VerveSheets
Formulas for

Edit Distance

Text Processing1 credit/cellSheets · Excel
=VERVE("levenshteindistance", "kitten", "sitting", "field", "distance")
What this pulls

Measure how alike two strings are. Returns edit distance and similarity percent — Sheets or Excel.

It's one of 250+ live sources you reach with a single =VERVE() function — served from APIVerve's production data engine, billed at 1 credit per resolved cell, and refreshed on whatever cadence you set. No API keys to wrangle, no scripts, no exports.

See it in a cell

A real example — the input you type, and the values you can pull from it. Click any cell to see the formula behind it.

levenshteindistance.xlsxsample data
C2fx=VERVE("levenshteindistance", A2, B2, "field", "distance")
A
B
C
D
E
1
String1
String2
Distance
Similarity
Match Level
2
kitten
sitting
3
57.14
medium
3
4
click any cell to see its formula1 credit / cell
Ways to use it

Clean a column of text

Fill =VERVE("levenshteindistance", "kitten", "sitting", "field", "distance") beside messy text and get the normalized, analyzed, or translated version back — data cleaning without leaving the grid.

Analyze at scale

Score or classify a whole column of responses, reviews, or messages in one fill instead of one-by-one.

Compose with other formulas

Nest Edit Distance's output inside your existing SUM, IF, or CONCAT logic like any other cell value.

Use it in your sheet

The same function works in both apps — install once, sign in with your key, and type it into any cell.

Google SheetsAdd-on

Install from the Workspace Marketplace, then drop the formula into a cell. Autocomplete suggests the source and its fields.

=VERVE("levenshteindistance", "kitten", "sitting", "field", "distance")
Microsoft ExcelAdd-in

Same source, same arguments, same key — in Excel on desktop, the web, or mobile. Excel namespaces it as VERVE.CALL. Drag to fill a whole column.

=VERVE.CALL("levenshteindistance", "kitten", "sitting", "field", "distance")
Fields you can pull

Add a field name as the last argument to land just that value in the cell.

  • Distance
    =VERVE("levenshteindistance", "kitten", "sitting", "field", "distance")
  • Similarity
    =VERVE("levenshteindistance", "kitten", "sitting", "field", "similarity")
  • Match Level
    =VERVE("levenshteindistance", "kitten", "sitting", "field", "matchLevel")
  • String1 LengthPremium
    =VERVE("levenshteindistance", "kitten", "sitting", "field", "string1Length")
  • String2 LengthPremium
    =VERVE("levenshteindistance", "kitten", "sitting", "field", "string2Length")
  • String1Premium
    =VERVE("levenshteindistance", "kitten", "sitting", "field", "string1")
  • String2Premium
    =VERVE("levenshteindistance", "kitten", "sitting", "field", "string2")

Premium marks data included on paid plans. On the Free plan a marked field is withheld and a marked input is ignored — either way the cell reads #PREMIUM(name) instead of a value, so a gated answer can never be mistaken for a real one. Everything unmarked works on every plan. Compare plans

Edit Distance, answered

Everything you need to wire it into a sheet.

How do I pull Edit Distance into Google Sheets?
Install the VerveSheets add-on, sign in once with your key, and type =VERVE("levenshteindistance", "kitten", "sitting", "field", "distance") into any cell. The "field" argument names the value you want back, so the cell resolves to a single number or string you can chart, sort, or feed into another formula.
What data can I pull from Edit Distance?
Edit Distance returns distance, similarity and matchLevel — name any one of them as the "field" argument and that value lands in the cell. Leave the field out and the whole record spills into a two-column table instead.
Which Edit Distance fields need a paid plan?
string1Length, string2Length, string1 and string2 are included from the Starter plan up. On the Free plan the cell returns #PREMIUM(field) rather than a wrong or empty value, so it's always obvious which one to upgrade for. Every other field works on Free.
Can I fill a whole column of Edit Distance at once?
Yes. Put your string1 values down a column and point the formula at the range — A2:A50 instead of A2 — and one call returns a value for every row. Dragging the formula down works too, but the range form is a single billed call per column rather than one per cell.
How many credits does each Edit Distance cell cost?
Each resolved cell costs 1 credit. A cell only re-bills when it actually refreshes, so a sheet you aren't touching doesn't keep charging.
Does Edit Distance work in Excel as well as Google Sheets?
Yes — same arguments, same key, same fields. Excel namespaces custom functions, so the call is =VERVE.CALL() there and =VERVE() in Google Sheets; nothing else about it changes.
Combine it with
Add Emojis to Text
=VERVE("emojidecorator", "I am so excited to go to the lake and swim")
Analyze Words
=VERVE("lexicon", "listen", "field", "isAlphagram")
Calculate Reading Time
=VERVE("readingtime", "This is a sample article with multiple paragraphs. Reading time will be calculated based on word count. The average reading speed is 250 words per minute, which can be customized. This helps content creators provide accurate time estimates to their readers.", "field", "text_length")
Check Grammar
=VERVE("grammarcheck", "The the pig snorted when I saw it on the barn gate. I was a little mad becuase it woke up my pupppppy", "field", "modified")
Check Palindromes
=VERVE("palindromechecker", "A man a plan a canal Panama", "field", "is_palindrome")
Check Spelling
=VERVE("spellchecker", "I neeed to call my friend on telephine today!", "field", "spellPass")
Browse all sources

Put Edit Distance in your next spreadsheet. Add the extension, paste the formula, and the cell keeps itself current.

Add to Google Sheets→Add to Excel

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