Index › Planning and analysis › September 2026 Edition

Financial modeling and scenario planning

Asked as “financial modeling software”, and as “scenario planning tool for finance”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. 47 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.

Standing

Datarails

Contested

19% of first choices, contested.

ShowinginAll 41 categories in the September 2026 Edition →

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.

Small business

Clockwork12%ContestedStanding →Mid-market

Datarails19%ContestedThis page Enterprise

Anaplan56%Clear leaderStanding →

01The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company. Ordered by share.

ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant

Datarails5%21accepted challenger

Google Sheets0%10accepted challenger

Cube0%18accepted challenger

Microsoft Excel21%14accepted challenger

Vena15%26accepted challenger

Planful11%18accepted challenger

Workday Adaptive Planning35%17criticized challenger

Show the one product at 0%, ordered by negative rate

Anaplan47%19criticized challenger

Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its vendor page.

Head to head

Datarails vs Google Sheets Datarails vs Cube Google Sheets vs Cube

Recommended versus criticized

Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.

Criticized challengerCriticized default

Negative label rate →

Accepted challengerEndorsed leader

0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative30%

Key

Datarails19%

Google Sheets13%

Cube11%

Microsoft Excel11%

Vena6%

Planful4%

Workday Adaptive Planning4%

Anaplan0%

02What they warned about

Two of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. GPT-5.4 mini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity Sonar, Grok 4.1 Fast, Mistral Small, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Llama 4 Maverick, Kimi K2, GLM 4.7 FlashX and MiniMax M2.5 changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.

Anaplan

47%

9 of 19 labels negative · 4 of 12 models · 2 hard negative

“You generally want to avoid enterprise-grade tools (like Anaplan or Workday) which cost thousands per month.” Qwen 3.7 Flash, budget prompt

Workday Adaptive Planning

35%

6 of 17 labels negative · 3 of 12 models · 2 hard negative

“You generally want to avoid enterprise-grade tools (like Anaplan or Workday) which cost thousands per month.” Qwen 3.7 Flash, budget prompt

Vena

15%

4 of 26 labels negative · 3 of 12 models · 1 hard negative

“Avoid enterprise-class tools like Anaplan, Adaptive, and Vena” DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt

Microsoft Excel

21%

3 of 14 labels negative · 3 of 12 models

“**Spreadsheet-based solutions** (Excel with add-ins): Low cost, familiar, but limited scalability” Claude Haiku 4.5, paraphrase prompt

03What they cite

Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: eleven of the twelve in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.

Sites the answers cite

53 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 11 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 5 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 649 links across 260 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. The other 1 model searched through a gateway that returned no source list on this edition.

drivetrain.ai

vendor site · Drivetrain19 answers · 33 citations · 8 models

datarails.com

vendor site · Datarails17 answers · 20 citations · 9 models

worldmetrics.org

14 answers · 20 citations · 5 models

learn.g2.com

14 answers · 14 citations · 7 models

farseer.com

vendor site · Farseer13 answers · 16 citations · 7 models

hebbia.com

13 answers · 13 citations · 8 models

reddit.com

12 answers · 18 citations · 6 models

gitnux.org

10 answers · 15 citations · 7 models

cubesoftware.com

10 answers · 14 citations · 6 models

cfoshortlist.com

10 answers · 12 citations · 5 models

centage.com

vendor site · Centage10 answers · 10 citations · 6 models

getaleph.com

9 answers · 11 citations · 5 models

Pages the answers cite

The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.

datarails.com/best-financial-modeling-software

17 answers · 9 models

hebbia.com/resources/best-financial-modeling-software

13 answers · 8 models

drivetrain.ai/solutions/financial-modeling-software

12 answers · 8 models

farseer.com/blog/financial-modeling-tools

10 answers · 7 models

drivetrain.ai/solutions/financial-modeling-software/scenario-planning-analysis

9 answers · 8 models

fathomhq.com/blog/the-6-best-financial-modelling-software-tools

8 answers · 6 models

productive.io/blog/financial-modeling-software

8 answers · 6 models

taxilla.com/best-scenario-planning-modeling-tools

8 answers · 8 models

barchart.com/story/news/3006151/best-fpa-software-for-financial-modeling-in…

7 answers · 5 models

centage.com/blog/best-fp-a-software

7 answers · 5 models

04How they answered

Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.

