best business plan software programs

Home > Business > Business Startup

• 5 Best Business Plan Software and Tools in 2023 for Your Small Business

Data as of 3 /13/23 . Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

We are committed to sharing unbiased reviews. Some of the links on our site are from our partners who compensate us. Read our editorial guidelines and advertising disclosure .

A business plan can do a lot for your business. It can help you secure investors or other funding. It can give your company direction. It can keep your finances healthy. But, if we’re being honest, it can also be a pain to write.

Luckily, you don’t have to start from scratch or go it alone. Business plan software and services can help you craft a professional business plan, like our top choice LivePlan , which provides templates, guidance, and more.

You’ve got quite a few choices for business plan help, so we’re here to help you narrow things down. Let’s talk about the best business plan tools out there.

• LivePlan : Best overall
• BizPlanBuilder : Most user-friendly
• Wise Business Plans : Best professional service
• Business Sorter : Best for internal plans
• GoSmallBiz.com : Most extra features
• Honorable mentions

Business plan software 101

The takeaway, business plan software faq, compare the best business plan software.

By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy .

LivePlan: Best overall business plan software

Data as of 3 /13/23 . Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. *With annual billing

LivePlan has been our favorite business plan software for a while now, despite the stiff competition.

There’s a lot to like about LivePlan. It has pretty much all the features you could want from your business plan software. LivePlan gives you step-by-step instructions for writing your plan, helps you create financial reports, lets you compare your business’s actual financials to your plan’s goals, and much more. And if you ever need inspiration, it includes hundreds of sample business plans that can guide your writing.

LivePlan software pricing

But the best part? You get all that (and more) at a very competitive price. (You can choose from annual, six-month, or monthly billing.) While LivePlan isn’t quite the cheapest business plan builder out there, it’s not too far off either. And if comes with a 60-day money back guarantee. So there’s no risk in trying LivePlan out for yourself.

With a great balance of features and cost, LivePlan offers the best business plan solution for most businesses.

BizPlanBuilder: Most user-friendly

Need something easy to use? BizPlanBuilder fits the bill.

BizPlanBuilder doesn’t have a flashy, modern user interface―but it does have a very clear, intuitive one. You’ll be able to see your plan’s overall structure at a glance, so you can quickly navigate from your title page to your market trend section to that paragraph on your core values. And as you write, you’ll use a text editor that looks a whole lot like the word processing programs you’re already familiar with.

BizPlanBuilder software pricing

Data effective 3/13/23. At publishing time, amounts, rates, and requirements are current but are subject to change. Offers may not be available in all areas.

BizPlanBuilder also offers lots of helpful guidance for actually writing your plan. It gives you pre-written text, in which you just have to fill in relevant details. It offers explanations for what information you need to include in each section of your plan and way. It even gives you helpful tips from experts, so you’ll have all the information you need to plan like a pro.

So if you want planning software with almost no learning curve, you’ll like BizPlanBuilder.

Wise Business Plans: Best professional service

• Custom quote

Unlike all the other companies on this list, Wise Business Plans doesn’t offer software. Instead, it offers professional business plan writing services―meaning someone does all the hard work for you.

Now, you might think that sounds expensive―and you’re probably right (you have to request a custom quote for your plan). But there’s a lot to be said for expertise, and Wise Business Plans has plenty of that. Your business plan will get written by an experienced writer (with an MBA, no less). They’ll get information from you, do their own research, and then write your plan. You get one free revision, and you can always pay for more.  

Wise Business Plans service pricing

Your end result will be a polished, entirely original business plan. (You can even get printed copies.) And best of all, you won’t have to spend your precious time working on the plan yourself. Wise Business Plans takes care of all the hard parts, and makes your business look good while doing it. Sounds like a service worth paying for, right?

Put simply, if you want the most professional business plan possible, we recommend using Wise Business Plans’s writing service.

Business Sorter: Best for internal plans

Many businesses need plans to show to people outside the company (to get financing, for example). But what if you just need a plan for internal use? In that case, we suggest Business Sorter.

Business Sorter uses a unique card-based method to help you craft the perfect business plan. (You can watch a demo video to see how it works.) You’ll plan some of the usual things, like finances and marketing. But Business Sorter also lets you make plans for specific teams and team members. It also emphasizes more internal matters, like operations, that might get overlooked in a business plan for outsiders.

Business Sorter software pricing

After you’ve made your business plan, Business Sorter also helps you stay accountable to it. You can create tasks, give them deadlines, and assign them to team members―giving you basic project management tools to make sure your business plans become business actions. (Oh, and did we mention that Business Sorter has the lowest starting prices of any software on this list?)

It all adds up to a business plan software that works great for internal planning.

GoSmallBiz: Most extra features

Want to get way more than just business planning software? Then you probably want GoSmallBiz.

See, GoSmallBiz offers business plan software as part of its service―but it’s just one part of a much bigger whole. You also get everything from discounts on legal services to a website builder to a CRM (customer relationship manager) to business document templates. And more. In other words, you get just about everything you need to get your startup off the ground.

GoSmallBiz software pricing

Don’t worry though―you still get all the business planning help you need. GoSmallBiz gives you business plan templates, step-by-step instructions, and the ability to create financial projections. And if you get stuck, GoSmallBiz will put you in touch with experts who can offer advice.

If you want business planning and much, much more, give GoSmallBiz a try.

• PlanGuru : Best financial forecasting
• EnLoop : Cheapest tool for startups

We recommend the software above for most business planning needs. Some businesses, though, might be interested in these more specialized planning software.

Honorable mention software pricing

Planguru: best financial forecasting features.

PlanGuru is pretty pricey compared to our other picks, but you might find its forecasting features worth paying for. It has more forecasting methods than other software (over 20) plus it lets you forecast up to 10 years.

EnLoop: Cheapest tool for startups

EnLoop doesn’t have our favorite features or interface, but it does have really, really low pricing plus a seven-day free trial. It's the most affordable software for startup business planning and still provides all the essential features like financial analysis, team collaboration, charting, and more.

Data as of 3 /13/23 . Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. * With annual billing

Several of our previous favorite planning software, including BusinessPlanPro and StratPad, seem to have gone out of business.

A business plan is a written, living document that tells the story of your business and what you plan to do with it. It serves as the source of truth for you—the business owner—as well as potential partners, employees, and investors, but it also serves as a roadmap of what you want your business to be.

Why you need a business plan

While some small-business owners don’t see the point of creating a formal business plan, it can have some concrete benefits for your business. For example, one 2016 study found that business owners with written plans are more successful than those that don’t. 1

Still too vague? Then let’s get specific.

If you ever seek business funding (from, say, banks, angel investors , or venture capitalists ), you’ll have to prove that your business deserves the money you want. A formal business plan―complete with financial data and projections―gives you a professional document you can use to make your case. (In fact, most potential investors will expect you to have a business plan ready.)

Even if you’re not seeking funding right now, a business plan can help your business. A formal plan can guide your business’s direction and decision making. It can keep your business accountable (by, for example, seeing if your business meets the financial projections you included). And a formal plan offers a great way to make sure your team stays on the same page.

What to include in your business plan

Not all business plans are created equal. To make a really useful business plan, you’ll want to include a number of elements:

• Basic information about your business
• Your products/services
• Market and industry analysis
• What makes your business competitive
• Strategies and upcoming plans
• Your team (and your team’s background)
• Current financial status
• Financial and market projections
• Executive summary

Of course, you can include more or fewer elements―whatever makes sense for your business. Just make sure your business plan is comprehensive (but not overwhelming).

How business plan software can help

With so many elements to include, business plan creation can take a while. Business plan software tries to speed things up.

Most business plan software will include prompts for each section. In some cases, you can just fill in your business’s specific information, and the software will write the text for you. In other cases, the software will give you specific guidance and examples, helping you write the text yourself.

Plus, business plan software can help you stay organized. You’ll usually get intuitive menus that let you quickly flip through sections. So rather than endlessly scrolling through a long document in a word processor, you can quickly find your way around your plan. Some software even lets you drag and drop sections to reorganize your plan.

Sounds way easier than just staring at a blank page and trying to start from scratch, right?

Choosing business plan software

To find the right business plan builder for your business, you’ll want to compare features. For example, would you rather write your own text, getting prompts and advice from your software? Or would you rather go with a fill-in-the-blank method?

Likewise, think about the elements you need. If your plan will have a heavy focus on finances, you’ll want to choose business plan software with robust financial projection features. If you care more about market and competitor analysis, look for software that can help with that research.

You may also want to find business plan software that integrates with your business accounting software . Some plan builders will import data from Xero, QuickBooks, etc. to quickly generate your financial data and projections.

And of course, you’ll want to compare prices. After all, you always want to end up with software that fits your business budget.

The right business plan software can make your life easier. With LivePlan ’s wide breadth of features and online learning tools, you can’t go wrong. Plus, BizPlanBuilder 's one-time pricing makes it easy to invest while Business Sorter has a low starting cost. And if you're business is looking to grow, GoSmallBiz and Wise Business Plans will scale with you.

But of course, different companies have different needs. So shop around until you find the software that’s best for you and your business.

Now that you've got a business plan, take a look at our checklist for starting a small business.  It can help you make sure you have everything else you need to get your startup off to a good start!

Related content

• 7 Steps to Build a Successful Project Management Sales Plan
• Best Project Management Software and Tools in 2023
• 4 Cost Management Techniques for Small Businesses

Creating a business plan can take anywhere from a couple hours to several weeks. Your timeline will depend on things like the elements you choose to include, whether you use software or hire a writing service, and how much research goes into your plan.

That said, much of the business plan software out there brags that it can help you create a fairly detailed plan in a few hours. So if you’re going the software route, that can help you set your expectations.

If you want to get the most out of your business plan, you should update it on a regular basis―at least annually. That way, you can continually refer to it to inform your company’s strategies and direction.  

At the very least, you should update your business plan before you start looking for a new round of funding (whether that’s with investors or lenders).

Thanks to business plan software, you can easily write your own business plan rather than pay someone to do it for you. And in most cases, software will cost you less than a professional business plan service.

There are some times you might want to go with a service though. If time is tight, you might find that it’s worth the cost of a service. Or if you’ve got big investor meetings on the horizon, you might want the expertise and polish that a professional service can offer.

