VLOOKUP Vs.
INDEX/MATCH –
Which One is Better? (Answered)
-- By Sumit Bansal https://trumpexcel.com/vlookup-vs-index-match/
When it comes to the Excel world, it’s divided into two factions –
the VLOOKUP brigade and the INDEX/MATCH regiment.
If you’re wondering which one scores higher in the VLOOKUP vs
INDEX/MATCH battle, this article will try and answer it.
But before I do that, let me make a few things clear – this article is
not about praising one function and bashing the other. Both of
these Excel functions are amazing and have their place. In some
cases, one might be better than the other.
During one of my Excel Training sessions, I was surprised to find
out that most of the people were aware and, in some cases,
proficient in using VLOOKUP, but almost none of them knew
about the powerful INDEX/MATCH combo.
And when I mentioned it, they had a lot of queries:
Is it a lookup and reference formula? – Yes! Maybe the best
of the lot
Is it a new Excel 2016 function? – Hell NO!
Can it reference data between different worksheets or
workbooks? – Yes
Is it better than VLOOKUP? – It depends
I think the VLOOKUP PR team is doing a much better job than
that of INDEX/MATCH.
In this tutorial, I will try and compare these two formulas as
objectively as I can.
This Tutorial Covers:
VLOOKUP Vs INDEX MATCH – An Objective Comparison
o The popularity of the function
o Ease of USE
o The flexibility of the Function
o Speed of the formula
Overall Verdict (VLOOKUP Vs INDEX/MATCH Combo)
The Difference Between VLOOKUP and INDEX/MATCH
I don’t have favorites, to begin with, but I prefer using the
INDEX/MATCH combo more than VLOOKUP. The choice is
driven by a lot of factors including what the data looks like and
how it would be used. I will cover all these in this article.
VLOOKUP Vs INDEX MATCH – An
Objective Comparison
So let’s get started and put an end to this age-long debate of
VLOOKUP vs INDEX/MATCH and which one is better.
And to do this, I will compare these two functions on some
parameters (some are quantifiable and some are not).
The popularity of the function
VLOOKUP takes this hands down.
For some people, if you know how to use VLOOKUP, you know
how to use Excel. And given how much can be done with this
single function, I don’t blame them.
For this reason, a lot of people use VLOOKUP as it is better
understood by other Excel users.
Although this is not a popularity contest, it plays a huge role in
why VLOOKUP gets used so much.
Imagine you’re working with a client/manager who is proficient in
using VLOOKUP but doesn’t know how to use INDEX/MATCH. It
makes more sense to use a function which both you know,
instead of trying to teach them about INDEX/MATCH.
Verdict: VLOOKUP is a clear winner on popularity
Ease of USE
The reason VLOOKUP is so popular is that it’s easy to use (at
least when compared with INDEX/MATCH).
When I take Excel training, I would always start by first covering
VLOOKUP first. A lot of people find VLOOKUP hard, so I can’t
even imagine trying to teach them INDEX/MATCH (unless they
already know how to use VLOOKUP proficiently).
And in most cases, VLOOKUP is good enough. It can do most of
the things people need when working with data. Surely you can
do the same thing with INDEX/MATCH too, but why take the hard
road when it’s not even needed.
VLOOKUP takes 3 arguments (fourth is optional) and is easier to
understand as compared with INDEX/MATCH.
INDEX & MATCH are two separate functions that take three
arguments each and should be combined to do a lookup (getting
complicated already??).
While you may find INDEX/MATCH equally easy when you get a
hang of it, a beginner is likely to gravitate towards VLOOKUP.
Verdict: VLOOKUP gets the point for its ease of use.
The flexibility of the Function
VLOOKUP is a great function but has a few limitations:
It can not lookup and return a value which is to the left of the
lookup value.
It works only with data which is arranged vertically.
VLOOKUP would give a wrong result if you add/delete a
new column in your data (as the column number value now
refers to the wrong column). You can make the column
number dynamic, but if you planning to combine two or more
functions, why not use INDEX/MATCH in the first place.
