Cube and Centage publish starting prices, while Datarails, Vena, Planful, Workday Adaptive Planning, Pigment and Anaplan price by quote. Excel-compatible FP&A software keeps formulas, layouts and models in Excel, while adding a central database, version control and approval workflows behind the workbook. Small finance teams should start with Cube, Centage or Jirav-style pricing clarity, while larger teams with several entities should shortlist Vena, Planful, Workday Adaptive Planning, Pigment or Anaplan.
We compared 8 options for top excel-compatible fp&a software for businesses. Each profile below lists the price, free plan, pros and cons as published by the company.
On this page
Top excel-compatible fp&a software for businesses: comparison table
Swipe the table sideways on a phone to see every column.
| # | Name | Best for | Starting price | Free plan / trial | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cube | Lean finance teams that live in Excel and Google Sheets | $1,250 per month | No | Visit |
| 2 | Datarails | Mid-market teams that want Excel models with a governed data layer | quote only | No | Visit |
| 3 | Vena | Microsoft 365 teams that want Excel as the main planning surface | quote only | No | Visit |
| 4 | Planful | Mid-market teams that need planning, close and consolidation in one place | quote only | No | Visit |
| 5 | Workday Adaptive Planning | Finance teams that need structured budgeting, forecasting and reporting | quote only | Free trial (30 days) | Visit |
| 6 | Pigment | Cross-department planning across finance, sales and workforce | quote only | Free trial (14 days) | Visit |
| 7 | Anaplan | Large teams that need connected planning across departments | quote only | No | Visit |
| 8 | Centage | Mid-market teams that want budgeting, forecasting and reporting from $699 per month | $699 per month | No | Visit |
The 8 best top excel-compatible fp&a software for businesses, in detail
Cube
Best for: Lean finance teams that live in Excel and Google Sheets
Cube is the most direct answer for a finance team that wants to keep working in spreadsheets. The platform connects Excel and Google Sheets to source systems, so analysts can build budgets, forecasts and reports in a familiar layout while the underlying data stays centralised. The Essential plan starts at $1,250 per month, and it includes a basic ERP connection, 2 admins and 2 contributors, spreadsheet integrations, templates and unlimited scenarios.
- The Premium plan is listed as starting at $2,450 per month, and it adds premium ERP connections, 3 admins and 5 contributors, multicurrency, a dedicat
- The Enterprise plan is quoted for pre-IPO and public companies.
- Cube also notes that additional charges for users, connectors and cubes may apply, so count model builders, data entry users and connected systems bef
Pros
- Works inside Excel and Google Sheets
- published starting price
- unlimited scenarios on the Essential plan
Cons
- Extra users, connectors and cubes can add cost
- no free plan
Datarails
Best for: Mid-market teams that want Excel models with a governed data layer
Datarails is built for finance teams that already run their planning in Excel and want to stop copying files between folders and inboxes. The platform connects Excel, Google Sheets and a web app to a shared data layer, so reports, plans and dashboards read from the same actuals. Its pricing page lists three plans, Professional, Premium and Expert, each with a request-quote button rather than a dollar amount.
- Professional is capped at 2 users and 1 integration, Premium at 5 users and 2 integrations, and Expert at 15 users and 3 integrations.
- The quote is driven by seats and connected systems rather than by feature gates.
- Reporting, planning, dashboards, Data Mapper, lookups, workflows, version control and permissions appear across the plans, while Premium adds AI Story
- Datarails also sells Cash Management, Month-End Close, Spend and Desk as products that can be layered onto a plan, so ask which are included and what
Pros
- Keeps work in Excel while centralising data
- plans cover reporting, planning and dashboards
- AI features are included in the plan structure
Cons
- No published price, so budgeting needs a sales quote
- Professional plan caps at 2 users and 1 integration
Vena
Best for: Microsoft 365 teams that want Excel as the main planning surface
Vena is a strong fit when Excel is the main working surface for the whole finance team. Analysts keep modelling in workbooks, while Vena adds a central database, version control, workflow and an audit trail behind those files. The pricing page lists two plans, Professional and Complete.
- Professional includes the Vena platform, Copilot, a customer success manager and standard support.
- Complete adds Vena Insights, premium support, a sandbox, managed services and export APIs.
- The Excel-first design helps adoption, because analysts do not need to learn a new modelling language before the first budget cycle.
- It also creates a risk that template sprawl can return if nobody owns the model structure and the approval steps.