Ultimately, you’ll have to decide for yourself whether business plan software or a business plan service will work better for your company.

Methodology

We ranked business plan software and tools based on features, pricing and plans, and connections to project management and other services. The value of each plan and service, along with what it offers, was a big consideration in our rankings, and we looked to see if what was offered was useful to small businesses or just extra. The final thing we looked at was the ease of use of the software to see if it's too complex for small businesses.

At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don't guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.

Sources 1. Harvard Business Review, “ Research: Writing a Business Plan Makes Your Startup More Likely to Succeed .” Accessed March 13, 2023.

5202 W Douglas Corrigan Way Salt Lake City, UT 84116

Accounting & Payroll

Point of Sale

Payment Processing

Inventory Management

Human Resources

Other Services

Best Small Business Loans

Best Inventory Management Software

Best Small Business Accounting Software

Best Payroll Software

Best Mobile Credit Card Readers

Best POS Systems

Best Tax Software

Stay updated on the latest products and services anytime anywhere.

By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use  and  Privacy Policy .

Disclaimer: The information featured in this article is based on our best estimates of pricing, package details, contract stipulations, and service available at the time of writing. All information is subject to change. Pricing will vary based on various factors, including, but not limited to, the customer’s location, package chosen, added features and equipment, the purchaser’s credit score, etc. For the most accurate information, please ask your customer service representative. Clarify all fees and contract details before signing a contract or finalizing your purchase.

Our mission is to help consumers make informed purchase decisions. While we strive to keep our reviews as unbiased as possible, we do receive affiliate compensation through some of our links. This can affect which services appear on our site and where we rank them. Our affiliate compensation allows us to maintain an ad-free website and provide a free service to our readers. For more information, please see our  Privacy Policy Page . |

© Business.org 2024 All Rights Reserved.

Starting a Business | Buyer's Guide

6 Best Business Plan Software

Published June 10, 2020

Published Jun 10, 2020

WRITTEN BY: Blake Stockton

This article is part of a larger series on Starting a Business .

Business plan software gives you the tools to create financial projection tables, charts, and other documents you need to plan your business. Software is often better than using a free template because it gives you step-by-step directions and educational materials to help you complete a clear business plan. We review the best business plan software below so you can determine which software is right for your business.

The six best business plan software for 2020 are:

• LivePlan : Best overall business plan software for small and medium sized businesses
• BizPlan : Best for tech startups that need a business plan that appeals to investors
• Enloop : Best for entrepreneurs short on time and need recommended biz plan content
• GoSmallBiz.com : Best for a new small business that also needs marketing and operation tools
• Business Sorter : Best for visual thinkers who want to try an innovative approach to creating a plan
• PlanGuru : Best for businesses that need to create in-depth financial projections

How We Evaluated Business Plan Software

To evaluate the various business plan software, we reviewed factors we believe are essential no matter what type of business plan you’re creating. Primarily, we reviewed pricing and the availability of a trial or money-back guarantee. We also researched the business plan software overall quality and ease of use. Additionally, we reviewed customer service availability, additional services offered, and the quality of educational materials.

LivePlan: Best Overall Business Plan Software for Small Businesses

LivePlan is a well-designed software for business owners looking to create either a one-page plan or a lender-ready plan. What separates LivePlan from competitors is the extended money-back guarantee and quality of educational materials. The software has financial projections that are easy to complete and looks great as a finished product.

Visit LivePlan

LivePlan Pricing

• Pay As You Go : $20 per month
• Six-month Plan : $108 every six months
• 12-month Plan : $180 every 12 months

LivePlan Features

• One-page business plan: If you’d like to create a simple plan, LivePlan provides a fill-in-the-blank template to get your ideas down quickly.
• Educational materials: LivePlan walks users step-by-step through the business planning process with several video tutorials and examples.
• Financial data: As you answer financial questions, LivePlan populates easy-to-read financial charts and graphs.
• Customer service: Phone, email, and online chat support is available for customers Monday thru Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time.

Why We Like LivePlan

LivePlan provides the necessary tools to get your biz plan created. If you’re creating your first business plan, the educational materials serve as a mini online course to help you complete your plan. LivePlan leads in its 60-day money-back guarantee—most guarantees are one to two weeks. Additionally, if you find that you cannot finish your business plan, LivePlan has a network of writers who can assist.

Bizplan: Best Business Plan Software for Tech Startups

BizPlan is a software aimed for high-growth startups. Typically, these types of businesses are looking to raise funding from an investor, not a bank. BizPlan provides several unique features including a drag-and-drop builder, startup educational materials, and access to a fundraising platform.

Visit Bizplan

Bizplan Pricing

• Monthly : $29 per month
• Annual : $20.75 per month ($249 per year)
• Lifetime Access : $349 one-time

Bizplan Features

• Drag-and-drop user interface: Create a business plan with the elements needed for your type of business.
• Online fundraising platform: Included with the business plan software is access to Fundable.com, an online fundraising platform that connects you to potential investors.
• Lifetime pricing: Bizplan is the only company that provides lifetime access for a one-time $349 fee.
• Startup courses: In addition to the biz plan software, receive access to over 650 videos and 1,000 how-to guides for creating a successful high-growth startup.
• Customer service : Phone, chat, and email availability Monday thru Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern time.

Why We Like Bizplan

BizPlan is perfect for the business looking to raise funds from an investor. One unique feature it provides is the “pitch” document. This doc outlines the most important aspects of your business. It’s easy to share with investors who want a snapshot of your business. We also like the positive online reviews regarding Bizplan’s customer service: fast response, and pleasant to work with.

Enloop: Best for Completing a Business Plan Fast

Enloop is an easy-to-navigate business plan software that focuses on helping customers get their plan completed quickly. It does this through its automated text and performance score that acts as a digital mentor. For an additional monthly fee, Enloop provides an analysis of your financial ratios, which help determine your company’s potential financial health.

Visit Enloop

Enloop Pricing

• Seven-day free trial (no credit card required)
• Detailed plan : $19.95 per month or $11 per month with annual payment
• Performance plan : $39.95 per month or $24 per month with annual payment

Enloop Features

• Automated text: The plan comes with standard business plan text that you can customize and any financial text gets updated automatically from the financial data.
• Financial ratios: Enloop does a great job explaining 16 different financial ratios that indicate the financial health of your business.
• Performance score: As you complete your business plan and enter your financial information, Enloop calculates a completion score from 0-100, which serves as motivation to complete the plan.
• Customer service: Enloop’s service is limited to messages and a help database.

Why We Like Enloop

Enloop provides several features that makes it an appealing business plan software. Users can complete their business plan quickly with their templated text. Enloop also saves time by having financial numbers discussed in the text updated automatically when changed in the financial data and tables section. We also like the one-week free trial that requires no credit card information to start.

GoSmallBiz.com: Best for Additional Small Business Tools

GoSmallBiz.com provides a comprehensive toolkit that those starting a new business will find helpful. In addition to the biz plan software, it provides a website, customer relationship management (CRM), text-based business consultations, and legal business documents. No other biz plan software offers this suite of tools—all for one cost.

Visit GoSmallBiz.com

GoSmallBiz.com Pricing

• Suite of business products : $39 per month

GoSmallBiz.com Features

• Business plan: Save time by choosing a business plan template specifically for your industry and then use a step-by-step wizard to complete it.
• Educational materials: As you create your business plan, you’ll find video tutorials teaching you about different sections of a biz plan.
• Unlimited business consultations: Submit your specific business questions to knowledgeable business consultants and receive an answer within two days.
• Other tools: In addition to the business plan, use GoSmallBiz.com’s software to do additional tasks such as building a website, tracking basic accounting, writing corporate minutes, and creating legal documents.
• Customer service : Available by phone Monday thru Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern time.

Why We Like GoSmallBiz.com

GoSmallBiz.com is perfect for the new small business owner looking to save on software needed for their business. We particularly like the ability to get answers specific to your business questions from business consultants. GoSmallBiz.com also has high-quality videos and educational materials throughout. For those new to entrepreneurship, learn best-practices through its downloadable app, videos, and blog.

Business Sorter: Best Business Plan For Visual Learners

Business Sorter uses an innovative card sorting system to help users determine what information needs to go in their business plan. If you’d like the plan to be a team effort, you can assign certain sections to individual employees. Business Sorter provides a test drive with a 14-day free trial with no credit card required to start.

Visit Business Sorter

Business Sorter Pricing

• Small Team : $10 per month or $80 per year (three users)
• Medium Team : $30 per month or $240 per year (10 users)
• Large Team : $80 per month or $640 per year (30 users)
• Enterprise : Customer (unlimited users)

Business Sorter Features

• Card sorter planning system: When first starting the business plan, you’ll be presented with 273 digital cards to sort through and prioritize what’s essential in your plan.
• Team-oriented: Assign certain portions of the business plan to specific employees via email.
• Multiple plans: Create up to 40 plans for your business or other businesses you own at no additional cost.
• Guidance: Business Sorter provides advice every step of the way so you can complete the fundamentals of your business plan in under two hours.
• Customer service : No phone support, but it does have email support, frequently asked questions, and a detailed biz plan guide.

Why We Like Business Sorter

We really like the innovative biz plan creation process behind Business Sorter. Instead of you trying to determine the most critical aspects of your business on your own, Business Sorter walks you through specifics for each section in 273 different digital cards. The desired cards— which indicate sections—then get added to your plan. We also like the overall ease of use and modern design of the software.

PlanGuru: Best for In-depth Financial Forecasting

PlanGuru is a software specially designed for financial analysis and forecasting. You may want to use this software if financial projections and budgeting is essential to your business philosophy and your type of business. With PlanGuru you can use over 20 different forecasting methods to better understand how your business may perform financially in the future.

Visit PlanGuru

PlanGuru Pricing

• Monthly : $99 per month
• Annual : $299 per year
• PlanGuru Launch : $250 an hour

PlanGuru Features

• Detailed financial analysis: Integrate the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement into one comprehensive financial model.
• PlanGuru Launch: Hire PlanGuru to formulate a financial plan for your business and then learn from its experts about how to track and manage the plan.
• PlanGuru Analyst: This product is when PlanGuru sets up your financial plan, then tracks it for you, and sends updates—for a fixed monthly fee.
• PlanGuru University: This is a seven hour online class that teaches you how to understand and track the finances in your business.
• Customer service: A ticket submission service is available for customers.

