# REGEXMATCH vs asking a question

REGEXMATCH is fast, free and exact. It also answers a different question than the one you have. Here is the same column judged both ways.

Updated 22 September 2026. Source: https://hunchsheet.app/formulas/regexmatch-vs-asking-a-question

## The two formulas

```
=REGEXMATCH(A2, "(?i)refund")
```

```
=HUNCH(A2:A500, "Does this message ask for a refund?")
```
In Excel: `=HUNCH.ASK(A2:A500, "Does this message ask for a refund?")`

## Real outputs

| Message | REGEXMATCH | Asks for a refund? (0–1) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| I was charged twice for the March invoice. Can you refund the duplicate? | TRUE | 0.99 |
| You billed me for a year after I cancelled. Please reverse the charge. | FALSE | 0.97 |
| No refund needed, I just want to know when the feature ships. | TRUE | 0.03 |
| The export button does nothing on Safari. Works in Chrome. | FALSE | 0.01 |
| Cancel my subscription and give me my money back for this month. | FALSE | 0.99 |

The keyword misses "reverse the charge" and "give me my money back", and flags "No refund needed". Three of five rows wrong, on a five-row sample written to be ordinary.

## When each one is right

- **REGEXMATCH** when the thing you want is literally a string: an order number pattern, a domain, a SKU, a word that is never used any other way.
- **A question** when you want the meaning: asks for a refund, is angry, mentions a competitor, needs a human. The words vary; the meaning does not.
- **Both** when you want a cheap first pass: REGEXMATCH to pull the obvious matches, the question on the rest. Or the question on everything and REGEXMATCH as a sanity check on the extremes.

> Tip: A probability is more useful than TRUE/FALSE here: 0.5 means "read this one", which a keyword can never say.

## Questions

### Is the question formula slower?

About two seconds for 40 rows, run in parallel across the column. REGEXMATCH is instant. For a 500-row export the difference is a few seconds.

### Does the question formula cost money?

One credit per row. The five rows above cost five credits, about three cents on the Starter pack. REGEXMATCH is free.