OpenRefine alternative with nothing to install
OpenRefine is a free, open-source desktop application for cleaning messy data. It is powerful and it is a tool you install, launch as a local server and drive with its own expression language. Datauntangler is the browser version of that job, with the changes proposed for you.
The short answer
Pick OpenRefine when you want a free tool and are willing to learn GREL. Pick Datauntangler when you want the file cleaned this afternoon and need a record of what changed.
Datauntangler compared with OpenRefine
Every row is a public, category level fact you can check on OpenRefine's own site. What this table deliberately leaves out is set out further down the page.
| OpenRefine | Datauntangler | |
|---|---|---|
| Install | Download and run locally, needs a Java runtime | Nothing to install, runs in the browser |
| Licence | Free and open source | Paid plans, browser demo free to use |
| How you drive it | Facets, clustering and the GREL expression language | Proposed changes you approve or reject |
| Duplicate matching | Clustering with several algorithms you choose | Email, normalized identity and fuzzy matching, run for you |
| Change record | An operation history inside the project | An audit log you export as CSV |
| Where data goes | Stays on your machine | Stays in your browser for the demo |
| Sharing with a colleague | Send the project or the exported file | Send the cleaned file and the change log |
What OpenRefine is genuinely better at
Open-ended exploration. Faceting a column to see every distinct value, then reshaping the data with a transformation you write yourself, is something a proposal-based tool cannot match. If your cleaning job is unusual and you enjoy the tooling, OpenRefine is a good place to spend an afternoon.
It is also free and open source, which matters when a budget line is the obstacle.
Where a browser tool wins
Time to a result, and the ability to hand the result to someone else. There is no runtime to install on a locked-down laptop, no expression language between you and the fix, and the output includes an audit log written for a person who was not there when you cleaned the file. The matching it uses is fuzzy matching rather than a written rule, and the wider comparison sits on data cleaning software and the data cleaning tool itself.
The whole tool, on this page, on a messy file
Nothing to install and no account. Load a sample or drop your own CSV and read the diff.
1. Load a file
Your file is read on your own machine. Nothing is uploaded, so nothing can leak.
Or start from a messy sample
Status
Loading the sample file.
File: CRM contact export
Rows
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Columns
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Changes
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Duplicate rows
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Date formats
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Blank emails
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Load a file to see the diff
Drop a CSV or pick one of the messy samples. Every proposed change appears here as a line you approve or reject.
2. Review every change
Nothing approved yet.
Nothing is applied to your file until you approve it, and your original file is never modified.
Proposed changes
Original Proposed
Showing the first 400 changes. 0 more are in the audit log download.
Duplicate clusters
Merge or keep both
Want this on bigger files, on a schedule, with your team?
Saved recipes, scheduled cleans and shared seats are part of the paid plans. Start with your email and we will send you a code.
3. Take the result
The downloads work without an email. The cleaned CSV contains only the changes you approved.
The limits of this comparison, stated on the page
A comparison page written by one of the two products is worth exactly as much as what it admits.
No prices for OpenRefine
We have not verified their pricing page today, and a stale price quoted by a competitor is worse than no price at all.
No scores and no stars
There is no rating on this page, in the markup or anywhere else on this site, because there are no reviews behind one.
Category facts only
Every row of the table is something published on their own site: what it runs on, how it is licensed, how you drive it.
Check it yourself instead
The demo above runs the real engine on your own file, which settles the comparison faster than either of our marketing pages will.
Questions about switching from OpenRefine
Is OpenRefine really desktop only?
Other comparisons and related pages
Clean the file, and keep the record of what changed
Try the demo on your own CSV first. It runs in your browser, it costs nothing, and no card is required.
No card required. Your file never leaves your computer.