Why We Like PlanGuru

For the financially-minded small business owner, PlanGuru has all the tools to implement and track your financial plan. The projections are typically the most challenging part of any business plan. Still, if you will ever need funding for your business, you must have the projections. Use PlanGuru University to learn more about your financials, and then “wow” investors with a detailed financial forecasting model.

Bottom Line

Now that you’ve read through the best business plan software available in 2020, it’s time to decide: which plan is best for you? For the typical small business, LivePlan will provide all the tools they need to write a funding-ready plan. A tech startup may want to consider BizPlan. If you want to write your plan quickly, choose Enloop. PlanGuru is best to complete detailed financial projections. Whichever software you choose, remember, business planning is an exercise to chart your business’s bright and exciting future!

About the Author

Find Blake On LinkedIn Twitter

Blake Stockton

Blake Stockton is a staff writer at Fit Small Business focusing on how to start brick-and-mortar and online businesses. He is a frequent guest lecturer at several undergraduate business and MBA classes at University of North Florida . Prior to joining Fit Small Business, Blake consulted with over 700 small biz owners and assisted with starting and growing their businesses.

Join Fit Small Business

Sign up to receive more well-researched small business articles and topics in your inbox, personalized for you. Select the newsletters you’re interested in below.

We use essential cookies to make Venngage work. By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.

Manage Cookies

Cookies and similar technologies collect certain information about how you’re using our website. Some of them are essential, and without them you wouldn’t be able to use Venngage. But others are optional, and you get to choose whether we use them or not.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are always on, as they’re essential for making Venngage work, and making it safe. Without these cookies, services you’ve asked for can’t be provided.

Show cookie providers

• Google Login

Functionality Cookies

These cookies help us provide enhanced functionality and personalisation, and remember your settings. They may be set by us or by third party providers.

Performance Cookies

These cookies help us analyze how many people are using Venngage, where they come from and how they're using it. If you opt out of these cookies, we can’t get feedback to make Venngage better for you and all our users.

• Google Analytics

Targeting Cookies

These cookies are set by our advertising partners to track your activity and show you relevant Venngage ads on other sites as you browse the internet.

• Google Tag Manager
• Infographics
• Daily Infographics
• Popular Templates
• Accessibility
• Graphic Design
• Graphs and Charts
• Data Visualization
• Human Resources
• Beginner Guides

Blog Business 8 Best Business Plan Software for 2024

8 Best Business Plan Software for 2024

Written by: Krystle Wong Jan 01, 2024

Gone are the days of staring at blank pages and struggling to structure a business plan effectively. With user-friendly interfaces and a wide range of business plan templates catering to various industries, creating business plans that are polished, professional and data-driven can now be done in a fraction of the time.

For startups, business plan software guides them through the crucial early stages with comprehensive business plan templates and financial modeling tools. Established businesses on the other hand benefit from the software’s collaborative features, enabling seamless teamwork as they pivot, innovate and pursue new growth opportunities.

In this article, let’s delve into exploring the seven best business plan software for 2024. Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur with a groundbreaking idea or a seasoned business owner ready to elevate your enterprise to new heights, these software solutions have all you need to create a solid business plan.

Click to jump ahead:

What is a business plan software?

• 7 Best business plan software for 2024

Factors to consider when choosing a business plan software

7 steps to create your own business plan, business plan software faq, key takeaway.

A Business plan software is a specialized digital tool designed to assist entrepreneurs, startups and established businesses in creating, organizing and presenting comprehensive business plans. 

Business plan software significantly reduces the time and effort required to create a comprehensive business plan . The availability of business plan templates, financial modeling tools and automated features streamlines the process of business planning and eliminates the need for starting from scratch.

Some advanced business planning software even integrates market research capabilities. This feature provides users with access to market trends, industry benchmarks and relevant data. Access to such data helps users make informed decisions and demonstrate a thorough understanding of their target market.

8 Best business plan software for 2024 

1. venngage.

Venngage specializes in transforming traditional business plans into captivating visual stories. Visuals can communicate complex information effectively, ensuring your ideas stand out and resonate with your audience.

When it comes to business planning, conveying your ideas with impact is just as important as the content itself. In this digital age, visual storytelling has emerged as a powerful way to captivate audiences and leave a lasting impression. That’s where Venngage steps in.

With a rich library of templates, Venngage offers a variety of themes and styles to suit different industries and business types. Customize your business plans with our user-friendly drag-and-drop tools by adding your brand elements, customizing colors, fonts and visuals to make your business plan truly unique. Check out our library of sample business plans to get started today.

However, while Venngage excels in visual storytelling, it might not be the go-to tool for in-depth financial forecasts and analysis. Users seeking extensive financial modeling might want to complement Venngage with a comprehensive business planning tool.

Pricing options:

Create your first 5 designs with Venngage for free and upgrade to a premium or business plan for $10/month per user and $24/month per user respectively to enjoy premium features. For larger teams who need extra support, controls and security, the enterprise plan starts from $499/month for 10+ seats.

Can I collaborate with team members using this business plan software?

Yes, absolutely! Venngage offers collaborative features that allow you to work seamlessly with multiple team members when creating business plans. You can invite team members to join your Venngage account and they can contribute to the design process in real time. 

Can I export my business plan to different file formats?

Upgrade to a premium or business plan on Venngage to export your professional business plan to different file formats. After designing your business plan, you can choose to export it as a high-quality PDF document, which is ideal for sharing and printing. Additionally, Venngage allows you to export your business plan as an image file (PNG or JPG), making it easy to use in presentations or on your website. 

Is this business plan software suitable for startups or established businesses? 

Venngage is great for entrepreneurs and businesses looking to enhance their business plans with visually engaging infographics and visual assets.

Instead of sharing a lengthy, 50-page document that may bore your audience and fail to effectively convey your message — present your business plan with infographics. Here’s how you can create a business plan infographic that will wow your readers and showcase your business at its best. 

2. LivePlan

Source: Screenshot from LivePlan

In the realm of business planning software, LivePlan stands out as a reliable and user-friendly tool. With a focus on seamless financial forecasting and budgeting capabilities, LivePlan streamlines the planning process, helping businesses transform their visions into reality.

The software’s financial forecasting tools provide users with the ability to project revenue, expenses and cash flow accurately. This financial insight is invaluable for making informed decisions and setting realistic goals.

For hassle-free data integration, the business plan software offers seamless integration with accounting software . This feature allows users to import financial data effortlessly, saving time and reducing manual data entry.

While LivePlan excels in financial planning and user-friendliness, some users may find the customization options for design and layout to be limited. For businesses seeking highly tailored visual aesthetics, LivePlan’s template-based approach might be less ideal.

The standard plan is available at $20/month for monthly billing and $15/month for annual billing. For businesses seeking extensive financial tools to support their operations and growth, the Premium plan costs $20 for the first month and $40/month (monthly billing) or $30/month (annual billing) for subsequent months.

LivePlan facilitates seamless collaboration among users within your account, allowing multiple individuals to work on the same plan concurrently. To prevent conflicting edits, LivePlan restricts access to specific sections, allowing only one user to edit at a time while others observe the locked section.

You can export your business plan by using the print to PDF feature. This generates your plan content in a standard file format compatible with Adobe Reader and other free reader programs. Alternatively, you can export your plan to Microsoft Word (2007 or later).

A great tool for small businesses, startups and entrepreneurs looking for easy-to-use software with solid financial planning tools.

3. Upmetrics

Upmetrics is an AI-powered business planning software that helps businesses of all sizes and industries write their business plan.

With Upmetrics AI Assistant, you can write your plan faster, get answers to any business-related queries, and prepare financial forecasts in no time. 

Besides, the subscription includes access to 400+ sample business plans, various informative guides, and video tutorials to keep your business plan writing process on track. 

Additionally, it has collaborative features, so that everyone on the team can share their insights. Not just that, the software provides you with an AI pitch deck generator, so you can make a stellar pitch.

As an AI business plan builder , Upmetrics is suitable for entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses to write their plans at any stage. Although it has various cover page designs and immense customization options, it might still lack visual appeal. 

Pricing plan options 

• Starter plan – $7 monthly 
• Premium plan – $14 monthly 

Yes, you can collaborate with your team members while using Upmetrics. It offers collaboration tools that allow you to work effortlessly with your team on the business plan. You can invite team members to collaborate, assign tasks, and track the progress together. 

You can download your business plan as a PDF or directly as a document in Word. Besides, you can share the business plan directly to any email, and they will get the viewer access to the plan. 

Upmetrics is a versatile business planning software suitable for startups and established businesses. But its financial planning features, step-by-step guidance, and AI Assistant make it more useful for startups writing business plans for the first time.

4. BizPlan by Startups.com

Source: Screenshot from BizPlan

If you’re a startup aiming to raise investments, BizPlan is the one for you. As a universal professional business plan builder, BizPlan offers the added advantage of seamless integration with all the tools within the Startups.com network.

Designed with startups in mind, BizPlan’s step-by-step approach allows you to break down the entire scope of work into manageable steps and the built-in Progress Tracker tool keeps you on track towards success.

Once you subscribe, BizPlan opens the door to utilizing all the tools offered by Startups.com, making it a one-stop shop for your entrepreneurial needs. Whether it’s lifetime access to the service, connectivity to Findable to attract financial investments, a wealth of online educational programs or the ability to connect multiple owners to a single account, BizPlan delivers comprehensive support.

While the business plan software offers an array of benefits, it’s essential to consider the possible downsides. The absence of a free version and a mobile app, along with a lack of industry-specific templates for business plans may be worth considering before making your decision

Pricing plan options:

• Monthly plan ($29 per month)
• Annual plan ($20.75 per month or $249/year)
• Lifetime access (one-time fee of $349)

Bizplan encourages collaboration with partners, team members, advisors and subject matter experts by allowing threaded comments throughout the entire plan. It provides control over who can access sensitive financial data and enables convenient cloud-based access from anywhere.

Bizplan provides multiple options for sharing your business plan with others. You can generate an online version of your plan, which can be set as private by default or made publicly accessible through a unique shareable URL. Additionally, Bizplan offers the option to create a custom-branded PDF of your business plan. 