Pros
- Excel-native interface for analysts
- central database, workflow and audit trail
- Power BI integration on the Complete plan
Cons
- No published price
- implementation and add-on modules are priced separately
Planful
Best for: Mid-market teams that need planning, close and consolidation in one place
Planful suits a finance team where the controller and the FP&A lead need to share one platform. It sells Planning, Close, Consolidation and Reporting as four products on one data model, so the close that lands in Planful is the same close that the forecast reads from. The platform covers budgeting, rolling forecasts, scenario modelling, workforce planning and structured reporting, with AI features named Analyst and Planner in its product material.
- Planful publishes no prices, so every contract is quoted by product and user count.
- The number of the four products you license is the first cost driver, followed by user count, data volume and entities.
- Implementation and training are also quoted, and partners can deliver the work as well as Planful itself.
- List the products you need in year one and year two before you shortlist it, because adding a product later can change the subscription more than addi
Pros
- Combines Planning, Close, Consolidation and Reporting on one data model
- structured templates for budgeting and forecasting
- workforce planning as an add-on
Cons
- No published price and no public pricing page
- modelling depth is lower than connected-planning platforms
Workday Adaptive Planning
Best for: Finance teams that need structured budgeting, forecasting and reporting
Workday Adaptive Planning is a finance-first planning platform for budgeting, forecasting, financial modelling and management reporting. It gives teams a structured way to build plans, run versions and scenarios, and report plan against actual without rebuilding the model in a fresh workbook each month. It is a natural shortlist item for organisations that already use Workday HCM or Workday Financials, and it also works as a standalone FP&A tool for teams that want a governed planning model.
- The vendor lists pricing as varying by user tier and module, and it offers a 30-day free trial, which is rare in this category.
- Use that trial with a real planning cycle: load your chart of accounts, import a recent month of actuals, build one driver-based forecast, and run a v
- Ask for a written quote that separates licence, implementation and support, and confirm the deployment time for a team of your size, because published
Pros
- Structured planning with unlimited versions and scenarios
- 30-day free trial
- strong fit for Workday HCM and Financials users
Cons
- No published price
- complex workforce and operational planning can need extra consulting effort
Pigment
Best for: Cross-department planning across finance, sales and workforce
Pigment is a connected planning platform that brings finance, sales, workforce and operations into one model. That scope makes it a good fit when the budget is a shared plan that sales leaders, people leaders and operations leaders all need to read and update. The platform covers FP&A, revenue planning, headcount planning, sales planning and supply chain planning, with AI features for modelling and analysis.
- Pigment does not publish prices, and its plans are quoted by user count and modules deployed.
- It does offer a 14-day free trial with modelling and AI agent access, so you can test the model builder before a sales call.
- Use the trial to build one connected model, such as headcount driving payroll cost driving the profit and loss forecast.
- Ask who will own the model after go-live, because Pigment still needs a trained owner for model design.
Pros
- One model for FP&A, revenue, headcount, sales and supply chain planning
- 14-day free trial
- modern interface for non-finance users
Cons
- No published price
- model design still needs a trained owner
Anaplan
Best for: Large teams that need connected planning across departments
Anaplan is built for enterprises that connect finance with sales, supply chain and workforce plans on one model. Its multi-dimensional modelling lets teams plan by product, region, channel, customer and cost centre in the same structure, rather than stitching separate models together at month end. Analysts can work through an Excel add-in, while the central model holds the shared drivers, versions and assumptions.
- The trade-off is scale and cost.
- Anaplan lists no free trial, and its pricing link routes to a sales contact form, so the only way to get a number is a quoted proposal based on worksp
- Implementation is often partner-delivered, and published comparisons give a typical range of 4 to 9 months for a first use case.
- Ask how workspace size is measured, what triggers an increase mid-contract, and which applications are included in the base fee.
Pros
- Connected planning across finance, sales, supply chain and workforce
- flexible multi-dimensional modelling
- Excel add-in for analysts
Cons
- No published price and no free trial
- implementation is often partner-delivered and can take months
Centage
Best for: Mid-market teams that want budgeting, forecasting and reporting from $699 per month
Centage is a mid-market FP&A platform for budgeting, forecasting and reporting, and it is one of the few tools in this list with a published starting price. The Centage pricing page states that software starts at $699 per month, priced to entity count, chart of accounts and team, with US-based, finance-certified onboarding included on every subscription. The page also states that most mid-market customers land between $18,000 and $40,000 per year all-in.
- Every subscription includes the complete FP&A platform, and the platform integrates with QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Acuma
- Centage works in Excel as well as in its web interface, with Excel import and export for planning data, so a team can keep a workbook view while the p
- The vendor states live deployment in 4 to 6 weeks, no setup fee on annual plans, and SOC 2 Type II certification.
