VillageMetrics vs spreadsheets for autism behavior tracking
Both spreadsheets and VillageMetrics can help you track autism behavior over time. Spreadsheets are free and give you full control. VillageMetrics costs money but captures richer data through voice and analyzes it automatically. The right choice depends on what you need and how much effort you can sustain.
Here's an honest comparison.
What Each Does Well
Spreadsheets
A simple spreadsheet (Google Sheets, Excel) with Date | Rating (Bad/Okay/Good) | Notes is:
Free — No subscription cost
Familiar — Most people know how to use spreadsheets
Flexible — You control exactly what columns exist
Countable — Use COUNTIF and AVERAGE to analyze periods
Portable — Export, share, or switch tools anytime
Best for: People who want free, simple tracking and are comfortable doing their own analysis.
VillageMetrics
VillageMetrics captures observations through voice journaling and analyzes them with AI:
Voice capture — Talk instead of typing; captures more natural detail
Automatic analysis — Ask questions in plain language, get answers
Pattern detection — AI surfaces correlations you'd miss manually
Medication integration — Behavior trends overlaid on med timeline
Multi-caregiver — Family, therapists, aides can all contribute to one view
HIPAA compliant — Unlike pasting notes into ChatGPT
Best for: People who want richer insights without manual analysis, or who struggle to maintain a spreadsheet consistently.
Head-to-Head Comparison
| Capability | Spreadsheet | VillageMetrics |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | Paid subscription |
| Daily capture | Type in cells (clunky on phone) | Voice note (just talk) |
| What you capture | Rating + optional short note | Full context in natural language |
| Counting/averaging | Spreadsheet functions (you do it) | Ask in plain language (AI does it) |
| Finding patterns | Manual review or paste into ChatGPT | Built-in pattern detection |
| Long-term trend charts | Build it yourself | Automatic |
| Medication timeline | Separate tab, manual correlation | Integrated, automatic overlay |
| Multi-caregiver input | Share the sheet (coordination required) | Everyone contributes to one view |
| Privacy | You control it | HIPAA compliant |
When Spreadsheets Make More Sense
Choose a spreadsheet if:
You want zero cost
You only need basic "better or worse" tracking
You're comfortable with spreadsheet functions
You have time to analyze your own data before appointments
You're tracking short-term (a few weeks for a medication trial)
The spreadsheet approach works. Plenty of families use it successfully. The main challenges are:
Clunky to update on your phone
Easy to skip days when life gets hard
Limited to what you remember to type
Pattern-finding is on you
When VillageMetrics Makes More Sense
Choose VillageMetrics if:
You want to capture more detail without more effort
You need automatic analysis (no time to review data yourself)
You're tracking long-term (months or years)
You want to understand why things are getting better or worse, not just that they are
Multiple caregivers need to contribute observations
You want doctor-ready summaries without manual prep
The core trade-off: VillageMetrics costs money. If the subscription feels like too much, a spreadsheet is infinitely better than nothing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can VillageMetrics do everything a spreadsheet does?
It handles the core functions—capturing daily observations, counting, comparing periods, generating summaries. It also has export functionality if you want to download your data (journal entries, behavior scores, etc.) in a format you can work with elsewhere.
Is VillageMetrics worth the cost if I'm already tracking in a spreadsheet?
It depends on what you want to get out of tracking. A spreadsheet gives you counts and averages. VillageMetrics gives you pattern detection, trigger identification, medication correlation, doctor-ready summaries, and insights from the full context of your voice journals. The data you capture is richer (because talking is more natural than typing), and the analysis you get back is far more sophisticated than anything you'd do manually in a spreadsheet.
What if I stop using VillageMetrics later?
Your data is yours. You can export everything—journal entries, behavior scores, all of it—at any time. If you decide to stop using VillageMetrics, you take your data with you.
Ready to stop flying blind? VillageMetrics turns your daily voice notes into the data doctors need to help your child.