BizPlan is great for entrepreneurs and small businesses who value a vast collection of resources and need support in financial analysis.

Source: Screenshot from Enloop

Enloop emerges as one of the best business plan tools for startups, catering to entrepreneurs who crave a streamlined planning process. With the ability to automatically generate basic text for each section of your plan, Enloop saves time and effort in crafting your business vision.

A highlight of the business plan tool is its automatic generation of financial projections, offering accurate insights based on your entered data. This powerful feature empowers entrepreneurs to make informed decisions and project future outcomes with confidence.

For those with a penchant for strategic thinking, Enloop’s “what-if” scenario analysis becomes an invaluable tool. It allows users to explore various business strategies and assess their potential impact on plan outcomes, enabling sound decision-making.

Enloop doesn’t stop at generating numbers; it goes a step further by providing a business plan grading system. This insightful feature assesses plan quality, giving users valuable feedback to refine and enhance their business plans.

However, it’s essential to consider the software’s limitations as customization and design options are relatively limited. Additionally, the basic version of Enloop might not meet the needs of all users, as it lacks certain advanced features. 

• Seven day free trial (no credit card required)
• Detailed plan ($19.95/month or $11/month when billed annually)
• Performance plan ($39.95/month or $24/month when billed annually)

Enloop’s online business plan writing app lets you invite and collaborate with anyone on your business plans using the ‘Invite & Share’ feature.

Enloop allows you to download your business plan in PDF format whenever you’re ready. The plans remain accessible in your paid account, encouraging regular updates to keep track of your business’s health and have an up-to-date plan ready for financing needs.

Suitable for entrepreneurs seeking a tool that simplifies financial forecasting and scenario analysis.

6. PlanGuru

Source: Screenshot from PlanGuru

PlanGuru’s standout feature lies in its ability to forecast all three financial statements – income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement so that users can make data-driven decisions.

Creating detailed analyses becomes a breeze with PlanGuru’s general ledger import utilities, allowing seamless historical data import. The software facilitates budget vs actual reporting and enables building rolling forecasts with just a few clicks each month.

Unlimited budgeting flexibility is another advantage offered by the business plan builder. Users can craft simple high-level small business budgets or delve into intricate multi-department operating budgets with ease.

With scenario analysis capabilities, PlanGuru empowers users to interpret the financial impact of specific events accurately. This feature enables making critical investments and strategic decisions with confidence, knowing thorough due diligence has been performed.

Given its sophisticated features, PlanGuru may be more suitable for financial professionals and analysts looking for in-depth financial analysis and budgeting tools. Users not familiar with financial modeling may face a steeper learning curve when utilizing Enloop’s robust capabilities.

• Single entity ($99/month or $75/month when billed annually)
• Multi-department consolidations ($299/month or $225/month when billed annually)

You can add up to 3 users with the multi-department consolidation plan. Additionally, all plans allow you to add on $29/month (billed monthly) or $25/month (billed annually) for each extra user.

What other apps does PlanGuru integrate with?

The cloud-based platform is also accessible as a Windows-based desktop version, giving you the freedom to choose the format that suits you best. Additionally, PlanGuru seamlessly integrates with MS Excel, QuickBooks Online and Xero, providing further flexibility and convenience in using the software.

The cloud-based version is suitable for SMBs or nonprofits budgeting for a single entity while the multi-department consolidations plan is for companies with multiple departments needing consolidated budgets.

7. Business Sorter

Source: Screenshot from Business Sorter

With Business Sorter’s card sort system, crafting the foundation of your plan becomes a breeze. Featuring 273 cards covering various business situations, the business plan generator offers flexibility, allowing users to customize their plan by adding their cards or modifying existing ones, tailoring the plan to their specific needs.

The platform also provides the convenience of viewing your plan on any device, including smartphones, which not many business plan apps have. Additionally, guidance is at hand with Business Sorter as the software provides valuable tips and advice for every key step, empowering users to implement their business strategy with confidence.

While Business Sorter excels in its interactive features, it may not offer as extensive financial analysis tools as other business plan software. For businesses requiring advanced financial modeling capabilities, Business Sorter might not fully meet their requirements.

• For small teams with up to 3 users ($10/month or $80/year)
• For medium teams with up to 10 users ($30/month or $240/year)
• For large teams with up to 30 users ($80/month or $640/year)
• For enterprises with unlimited users (custom pricing)

Your business plan can be edited by only one user at a time. When a user opens a plan, it automatically locks to prevent any data loss and remains locked until the user finishes their work and exits the plan.

You can print each business plan directly from the plan summaries on your dashboard. 

Suitable for both entrepreneurs and businesses looking for an interactive and visually appealing planning approach.

9. AchieveIt

Source: Screenshot from AchieveIt

AchieveIt stands as a versatile software for business plans, designed to simplify the planning process for businesses of all sizes and planning methods. With AchieveIt, you can easily build plans, ensuring alignment and engagement among your employees and optimizing plans for seamless execution.

Regardless of your preferred planning method, AchieveIt empowers you to construct plans effortlessly, providing a flexible solution for any planning use case. The software ensures your plans are well-aligned with your organization’s objectives, engaging all team members for successful plan execution.

The business plan tool provides robust tracking and reporting features, allowing businesses to monitor the progress of their plans and measure performance against set goals. Users can create customized dashboards to visualize key performance metrics, making it easier to identify trends and insights.

That said, In comparison to most business plan software, AchieveIt’s pricing might be relatively higher with its extensive features. On top of that, for users new to strategic planning software, AchieveIt may present a learning curve during the initial adoption phase.

The business plan software packages for AchieveIt varies based on factors like organization size, required functionality and the number of users. AchieveIt being an enterprise-level software offers custom pricing to cater to the specific needs of each business. For accurate pricing details, it’s best to contact their sales or customer support team.

AchieveIt allows team members, stakeholders and advisors to have shared access to the platform, providing them with visibility into the latest updates and progress on the plans. Users can assign tasks to team members and track their progress within the platform. 

Can AchieveIt integrate with existing systems?

AchieveIt’s Data Integration API lets you import key metric data from existing systems, saving time and reducing errors by eliminating the need for data entry in multiple places.

AchieveIt is best suited for medium to large-sized businesses and organizations that require a comprehensive and collaborative strategic planning platform. It caters to teams and enterprises seeking to improve their planning processes, track performance and drive organizational alignment to achieve business objectives effectively.

No idea what your business plan should look like? Check out these business plan examples for inspiration. 

When searching for the best business planning software, you may be wondering — what features should I look for in business plan software? You want to make sure it meets your specific requirements and streamlines the planning process effectively. Here are the top six factors to consider:

Ease of use

The software should have a user-friendly interface that simplifies the process of creating a business plan. Look for intuitive navigation, clear instruction and a layout that makes it easy to input and organize your information.

Features and business plan templates

Check the range of features and business plan templates the software offers. Look for a diverse selection of business plan templates catering to various industries and business types. The software should provide essential sections like executive summaries, market analysis, financial projections and more.

Financial modeling tools

Your business plan software should allow you to input financial data and generate accurate and comprehensive financial projections. These business plan creation tools are vital for assessing the financial viability of your business.

Collaboration and sharing

If you’ll be working with a team or seeking feedback from others, consider software that enables real-time collaboration and easy sharing. The ability to work together seamlessly can enhance productivity and improve the quality of your business plan.

Built for fast-moving teams that need to be on the same page, Venngage’s real-time collaboration enables you to polish your design with your team in real time, leave comments on each other’s work,and save your designs in one shared folder. With your  Venngage Business  account, you can easily invite and manage your team members to collaborate on a design, all in real time.

Security and data protection

Since a business plan contains sensitive information, prioritize software that prioritizes security. Ensure that the software uses encryption and data protection measures to keep your data safe from unauthorized access.

Exporting and sharing options

Check the software’s export options. You’ll likely want to share your business plan with others, so ensure it can be exported in popular formats like PDF or PowerPoint.

Are you an entrepreneur starting a new business or expanding your existing business? This guide on how to create a small business plan might come in handy for you. 

Creating business plans can be a crucial step in setting your entrepreneurial vision on the right track. To help you through the process, here are 7 steps to guide you in crafting a comprehensive business plan:

Step 1: Executive summary

Start with an attention-grabbing executive summary. This section provides an overview of your business. In your executive summary, make sure to highlight your mission, goals, products or services, target market and the unique value you offer. Keep it concise, yet compelling.

Step 2: Company description

Give a detailed description of your company. Explain your business’s history, its legal structure (e.g. sole proprietorship, LLC, corporation) and the reasons why your business will succeed in the market.

Step 3: Market analysis

Conduct thorough market research to understand your industry, target market and competition. Identify your ideal customers, their needs and preferences. Analyze your competitors and highlight your competitive advantages.

Step 4: Products and Services

Describe your products or services in depth. Explain their features, benefits and how they meet the needs of your target customers. Emphasize what sets your offerings apart from the competition.

Step 5: Marketing and sales strategy

Outline your marketing and sales strategies to reach your target audience. Explain your promotional activities, pricing strategies, distribution channels and sales tactics. Detail how you plan to acquire and retain customers.

Step 6: Financial projections

Project your financial performance over the next three to five years. Include estimated revenue, expenses and cash flow. Detail your startup costs and funding requirements if applicable. Be realistic and supported by market research.

Step 7: Implementation plan

Create a detailed roadmap for executing your business plan. Set specific goals and milestones. Break down tasks and assign responsibilities. Include timelines and a plan for measuring progress.

A great tip here is to start with a well-structured outline. This guide on how to create a business plan outline will help you in creating your blueprint to easily identify your business’ resource needs, including finances, personnel and equipment. 

Is my business data safe with business plan software?

Most reputable business plan software providers prioritize data security and employ encryption and other measures to keep your business data safe from unauthorized access.

What are the benefits of using business planning tools?

Business planning tools offer time efficiency, professional presentation, error reduction, collaborative features and accessibility, making it easier to create a comprehensive business plan that impresses investors and stakeholders.

Do I need any specific skills or expertise to use business plan software?

No, many business plan software solutions are designed to be user-friendly, requiring no specific skills or expertise. They often come with templates and step-by-step guidance to assist you through the planning process.