- Ask for a written quote that shows the software fee, the support plan and any managed FP&A services separately, because the support plans named Standa
Pros
- Published starting price of $699 per month
- full FP&A platform in every subscription
- onboarding by a finance-certified professional
Cons
- No free trial listed
- quote still depends on entity count, chart of accounts and team size
How we chose
We compared vendor pricing pages, product pages and documentation for Excel-compatible FP&A software, and we kept only tools with an official homepage, a clear Excel connection and a real planning, budgeting or forecasting function. Cube was checked on its own site, where Essential starts at $1,250 per month and Premium starts at $2,450 per month. Centage was checked on its own pricing page, where software starts at $699 per month. Datarails, Vena, Planful, Workday Adaptive Planning, Pigment and Anaplan each show a quote rather than a published dollar amount, so we list those tools as quote only. We did not claim hands-on testing, and we did not use third-party price estimates as list prices.
What to check before you buy
Check the Excel connection first, because Excel-compatible can mean different things. Some tools work inside Excel through an add-in, some import and export Excel files, and some keep Excel as the main surface while a database sits behind it. Ask which version of Excel is supported, whether the add-in works on Mac and on the web, and whether formulas and formatting survive a round trip. Check user roles next, because a model builder, a contributor and a viewer are often priced at different levels. Check the integration list for your ERP, CRM, HRIS and payroll systems, and confirm whether each connector is included or charged as an add-on. Check implementation scope, go-live time and training, renewal terms and price uplift, and ask for licence, implementation, support and add-on costs as separate lines.
Frequently asked questions
What does Excel-compatible FP&A software mean?
Excel-compatible FP&A software lets you plan, budget, forecast and report using Excel skills, layouts and formulas, while a central platform stores the data, controls versions and manages approvals. Some tools use an Excel add-in, some import and export Excel files, and some keep Excel as the main surface. Check the exact connection type before you buy, because the label alone does not tell you how formulas and formatting are handled.
Which Excel-compatible FP&A tool has a published price?
Cube and Centage publish starting prices in this list. Cube lists Essential at $1,250 per month and Premium at $2,450 per month on its own site. Centage lists software from $699 per month on its own pricing page. Datarails, Vena, Planful, Workday Adaptive Planning, Pigment and Anaplan price by quote, so you need a sales proposal to compare them on cost.
Is there a free Excel-compatible FP&A tool in this list?
No tool in this list offers a free plan. Workday Adaptive Planning offers a 30-day free trial, and Pigment offers a 14-day free trial, which lets you test modelling with your own data. Cube, Datarails, Vena, Planful, Anaplan and Centage do not list a free plan, so budget for a licence and for implementation from the start.
How long does FP&A software take to set up?
Set-up time varies by tool and by data complexity. Centage states live deployment in 4 to 6 weeks, and Datarails states most FP&A implementations go live in 4 to 6 weeks. Workday Adaptive Planning gives an average deployment time of 4.5 months, and Anaplan typically takes 4 to 9 months for a first use case. Ask for a written timeline for your chart of accounts, entities and integrations.
Should a small business choose Cube or Centage?
A small finance team should compare Cube and Centage first, because both publish a starting price and both work with Excel. Cube suits a team that wants to stay inside Excel and Google Sheets, with unlimited scenarios on the Essential plan. Centage suits a mid-market team that wants a full FP&A platform in every subscription, with finance-certified onboarding included. Compare user caps, ERP connections and support before you choose.
What hidden costs should I ask about in a quote?
Ask for licence, implementation, training, support, connectors and added modules as separate lines. Extra users, extra entities, extra integrations and premium support are the most common additions. Ask about renewal uplift, contract length and what happens when you add a user or a module mid-contract. A quote that lists only a total hides the items that change most in year two.
Sources
- https://www.cubesoftware.com/
- https://www.cubesoftware.com/growth-operators
- https://www.datarails.com/
- https://www.datarails.com/pricing
- https://www.venasolutions.com/
- https://www.venasolutions.com/resources/pricing
- https://www.planful.com/
- https://www.planful.com/pricing
- https://www.workday.com/
- https://www.workday.com/en-us/products/adaptive-planning.html
- https://www.gopigment.com/
- https://www.gopigment.com/pricing
- https://www.anaplan.com/
- https://www.anaplan.com/pricing
- https://www.centage.com/
- https://www.centage.com/pricing
Prices and features were read on each company’s own website in November 2026. They change often, so confirm the current offer on the official site before you sign up or buy.