diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f4e55e8..1972533 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -74,6 +74,21 @@ rows =
 Exceed.Worksheet.new("Sheet Name", ["Heading 1", "Heading 2"], rows)
 ```
 
+### Raw rows mode
+
+For large data sets, the `raw: true` option bypasses the `Cell` protocol
+and `XmlStream`, generating SpreadsheetML XML directly as iodata. Rows are
+processed in parallel batches using `Task.async_stream`.
+
+``` elixir
+Exceed.Worksheet.new("Sheet Name", ["Heading 1", "Heading 2"], rows, raw: true)
+```
+
+This is significantly faster for worksheets with many rows, at the cost of not
+supporting custom `Cell` protocol implementations. Supported value types:
+strings, integers, floats, booleans, atoms, `nil`, `Date`, `DateTime`, and
+`NaiveDateTime`.
+
 ## Alternatives & References
 
 This library is inspired by and learns from other great libraries. One might
diff --git a/benchmark/exceed.exs b/benchmark/exceed.exs
index 20ba109..10c200a 100644
--- a/benchmark/exceed.exs
+++ b/benchmark/exceed.exs
@@ -11,6 +11,15 @@ defmodule Benchmark do
       |> Zstream.zip()
       |> Stream.run()
     end)
+
+    benchmark(column_count, row_count, fn ->
+      Exceed.Worksheet.new("Sheet Name", headers, stream, raw: true)
+      |> Exceed.Worksheet.to_xml()
+      |> Exceed.File.file("xl/worksheets/sheet1.xml", opts)
+      |> List.wrap()
+      |> Zstream.zip()
+      |> Stream.run()
+    end)
   end
 
   defp headers(column_count) do
diff --git a/lib/exceed/file.ex b/lib/exceed/file.ex
index c9d3c08..9d666b2 100644
--- a/lib/exceed/file.ex
+++ b/lib/exceed/file.ex
@@ -4,12 +4,17 @@ defmodule Exceed.File do
   @buffer_size_bytes 128 * 1024
   @accumulator {<<>>, 0}
 
-  def file(content, filename, opts) do
+  def file(content, filename, opts) when is_list(content) do
     stream = XmlStream.stream!(content, printer: Exceed.Xml)
     stream = if Keyword.get(opts, :buffer, true), do: buffer(stream), else: stream
     Zstream.entry(filename, stream)
   end
 
+  def file(content, filename, opts) do
+    stream = if Keyword.get(opts, :buffer, true), do: buffer(content), else: content
+    Zstream.entry(filename, stream)
+  end
+
   defp buffer(stream) do
     stream
     |> Stream.chunk_while(
diff --git a/lib/exceed/worksheet.ex b/lib/exceed/worksheet.ex
index 18bf726..4c965f0 100644
--- a/lib/exceed/worksheet.ex
+++ b/lib/exceed/worksheet.ex
@@ -65,6 +65,26 @@ defmodule Exceed.Worksheet do
     the [OpenXML.Spreadsheet Column docs](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/documentformat.openxml.spreadsheet.column?view=openxml-3.0.1)
     for more info).
 
+  ## Raw rows mode
+
+  For large data sets, the `raw: true` option bypasses the `Exceed.Worksheet.Cell`
+  protocol and `XmlStream`, generating SpreadsheetML XML directly as iodata. This can
+  be significantly faster for worksheets with many rows.
+
+  ``` elixir
+  iex> headers = ["Name", "Age"]
+  iex> rows = [["Alice", 30], ["Bob", 25]]
+  iex> Exceed.Worksheet.new("Sheet", headers, rows, raw: true)
+  #Exceed.Worksheet<name: "Sheet", ...>
+  ```
+
+  Row data is processed in batches using `Task.async_stream` for parallel
+  iodata generation. Supported value types: strings, integers, floats, booleans,
+  atoms, `nil`, `Date`, `DateTime`, and `NaiveDateTime`.
+
+  Note: because the `Cell` protocol is bypassed, custom `Cell` implementations
+  are not available in raw rows mode.
+
   """
   alias Exceed.Worksheet.Cell
   alias XmlStream, as: Xs
@@ -95,6 +115,12 @@ defmodule Exceed.Worksheet do
   Initialize a new worksheet to be added to a workbook. See `Exceed.Workbook.add_worksheet/2`.
   For worksheet options, see the module docs for `m:Exceed.Worksheet#module-sheet-options`.
 
+  ## Options
+
+  - `:raw` - when `true`, bypasses the `Cell` protocol and generates XML
+    directly as iodata for better performance. See the module docs for details.
+  - `:cols` - column configuration. See the module docs for details.
+
   ## Examples
 
   ``` elixir
@@ -115,7 +141,15 @@ defmodule Exceed.Worksheet do
     do: __struct__(name: name, headers: headers, content: content, opts: opts)
 