In the dynamic landscape of 2024, businesses are on the lookout for innovative tools to stay ahead of the curve and drive their growth. These 7 business plan software picks for 2024 offer a wide range of features, from user-friendly interfaces and real-time collaboration to sophisticated financial analysis tools and customizable dashboards.

Whether you’re looking for user-friendly platform business planning tools that aligns with your business planning processes or a business plan writing software that allows you to tailor the business plan according to your industry, goals and unique requirements — I’m quite certain I’ve got them all covered. 

The value of these business plan software options lies not only in their efficiency but also in their ability to save time and reduce errors. By integrating with existing systems through Data Integration APIs, users can seamlessly import key metric data, eliminating redundant data entry and streamlining the process.

If you’re still unsure about which is the right business plan software for your business, you can always take advantage of free trials or video tutorials and demos offered by software providers. Testing the platform firsthand will give you a practical understanding of its usability and suitability for your business.

Discover popular designs

Infographic maker

Brochure maker

White paper online

Newsletter creator

Flyer maker

Timeline maker

Letterhead maker

Mind map maker

Ebook maker

Business Plan Software

Find the best Business Plan Software

Popular comparisons, filter products, company size.

• Self-Employed

Pricing Options

• # of User Reviews
• Average Rating
• Alphabetically (A-Z)

Compare Products

Showing 1 - 20 of 58 products

AchieveIt is a cloud-based solution designed to help medium to large organizations in healthcare, government, utilities, enterprise, education, and more organize and integrate multiple plans, progress updates, and reports in a cen... Read more about AchieveIt

4.7 ( 21 reviews )

Aha! is the world's #1 product development software. We help more than 1 million product builders bring their strategy to life. Our suite of tools includes Aha! Roadmaps, Aha! Ideas, Aha! Whiteboards, Aha! Knowledge, and Aha! Deve... Read more about Aha!

4.7 ( 528 reviews )

InPhase is a cloud-based business management solution that offers enterprise reporting and analytics. It is used by businesses of all sizes across sectors such as finance, housing and health care. The solution supports integr... Read more about InPhase

5.0 ( 8 reviews )

LivePlan supports entrepreneurs and small-to-medium sized business in planning, funding, and growing their business. Creating a dynamic business plan is easy in LivePlan. Step-by-step guidance, examples, and expert support help y... Read more about LivePlan

4.5 ( 133 reviews )

E2open’s Sales and Operations Planning/Financial Planning solution is designed for medium to large enterprises in the discrete manufacturing, consumer goods and chemicals industries. E2open features advanced supply chain plan... Read more about Steelwedge

No reviews yet

Wrike is a cloud-based project management platform for teams of 20+ that is suitable for both large enterprises and SMBs. It supports remote work for various teams. This solution comes with Gantt charts, calendars, workload view f... Read more about Wrike

4.3 ( 2627 reviews )

Productboard

Productboard is the customer-driven product management system that empowers teams to get the right products to market, faster. It provides a complete solution for product teams to understand user needs, prioritize what to build ne... Read more about Productboard

4.7 ( 151 reviews )

BizPlanBuilder

BizPlanBuilder is designed to help businesses and advisors launch and fund new ventures. It offers tools for crafting pitch presentations, financial projections, and investor management tools. The solution also allows users to c... Read more about BizPlanBuilder

5.0 ( 2 reviews )

Planium Pro

Planium Pro is a strategic business planning software that helps startups and small as well as mid-sized companies develop strategic business plans. It provides financial modeling tools for building financial projections, budgets,... Read more about Planium Pro

4.8 ( 6 reviews )

STRATWs ONE

STRATWs ONE is a cloud-based solution that provides businesses with tools to manage projects and track organizational performance on a centralized platform. Professionals can create action plans, monitor the due dates of tasks and... Read more about STRATWs ONE

4.5 ( 94 reviews )

Actio is a business management solution, which assists organizations with risk mitigation, action tracking, strategic planning and budgeting, among other processes. Professionals can schedule meetings, manage key performance indi... Read more about Actio

4.2 ( 13 reviews )

Vizologi inspires you to develop brainstorming ideas, provides access to analyze competence, markets, and trends, and is a builder to create unique and creative business plans for your startup. It combines the simplicity of the bu... Read more about Vizologi

4.4 ( 13 reviews )

Strategic Product Management

Product Management Dashboard is a strategic project planning solution designed to help businesses streamline product development operations and evaluate market potential, pricing, cost and other factors using the Jira application.... Read more about Strategic Product Management

Valutico helps users generate business valuations by powering a forecasting, peers selection, and comparable transactions analysis process on a SaaS platform delivering expert-grade results.... Read more about Valutico

4.5 ( 32 reviews )

SOVEUR MONEY

SOVEUR MONEY is a business management platform that caters to entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses. SOVEUR MONEY provides key features for business collaboration that help users create and share business plans with team... Read more about SOVEUR MONEY

Intecplan is a business plan software. It generates the financial projection by economic sector, with values obtained from Census Economic Surveys and economical sites. This software includes an online manual with samples, cases, ... Read more about Intecplan

5.0 ( 22 reviews )

Cuttles is a fully interactive and guided pitch and business plan software that helps entrepreneurs build, understand and grow their business. The Cuttles web app has all the features and in-app guides and examples you need to cr... Read more about Cuttles

5.0 ( 4 reviews )

IdeaBuddy is a cloud-based business process management software that helps businesses in accounting, nonprofit, finance, IT, computer software, and other industries create business plans, collaborate with team members, and forecas... Read more about IdeaBuddy

4.6 ( 43 reviews )

HabitStack is a user-friendly productivity tool that helps individuals build positive habits, improve daily routines, and achieve goals. With habit tracking, customizable reminders, and analytical insights, users can stay accounta... Read more about HabitStack

Business Plan Quick Builder

The AI Automated Business Plan Generator. Creates a unique business plan from easy to use templates. Over 400 custom templates for virtually every type of business from antique dealer to wine producer. - Unique AI enhanced algori... Read more about Business Plan Quick Builder

4.3 ( 4 reviews )

7 Best Business Plan Software for Startups in 2024

• Resources for Planning a Business
• Best Business Plan Software

Last Updated: April 26, 2024 By TRUiC Team

Launching a new startup is an exciting yet challenging endeavor. Crafting a comprehensive business plan is a critical first step for any founder to outline their vision, objectives, and strategy. It acts as a roadmap to help guide important decisions and next steps as a company grows.

With so many options available, finding the right business planning tool can be daunting. The best software should be affordable, user-friendly, and offer a robust set of features to aid in financial modeling, strategic planning, and more.

In this review, we'll explore some of the top business plan software solutions designed specifically for entrepreneurs. We'll compare capabilities, ease of use, templates and resources, integrations, pricing, and more. Whether you’re looking to create an investor-ready plan or simply organize your strategy, choosing the right tool can help you get started on the right foot.

Best Business Plan Software for Startups: LivePlan

Top Business Plan Software Solutions

In this review, we'll look at seven of the best business plan software platforms — discussing their pros, cons, features, pricing, and more — so you can decide which one is right for your startup.

Best Business Plan Software for Startups 2024:

• LivePlan - Best Overall
• Bizplan - Easiest to Use
• Enloop - Best Automation Features
• PlanGuru - Best Financial Forecasting
• IdeaBuddy - Best for Idea Validation
• iPlanner - Best for Nonprofits
• Wise Business Plans - Best Professional Services

The following tools all have their own great features. Based on its affordable pricing and usability, LivePlan is our top business plan software choice for startups.

Try LivePlan today or continue reading to explore your options!

Best Business Plan Software: LivePlan

LivePlan is the overall best business plan tool, offering a large number of features at an affordable price.

Visit LivePlan

1. LivePlan - $15/month to $30/month

We love LivePlan overall because it offers great value at an affordable cost. The software lets you quickly create a business plan from anywhere in the world using what is arguably the best business plan software available on the market. It does everything better than its competition and costs way less.

What’s more, the online “cloud-based” platform is easy to use and you are under no contract or obligation to keep paying for the service. Even better, if you decide to stop service for whatever reason, Palo Alto Software, the makers of LivePlan, will keep your account active and data preserved for at least a year should you decide to reactivate your account later.

• Create an unlimited number of business plans
• A forecast feature for those less mathematically inclined. Plug in data, and it will generate charts, graphs, figures, and even the profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow statements
• 500+ business plan templates spanning all major industries
• Real-time financial data tracking
• Performance dashboards track sales and budgeting
• Create one-page pitch plans for potential investors
• Milestone scheduling feature — Some people will use it when working with others on their plan; it will let you assign milestones to people.
• Low-cost annual plans
• Affordable pay-as-you-go plans
• No cancellation fees
• Data saved for 12-months, even after cancellation
• Clean, modern platform
• Cloud-based; works on any business machine (Linus, Windows, Mac)
• Integrates with Quickbooks and Xero to import your data easily
• Knowledgeable customer support to get help with your plan
• No valuation capabilities
• Templates built on Palo Alto Software’s earlier software Business Plan Pro require some modifications to be used on LivePlan

Insider Information

Talking to the nice people at LivePlan we learned some inside information that we wanted to share with our readers.

Here's what we learned:

• LivePlan has been used by contestants on ABC's hit show "Shark Tank" to win over angel investors to help them get their ideas and businesses funded.
• Accountants use LivePlan as an added-value service to sell to their clients.
• Businesses continue using LivePlan because of a feature called “Dashboard” which lets you manually enter your actuals or pull actuals from Quickbooks online to do comparative forecasting and analysis.
• LivePlan helps with business continuity planning (BCP).
• LivePlan executives use LivePlan to make important business decisions.
• "Dashboard" does profit and loss, cash flow, and balance sheet reports and lets you compare and contrast your actuals from your forecasts to be able to show to investors.
• LivePlan lets you create business plans in 1/5th the time it takes using templates.

Customer Reviews

LivePlan receives great feedback from customers. LivePlan reviews average 4.5 stars out of 5 on GetApp. LivePlan is an easy company for us to recommend for the best business plan software.

2. Bizplan - $29/month, $249/year, $349 lifetime

Bizplan rates high on our list because they offer a lifetime plan that gets you "forever access" to their business plan software. As an added bonus, you also receive free access to Startup Courses and LaunchRock, a landing page builder.

