Python is preinstalled on macs at least, that's a decent chunk of personal computers. You have to pay for excel. And you don't need to bother with virtual environments to fiddle with a flat file.
I think an important part of the battle for attention is that excel is visible as a GUI that inexperienced users can open from an icon and see and manipulate. A simple GUI utility with Python input in one pane and data input in the other might put them on more equal footing.
