SheetDB vs Sheety: two ways to turn Google Sheets into a REST API

Short answer: SheetDB and Sheety solve the same problem: both expose a Google Sheet as a JSON REST API you can read and write without OAuth code. Sheety has a minimal API: records wrapped in a key named after the sheet, camelCased field names and exact-match filters, with a row limit per sheet on every plan. SheetDB has no per-plan row limit and returns a flat array with your column names unchanged, plus operator search (>, <, wildcards, OR), sorting, built-in caching, batch updates, CORS and IP restrictions, a WordPress plugin and an HTML snippet. Choose Sheety when simple filters are enough and your sheets fit its row limits; choose SheetDB when you need querying, caching, production controls or large sheets.

At a glance

Sheety facts are taken from Sheety's public documentation and pricing page as of October 2026. Check their site for current details.

Where Sheety is a good choice

Sheety is easy to understand: one URL per sheet, one row per object, four HTTP methods. Every Sheety plan allows unlimited projects. If your sheets fit within the plan's row limit and "give me everything" or "give me rows where country is UK" queries are enough, Sheety does the job.

Where SheetDB goes further

• Queries. /search?age=>18&comment=special, /search?name=J*, /search_or, ?sort_by=age&sort_order=desc and ?limit=20&offset=40 run on the server, so the client receives only the rows it needs (search, read).
• Data you recognise. Column names come back exactly as they are in the header row, and the response is a plain array. No sheet-named wrapper key, no renamed fields, no singular/plural rules to remember when you post.
• Updates by value. PATCH /api/v1/{id}/email/[email protected] updates the row with that email. Row numbers change when someone sorts the sheet or deletes a row; a column value does not. Batch update changes many rows in one request.
• Caching. Read responses are cached for 15 seconds by default and you choose the duration (cache), which keeps busy sites fast and away from Google's per-minute quotas. Plan quotas and rate limits are listed on the limits page.
• Production controls. Lock an API to your domain with CORS origin restriction, allow only some IP addresses, switch off writes with permissions, and protect the endpoint with a Bearer token.
• Ready integrations. A free WordPress plugin, an HTML snippet that renders rows on any page, and guides for Bubble, Adalo and n8n and Make.

How simple it is with SheetDB: read adults, add a row

The task: a sheet with columns id, name, age, comment. Get the people older than 18, then add one. With SheetDB the response is exactly what is in your sheet:

• No wrapper key. The response is a plain JSON array, not an object keyed by the sheet name.
• No renamed fields. Keys match your header row exactly, so First Name stays First Name.
• No filtering in your code. Comparisons like age=>18 go into the URL and only matching rows are returned.
• No row limit tied to your plan. The same request works on a sheet with ten rows or ten thousand.

Here is the whole thing, using plain fetch(). It runs in Node.js or in the browser, and the endpoint below is a real demo API you can try right now:

const api = 'https://sheetdb.io/api/v1/58f61be4dda40';

const params = new URLSearchParams({ age: '>18' });
const adults = await fetch(`${api}/search?${params}`).then((response) => response.json());
// [{ "id": "2", "name": "Alex", "age": "24", "comment": "" }, ...]

await fetch(api, {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({ data: [{ id: 'INCREMENT', name: 'Mark', age: '35', comment: '' }] }),
});

That is the entire integration: one GET to /search?age=>18 returns the adults, one POST with a JSON body appends Mark, and INCREMENT fills in the next id for you. The new row shows up in the spreadsheet immediately.

Updating and deleting work by any column value, not by row number: PATCH /api/v1/{id}/id/4 changes the row whose id is 4 and DELETE /api/v1/{id}/id/4 removes it, even after someone sorts the sheet (update, delete). Language guides: Node.js, PHP.

FAQ

[
  {
    "id": "1",
    "name": "Tom"
  }, …
]