• Easy, "fill-in-the-blanks" plan builder
• Publish your business plan online
• Unlimited business plans
• Bizplan takes care of the financials
• Cloud-based (use any browser on any computer)
• Options to add more graphics and photos
• Low-cost yearly plans
• Create unlimited business plans
• Xero to import your data easily
• Excellent and responsive customer support (email/chat/phone)
• Free access to Startup.com and LaunchRock.com
• Discount at Fundable.com (connect with lenders and investors)
• Can't export in Word
• Doesn't currently integrate with QuickBooks
• No free trial
• No third-party app integrations

Talking with BizPlan insiders, we learned that the premise behind BizPlan is to help startups easily create professional business plans to give them a leg-up with lenders and investors.

Here's what else we learned:

• BizPlan's does all your financial calculations for you.
• BizPlan strives to be an all-in-one solution for Startups needing funding.
• BizPlan is constantly making improvements to its software.

BizPlan receives great feedback from customers. BizPlan reviews average 4.4 stars out of 5 on GetApp. Still a relatively new option, BizPlan already has over 30,000 satisfied customers. As their platform grows, we wouldn’t be surprised to see them integrate even more valuable features. Keep a close eye on this one.

3. Enloop - Free to $39.95/month

If you’re looking to try before you buy, Enloop is a strong choice as one of the only business planning software tools with a free trial.

• User-friendly platform
• Compare your financials against your industry's performance
• Bank ready financial statements (Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash flow)
• Lets multiple team members work on a business plan
• 36-Month detailed financial reports
• Sync date and text into your business plan
• Real-time performance rating
• Generated business plan Pass/Fail report
• Multiple currency formatting
• Seven-day free trial (no credit card required)
• Advanced financial ratios
• Financial projections
• Video tutorials to help you with the writing process
• No phone or chat support, just a "contact us" form.
• Three business plan limit per account
• Doesn't integrate with QuickBooks or Xero
• No financial forecasts beyond 36-months
• No 30-day money-back guarantee

We learned that the premise behind Enloop is to make business planning easier for entrepreneurs. Enloop achieves this by making software simple to navigate through and takes risks off the table with their no credit card needed seven-day free trial. Their business plan creation software offers financial forecasting features for up to 36 months.

• Enloop utilizes 16 financial ratios to get your business ready for investors.
• Enloop offers some sample business plans that are easy to modify.
• Enloop's performance score increases as you create your detailed plan.
• A new business or small businesses benefit the most from Enloop's solutions.

Enloop receives fair feedback from customers. Enloop's reviews average 3 stars out of 5 on PCMag. Enloop's main complaint is its lack of instructional text for writing mission statements and other key sections. What they rank high on is their efficiency and the speed at which the software lets you write a business plan.

Even beyond the free version, Enloop Basic is just $9.95/month ($6/month when paid annually), so they’re one of the least expensive tools for writing a business plan.

4. PlanGuru - $99/month to $299/month

PlanGuru is a good option if you’re looking for considerably more robust software that offers quite a bit more. The most notable feature we like is the valuation tool, only present on the desktop version of the software. PlanGuru lets you calculate the valuation of your business using three different methods. No other business plan software offers this that we know of.

PlanGuru also offers budgeting, forecasting, and performance tools to help you put together a business plan. In the main, PlanGuru allows you to get a custom-tailored three financial statement budget model up and running out of QuickBooks or Xero in a matter of minutes. PlanGuru's business plan writing software takes you through a setup process where it asks you questions such as:

• What's the first month of your fiscal year?
• How many historical years do you want to import?

And, once you answer these questions, PlanGuru then generates a model for you that you can then populate with your historical data if you have it. Then you can go through PlanGuru's 20+ projection methods.

Some financial data projection methods include:

• Expenses, like payroll, etc.
• Balance sheet items, like accounts receivable, accounts payable, crude expenses, prepaid expenses, loans, etc.

These are only a few of the features the business plan software offers. Here are some more.

• Budgeting/Forecasting Software
• Analytics Service for Financial Performance & KPIs
• Valuation calculations (desktop software only)
• Desktop and cloud-based options
• Free 14-day trial and 30-day money-back guarantee
• Great customer support and knowledgeable sales staff
• Lower-cost yearly plans offered
• Advanced financial calculations
• Business valuation calculations
• No contracts
• Integrates with QuickBooks and Xero
• Costlier than LivePlan and most other business plan software options
• Additional cost per user can add up quickly

The great thing about PlanGuru is that the only thing you have to worry about is the income statement and balance sheet projections because the cash flow statement is automatically generated.

Then once you have the cash flow statement, income statement, and balance sheet in place, you can then lock down the budget.

• PlanGuru's desktop version has three different types of valuation methods that calculate the worth of your business.
• PlanGuru has some really nice reporting tools that pull together your financial statements into table formats, say, for the bank, line-by-line.
• PlanGuru also has some nice charts, graphs, scorecards, and some easily digestible reports that can help you visualize how your company is performing.
• Exports to Excel, PDF, and Word documents --and, there's even a tool that lets you create customized reports.
• You can print your plan off too to show partners, lenders, and investors.
• PlanGuru now offers a cloud-based version of its software, though it will take some time to catch up to the rich features offered by the current desktop software version.
• With PlanGuru you also get free updates, bug fixes, and new releases as they become available.

Important Note: These tools are important because investors may want to see not only historical performance but also projections.

5. IdeaBuddy - Free to $35/month

IdeaBuddy makes our list because of what's behind their approach. IdeaBuddy focuses on helping entrepreneurs develop their idea first, then share it, and then refine it into a plan. If you have a business idea and don't know what to do next, IdeaBuddy could be what you're looking for in a business plan software.

• Single-page business plan pitch (Idea plan)
• Clean modern design platform combined with great financial tools
• Marketing plan for selling and promoting your products
• Market overview plan where you create targeted customer profiles, identify your competition and calculate the market potential
• Business plan creation that includes forecasting performance and cash flow projections
• A proprietary algorithm calculates a final score for your idea providing recommendations for improvement after you complete "Story Mode"
• Idea Journal, that is an internal business plan for you to show potential investors
• A lifetime plan costs only $178
• Great for developing ideas
• Great for doing market research
• Pay-as-you-go plans offered
• Email-only customer service
• Software lag time issues
• Fewer software options than most other small business options

IdeaBuddy has some great features that are fantastic from idea conceptualization down to cost projections and the laying out of steps to take to start a business. We would have liked, however, to been given more KPIs that would notify us of tasks, help with idea validation, and help us measure other objectives to better monitor the health of our business. Another thing lacking was the design of the finished plan--it contained some noticeable structural issues.

IdeaBuddy has received some outstanding customer reviews on GetApp. IdeaBuddy has earned a 4.6-star rating out of 5 possible stars.

6. iPlanner - Starts at $55/year

iPlanner is a comprehensive business plan software that has been aiding entrepreneurs since 2007, providing a robust framework for developing business plans, models, and financial forecasts online.

• Unlimited Team Members & Collaboration
• A La Carte Pricing Model vs Packages
• Discounts for Serial Entrepreneurs & Business Coaches
• Solid amount of industry knowledge and experience.
• They've got two trademarked business planning services, Startup Framework™ and Strategy Designer™
• All of their business planning packages allow you to have unlimited collaborators and assign people three different roles: Project Owners, Advisors, and Viewers.
•  Their Startup Framework software has a business modeling section where you can design a business model canvas and strategize as much as you need before diving into your plan.
• Doesn't have a month-to-month option for either of their services. Their Strategy Designer is payable only annually, while their Startup Framework is available for 3-month, 6-month, or 12-month payments.
• They don't offer refunds
•  Their website is pretty old school and tough to navigate.
•  Unlike other business planning software, iPlanner doesn't offer a free version or trial. However, you can take a tour of their Startup Framework software or view a demo of the Strategy Designer to get a feel for them.

iPlanner's Business Planning Software

If a simple framework is all you're looking for, iPlanner can help you out. They don't have many bells and whistles, but at these price points, they offer a good value for nonprofits and corporations.

7. Wise Business Plans - Pricing by Request

Wise business plans website is a little confusing to navigate, and pricing is by request only, which can get frustrating. They do have a lot of options for different kinds of business plans for various types of business types, which makes them versatile. They also have business building and funding options as well. And, if you wish to establish business credit, they offer net-30 accounts that get reported to Equifax business.

• Claim to be the only business plan company to write for Fortune 100 and 500 companies
• Business formation services
• Business license searches
• EIN services
• Digital marketing services
• Business website design and branding
• Has a lot of helpful information
• Helpful options for forming your business
• Options to help after you start your business
• Helps small businesses establish business credit
• Not an actual business plan software
• Expensive by comparison
• Website is difficult to navigate
• Pricing is by request only
• Limited products and features
• Turnaround is one month
• Requires some work on your end

Business Plan Software Pros and Cons

• By using business plan software providers, you’ll be able to create a solid outline for your business. Although some of the options above are better than others, each will walk you through from start to finish.
• No matter how you look at it, business plan software is cost-effective. As long as you actually use the tool, you’ll generate significantly more value than you’re spending on monthly subscription fees.
• If you spend the time to create a solid plan, you’re much more likely to hold yourself accountable. Think of planning software like an accountability buddy for entrepreneurship.
• Your business plan tool will help set realistic financial goals, and most can also keep your bottom line in check by integrating your accounting software.
• Business planning software enables you to collaborate with partners, mentors and investors.
• Some of the business plan tools don’t offer support and can have slightly buggy features. That said, if you’re serious about writing a solid plan, go with a tool that’s constantly updated and well made.
• Although some business plan tools have a collaboration feature, none of them can review it when you’re done. All business planning tools lack a human touch.

How to Choose the Right Business Plan Software

With the array of business planning tools available, it can be daunting to select the right one for your needs. Here are some tips for choosing a business plan software solution:

• Consider your skill level – Opt for software like a wizard-guided template if you are less experienced in writing plans. Choose more advanced software with greater flexibility once you know what you are doing. Look for drag-and-drop tools to easily organize sections.
• Determine your budget – Prices range from free to several hundred dollars. Know how much you can spend before shopping.
• Compare features – Look for software with the specific tools you need, like financial projections, sample text, customizable templates, and more.
• Evaluate the financial tool capabilities – The software should provide extensive financial tools like forecasting, modeling, projections, and dashboards to streamline financial planning.
• Check reviews and ratings – Get feedback from other users about their experience with the software. High reviews indicate easier, more user-friendly software.

