# FP&A platforms for small business buyers: what AI models recommend, October 2026

Finance AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition. Asked as "FP&A software" and as "financial planning and analysis platform", six framings each, to fourteen models with search on, on behalf of a small B2B company. Page: https://finance-ai-index.com/planning/fpa-platforms/smb/

**Standing:** Fathom leads with 25% of first choices; verdict contested. 57 first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts.

## First-choice share

| # | Product | Share | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fathom | 25% | 0% | 35 |
| 2 | Clockwork | 11% | 0% | 30 |
| 3 | Datarails | 9% | 13% | 52 |
| 4 | Jirav | 9% | 13% | 45 |
| 5 | Cube | 7% | 14% | 56 |
| 6 | LiveFlow | 5% | 8% | 24 |
| 7 | Float | 4% | 0% | 10 |
| 8 | Aleph | 2% | 0% | 11 |
| 9 | Mosaic | 2% | 17% | 12 |
| 10 | Vena | 2% | 39% | 33 |
| 11 | Pigment | 2% | 53% | 15 |
| 12 | Planful | 2% | 46% | 26 |

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

- Claude Haiku 4.5: Jirav; alternatives Clockwork, Datarails, Prophix, Vena
- GPT-5.4 mini: Fathom; alternatives Clockwork, Datarails
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: Clockwork; alternatives Cube, Datarails, Fathom, Jirav
- Perplexity Sonar: Datarails; alternatives Cube, Jirav
- Grok 4.1 Fast: Fathom, LiveFlow; alternatives Clockwork, Datarails
- Mistral Small: Cube, Datarails; alternatives IBM Planning Analytics, Planful, Vena
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: Clockwork; alternatives Aleph, Cube, Jirav, Mosaic
- Llama 4 Maverick: no first choice
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: Cube, Pigment; alternatives Fathom, Float, Microsoft Power BI
- Kimi K2: Jirav; alternatives Centage, Cube, Datarails, Mosaic
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: Fathom; alternatives Causal, Jirav
- MiniMax M2.5: Cubesoftware, Float; alternatives Cledara, Datarails, Drivetrain
- GPT-6 Luna: Drivetrain, PlanGuru
- Muse Glimmer 30B: Clockwork; alternatives Cube, Datarails, Fathom, Jirav

## Sources the answers cite

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

- g2.com: 43 answers, 90 citations
- drivetrain.ai: 41 answers, 49 citations
- clockwork.ai: 37 answers, 52 citations
- datarails.com: 37 answers, 50 citations
- cubesoftware.com: 36 answers, 57 citations
- golimelight.com: 33 answers, 40 citations
- getaleph.com: 29 answers, 37 citations
- thefinanceweekly.com: 26 answers, 31 citations

Pages named in the most answers:

- https://clockwork.ai/blog/best-fpa-software-small-business (37 answers)
- https://drivetrain.ai/solutions/financial-planning-analysis-software (33 answers)
- https://learn.g2.com/best-fpa-software (26 answers)
- https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/fpa/fp-a-tools (23 answers)
- https://golimelight.com/blog/fpa-software-for-small-business (22 answers)
- https://cledara.com/blog/fpa (21 answers)
- https://getaleph.com/answers/top-fpa-software-2026 (21 answers)
- https://g2.com/categories/fp-a-financial-planning-analysis (19 answers)
- https://resources.rework.com/tools/fpa-planning/best-fpa-software-2026 (19 answers)
- https://thefinanceweekly.com/post/best-fpa-software-for-small-businesses (19 answers)

## Warned against

- Anaplan: 34 of 37 labels negative. "Platforms like Workday Adaptive Planning, Anaplan, or Vena are designed for large, complex organizations and may be too costly and complex for small businesses." (Llama 4 Maverick, negative prompt)
- Workday Adaptive Planning: 26 of 34 labels negative. "Avoid enterprise-grade FP&A platforms: Platforms like Workday Adaptive Planning, Anaplan, or Vena are designed for large, complex organizations and may be too costly and complex for small businesses." (Llama 4 Maverick, negative prompt)
- Vena: 13 of 33 labels negative. "Workday Adaptive Planning, Anaplan, and Vena... making them poor fits for most small businesses." (Perplexity Sonar, negative prompt)
- Planful: 12 of 26 labels negative. "Heavy enterprise tools with custom pricing, high complexity, and long timelines. Not built for quick SMB adoption" (Grok 4.1 Fast, negative prompt)

## Movement since September 2026

Floor: 10 points of share, measured on the calibration repeat.
New leader: Clockwork (60%) to Fathom (27%). Margin 17 points, beyond the floor.

- Clockwork: 60% to 10%, −49. Cleared the floor by 39 points · rank 1 → 4 of 79.
- Fathom: 13% to 27%, +14. Cleared the floor by 4 points · rank 2 → 1 of 79.
- Datarails: 2% to 10%, +8. Inside the floor by 2 points · rank 5 → 2 of 79.
- LiveFlow: 0% to 6%, +6. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 12 → 6 of 79.
- Jirav: 4% to 10%, +6. Inside the floor by 4 points · rank 4 → 3 of 79.
- Cube: 9% to 6%, −2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 3 → 5 of 79.
- Mosaic: 2% to 0%, −2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 6 → 21 of 79.
- Planful: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 54 → 17 of 79.
- Pigment: 0% to 2%, +2. Inside the floor by 8 points · rank 53 → 19 of 79.
- Vena: 2% to 2%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 11 → 18 of 79.
- Prophix: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 51 → 22 of 79.
- Limelight: 0% to 0%, ±0. Inside the floor by 10 points · rank 16 → 24 of 79.

## 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.