GKit SheetsAPI vs Stein (steinhq)

GKit SheetsAPI vs Stein (steinhq) at a glance

Both turn a Google Sheet into a REST API. Both are open source under the MIT license, and both can be self-hosted. The differences come down to architecture, query power, and how auth and hosting work.

	GKit SheetsAPI	Stein (steinhq)
Price	Free in beta	Free tier + paid plans (see their pricing)
Open source	Yes (MIT)	Yes (MIT)
Self-hostable	Yes	Yes (Node/Express + MongoDB)
CRUD	Full (read/create/update/delete)	Full (read/add/update/delete)
Auth	Google OAuth + optional sk_ API keys	Authentication supported
Search	search + search_exact	Exact-match JSON search
Pagination	limit (max 1000) + offset	limit + offset
Sorting	sort (use - prefix for descending)	Not documented
Field selection	fields	Not documented
Output formats	JSON, CSV, TSV, XML, JSONP	JSON
Runs on	Cloudflare's free tier (Workers, ~100k req/day)	Hosted SaaS or your own Node/MongoDB
One account across tools	Yes (GKit)	No

Stein's hosted plan limits and exact paid pricing are set on their own pricing page; we've only listed what we could independently verify.

Why GKit

Stein is a well-established, genuinely open-source project, and self-hosting it is a real option. GKit SheetsAPI overlaps on those points but differs in a few ways that matter day to day:

• Free while in beta - no request quotas or plan tiers to plan around right now.
• Richer querying out of the box - search/search_exact, sort (descending with a - prefix), fields projection, and limit/offset are all built into the REST API.
• More output formats - request the same data as JSON, CSV, TSV, XML, or JSONP via the format param.
• Edge-native, zero-infra hosting - it runs on Cloudflare's free tier (Workers, roughly 100k requests/day) instead of a Node + MongoDB stack you have to operate.
• Part of GKit - the same Google account powers every other GKit tool, with Google OAuth and optional sk_ API keys (your sheet is public until you mint a key).

See the SheetsAPI product page for the full picture.

Migrating from Stein

Your sheet structure doesn't change - GKit reads the same first-row-as-headers convention. The main differences are the endpoint shape and auth:

• Point requests at /api/spreadsheets/{userKey}/{sheetName} (append /{row} to target a single row).
• Map Stein's search, limit, and offset directly to GKit's equivalents, then add sort, fields, search_exact, or format where you want them.
• Switch auth to Google OAuth, and add an sk_ API key if you want to lock the endpoint down.

Full parameter reference lives in the REST API docs.

Try GKit SheetsAPI free.

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Verified June 2026 using: steinhq.com, steinhq.com/pricing, github.com/SteinHQ/Stein, docs.steinhq.com/introduction, docs.steinhq.com/read-data, and docs.steinhq.com/search-data. Stein is in active development; check their site for current pricing and limits.