# Planful vs Cube: which do AI models recommend for FP&A platforms, September 2026

Finance AI Recommendation Index, September 2026 Edition, FP&A platforms. Three of twelve models named Planful first on the direct prompt; one named Cube. Page: https://finance-ai-index.com/planning/fpa-platforms/planful-vs-cube/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planful | 10% | #4 of 16 | 11% | 36 | 11 of 12 |
| Cube | 8% | #6 of 16 | 8% | 37 | 12 of 12 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Claude Haiku 4.5: planful first (first choices: Planful) (alternatives: Pigment, Prophix, Vena)
- GPT-5.4 mini: planful first (first choices: Planful, Vena) (alternatives: Cube, Datarails)
- Perplexity Sonar: planful first (first choices: Planful) (alternatives: Aleph, Centage, Pigment, Prophix, Vena)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: cube first (first choices: Cube, Vena) (alternatives: Datarails, Pigment)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Drivetrain) (alternatives: Bob Finance, Cube, Planful)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Datarails) (alternatives: Planful, Prophix, Vena)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: neither first, one named (first choices: Pigment) (alternatives: Aleph, Centage, Cube, Datarails, Planful, Prophix, Vena, Workday Adaptive Planning)
- Mistral Small: neither named (first choices: Centage) (alternatives: Abacum, Aleph, Datarails, Workday Adaptive Planning)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named (first choices: Pigment) (alternatives: Aleph, Centage, Workday Adaptive Planning)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: neither named (first choices: Pigment) (alternatives: Aleph, Centage, Datarails, Workday Adaptive Planning)
- Kimi K2: neither named (first choices: Pigment) (alternatives: Aleph, Centage, Workday Adaptive Planning)
- MiniMax M2.5: neither named (first choices: Pigment) (alternatives: Aleph, Centage, Datarails, Workday Adaptive Planning)

## What the models said about Planful

- "Avoid or be cautious about enterprise platforms (Anaplan, Workday Adaptive, Planful, Pigment)" (Mistral Small, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "What to avoid when budget is tight ... overkill for a budget-conscious company" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt, hard negative)
- "Currently one of the leaders in this space. Excellent balance between a robust backend and a user-friendly frontend" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, scale prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Cube

- "Avoid pricier ones like Jirav (~$10K/year), Cube/Datarails ($1K+/month)" (Grok 4.1 Fast, budget prompt, hard negative)
- "you quickly hit "guardrails"... still prone to broken formulas, version-control friction, and performance lag" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt, soft negative)

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; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.