ModelDirect“What is the best financial modeling software for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which scenario planning tool for finance would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top modeling tools and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best financial modeling software for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a financial modeling software. What should we look at?”Negative“Which modeling tools should I avoid or be cautious about?”

Claude Haiku 4.5no first choiceno first choiceHeldagainst: Microsoft Excelno first choiceGoogle Sheets, Microsoft Excel

Two alternatives

LibreOffice Calc, Zoho Sheet

no first choicenothing named

GPT-5.4 miniDatarails

Two alternatives

Abacum, Anaplan

Workday Adaptive PlanningChanged

One alternative

Anaplan

Excel/Google Sheets

One alternative

Python

Microsoft Excel

One alternative

Google Sheets

against: Causalno first choicenothing named

Gemini 3.5 FlashMosaic, Pigment

Five alternatives

Centage Planning Maestro, Cube, Datarails, Planful, Vena

against: Anaplan, Oracle Fusion Cloud EPMCube, RunwayChanged

Four alternatives

Bob Finance, Pigment, Planful, Vena

against: Anaplan, Oracle Fusion Cloud EPMno first choiceMicrosoft Excel or Google Sheets

Seven alternatives

Causal, Clockwork, Coefficient, Fathom, LiveFlow, PlanGuru, Upmetrics

against: Anaplan, Vena, Workday Adaptive Planningno first choiceagainst: Planful, Workday Adaptive Planningagainst: Autodesk Fusion, DBDesigner4, Erwin Data Modeler, IBM Rational Rose / Rational Software Architect, SketchUp, Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, ZBrush

Perplexity SonarDatarails, Drivetrain

Three alternatives

Anaplan, Planful, Vena

Workday Adaptive PlanningChanged

Three alternatives

Drivetrain, Planful, Vena

no first choiceLivePlan, Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets

Two alternatives

Clockwork, Fathom

no first choicenothing named

Grok 4.1 FastCube, Datarails

Four alternatives

Drivetrain, Limelight, Pigment, Vena

against: PlanfulVenaChanged

Four alternatives

Datarails, Drivetrain, Prophix, Workday Adaptive Planning

no first choiceGoogle Sheets

One alternative

Microsoft Excel

against: Datarails, Finmark, LivePlanDatarails

Four alternatives

Aleph, Cube, Planful, Vena

against: Microsoft Excel

Mistral SmallDatarails, Limelight

Three alternatives

Cube, Planful, Vena

Planful, VenaChanged

Three alternatives

Datarails, Taxilla, Workday Adaptive Planning

no first choiceFathom, Float

Two alternatives

Excel or Google Sheets, Forecastr

no first choicenothing named

DeepSeek V4 FlashLimelight

Five alternatives

Abacum, Cube, Datarails, Pigment, Planful

against: VenaCubeChanged

Three alternatives

Drivetrain, Mosaic, Vena

against: Anaplan, Oracle Fusion Cloud EPM, Workday Adaptive Planningno first choiceEasyFinancialModels, Google Sheets / Excel

Two alternatives

Forecastr, LiveFlow

against: Anaplan, Vena, Workday Adaptive Planningno first choice

Six alternatives

Centage Planning Maestro, Datarails, Jirav, Pigment, Prophix, Vena

against: Anaplan, IBM Planning Analytics, SAP, Workday Adaptive Planningnothing named

