Google Sheets is a basic cloud-based spreadsheet editor that can be accessed directly through any web browser. Spreadsheets are automatically saved to Google’s servers (Google Drive), and a revision history is automatically kept so past edits may be viewed (although this only works for adjacent revisions, and there is currently no way to find and isolate changes in long documents). Documents can be tagged and archived for organizational purposes.
Sheets also gives users the ability to share the document. Typically when a normal document is shared the recipient accesses a copy from one point in time. With a Google Sheet the document is shared in real-time, so recipients can always access the most recent version of the document. Sheet owners can also grant permissions for the recipient to comment on the document, edit, or revision. This introduces real-time collaboration, where multiple users can be editing the same document simultaneously, see each others’ edits, and even chat with each other in a sidebar. There are many other powerful features in Google Sheets.
Google Sheets can also be linked to a Google Form to collect data for surveys, web forms, and many other purposes.