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Rather than selling spreadsheets, does anyone rent spreadsheets?

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    Rather than selling spreadsheets, does anyone rent spreadsheets?

    Or even if you don't, but know how it would be done. Where would you host it? Would you rely on excel's built in security to protect your formulas and macros, or would you do something else? What steps could be taken to ensure the document isn't saved to the user's computer and now they own it? Any other thoughts on this subject would be appreciated.

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    Re: Rather than selling spreadsheets, does anyone rent spreadsheets?

    I have never heard of this, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Are you asking because you want to rent a spreadsheet? We do not recommend products or services that cost money, or allow promotion for them on the forum.

    This does not seem like a sound business model to me. First, Excel's built-in security is designed for a compliant user. Malicious users with the time and resources can break it without much trouble. There are methods to hack into protected structures, protected sheets, macros, etc. Second, there are so many templates available for free that I cannot imagine a situation where anyone would "rent" one. There might be a way in Google Sheets to allow online use of a spreadsheet and prohibit downloading it; I don't know. That wouldn't be Excel but that would be my first research topic.

    Can you be any more specific about what you have in mind?

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    Re: Rather than selling spreadsheets, does anyone rent spreadsheets?

    Quote Originally Posted by 6StringJazzer View Post
    Are you asking because you want to rent a spreadsheet? We do not recommend products or services that cost money, or allow promotion for them on the forum.
    I am wanting to rent one out, but I wouldn't be promoting it here.

    Quote Originally Posted by 6StringJazzer View Post
    This does not seem like a sound business model to me. First, Excel's built-in security is designed for a compliant user. Malicious users with the time and resources can break it without much trouble. There are methods to hack into protected structures, protected sheets, macros, etc.
    Do you have any thoughts on https://www.xlspadlock.com/? I'm waiting to hear back from the company. I would want better than excel level security but think at some point I will have to accept the risk. It would suck to have my spreadsheet distributed for free, but it would suck even more to not get this idea off the ground cause I'm afraid of it being distributed.

    Quote Originally Posted by 6StringJazzer View Post
    Second, there are so many templates available for free that I cannot imagine a situation where anyone would "rent" one. There might be a way in Google Sheets to allow online use of a spreadsheet and prohibit downloading it; I don't know. That wouldn't be Excel but that would be my first research topic.
    This would be a lifting journal that allows for summing, counting, averaging of data along with various other ways of recalling data. There are only two others that I know of that come close to doing what mine does. I talked to an excel consulting firm and they suggested I make it a dropbox document where each user gets their own copy of the document and permission to use it is based if their subscription is payed up. But I would obviously need to restrict it from being saved to their local hard drive.

    By the way, you built me a roulette simulator spreadsheet years ago, I quickly learned the house always wins. Money well spent considering the alternative way to learn that lesson!

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    Re: Rather than selling spreadsheets, does anyone rent spreadsheets?

    I am not familiar with the specific product you mentioned, but I have tried another Excel compiler. It would protect the content but for "rental" you would need to put some sort of time bomb in it. I don't know how secure they are but certainly more so than Excel. A .exe file is hackable but the knowledge and effort is a much higher bar, and the payoff wouldn't be worth it.

    The Dropbox method (or any file-sharing method) would have the problem of preventing copying. There might be a way to customize a copy so that it only runs on one particular computer.

    Yes, the house always wins in the long run.

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