Llama 4 MaverickDatarails

Five alternatives

Abacum, Cube, Lucanet xP&A, Mosaic, Vena

no first choiceChangedno first choiceGoogle Sheets, Microsoft Excel

Three alternatives

Float, Jirav, Mammoth

no first choicenothing named

Qwen 3.7 FlashCube

Six alternatives

Fathom, Float, Jedox, Jirav, Planful, Vena

CubeHeld

Two alternatives

Planful, Vena

no first choiceMicrosoft Excel

Four alternatives

Fathom, Google Sheets, LivePlan, Zoho Analytics

against: Anaplan, Vena, Workday Adaptive Planningno first choiceagainst: Anaplan, Domo, Oracle Fusion Cloud EPM, Powerview, SAP BPCagainst: AnyLogic, ER/Studio, Erwin Data Modeler, FlexSim, Microsoft Excel, SAP PowerDesigner, Simul8, Toad Data Modeler

Kimi K2Datarails

Three alternatives

Aleph, Centage Planning Maestro, Cube

PlanfulChanged

Four alternatives

Cube, Mosaic, Vena, Workday Adaptive Planning

no first choiceGoogle Sheets

Four alternatives

Causal, LiveFlow, Microsoft Excel, ModelForge

no first choicenothing named

GLM 4.7 FlashXDatarails

Four alternatives

Cube, Drivetrain, Mosaic, Planful

PigmentChanged

Two alternatives

Cube, Vena

against: AnaplanMicrosoft Excel

Four alternatives

Anaplan, Google Sheets, Python, SQL + dbt

Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel

Five alternatives

Cube, EasyFinancialModels, Finmark, Jirav, LivePlan

no first choicenothing named

MiniMax M2.5Datarails

Two alternatives

Cube, Planful

Drivetrain, VenaChanged

Three alternatives

Datarails, Planful, Workday Adaptive Planning

no first choiceGoogle Sheets

Five alternatives

Calxa, Finmark, Microsoft Excel, ModelForge, Parallel

no first choicenothing named

Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

05The record

One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record

Seventy-two rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.