   @doc false
-  def to_xml(%__MODULE__{headers: headers, content: content, opts: opts}) do
+  def to_xml(%__MODULE__{opts: opts} = ws) do
+    if Keyword.get(opts, :raw, false) do
+      Exceed.Worksheet.Raw.stream(ws)
+    else
+      xml_stream(ws)
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp xml_stream(%__MODULE__{headers: headers, content: content, opts: opts}) do
     %{
       col_padding: col_padding,
       col_widths: col_widths
@@ -192,7 +226,8 @@ defmodule Exceed.Worksheet do
     )
   end
 
-  defp normalize_opts(opts) do
+  @doc false
+  def normalize_opts(opts) do
     %{
       col_padding: get_in(opts, [:cols, :padding]) || 4.25,
       col_widths: get_in(opts, [:cols, :widths]) || %{}
@@ -203,8 +238,9 @@ defmodule Exceed.Worksheet do
   defp next_alphabet([]), do: [?A]
   defp next_alphabet([x | rest]) when x == ?Z, do: [?A | next_alphabet(rest)]
 
-  defp prepend_headers(stream, nil), do: stream
-  defp prepend_headers(stream, headers), do: Stream.concat([headers], stream)
+  @doc false
+  def prepend_headers(stream, nil), do: stream
+  def prepend_headers(stream, headers), do: Stream.concat([headers], stream)
 
