# Financial modeling and scenario planning for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, October 2026

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

**Standing:** Google Sheets leads with 19% of first choices; verdict contested. 59 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| # | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Google Sheets | 19% | 0% | 15 |
| 2 | Microsoft Excel | 14% | 18% | 22 |
| 3 | Fathom | 12% | 0% | 19 |
| 4 | Jirav | 10% | 19% | 26 |
| 5 | Cube | 3% | 10% | 21 |
| 6 | Datarails | 3% | 6% | 17 |
| 7 | LivePlan | 3% | 0% | 12 |
| 8 | Futrli | 3% | 0% | 11 |
| 9 | Finmark | 3% | 22% | 18 |
| 10 | Anaplan | 0% | 93% | 14 |

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

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Drivetrain; alternatives Cube, Datarails, Fathom, Finmark
- GPT-5.4 mini: Cube; alternatives Datarails, Jirav
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Clockwork; alternatives Cube, Jirav, LiveFlow, Lucanet xP&A
- Perplexity Sonar: Jirav; alternatives Cube, Datarails, Finmark
- Grok 4.1 Fast: BILL, Fathom; alternatives Cube, Datarails, Jirav
- Mistral Small: BILL, Jirav; alternatives Planful, Sage Intacct
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Fathom; alternatives Excel/Google Sheets, Futrli, Jirav
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Jirav; alternatives Cube, Datarails, Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel
- Kimi K2: Causal, Fathom; alternatives Cube, Datarails, Excel/Google Sheets, Finmark
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Datarails; alternatives Fuelfinance, LiveFlow
- MiniMax M2.5: Jirav; alternatives Brixx, Excel/Google Sheets, Financial Modelling Pro
- GPT-6 Luna: Google Sheets, Microsoft Excel; alternatives LivePlan
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Finmark, Futrli; alternatives Cube, Datarails, Jirav

## Sources the answers cite

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

- drivetrain.ai: 39 answers, 49 citations
- abacum.ai: 28 answers, 28 citations
- cubesoftware.com: 26 answers, 31 citations
- fathomhq.com: 24 answers, 32 citations
- datarails.com: 24 answers, 31 citations
- gitnux.org: 23 answers, 32 citations
- barchart.com: 17 answers, 17 citations
- g2.com: 16 answers, 21 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://drivetrain.ai/solutions/financial-modeling-software (36 answers)
- https://fathomhq.com/blog/the-6-best-financial-modelling-software-tools (24 answers)
- https://abacum.ai/blog/best-financial-modeling-software-tools (22 answers)
- https://datarails.com/best-financial-modeling-software (22 answers)
- https://cubesoftware.com/blog/financial-modeling-software (19 answers)
- https://barchart.com/story/news/3006151/best-fpa-software-for-financial-modeling-in-2026-top-10-tools-with-pricing (17 answers)
- https://fuelfinance.me/blog/financial-modeling-software (11 answers)
- https://farseer.com/blog/financial-modeling-tools (10 answers)
- https://riseuplabs.com/ai-powered-scenario-modeling-tools (9 answers)
- https://skyvia.com/blog/top-data-modeling-tools (9 answers)

## Warned against

- Anaplan: 13 of 14 labels negative. "Avoid or Be Cautious About: Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Suites (e.g., *Anaplan, Workday Adaptive Planning, Oracle Hyperion, SAP BPC*)." (Gemini 3.5 Flash, negative prompt)
- Jirav: 5 of 26 labels negative. "Jirav is better suited to operational planning, but it is typically more than a very small business needs." (Perplexity Sonar, paraphrase prompt)
- Workday Adaptive Planning: 6 of 8 labels negative. "Enterprise platforms like Anaplan, Oracle Essbase, or Adaptive Planning: Expensive subscriptions" (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt)
- Microsoft Excel: 4 of 22 labels negative. "Spreadsheet-based solutions like Excel are unwieldy, cumbersome, and incredibly prone to human error" (Claude Haiku 4.5, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 10 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
New leader: Clockwork (12%) to Google Sheets (16%). Margin 14 points, beyond the floor.

- Clockwork: 12% to 2%, −10. Inside the floor by 0 points · rank 1 → 20 of 103.
- Fathom: 6% to 14%, +8. Inside the floor by 2 points · rank 5 → 2 of 103.
- Google Sheets: 8% to 16%, +8. Inside the floor by 2 points · rank 4 → 1 of 103.
- LivePlan: 10% to 2%, −8. Inside the floor by 2 points · rank 2 → 11 of 103.
- Jirav: 6% to 12%, +6. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 8 → 3 of 103.
- Microsoft Excel: 6% to 12%, +6. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 10 → 4 of 103.
- Causal: 0% to 6%, +6. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 20 → 6 of 103.
- Forecastr: 6% to 0%, −6. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 9 → 44 of 103.
- Finmark: 6% to 2%, −4. Inside the floor by 6 points · rank 7 → 12 of 103.
- Datarails: 2% to 4%, +2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 14 → 8 of 103.
- Runway: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 21 → 14 of 103.
- Cube: 6% to 4%, −2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 6 → 7 of 103.

## 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.