You've thoroughly researched financial planning software tools and narrowed your choices down to two: Pigment vs Anaplan. But making the final decision is even tougher as those options seem pretty similar – at least at first glance.
Yes, they share many similar features, such as financial planning and modeling, workforce planning, strong collaborative features and many integrations.
However, they significantly differ in terms of user experience, implementation process and overall flexibility.
In this article, we'll compare their features, integrations and user reviews to help you choose the best business planning tool for your needs. Plus, we’ll show you a third option that may be a better fit for startup financial planning.
Pigment is a business planning platform that can be used for financial and workforce planning as it combines people, data and processes in one place.
It's mostly used by:
It's most popular among mid-size companies and enterprises, particularly those with complex financial planning and forecasting needs. Despite being suitable for complex financial processes, it's still more user-friendly than many Pigment competitors.
Anaplan is a multifunctional platform for managing business performance, financial planning and analysis. It can be used for revenue planning, budget planning and staff planning.
It has custom solutions for the following use cases:
Anaplan's system is suitable for businesses of all sizes, but large companies choose it most often because it can handle complex data modeling and cross-functional collaboration across multiple departments.
If you're looking for something simpler and more affordable, check out these Anaplan competitors.
Now, let’s see how these tools compare in terms of features, integrations, customer support, user rating and pricing to help you choose the right financial management solution for your needs.
Pigment AI acts as your analyst and virtual assistant that helps with all types of planning and analysis. You can ask it to rapidly visualize your business data to make it easier to understand.
If you have any questions or are unsure of how to do a financial analysis, simply type questions to Pigment AI, and it'll provide you with accurate answers based on your business data. Moreover, it has frameworks for revenue, OPEX and CAPEX planning, so you won't have to do it manually.
On the other hand, Anaplan is a good option if you need to create extensive financial plans and analyze large volumes of data. It also allows unlimited users to collaborate and update a financial plan in real time.
The platform can calculate and implement changes almost immediately, even for large data sets, thanks to its Hyperblock calculating engine, which is one of the fastest on the market.
It can also be used for capital planning and budgeting, with a built-in framework for zero-based budgeting.
Pigment simplifies financial forecasting and modeling by allowing you to do many things on the go. For example, you can create rolling forecasts with just a few clicks.
When it comes to scenario modeling, this financial modeling software provides you with three scenarios: baseline, best-case and worst-case scenario, so that you can be prepared for all the options.
Anaplan has multi-dimensional modeling where you can play with an unlimited number of dimensions, including time, location, product, number of customers, currency and more. It also has flexible driver-based forecasts that can be adjusted to your business model.
You can also use it for creating other models such as capital expenditure models (CapEx) and investment planning.
If you want to anticipate market changes and analyze large data sets, you can use Anaplan's HyperModels to generate forecasts that go well into the future.
Pigment lets you visualize and analyze your workforce data. It provides actionable insights and allows you to explore what-if scenarios to see the potential outcomes of your hiring decisions.
Thanks to its numerous integrations with HR tools, ERPs and ATS systems, you can automate headcount planning and generate workforce plans based on accurate and real-time data.
Anaplan can be a good option for organizations with a large workforce and multiple branches. You can easily collaborate with multiple people on developing hiring and workforce plans that align with everyone in the organization.
It's suitable for both long-term and short-term plans, allowing you to pivot and edit your plans easily. You can also forecast workforce demand by modeling multiple scenarios and addressing different drivers.
Both tools have plenty of integrations, although Pigment lists more of them on its website.
Pigment integrates with Salesforce, ERP systems like SAP, NetSuite and SageIntacct, HR tools like Workday and HiBob, as well as with Excel and Google Sheets. You can also add custom integrations using their API.
Anaplan's pre-built integrations include Microsoft Dynamics 365, Adobe and Salesforce. You can also connect it with source systems for analytics like Tableau, Microsoft Power BI, Informatica and Workiva.
Anaplan can also be used as an extension or add-on for Microsoft and Google Sheets if you want to visualize your Anaplan data in these tools.
You can use Anaplan's API to add more custom integrations, but connecting them might require some technical skills.
Unfortunately, none of these tools provides cost information on their websites. Prices are custom and they may vary depending on your company size, the number of users and the features you need.
However, bear in mind that both Pigment and Anaplan are mostly used by large businesses and enterprises. According to many user reviews on G2 and Capterra, they're among the pricier financial planning tools.
Pigment has a ticket-based customer service portal where you can submit and track your tickets. It seems that most tickets get resolved within 24 hours of submission.
For now, there's no option to contact the company directly by phone. However, Pigment has a thorough knowledge base and product documentation on its website, as well as a community portal where you can ask other users questions.
Anaplan offers customer support through various channels, including live chat, email and phone calls. They have numbers for different countries, including USA, UK, Australia, France and Singapore.
The website claims that you can call them 24/7, but it's unclear whether this type of support is included in all pricing plans. However, users wrote that customer support is pretty responsive and solves most issues within 2-3 business days.
Anaplan also has an extensive knowledge base and a community forum with over 60,000 members where you can get peer support.
Pigment and Anaplan are both solid platforms for business planning, but they're mostly oriented towards large businesses and enterprises with huge teams of finance professionals.
What if that’s not quite your situation? If you're a startup founder looking for a user-friendly small business financial management tool, Fuelfinance might be a better option for you.
We created our tool with small business owners and their needs in mind. It's simple and easy to use, yet it has all the necessary features to help you take control of your finances. What's more, our team of financial experts is there to provide you with support, acting as your outsourced CFO.
Here are the key features:
If you're a pre-seed founder, we've got something even better for you. We've recently launched Bootstrap, a free financial management solution that will help you get your finances in order and create reports that actually impress investors.
Here's what it includes for free:
If you're looking for a simple and manageable way to get control over your finances and grow your startup, we've got you covered.
Fuelfinance is a user-friendly financial management tool with everything a small business owner or a startup founder might need. Plus, it comes with support from our financial experts, who are there to help you understand your finances and make better decisions.
Book a demo call, and let's work together toward your goals!
According to some users, Pigment is more user-friendly and flexible than Anaplan. Also, it's easier to set up, and it seems to have more integrations.
Pigment's main competitors include Fuelfinance, Workday Adaptive Planning, Planful, Jedox and Vena.
In a broader sense, Anaplan's main competitors are SAP, Oracle EPM and IBM Planning Analytics. However, in terms of financial management, it competes with tools such as Fuelfinance, Datarails and Cube Software.
It depends on what you are looking for. SAP has a wider range of functionalities and features, but many users say that Anaplan is easier to use and has a more modern user interface.