   defp sheet_data(stream, headers) do
     stream
diff --git a/lib/exceed/worksheet/raw.ex b/lib/exceed/worksheet/raw.ex
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0408989
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/exceed/worksheet/raw.ex
@@ -0,0 +1,179 @@
+defmodule Exceed.Worksheet.Raw do
+  @moduledoc """
+  Generates SpreadsheetML XML directly as iodata, bypassing the
+  `Exceed.Worksheet.Cell` protocol and `XmlStream` for improved performance
+  on large data sets.
+
+  Used internally by `Exceed.Worksheet.to_xml/1` when the `raw: true` option
+  is set. Row data is processed in parallel batches via `Task.async_stream`.
+
+  Supported value types: strings, integers, floats, booleans, atoms, `nil`,
+  `Date`, `DateTime`, and `NaiveDateTime`.
+  """
+
+  @raw_batch_size 5_000
+
+  def stream(%Exceed.Worksheet{headers: headers, content: content, opts: opts}) do
+    %{col_padding: col_padding, col_widths: col_widths} = Exceed.Worksheet.normalize_opts(opts)
+    col_letters = column_letters(headers || Enum.at(content, 0))
+
+    header_xml = header_xml(headers, col_padding, col_widths)
+    footer_xml = footer_xml()
+
+    row_stream =
+      content
+      |> Exceed.Worksheet.prepend_headers(headers)
+      |> Stream.with_index(1)
+      |> Stream.chunk_every(@raw_batch_size)
+      |> Task.async_stream(
+        fn batch ->
+          Enum.map(batch, fn {row, row_idx} ->
+            row(row, row_idx, col_letters)
+          end)
+        end,
+        ordered: true,
+        max_concurrency: System.schedulers_online()
+      )
+      |> Stream.map(fn {:ok, rows} -> rows end)
+
+    Stream.concat([
+      [header_xml],
+      row_stream,
+      [footer_xml]
+    ])
+  end
+
+  # # #
+
+  defp column_letters(items) do
+    items
+    |> Enum.with_index()
+    |> Enum.map(fn {_, i} -> col_idx_to_letter(i + 1) end)
+  end
+
+  defp col_idx_to_letter(n) when n <= 26, do: <<n + ?A - 1>>
+
+  defp col_idx_to_letter(n) do
+    col_idx_to_letter(div(n - 1, 26)) <> <<rem(n - 1, 26) + ?A>>
+  end
+
+  defp header_xml(headers, col_padding, col_widths) do
+    cols_xml = cols_xml(headers, col_padding, col_widths)
+
+    [
+      ~s(<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>),
+      ~s(<worksheet xmlns="#{Exceed.Namespace.main()}" xmlns:r="#{Exceed.Namespace.relationships()}" xml:space="preserve">),
+      ~s(<sheetPr><pageSetUpPr fitToPage="0"/></sheetPr>),
+      ~s(<sheetViews><sheetView defaultGridColor="1" rightToLeft="0" showFormulas="0" showGridLines="1" showOutlineSymbols="0" showRowColHeaders="1" showRuler="1" showWhiteSpace="0" showZeros="1" tabSelected="0" windowProtection="0" workbookViewId="0" zoomScale="100" zoomScaleNormal="0" zoomScalePageLayoutView="0" zoomScaleSheetLayoutView="0"/></sheetViews>),
+      ~s(<sheetFormatPr baseColWidth="8" defaultRowHeight="18"/>),
+      cols_xml,
+      ~s(<sheetData>)
+    ]
+  end
+
+  defp cols_xml(nil, _padding, _widths), do: ""
+
+  defp cols_xml(headers, padding, widths) do
+    cols =
+      headers
+      |> Enum.with_index(1)
+      |> Enum.map(fn {header, i} ->
+        width = Map.get(widths, i, String.length(to_string(header)) + padding)
+        ~s(<col min="#{i}" max="#{i}" width="#{width}"/>)
+      end)
+
+    ["<cols>", cols, "</cols>"]
+  end
+
+  defp footer_xml do
+    [
+      "</sheetData>",
+      ~s(<sheetCalcPr fullCalcOnLoad="1"/>),
+      ~s(<printOptions gridLines="0" headings="0" horizontalCentered="0" verticalCentered="0"/>),
+      ~s(<pageMargins bottom="1.0" footer="0.5" header="0.5" left="0.75" right="0.75" top="1.0"/>),
+      "<pageSetup/>",
+      "<headerFooter/>",
+      "</worksheet>"
+    ]
+  end
+
+  defp row(cells, row_idx, col_letters) do
+    row_str = Integer.to_string(row_idx)
+
+    [
+      "<row r=\"",
+      row_str,
+      "\">",
+      cells(cells, row_str, col_letters),
+      "</row>"
+    ]
+  end
+
+  defp cells(cells, row_str, col_letters) do
+    cells
+    |> Enum.zip(col_letters)
+    |> Enum.map(fn {value, letter} -> cell(value, letter, row_str) end)
+  end
+
+  defp cell(value, letter, row_str) when is_integer(value) do
+    ["<c r=\"", letter, row_str, "\" t=\"n\"><v>", Integer.to_string(value), "</v></c>"]
+  end
+
+  defp cell(value, letter, row_str) when is_float(value) do
+    ["<c r=\"", letter, row_str, "\" t=\"n\"><v>", Float.to_string(value), "</v></c>"]
+  end
+
+  defp cell(value, letter, row_str) when is_binary(value) do
+    ["<c r=\"", letter, row_str, "\" t=\"inlineStr\"><is><t>", escape_xml(value), "</t></is></c>"]
+  end
+
+  defp cell(nil, letter, row_str) do
+    ["<c r=\"", letter, row_str, "\" t=\"inlineStr\"><is><t></t></is></c>"]
+  end
+
+  defp cell(true, letter, row_str) do
+    ["<c r=\"", letter, row_str, "\" t=\"b\"><v>1</v></c>"]
+  end
+
+  defp cell(false, letter, row_str) do
+    ["<c r=\"", letter, row_str, "\" t=\"b\"><v>0</v></c>"]
+  end
+
+  defp cell(value, letter, row_str) when is_atom(value) do
+    cell(Atom.to_string(value), letter, row_str)
+  end
+
+  defp cell(%Date{year: year} = date, letter, row_str) when year >= 1900 do
+    value = Exceed.Util.to_excel_datetime(date)
+    ["<c r=\"", letter, row_str, "\" s=\"1\"><v>", Float.to_string(value), "</v></c>"]
+  end
+
+  defp cell(%Date{} = date, letter, row_str) do
+    cell(Date.to_iso8601(date), letter, row_str)
+  end
+
+  defp cell(%DateTime{year: year} = dt, letter, row_str) when year >= 1900 do
+    value = Exceed.Util.to_excel_datetime(dt)
+    ["<c r=\"", letter, row_str, "\" s=\"2\"><v>", Float.to_string(value), "</v></c>"]
+  end
+
+  defp cell(%DateTime{} = dt, letter, row_str) do
+    cell(DateTime.to_iso8601(dt), letter, row_str)
+  end
+
+  defp cell(%NaiveDateTime{year: year} = ndt, letter, row_str) when year >= 1900 do
+    value = Exceed.Util.to_excel_datetime(ndt)
+    ["<c r=\"", letter, row_str, "\" s=\"2\"><v>", Float.to_string(value), "</v></c>"]
+  end
+
+  defp cell(%NaiveDateTime{} = ndt, letter, row_str) do
+    cell(NaiveDateTime.to_iso8601(ndt), letter, row_str)
+  end
+
+  defp escape_xml(string) do
+    string
+    |> String.replace("&", "&amp;")
+    |> String.replace("<", "&lt;")
+    |> String.replace(">", "&gt;")
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/exceed/worksheet_test.exs b/test/exceed/worksheet_test.exs
index af49643..b7fcbf6 100644
--- a/test/exceed/worksheet_test.exs
+++ b/test/exceed/worksheet_test.exs
@@ -200,6 +200,61 @@ defmodule Exceed.WorksheetTest do
     end
   end
 
