# Planful Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Is Planful the right Budgeting solution for you? Explore 76 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice. Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/72818/Host-Analytics-EPM-Platform/reviews --- Planful 4.3 (76) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/72818/Host-Analytics-EPM-Platform/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Reviews of Planful Ease of use 4.2 Customer Service 4.4 ## Pros and Cons in Reviews TV Tiff V EngineerConsumer Services, 2 - 10 employeesUsed the software for: Less than 6 months. “Planful automates our reporting and analysis and the investigation tool allows us to use AI for more insights.“ July 7, 2025 aB ayoub B FreelancerComputer Software, Self-employedUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “I also mainly use chrome as my browser and there seems to be a lag time when scrolling in a template which is a bit of a pain.“ April 25, 2025 CM Charlene M SelfArts and Crafts, Self-employedUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Very streamlined process that makes it easy for you to complete your tasks such managing a budget to predicting an accurate forecast.“ July 13, 2025 IZ Ivan Z Licenciado en Sistemas de InformaciónUtilities, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “One of its main drawbacks is the steep learning curve, which can make initial adoption challenging and often requires specialized training to fully leverage all of its features“ May 10, 2025 IZ Ivan Z Licenciado en Sistemas de InformaciónUtilities, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 1-2 years. “Its ability to integrate with other systems and its analytics tools make it an ideal choice for financial teams.“ May 10, 2025 aB ayoub B FreelancerComputer Software, Self-employedUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “A data pull is not immediate and can cause some frustration if data is not pulled 100% accurately the first time.“ April 25, 2025 aB ayoub B FreelancerComputer Software, Self-employedUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “It has an automatic analytics and measurement system which ensures effective implementation.“ April 25, 2025 MG Margaux G Operations DirectorHospital & Health Care, 51 - 200 employeesUsed the software for: 6-12 months. “Setting up logic for handling the distribution of expenses for multiple cost centers was not very flexible as expected, and more tailoring was required.“ April 15, 2025 ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 1-25 of 76 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use Lauren M. Financial Analyst Building Materials Used the software for: 2+ years ### "It's a life saver for reporting" October 14, 2017 4.0 Pros Ease of reporting and planning. The reports are fast to make and can very easily be taught to other users. Also since it is in the cloud, there are many tiers of security features for customization. Cons New features and cross browser supporting don't function the best. The new row sets are difficult to get to the exact detail and adjusting cold width can't be done in a cluster in chrome. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Sr. Financial Business Specialist Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great FP&A Product" September 24, 2021 4.0 We've reduced the use of excel spreadsheets for budgeting/forecasting by using this tool. It's simplified our budget and forecasting process and it keeps getting easier each year. Pros They listen to their customers and are always making improvements to the product. It's easy to use and they have so many resources (support chat, community, training, etc). Cons The support was not great when we first implemented the tool. They've come a long way and are truly supportive of all questions I have. Switched from [Microsoft Excel](https://www.capterra.com/p/176574/Excel/) We used a custom built tool that was clunky and time consuming with a lot of side spreadsheets. Review Source MP Matthew P. Director Religious Institutions Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Planful Effective but Gruesome to Learn" March 22, 2025 3.0 Frustrating and not user-friendly. For context, this is perhaps the sixth software that I’ve had to learn in three years Pros Planful does a good job of gathering aggregate data. Cons Tall learning curve. Hard to ‘make macros’ or create recurring data searches Review Source DR Dominic R. Senior Manger, Finance Systems and Analysis Medical Devices Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Planful Review" July 5, 2023 4.0 It has been good. Our \[sensitive content hidden\] of FP&A likes the tools. The FP&A \[sensitive content hidden\] prefers Adaptive Insights. Pros The ability to use third-party software to integrate other systems. The Reporting in the browser is clean. Cons Saving HC to finance and HR cubes requires many additional steps. I used Adaptive Insights, and saving to the database was much more efficient. Also, the model for our vendor spend is in Spotlight. That has led to incorrectly saving data to other scenarios. Reason for choosing Planful Planful has more robust features. Other tools seemed much lighter. The alternatives seemed to be used by much smaller customers. Review Source GB Gideon B. Customer Manager Media Production Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Execeptional accounting software " March 16, 2025 5.0 My experience with Planful has been breath-taking. The software is at another level. It has an automatic analytics and measurement system which ensures effective implementation. Pros Effectiveness of the software in account progress management and account based advertising. Cons The software is very comprehensive and reliable. No dislike. Review Source JA Joseph A. Chief Financial Officer Computer Games Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Unfortunately Planful never worked let alone met the expectations from the sales pitch" March 13, 2024 1.0 Pros \- That the licence was only three years long Cons \- The planning feature was almost impossible to use - Any new features were always only available at a price never as part of what we already were paying for - The integrators were