boost in meeting room availability through automation of bookings and reduce of no-shows
• Higher employee satisfaction and office attendance - by up to 40% - when teams gain flexibility and visibility over how they work on-site

How to migrate from spreadsheets to deskbird

Start with understanding how your team actually uses the office and preparing them for a process change. A successful desk-sharing software requires careful planning and considering logistics and human factors. 

Here are key steps to ensure a smooth transition and effective implementation.

1. Audit current system & define requirements: look at your office layout before diving in. How many people can it accommodate? Also map out how your current desk booking process works… or doesn’t. Identify pain points like double bookings, lack of visibility, or poor adoption. Then outline your must-haves: do you need floor plan visualization, check-in features, integrations with Outlook or Teams? This step sets the foundation for choosing the right tool. 
2. Get team buy-in. Loop in key stakeholders early: IT, HR, office managers, and team leads. Set clear rules and expectations through a policy that cover reservation protocols and emphasize the importance of tidying workspaces. 
3. Test: Run a small pilot with one department or location to see how the tool performs in the real world. Their feedback will help fine-tune the rollout and boost adoption later on.
4. Launch and training: Once the setup is finalized, roll it out company-wide with clear onboarding materials. Offer quick-start guides, short training sessions, and support channels to get everyone up and running. The smoother the launch, the faster you’ll see results.‍
5. Monitor and optimize: Use built-in analytics to track usage, identify no-shows, and understand space utilization. Adjust policies, permissions, or layouts as needed. A good desk booking tool isn’t set-and-forget, it’s an ongoing asset to improve how your workplace runs.

The future of desk booking is spreadsheet-free

Spreadsheets don’t scale. If you’re dealing with double bookings, no-shows, or guessing who’s in the office, it’s time to switch. Hybrid work is here to stay, and managing it with manual tools creates friction for everyone, from employees to office managers.

The future of desk booking is smart, automated, and centered around real-time data. Tools like deskbird help you optimize space, enforce policies, and give teams a smooth booking experience. Whether you’re growing fast or rethinking your office setup, moving beyond Excel into a workplace with smart decisions powered by actionable insights is a powerful step forward.

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Disclaimer

Software listed in this article, and corresponding pricing and functionalities, are based on publicly available information as of 17-11-2025 and our own assessment and are subject to change. Information provided without guarantee. If something is mapped out incorrectly, please contact us here.