Your Underwriting Model, Minus the Broken Formulas
Spreadsheets are flexible, and fragile. One bad cell reference and the whole deal is wrong. DealWise AI builds the commercial underwriting logic once, correctly, so there's nothing to rebuild and nothing to break. Then it hands you a clear buy, hold, or pass.
- No formulas to build
- No credit card
- Free to start
The short version
A spreadsheet can model anything, which is exactly why it’s slow to build and easy to break. DealWise AI trades that blank-canvas flexibility for speed and reliability. The commercial underwriting logic is built in, so NOI derives from the rent roll automatically, the cash flow is already wired up, and there’s no formula to fat-finger.
If your deals are one-off and exotic, keep the spreadsheet. If they’re commercial and repeatable, stop rebuilding the same model every time.
DealWise AI vs. a spreadsheet
Speed and reliability vs. raw flexibility.
| Consideration | DealWise AI | Excel |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first analysis | Minutes: enter the deal, done | Hours: build or adapt the model |
| Formula errors | None to break: logic is built in | One bad cell reference skews everything |
| Builds the rent roll from your documents | Drop in the leases: it reads them | You type every cell |
| NOI that cannot be typed over | Derived, suite by suite | Only if you build it that way |
| Per-suite lease modeling (NNN, gross, MG) | Yes | Manual |
| Multi-year cash flow, built in | Yes | You build the schedule |
| AI investment memo with buy / hold / pass | Yes | No |
| Consistent, apples-to-apples across deals | Yes | Every file is a little different |
| Full flexibility to model anything | Guided, structured | Total: it's a blank canvas |
| You own the file offline | Cloud-based | Yes |
| Cost | Free plan, then $178/mo annual | Already on your computer |
| Best for | Fast, reliable, repeatable underwriting | One-off or highly custom models |
Where DealWise AI pulls ahead
Everything a spreadsheet makes you do by hand, done for you.
Nothing to build, nothing to break
The underwriting logic is written once, correctly. NOI derives from the rent roll, cash flow is wired up, and returns calculate themselves. No formulas to fat-finger, no broken references hiding in a cell.
Change once, cascades everywhere
Edit a lease, a rent bump, or the hold period and every projection updates instantly across the rent roll, cash flow, summary metrics, and AI analysis. No copy-paste, no chasing a change through twelve tabs.
A verdict your spreadsheet can't give
One click produces an institutional-grade memo that reads the whole deal and ends with a clear buy, hold, or pass. A spreadsheet gives you numbers; DealWise gives you numbers and a recommendation.
Where Excel still wins
A spreadsheet isn't going anywhere, and for good reason.
Total flexibility
A blank spreadsheet can model anything, an unusual waterfall, a bespoke JV structure, a one-off scenario no tool anticipated. When you need to invent the model from scratch, nothing beats a blank grid.
You already have it
Excel is on your computer right now, with no subscription and nothing to learn that you don't already know. For a quick back-of-the-envelope pass, opening a spreadsheet is genuinely hard to beat.
Full offline ownership
The file lives on your machine, yours to keep, tweak, and pass around however you like. For some workflows, that complete control matters.
Which one should you use?
Stick with Excel if
- You're modeling a one-off or highly custom structure
- You only need a quick back-of-the-envelope pass
- You want a file you fully own and control offline
- You'd rather invent the model than use a guided one
Switch to DealWise AI if
- You underwrite commercial deals regularly
- You're tired of rebuilding and debugging the same model
- You want consistent, apples-to-apples numbers across deals
- You want an AI verdict, not just cells
Excel vs. DealWise FAQ
What's wrong with underwriting in Excel?
Nothing, until a formula breaks. Spreadsheets are powerful and flexible, but every model is hand-built, which means every model can hide a bad cell reference, a stale assumption, or a broken link, and you often don't notice until a number looks off. They're also slow to spin up and hard to keep consistent from deal to deal. DealWise builds the underwriting logic once, correctly, so there's nothing to break and nothing to rebuild.
Is DealWise as flexible as a spreadsheet?
No, and it isn't trying to be. A blank spreadsheet can model anything: an unusual waterfall, a bespoke JV structure, a one-off scenario no tool anticipated. When you need to invent the model from scratch, nothing beats a blank grid. DealWise is guided and structured instead: it trades that blank-canvas flexibility for speed and reliability, with the commercial underwriting logic already built in. If your deals are one-off and exotic, keep the spreadsheet. If they're commercial and repeatable, the structure is the point.
Can I still export to Excel or PDF?
Yes. The rent roll, the monthly cash flow and the lease abstracts each download as a CSV or as an Excel workbook, and the whole deal summary downloads as a PDF, the links sit on the deal page beside the section each one covers. What the built-in logic replaces is the model, not the file: there is no spreadsheet left to rebuild.
Can I try DealWise AI for free?
Yes, there's a free plan, no credit card, and no formulas to build before you see anything. Take one of your real deals, underwrite it in DealWise, and compare it against your own spreadsheet: rent roll, cash flow, and an AI verdict. After the free plan it's $178 a month on annual billing.
Keep reading
Other comparisons, and the underwriting behind the numbers.
Compare other tools
Best commercial real estate underwriting software
Seven tools ranked, with honest pros, cons and pricing for each.
CREmodel alternative
Both read the documents. One ends with a screen, the other with a verdict.
PropertyMetrics alternative
PMX models the deal once you have the numbers. DealWise reads the documents to get them.
ARGUS alternative for investors and brokers
Institutional-grade underwriting without the institutional price.
TheAnalyst PRO alternative
Broker marketing breadth against underwriting depth.
DealWise AI pricing
What the free plan covers, and what the paid plan costs.
Learn the underwriting
How to analyze a commercial real estate deal
The order the numbers actually come in.
The commercial real estate metrics that matter
Cap rate, NOI, DSCR, IRR, and the question each one answers.
What is a rent roll?
The system of record every projection here derives from.
Free cap rate calculator
Cap rate and NOI from rent, operating expenses and purchase price.
Free DSCR calculator
Check whether the income covers the debt.
Run a deal against your spreadsheet. Free.
Take one of your real deals, underwrite it in DealWise, and see the difference: rent roll, cash flow, and an AI verdict, no formulas required.