oversold and never worked despite being paid for - The consolidation functionality roll over made January month end more painful than our annual audit process, and take almost as long Alternatives considered [CCH Tagetik](https://www.capterra.com/p/62308/CCH-Tagetik/) Reason for choosing Planful Pricing, and the support offered from the onboarding team, as well as out of the box integrations. Review Source MG Margaux G. Operations Director Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Made cost-effective solution to achieve quicker monthly close cycles" April 15, 2025 4.0 Pros I liked the feature of consolidation of financial data as this department is fully automated. They efficiently dealt with intercompany eliminations coupled with multi-entity rollups It saved at least two to three days every month-end and shifted the emphasis on the analysis part of job. Cons I found that there were certain practical restrictions in the development of custom allocation rules. Setting up logic for handling the distribution of expenses for multiple cost centers was not very flexible as expected, and more tailoring was required. Review Source JC Jess C. Accounts Receivable Accounting Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Planful Review" April 15, 2025 5.0 Pros I like that this software makes it incredibly easy for budgeting. Cons There is nothing specific that I dislike about this product. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Licenciado en Sistemas de Información Utilities Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Planful: Is It Worth It for Your Business Finances?" May 10, 2025 4.0 Planful is a robust solution for mid-sized companies looking to optimize and automate their financial processes. Its ability to integrate with other systems and its analytics tools make it an ideal choice for financial teams. Pros It allows for detailed analysis in budgeting and scenario planning, thanks to Planful's advanced tools, which even enable integration with various ERP and CRM systems. This optimizes time during data consolidation and reduces manual errors. Cons One of its main drawbacks is the steep learning curve, which can make initial adoption challenging and often requires specialized training to fully leverage all of its features Review Source AY Alisha Y. Claims Insurance Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Planful review - would recommend. " December 15, 2024 4.0 This is a powerful financial reporting tool which we use to forecast and budget within the team. We have used this for a couple of years and will continue using. Pros The interface works well across the team and everyone got to grips with it very shortly upon implementation. Cons You can’t input all data into the system quickly; it takes some time to do it manually. Review Source YJ Yazan J. Financial Manager Accounting Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Financial Planning Program" May 12, 2025 5.0 Pros I used this software to simplify workflow, reporting, and budget updates. The key benefit is simple manual data entry and reduced time spent in the work environment. Cons While the software is time-consuming and performs well, it requires experience with the user interface and a user with financial planning experience. Review Source PP Purva P. User Accounting Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "Planful is a must have " January 21, 2025 5.0 I enjoy planful it’s made me more accountable and productive in my daily life. Pros I like how easy and accessible the app is. It’s easy to use and helps me plan well. Cons I have nothing to write that’s bad about planful. It’s helped me become so much more productive Review Source JAR Jade Anthony R. Accounting Clerk Consumer Goods Used the software for: I used a free trial ### "Planful helpful" January 6, 2025 4.0 Pros The interface is pretty futuristic and user friendly. Also uses Ai for convenience. Cons Pricing is not disclosed on their website. Review Source AW Angel W. IT Controller Construction Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Solid tool that will help you manage your budget with ease!" September 27, 2021 4.0 It was rocky at first, but has been absolutely fantastic in the past 2 years. We have gone from being 10-13% under budget to about 1/2% under budget last year, and it's truly because this tool allows all of our managers to view everything with ease. Pros All the features we needed in one tool: Workforce planning, budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting and easy creation of management reporting. Cons There are several enhancements that I intend to discuss with our customer success manager BUT I have no doubt, with the release schedule Planful is on, these items will be easy to incorporate into our environment. If I had to choose one that that I least like about the software, it's simply that I would suggest that your implementation partners completely understand your structure and what any reports you need to gain/create in the software. Years ago when we implemented (which I'm sure it has improved since then) there were features and items that weren't even discussed that we discovered later. Review Source MN Matthew N. Finance Manager Hospital & Health Care Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Solid Choice" September 29, 2021 4.0 Pros I like that most of this software is tight and reasonable in size. On the surface anything can be intimidating to a new user but we have a small team that has been able to manage this across many hospitals and types of users. We have put in a lot of work but without much IT support which makes this valuable. Cons Processes and building infrastructure around raw data can be tricky. We do not have a data warehouse which makes things difficult with connecting data. For me this software is a mid tier product in some ways so it seemed logical that they would realize companies may not have solid infrastructure to support fast and elaborate functions provided. In a perfect world the system could be more of a one stop shop or help get us there. Review Source LO Lana O. Consultant Management Consulting Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Training review" October 8, 2021 5.0 Great, easy to set up and