Which Is the Best Business Plan Software?

You know the unique requirements of your startup better than we do. These are all quality services that offer business planning software tools for entrepreneurs like you. Feel free to read over our full reviews if you’d like to know more about any of them or even visit the websites directly.

In general, we do prefer LivePlan because they have a huge library of business plan templates, and we love their convenient dashboard. They're the planning software that is most likely to help you via customer support, continue updating their tool, and figure out ways to make your business experience better. Enjoy!

What is the purpose of a business plan?

The purpose of a business plan is to provide a structured outline and roadmap for a business's goals, strategies, and operations. It serves as a guide for decision-making, resource allocation, and management. 

Furthermore, it can be a crucial tool for attracting investors, securing loans, and ensuring that all stakeholders have a clear understanding of the business's direction and objectives.

What does business plan software do?

Business plan software assists entrepreneurs and businesses in creating, organizing, and refining their business plans. It provides tools, templates, and guidance to streamline the planning process. 

Features often include financial forecasting, market analysis, visual aids like charts and graphs, collaboration capabilities, and even integration with other business tools. This software aims to simplify the task of creating a thorough and professional business plan.

How do you write a business plan?

To write a business plan, start by writing an executive summary that provides an overview of your business idea, products/services, market opportunity, and projected growth. Outline your company description, industry analysis, target customers, competitive advantage, marketing and sales plans, operations, management team, and financial projections.

How long should a business plan be?

The length can vary based on the complexity of the business, its stage, and its intended audience. In general, it might range from 15-50 pages. However, the key is to ensure that the plan is comprehensive yet concise. 

For many situations, especially when seeking investment, a more detailed one is preferable. Yet, for internal purposes or for businesses at very early stages, a shorter, more concise plan might suffice.

Are there business plan templates on Word?

Yes, Microsoft Word has business plan templates you can download and customize. The templates provide section headings, instructions, sample text, and tables to input your specific business information.

What is Palo Alto Software?

Palo Alto Software is a company that's been around since the late 1980s. They created business management software for startups and existing businesses. The software has since been updated and rebranded as LivePlan and today happens to be one of the most sought-after business plan software available in the marketplace.

Individual Business Plan Reviews

Featured articles.

What Is a Business Plan?

Lean Startup Business Plan Guide

Business Plan Mistakes to Avoid

Growthink’s Ultimate Guide to Business Plan Software

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Over the past 20+ years, Growthink has helped over 500,000 entrepreneurs, executives and business owners develop business plans, start their small businesses, and exit successfully with a focus on business planning and capital raising. In doing so, we’ve tried all the best business plan software solutions out there, and have also built two business planning software options of our own.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

This article provides a brief overview of business planning, defines what business plan software is, covers other key questions related to business plan writing software, and reviews 5 business plan software options. Working on a budget? Take a look at the best free software options to help you write a great plan.

Quick Links

• Business Planning Overview

What is Business Plan Software?

What does business plan software do, do i need business plan software.

• Key Features of Business Plan Software
• Why You May NOT Want To Use a Planning Program
• Paid vs. Free Business Plan Software

Benefits of Using Business Plan Software

• 5 Best Business Plan Software Solutions in 2024

Business Plans & Planning

Starting and growing a small business is exciting, but can also get daunting very fast. Even getting a small company off the ground involves making significant decisions every day around operations, marketing, human resources, and financial data. The success of your business directly hinges on how and when you make these decisions. Also, none of these business decisions can be made in a vacuum, they require market research, competitor analysis, and industry analysis.

As a passionate entrepreneur, you might think that since you have a great idea you will figure out the rest with time and everything will fall into place. Unfortunately, that rarely happens. In fact, successful businesses the world over are almost always a combination of solid ideas backed by solid planning and wise use of business plan tools.

The right plan will not only provide you with a roadmap to grow your business, but it is a required business planning tool if you hope to raise capital to start or grow your business.

Business plan software helps individual entrepreneurs and small businesses develop and polish their plans. It provides a robust framework or template which allows you to explore your idea and present your vision in concrete ways. Software-driven business plan templates and other business plan software tools are powerful assets for a small or large business.

A comprehensive plan not only gives your company’s history and provides market intelligence, but it also lays out the roadmap for the future. Your plan will help you predict future roadblocks and how the market and your company might look down the road. This allows you to be proactive in helping you survive and thrive.

The right software also helps you create a well-thought-out and well-researched plan which can prove instrumental in attracting investors. With investors comes funding and the chance to see your business start or scale-up. Every investor first thinks of their return on investment before funding any enterprise. By going through a business’s detailed plan, investors are able to gauge the viability and profitability of that business, and hence the probability of them earning a solid return. If your plan is vague and incomplete, then you will have an exceptionally hard time finding investors willing to fund you. Likewise, banks will refuse you a loan if they do not find your plan comprehensive and convincing. As a result, a detailed plan is a must for obtaining capital or a loan.

Business plan software allows you to easily create or write a successful plan. The software guides you through the questions your plan must answer. Rather than starting with a blank sheet of paper, the software lets you know exactly what to include in your plan and the order in which it should be completed.

You’ll also gain focus. Rather than thinking about what to include in your plan, you simply answer the questions the software lays out for you. Once you answer the questions, the software organizes and prints your business plan document in the format preferred by investors and lenders.

Finish Your Business Plan in 1 Day!

Don’t you wish there was an easier way to finish your plan and raise money faster?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template , you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Click here to finish your plan today.

Business plan software is extremely helpful to certain individuals. If you like working in web applications and are ok having less control, then software is probably the best option for you. Conversely, if you like typing into a Microsoft Word document, appreciate maximum flexibility, and are comfortable with manipulating Excel spreadsheets, then getting a template in Word and Excel is probably your better option.

Typically, the business plan program you choose will allow you to quickly answer questions rather than having to develop comprehensive answers. For example, when discussing your promotions plan, the software may list your promotional options such as radio advertising, social media marketing, pay-per-click advertising, etc. With planning software, you simply click the options you will employ. Without the program’s aides, you would need to write paragraphs describing each promotional method you will use.

A small business owner may find the strict guidance and assistance a good fit for their needs. Financial planning and forecasting and business goals guidance can be especially valuable for a small company, but the value ultimately depends on the owner’s experience, planning needs, and business planning process.

Key Features of Business Planning Programs

Great software programs make it quick and easy for you to complete your plan. The following features allow you to accomplish this:

Sample text:

• No matter the tool or application you end up using, you will have to write complete sentences. As an example, you’ll need to craft content to describe your company, products, etc. Great software gives you sample sentences that you can use and edit.

Automated financial statements: creating your plan’s financial statements can be a lengthy and tedious process. Great software allows you to simply enter your assumptions, such as your salaries, prices, expected initial units sold, and business growth rates, and the software then calculates and presents your full financials.

Design options: An important feature of the software is its ability to allow you to choose the look and feel of your plan. For instance, a bakery’s plan should look different than a plan for a hedge fund.

Ability to omit sections: All plans must have the same core sections such as an executive summary, marketing plan, competitive analysis, and financial plan. However, some sub-sections are not relevant for all companies. For example, a distribution plan is required for companies that don’t sell directly to customers. You should be able to omit sections while working through the plan creation process.

Check boxes: An important feature of the software is to show buttons or boxes that you merely need to click. For example, your company’s unique success factors can include the strengths of your management team, marketing plan, partnerships, competitive advantage, etc. Ideally, your software already lists each potential success factor for you. If so, it’s much less work for you to simply check the relevant boxes and explain them, rather than trying to brainstorm your success factors and documenting them from scratch.

Why Shouldn’t I Use Business Planning Software Tools?

If you are uncomfortable working online or are frustrated with technology, then you shouldn’t use business plan software. Rather, you should work in traditional spreadsheets and word processing programs.

Also, if you’d like complete control over your plan, then an online business planning app may not be right for you. Your program will generate your plan for you (typically as a PDF document) when complete. If you want to make several customizations, your software may not be able to handle them. Such customizations might include changing your footers, adding watermarks, including oversized pictures, including documents in your appendix, etc.

Paid vs Free Business Plan Software

The old saying “you get what you pay for” is often true, and in this scenario, the old adage is accurate once again. While there are some free software tools available, they tend to have significant drawbacks and limitations.

The biggest drawback of free software is that they don’t include financial modeling capabilities. Your financial model is one of the most important parts of your plan and the hardest to complete from scratch. If you don’t have a CPA or significant financial and spreadsheet experience, creating your financial model will be very difficult.

Also, free software often skips key questions that investors and lenders must know before considering your company as a funding candidate. For example, if you don’t convey your unique success factors, which most programs neglect, you’ll be at a significant disadvantage in raising funding.

Business plan software provides multiple benefits.

Makes the Process Simple Business planning software makes the whole process of writing or learning to write a plan easier and more manageable. A business novice would need all the help they can get, but even an expert can sometimes make do with a little helping hand. The right software gives you a step-by-step wizard to guide you through each component of your plan and advise you on what to include and/or exclude from your detailed business plan. The right software will often include sample plans as well.

Saves Time Working with planning software saves you time. You’ll quickly transform your business ideas and market research into a viable business proposition full of supportive and meaningful data. A business plan app has your plan pre-organized saving you much time and energy.

Collaborative in Nature Another value-adding feature is that it allows multiple team members to contribute individually to the plan. You can see and review items that have been incorporated by other members of your team. This collaborative spirit lets you take full advantage of the varied talents and competencies of the people on your team.

Assists with Your Financial Projections & Statements Most people with a non-finance background find it incredibly hard to work on the financial aspect of a plan. Your financial projections include calculating an income statement, projecting cash flow, and creating a balance sheet.

This is a difficult but necessary part of your plan since potential investors will scrutinize this financial data to determine the viability of your business. So, you cannot afford to project incorrect or incomplete numbers. The right software helps convert your assumptions into a complete financial model to insert into your plan.

There is a lot to be gained from working with a good program. The key is finding out which software is right for you and your business. Below we review the 5 best software programs in the market to give you a holistic view of what is available and how to choose wisely.

