# Corporate performance management for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Finance AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "EPM software" and as "corporate performance management platform", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://finance-ai-index.com/planning/corporate-performance-management/smb/

**Standing:** Cube leads with 15% of first choices; verdict contested. 53 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| # | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cube | 15% | 3% | 30 |
| 2 | Vena | 11% | 11% | 27 |
| 3 | Datarails | 6% | 11% | 18 |
| 4 | Jirav | 6% | 0% | 13 |
| 5 | Jedox | 4% | 0% | 10 |
| 6 | Workday Adaptive Planning | 4% | 43% | 35 |
| 7 | Prophix | 2% | 10% | 21 |
| 8 | Planful | 2% | 11% | 18 |
| 9 | Oracle Hyperion | 0% | 91% | 11 |
| 10 | SAP BPC | 0% | 91% | 11 |
| 11 | OneStream | 0% | 82% | 22 |
| 12 | Oracle Fusion Cloud EPM | 0% | 83% | 36 |

## Each model's first choice on the direct prompt

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Datarails; alternatives Jedox, Prophix, Vena
- GPT-5.4 mini: Workday Adaptive Planning; alternatives Oracle Fusion Cloud EPM
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Cube, Datarails; alternatives Aleph, Bob Finance, Clockwork, Jirav
- Perplexity Sonar: Jedox; alternatives Anaplan, Vena
- Grok 4.1 Fast: Vena; alternatives Anaplan, Cube, Workday Adaptive Planning
- Mistral Small: Jedox, Vena; alternatives OneStream, Workday Adaptive Planning
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Cube; alternatives Planful, Prophix, Vena
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Vena; alternatives Datarails, Pulse AI, Workday Adaptive Planning
- Kimi K2: Cube; alternatives Planful, Workday Adaptive Planning
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: PlanGuru; alternatives Budgyt, Float
- MiniMax M2.5: Planful, Prophix
- GPT-6 Luna: Cube; alternatives Centage
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Pigment, Vena; alternatives Kepion, Planful

## Sources the answers cite

78 of 84 answers came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models. Sites named in the most answers:

- peoplegoal.com: 46 answers, 48 citations
- softwaresuggest.com: 40 answers, 44 citations
- cubesoftware.com: 39 answers, 65 citations
- drivetrain.ai: 26 answers, 28 citations
- selecthub.com: 25 answers, 44 citations
- softwareconnect.com: 23 answers, 27 citations
- www3.technologyevaluation.com: 23 answers, 23 citations
- g2.com: 22 answers, 39 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://peoplegoal.com/blog/epm-software (38 answers)
- https://softwaresuggest.com/enterprise-performance-management-software (37 answers)
- https://drivetrain.ai/solutions/enterprise-performance-management-software (23 answers)
- https://softwareconnect.com/roundups/best-epm-software (23 answers)
- https://www3.technologyevaluation.com/c/epm (21 answers)
- https://kanbanchi.com/blog/enterprise-project-management-software (18 answers)
- https://selecthub.com/c/epm-software (17 answers)
- https://cubesoftware.com/blog/best-epm-software (14 answers)
- https://effy.ai/blog/performance-management-software-for-small-business (13 answers)
- https://larksuite.com/en_us/blog/enterprise-project-management-software (13 answers)

## Warned against

- Oracle Fusion Cloud EPM: 30 of 36 labels negative. "Frequently criticized for its high licensing, implementation, and customization costs ... overwhelming for simple forecasting or budgeting in smaller teams" (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt)
- Anaplan: 33 of 40 labels negative. "top choice for what NOT to buy if you are a small business. ... Anaplan is usually "overkill," making the ROI difficult to justify.`" (Qwen 3.7 Flash, negative prompt)
- OneStream: 18 of 22 labels negative. "high licensing and implementation costs, and its complexity is often cited as a barrier for smaller operations" (Mistral Small, negative prompt)
- Workday Adaptive Planning: 15 of 35 labels negative. "What I'd Avoid: Workday Adaptive Planning – powerful but overkill and overpriced for small businesses" (Kimi K2, paraphrase prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 10 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
Same leader: Cube at 15%.

- Drivetrain: 12% to 0%, −12. Cleared the floor by 2 points · rank 3 → 41 of 101.
- Workday Adaptive Planning: 11% to 4%, −6. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 4 → 9 of 101.
- Vena: 14% to 9%, −5. Inside the floor by 5 points · rank 2 of 101, unchanged.
- Jedox: 0% to 4%, +4. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 25 → 7 of 101.
- Jirav: 2% to 4%, +3. Inside the floor by 7 points · rank 8 → 6 of 101.
- Datarails: 9% to 7%, −2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 5 → 3 of 101.
- Prophix: 4% to 2%, −1. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 7 → 10 of 101.
- Cube: 16% to 15%, −1. Inside the floor by 9 points · rank 1 of 101, unchanged.
- Planful: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 9 → 11 of 101.
- Oracle Hyperion: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 82 → 97 of 101.
- SAP BPC: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 83 → 98 of 101.
- OneStream: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 84 → 99 of 101.

## Record

- Method: https://finance-ai-index.com/methodology/
- Raw judge labels and full responses: https://finance-ai-index.com/data/
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Finance AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, finance-ai-index.com.