Prompt	Model	Version string	Time (UTC)	Searched	Sources	Latency
Direct recommendation	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 20:01	no	0	4 s
Direct recommendation	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 19:05	yes	4	7 s
Direct recommendation	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 19:53	yes	15	26 s
Direct recommendation	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 20:34	yes	20	6 s
Direct recommendation	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 19:40	yes	14	11 s
Direct recommendation	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 19:21	yes	5	4 s
Direct recommendation	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 20:47	yes	17	21 s
Direct recommendation	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 19:33	yes	5	3 s
Direct recommendation	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 19:27	no	0	28 s
Direct recommendation	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 20:46	yes	13	31 s
Direct recommendation	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 20:16	yes	8	86 s
Direct recommendation	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 19:11	yes	9	24 s
Paraphrase	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 18:41	no	0	5 s
Paraphrase	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 20:19	yes	3	5 s
Paraphrase	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 20:14	yes	15	26 s
Paraphrase	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 19:49	yes	20	5 s
Paraphrase	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 19:31	yes	25	15 s
Paraphrase	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 21:02	yes	5	5 s
Paraphrase	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 18:29	yes	18	17 s
Paraphrase	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 20:42	yes	5	3 s
Paraphrase	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 20:45	no	0	29 s
Paraphrase	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 18:02	yes	20	27 s
Paraphrase	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 20:02	yes	21	125 s
Paraphrase	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 21:07	yes	5	13 s
Comparative	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 19:32	no	0	2 s
Comparative	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 20:07	no	0	8 s
Comparative	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 18:46	yes	8	21 s
Comparative	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 18:06	yes	20	8 s
Comparative	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 19:51	yes	23	15 s
Comparative	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 20:27	yes	10	8 s
Comparative	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 18:14	yes	10	16 s
Comparative	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 20:16	yes	5	2 s
Comparative	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 19:37	no	0	27 s
Comparative	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 19:14	yes	10	27 s
Comparative	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 19:52	yes	29	67 s
Comparative	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 20:13	yes	8	29 s
Budget constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 19:07	no	0	5 s
Budget constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 19:16	no	0	3 s
Budget constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 19:42	yes	16	17 s
Budget constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 20:53	yes	20	5 s
Budget constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 19:00	yes	40	22 s
Budget constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 18:14	yes	5	5 s
Budget constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 21:02	yes	10	10 s
Budget constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 20:56	yes	5	3 s
Budget constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 19:18	no	0	25 s
Budget constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 19:17	yes	10	20 s
Budget constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 19:27	yes	10	107 s
Budget constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 18:40	yes	10	29 s
Scale constrained	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 19:38	no	0	5 s
Scale constrained	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 20:42	no	0	7 s
Scale constrained	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 19:45	no	0	16 s
Scale constrained	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 20:52	yes	20	6 s
Scale constrained	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 19:54	yes	13	10 s
Scale constrained	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 18:57	no	0	9 s
Scale constrained	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 19:07	yes	18	24 s
Scale constrained	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 19:03	yes	5	3 s
Scale constrained	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 17:55	no	0	31 s
Scale constrained	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 18:06	yes	12	27 s
Scale constrained	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 19:38	no	0	29 s
Scale constrained	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 20:40	yes	5	13 s
Negative framing	Claude Haiku 4.5	`claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`	2026-09-17 21:04	no	0	2 s
Negative framing	GPT-5.4 mini	`gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17`	2026-09-17 19:13	no	0	3 s
Negative framing	Gemini 3.5 Flash	`gemini-3.5-flash`	2026-09-17 19:34	yes	5	24 s
Negative framing	Perplexity Sonar	`sonar`	2026-09-17 20:07	yes	20	9 s
Negative framing	Grok 4.1 Fast	`spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex`	2026-09-17 19:44	yes	25	13 s
Negative framing	Mistral Small	`mistral/mistral-small via mistral`	2026-09-17 18:35	no	0	1 s
Negative framing	DeepSeek V4 Flash	`deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks`	2026-09-17 20:51	yes	20	22 s
Negative framing	Llama 4 Maverick	`meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock`	2026-09-17 18:46	yes	5	2 s
Negative framing	Qwen 3.7 Flash	`alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba`	2026-09-17 18:40	yes	10	50 s
Negative framing	Kimi K2	`moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita`	2026-09-17 18:26	yes	25	86 s
Negative framing	GLM 4.7 FlashX	`zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai`	2026-09-17 20:10	yes	24	84 s
Negative framing	MiniMax M2.5	`minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax`	2026-09-17 18:58	yes	5	29 s

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

Category-scoped readings

Adaptive Insights read as Workday Adaptive Planning

Centage read as Centage Planning Maestro

Clockwork.ai read as Clockwork

Excel read as Microsoft Excel

Oracle Cloud EPM read as Oracle Fusion Cloud EPM

Oracle EPM read as Oracle Fusion Cloud EPM

Quantrix read as Quantrix Modeler

Vena Solutions read as Vena

Workday read as Workday Adaptive Planning

Workday Adaptive read as Workday Adaptive Planning

Unresolved, counted raw

AnyLogic

Auto-Sklearn

Autodesk Fusion (formerly Fusion 360)

Blender

DBDesigner4

Delfos

Excel Add-ins

FlexSim

GetHoldings

H2O (open-source version)

IBM Rational Rose / Rational Software Architect

Jupyter Notebook / JupyterLab

KNIME

Longview Financial

MATLAB

Mammoth

Mermaid.js

Nomad Sculpt

Onshape

PlantUML

Powerview

PyTorch

RapidMiner

SPSS

SQL + dbt

Simul8

SketchUp (Trimble)

SourceForge's free-version tools

Spreadsheet Studio

TPOT

TensorFlow

Think‑Cell

Zoho Sheet

Zoho Sheet / Zoho Analytics

Discontinued, still offered

No shut-down product was recommended here.

Financial modeling and scenario planning

By buyer segment

01The standing

Recommended versus criticized

02What they warned about

03What they cite

Sites the answers cite

Pages the answers cite

04How they answered

05The record

Normalization in this category

Also in planning and analysis