use, flexible enough Pros Planful is very user friendly and it is easy to become a self-sufficient user of this application as a lot of help resources availiable for use. Searcg engine within Planful is very good as well as it makes it easy to navigate application. Cons I dont like that to complete certificaiton, all users have to attend real life class. Those classes are not convinient for UK users and they dont usually add much more informaiton that cannot be found in written guides. Reason for choosing Planful Na Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Head of Financial Planning & Analysis Internet Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Host has helped us scale from ~200 employees to over 1k!" February 2, 2018 4.0 Pros \- Similar to Oracle Hyperion, but in the cloud - Lower overhead than on premise tools - Robust platform with more advanced feature set then other cloud tools - Solid excel integration - Product team responds to feedback - Fair pricing - No limit on size of model Cons \- Attractiveness of user interface - Template speed - Visualizations - Speed of new development - Implementation took longer than expected Review Source JD Jean D. Financial Planning & Reporting Mgr Retail Used the software for: 2+ years ### "User friendly product. Great customer support" September 12, 2017 4.0 We generate our reporting package quicker and with less errors. Our planning process runs more smoothly and efficiently again with less errors. We are able to consolidate our plans quicker. Pros How easy it is to create basic reporting and customize and scheduled distribution. Interface that is scheduled nightly to automatically populate Host with data from our G/L. Consolidation of our plan is more efficient and timely so changes aren't such a nightmare to make. Cons Quarterly releases are great, but they don't give you enough time to test them before they are automatically put into production. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Sr Financial Analyst Biotechnology Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Less Inituitive than other systems but more modeling capabilities" November 13, 2019 4.0 Getting benefits in terms of financial analysis and setting up consistent reporting standards. Pros The modeling & reporting capabilities in Host are what set it apart from other systems. The ability to integrate reports directly with system data pulls is a very nice feature that can help reduce the complexity of workbooks Cons Size limited, may be difficult with scale up. It is also not an intuitive system to learn (especially with the spotlight add in) and is not as "ad hoc" ready as some other systems like Hyperion. Review Source KN Kelsi N. Accounting Project Manager Veterinary Used the software for: 2+ years ### "In-depth P&Ls" March 23, 2022 5.0 We've been using it as our budgeting software for the past few years, as well as to build our financial statements and I have been very impressed so far. It is easy to get information out, once the reports are built. Pros Planful feed from our Accounting software that happens every 5 minutes. That means we have the most up-to-date Accounting info for true budget to actuals! Cons Building reports takes a bit of time to learn. It's a fairly complicated software and definitely not for non-tech savvy folks Review Source EM Edward M. Corporate Controller Automotive Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "The software was in place when I got here, so I have never had any formal education on it. Good!" September 12, 2017 4.0 Visibility to all of our entities around the world in a timely manner! Pros Ease of use and access! I use my mobile application and access on line from home, office, hotel and other office when traveling abroad with ease. Cons New account and entity set up is only somewhat intuitive. I do this so rarely, i really have to go back and read to set up new accounts and other entities. Review Source KS Kate S. Financial Analyst Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 1-2 years ### " As a first timer with any EPM system it was easy to configure and learn." September 13, 2017 4.0 Pros There seem to be minimal limitations as to what it can do. With coming from nothing what I appreciate most is HA's reporting capabilities. Cons i don't really like the set up of the new currency exchange rate page. i like to be able to seem them all as we could prior to that release. Review Source NO Nikola O. Finance Manager Information Technology and Services Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Closest cloud experience to excel " September 13, 2017 4.0 Pros Closest experience to excel functionalities in Cloud. Native and intuitive approach to solving traditional budgeting and forecasting. Does not require on premises dev support. Cons Initial time to set up environment and templates. If we re did the process again, I would definitely be positioned better to execute faster and more efficient. Review Source VR Verified Reviewer COO Computer Software Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Host Analytics for Board Reporting" March 9, 2019 4.0 excellent customer service, trappings of enterprise software. Pros aggregate data from different sources create charts and graphs to visualize information Cons integration time and setup UI over OLAP database Review Source AM Alan M. Financial Analyst Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Host Analytics. An upgrade to our budgeting and reporting software." January 26, 2018 5.0 Pros Host Analytics is easy to use. I have a large amount of product data that Host helped me organize it and use it in my business, several financial reports with the push of a button each month and budgeting too. It makes month end easier. Great customer service team always there when help is needed. Cons It can be difficult to set up a report template. Not all the modules have the same reporting tools. The functionality in the HR module and capital needs improvement. Review Source Similar Products Featured ## Related categories [Financial Reporting](https://www.capterra.com/financial-reporting-software/)[Budgeting](https://www.capterra.com/budgeting-software/)[Financial Close](https://www.capterra.com/financial-close-software/)