+  describe "to_xml with raw: true" do
+    test "generates rows for the headers and each member of the stream", %{headers: headers, stream: stream} do
+      ws = Worksheet.new("sheet", headers, Enum.take(stream, 2), raw: true)
+      xml = Worksheet.to_xml(ws) |> Enum.to_list() |> IO.iodata_to_binary()
+      xml = XmlQuery.parse(xml)
+
+      assert [header_row, row_1, row_2] = Xq.all(xml, "/worksheet/sheetData/row")
+
+      assert header_row |> Xq.attr("r") == "1"
+
+      header_row
+      |> extract_cells()
+      |> assert_eq([
+        %{type: "inlineStr", text: "inline strings", children: "is/t", cell: "A1"},
+        %{type: "inlineStr", text: "integers", children: "is/t", cell: "B1"},
+        %{type: "inlineStr", text: "floats", children: "is/t", cell: "C1"}
+      ])
+
+      row_1
+      |> extract_cells()
+      |> assert_eq([
+        %{type: "inlineStr", text: "row 1 cell 1", children: "is/t", cell: "A2"},
+        %{type: "n", text: "1", children: "v", cell: "B2"},
+        %{type: "n", text: "1.5", children: "v", cell: "C2"}
+      ])
+
+      row_2
+      |> extract_cells()
+      |> assert_eq([
+        %{type: "inlineStr", text: "row 2 cell 1", children: "is/t", cell: "A3"},
+        %{type: "n", text: "2", children: "v", cell: "B3"},
+        %{type: "n", text: "3.0", children: "v", cell: "C3"}
+      ])
+    end
+
+    test "generates correct column widths from headers", %{headers: headers, stream: stream} do
+      ws = Worksheet.new("sheet", headers, Enum.take(stream, 0), raw: true)
+      xml = Worksheet.to_xml(ws) |> Enum.to_list() |> IO.iodata_to_binary()
+      xml = XmlQuery.parse(xml)
+
+      assert [col1, col2, col3] = Xq.all(xml, "/worksheet/cols/col")
+
+      assert Xq.attr(col1, "width") == "18.25"
+      assert Xq.attr(col2, "width") == "12.25"
+      assert Xq.attr(col3, "width") == "10.25"
+    end
+
+    test "escapes XML special characters in strings" do
+      ws = Worksheet.new("sheet", ["h"], [["<b>bold</b> & \"quotes\""]], raw: true)
+      xml = Worksheet.to_xml(ws) |> Enum.to_list() |> IO.iodata_to_binary()
+
+      assert xml =~ "&lt;b&gt;bold&lt;/b&gt; &amp; \"quotes\""
+    end
+  end
+
   # # #
 
   defp extract_cells(row) do
diff --git a/test/exceed_test.exs b/test/exceed_test.exs
index 6d9fc3d..303003d 100644
--- a/test/exceed_test.exs
+++ b/test/exceed_test.exs
@@ -144,6 +144,53 @@ defmodule ExceedTest do
     end
   end
 
+  describe "raw: true roundtrip" do
+    @describetag :tmp_dir
+
+    test "produces valid XLSX with correct data", %{tmp_dir: tmpdir} do
+      rows = [
+        ["Alice", 30, 1.75],
+        ["Bob", 25, 1.80],
+        ["Charlie", 35, 1.65]
+      ]
+
+      filename =
+        Exceed.Workbook.new("me")
+        |> Exceed.Workbook.add_worksheet(Exceed.Worksheet.new("People", ["Name", "Age", "Height"], rows, raw: true))
+        |> stream_to_file(tmpdir)
+
+      assert {:ok, wb} = XlsxReader.open(to_string(filename))
+      assert XlsxReader.sheet_names(wb) == ["People"]
+      assert {:ok, sheet_rows} = XlsxReader.sheet(wb, "People")
+
+      assert sheet_rows == [
+               ["Name", "Age", "Height"],
+               ["Alice", 30, 1.75],
+               ["Bob", 25, 1.8],
+               ["Charlie", 35, 1.65]
+             ]
+    end
+
+    test "handles dates", %{tmp_dir: tmpdir} do
+      today = Date.utc_today()
+      rows = [[today], [Date.add(today, -1)]]
+
+      filename =
+        Exceed.Workbook.new("me")
+        |> Exceed.Workbook.add_worksheet(Exceed.Worksheet.new("Dates", ["Date"], rows, raw: true))
+        |> stream_to_file(tmpdir)
+
+      assert {:ok, wb} = XlsxReader.open(to_string(filename))
+      assert {:ok, sheet_rows} = XlsxReader.sheet(wb, "Dates")
+
+      assert sheet_rows == [
+               ["Date"],
+               [today],
+               [Date.add(today, -1)]
+             ]
+    end
+  end
+
   describe "strings" do
     @describetag :tmp_dir
     test "can be parsed", %{tmp_dir: tmpdir} do