Before you start fuming with rage and leave a comment about
how VLOOKUP can do all these things, hear me out. VLOOKUP,
as a stand-alone function, is not meant to do this. Of course, you
can combine it with other formulas and get around all these
things, but then it loses the tag of being easy to use.
If someone can use a combination to formulas to make
VLOOKUP look to the left or make columns dynamic, I am sure
that person is better off using INDEX/MATCH, which is made to
handle these things with ease.
So yes, VLOOKUP can get around these limitations, but that’s not
worth it. With more coding and robotics, I am sure you can also
make VLOOKUP fetch your favorite coffee, but remember, it’s not
made for this.
INDEX-MATCH combo, on the other hand, is made to handle all
these issues. It can
1. Lookup and return a value which is to the left of the lookup
value,
2. Handle both horizontally and/or vertically structured data.
3. Handle row/columns numbers in case you insert or delete
some from the dataset
Verdict: INDEX/MATCH combo gives you a lot more flexibility
than VLOOKUP.
Speed of the formula
The difference is hardly noticeable when you have small data
sets.
But if you have thousands of rows and many columns, this can be
a deciding factor.
Without reinventing the wheel, here is a post by Charley Kyd,
where he clearly mentions:
At its worst, the INDEX-MATCH method is about as fast as VLOOKUP; at its best, it’s much faster.
While I have considered this as one of the factors, I believe it’s
less important than others. Over the years, Microsoft has been
hard at work trying to improve the speed of these functions, and
they have made considerable improvements since I wrote this
article first.
Here is an update where they mention how they are making
formula such as VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and MATCH faster.
Also, it’s a very small percentage of the number of people who
can actually benefit from the speed improvement that comes with
using INDEX/MATCH over VLOOKUP.
Verdict: If speed is what you are looking for, INDEX/MATCH
combo is the way to go.
Overall Verdict (VLOOKUP Vs
INDEX/MATCH Combo)
Although I am a huge fan of INDEX/MATCH, in all fairness I must
admit, VLOOKUP is still the King.
This doesn’t mean that you should not learn about
INDEX/MATCH, but if you’re new to Excel and lookup formulas,
start with VLOOKUP. Use it and master it first, and then move to
INDEX/MATCH
INDEX/MATCH is a powerful combo that has more flexibility and
speed than the VLOOKUP formula.
That being said, VLOOKUP is not going anywhere and is likely to
remain as one of the most popular functions in Excel for ages to
come.
Well, the debate is not exactly over (see the comments section).
Fuel the fire – leave your 2 cents in the comments section.
The Difference Between VLOOKUP
and INDEX/MATCH
Before getting to the comparison, I think it’s important to know the
basic difference (and more importantly the similarities) between
these two functions.
I am not going to get into the syntax and example of these
functions. If you’re interested in that, I have detailed tutorials on
both VLOOKUP and INDEX/MATCH.
Both VLOOKUP and INDEX/MATCH are formulas you can use to
look up a value in a dataset and fetch the corresponding value
(just like you scan a menu and look for the price of the dish you
want to order).
In most cases, you can use these interchangeably.
The main differences in these functions become more important
when you need a little more than a simple lookup and fetch
operation.
Here are some basic differences in these two formulas (more
covered in detailed later in this article):
1. VLOOKUP is a single formula that does all the lookup-and-
fetch, but with INDEX/MATCH, you need to use both the
functions in the formula.
2. INDEX/MATCH can more advanced lookup – such as
lookup to the left of the dataset, make row/column value
dynamic, etc.
3. INDEX/MATCH provides a lot more flexibility, which is better
suited when building data models or working with complex
data
You May Also Like the Following VLOOKUP Tutorials:
How to Use VLOOKUP with Multiple Criteria.
How to make VLOOKUP Case Sensitive.
Use IFERROR with VLOOKUP to Get Rid of #N/A Errors.
Use VLookup to Get the Last Number in a List in Excel.
Excel Index Match
Formula vs Function in Excel – What’s the Difference?
