What Modern CSV does well
Modern CSV offers direct editing, find/replace, sorting, filtering, delimiter detection, JSON/XML import and export, themes, and a read-only mode that indexes large files instead of loading them fully into memory. Its documentation says read-only files can still be sorted and filtered.
Sources: Modern CSV basics, sort and filter documentation.
Why choose csvlite
Choose csvlite when editing is a liability rather than a feature. It has a deliberately focused filter UI for text, regex, numbers, dates, empty, unique and duplicated values; numeric/text/date profiles; nested grouping and aggregations; native JSON Lines viewing with expandable objects; and automatic restoration of open tabs and analysis state.
Privacy is also a precise distinction. Modern CSV says file contents and metadata remain local, while it occasionally sends OS, license and version information. The csvlite app contains no network client and sends no telemetry at all.
Source: Modern CSV privacy FAQ.
Claims we are not making yet
We do not currently claim csvlite is categorically faster. Modern CSV’s large-file mode is purpose-built, and its version 3 beta advertises additional analysis and stream-editing features. Controlled results will be published with versions, hardware, corpus hashes and raw trials.
| Priority | Best fit |
|---|---|
| Edit CSV cells and reshape files | Modern CSV |
| JSONL as a browsable table with nested expansion | csvlite |
| Absolutely zero app network traffic | csvlite |
| General-purpose CSV application | Modern CSV |
| Read-only profiles, pivots and persistent investigation state | csvlite |