Review of the 5 Best Business Plan Software Solutions

[Note that PlanBuildr is a subsidiary of Growthink.]

PlanBuildr is one of the fastest growing business plan software in the world.

It is also the only software that allows you a free trial: this is the direct link to try PlanBuildr for free .

With over 150,000 entrepreneurs and counting registered on the platform, this business plan builder is a great starting point to masterfully build your plan. PlanBuildr was created by influential leaders and experts in business and financial planning and raising capital for businesses. With a vast array of features available to you, you are able to create the first draft of your plan in just ten minutes. Such a quick delivery time without compromising on quality is unparalleled right now in the market.

Features Available at PlanBuildr

Ease of Use

PlanBuildr offers a great yet simple way to help you get started on your plan. With PlanBuildr you get to complete simple fill-in-the-blank questions that cover every element of your plan. In this short and simple way, PlanBuildr constructs a draft of your plan by using your answers as the base. You just fill in the blanks and PlanBuildr does the rest. Within minutes you get a working draft of your plan.

Strong Financial Modeling Capabilities

PlanBuildr goes the extra mile when it comes to creating complete financial projections for your plan. You just have to enter elementary figures like the number of products you think you will sell in the coming years and PlanBuildr will compute your full five-year financial forecasts.

With this software, you can easily create your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement within minutes. PlanBuildr is also able to create charts to display these numbers and informative graphs to help present your real accounting data in a way that makes it easy to understand and analyze.

Experience in Every Industry

PlanBuildr has comprehensive experience creating business plans in every industry from hospitality to travel and tourism and from food service to non-profits. PlanBuildr’s portfolio is quite wide and impressive. So, no matter what field your business is in, PlanBuildr can help turn your idea into a successful reality.

Professional Designs

PlanBuildr offers ten skillful designs that will make a professional business plan . Choose any design and see your plan transform into an amazingly well-outlined document that will immediately impress even those who see hundreds of business plans on a daily basis.

On the whole, PlanBuildr is a highly strategic planning tool that creates a world-class plan for you while also suggesting several improvements to further enhance the quality of your plan. It is a great resource to have on your side as you venture out to create a business legacy for yourself. PlanBuildr is deservedly the top of our picks of great business plan software.

Summary: Price: Free and Paid options

Quick pros list: user friendly, easy, free/inexpensive

Quick cons list: need an internet connection

Why it’s recommended: PlanBuildr is a quick, easy and inexpensive way to create your plan.

Visit PlanBuidr.com Business Plan Software Here

Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template

Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template is the result of 20+ years of hard work by the renowned business planning expert, and co-founder/president of Growthink, Dave Lavinsky.

Called the business plan expert by sources including Business Week, Lavinsky has been instrumental in helping hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs complete their business plans and raise billions of dollars in funding. After earning his MBA from UCLA’s prestigious Anderson School of Management, Lavinsky has dedicated his career to helping entrepreneurs create winning business plans.

Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template is also one of our top picks because of the sheer number and quality of features it provides a budding business entrepreneur. Also, since it comes as Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel document there is no complicated software to use and you can quickly and easily complete your plan.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of what you can expect when you get the Ultimate Business Plan Template:

Investor Focused

Sometimes when you are working on a business plan by yourself it’s easy to be swept away by the passion and leave practical considerations behind. This becomes evident only when you present your plan to actual investors who then find that your plan lacks focus and direction. With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template, you are guided into creating a business plan which covers each of the key points investors and lenders need to see. This maximizes your chances of securing funding in the form of equity and/or business loans.

Excellent Customer Service

Apart from step-by-step guidance throughout the whole business plan creation process, Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template provides free customer service year-round. Here dedicated customer support professionals will answer all your queries and help you walk through the different features of Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Templates.

They also offer a “Members Area” where you get immediate answers to all your business questions and additional support in the form of samples and resources to aid your developing business plan.

Lifetime Access

When you get Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you also get lifetime access to it. You can use it multiple times for multiple business endeavors in the future. You just make a single payment and that is it. There are no pesky monthly charges. This is a great deal for a great product.

With tremendous operational, financial, and design capabilities Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template is a comprehensive system to which you can trust your business plan. Growthink is so confident in its services (and rightly so!) that it offers a 365-day money-back guarantee. So, you can try out this immensely useful resource without any monetary pressure.

Summary: Price: $97

Quick pros list: quickly and easily create a professional business plan for funding from investors and/or lenders; extremely flexible.

Quick cons list: more expensive than PlanBuildr

Why it’s recommended: This is the gold standard for an easy planning process. If you need funding then there’s no better option.

Check out Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template here

LivePlan, by Palo Alto Software, is another business plan software that offers some decent learning tools and financial services. However, it loses out to the first two business plan software because of its slightly steep learning curve. With LivePlan, you need to invest some time in understanding the software and some might even experience difficulties in working with it.

The user interface can be smoother and more user-friendly. Their pricing model is competitive; their annual and monthly plans are priced at $139.92 and $19.95 respectively which you can choose from depending on your need and budget.

Summary: Price: $20/month

Quick pros list: easy to use; fairly intuitive

Quick cons list: clunky in places; expensive ($240/year if paying monthly)

Why it’s recommended: Liveplan is a solid software solution based on years of development and updates.

LivePlan Reviews on Google

  We’ve done a comparison of Liveplan vs Growthink too for your reference.  

As a business plan software solution, PlanGuru provides over twenty forecasting features that help you create a unique business plan for yourself. Here, you can expect to receive plenty of help with both financial and non-financial aspects of a business plan. PlanGuru assists in creating cash flow statements, income statements, current and future sales projections, P&L statements and balance sheets- all quintessential in a robust business plan.

Unfortunately, pricing is extremely expensive. Their monthly plan is $99/month while their annual plan is $899/year.

Summary: Price: $99/month or $899/year

Quick pros list: good software with good financial forecasting capabilities

Quick cons list: their pricing model is too expensive for most entrepreneurs and small business owners

Why it’s recommended: if money isn’t an object, you can use this business plan creation software to build a strong financial model

ABS Ultimate Business Planner

The ABS Ultimate Business Planner helps simplify the process of writing a business plan by providing numerous business resources and sample plans. Their step-by-step guide directs you expertly through your individual business plan while providing some pertinent suggestions along the way.

The product however is a bit “clunky” and hasn’t changed much since it was first launched many years ago.

Summary: Price: $99

Quick pros list: includes sample business plans; good financial forecasting capabilities

Quick cons list: price is high for limited features and a bit clunky to use

Why it’s recommended: if none of the other options above fit your needs, this is a worthwhile alternative.

A well-written business plan will attract and influence investors, giving you the necessary funding, and hence an opportunity, to set up and/or grow your idea. The right tools are essential for helping you and your team accomplish this goal. While there is no best business plan app or best business plan software, it’s worth reviewing the options available to see if there might be a user-friendly, business plan creator that will help you create a successful business plan.

Business Plan Software FAQs

Business Plan Software is a suite of applications intended to provide users with the tools they need to build business plans. These programs are designed for entrepreneurs, start-ups, and established businesses looking to expand their operations. The purpose of this software is not only to offer users an easy way to create business plans but also help them monitor their sales efforts and measure their financial performance.

They are typically created for small- and medium-sized companies that operate locally or regionally, although they can be used to create business plans for any size company looking to take advantage of the additional features and functions available within this type of software. Users can also monitor their competitors and offer services and products at a competitive price.

Business plan software is used to identify potential obstacles and opportunities, analyze business environments or markets, and measure the performance of a company's workforce for better business management. It allows users to create budgets and forecasts in order to project cash flow and income statements, manage expenses and revenue streams, establish development strategies, establish employee benefits and compensate executives, and monitor performance.

What is the Easiest Way to Complete My Business Plan?

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily complete your Business Plan.

What Should Entrepreneurs Look For In Business Plan Maker Software?

Many entrepreneurs seek a free business plan generator online to develop their business plan. Importantly, you must make sure the free plan maker not only includes the body of your plan but the financials. The business plan financials, which must include your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement, are essential to your business plan, particularly if you are seeking funding.

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your business plan?

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Click here to finish your business plan today.

What stage is your business at?

Tell us and we’ll match you with a special LivePlan discount:

New Business Idea

Startup Phase

Established Business

Enter your email address to unlock it.

Please enter a valid email address

We care about your privacy. See our Privacy Policy .

Customer Support

The World's Leading Cloud-Based Business Plan Software

• Fill-in-the-blanks simplicity
• Real sample business plans to inspire you
• Works in all web browsers

See how it works

Start planning for $20 per month

Rated 4.8 out of 5

Trusted by 1 million+

entrepreneurs like you

Rated 4.9 out of 5

“LivePlan earns the top spot on our list of best business plan software—and for good reason. LivePlan's slick and interactive service provides a step-by-step business plan approach, a rich collection of cloud-based features, and online learning tools.”

Brooke Hayes Software Reviewer, Business.org

Here's How LivePlan Makes it Surprisingly Simple to Write a Convincing Business Plan

You get a step-by-step process to follow

• Ways to write a pitch that grabs investors' attention
• What to include in your marketing plan
• Every other essential piece of your business plan

“LivePlan saved me a lot of time because the software does so much of the work for you. All you have to do is answer questions and plug in numbers.”

Brian Sung, Eugene, OR Owner of Tailored Coffee

All the financials are calculated for you

LivePlan tells you exactly what kind of financial information you need to enter and then it does all the calculations automatically using built-in formulas. So you end up with razor-accurate financial statements that include all the tables that a lender or investor expects to see.

“Most people are intimidated by the financials, but LivePlan made planning simple, saved me so much time and just knowing that the calculations are correct makes this tool worth every penny!”

Brandie Slaton, Merced, CA Noelle Notals LLC

If you ever get stuck, we'll help you out

Most LivePlan users are able to breeze through their first business plan. But if you ever have a question, there are 3 ways to get advice:

• Call a LivePlan expert at 1-888-498-6136
• Start a chat with our advocacy team. Click here to try it .
• Or refer to more than 550 sample plans and tutorial videos built into LivePlan

See how we support our customers

Get Started Risk Free

“LivePlan was user friendly, supportive and provided meaningful guidance all while remaining very flexible.”

Freja Nelson, Oregon Freja Foods

Get a Polished Business Plan That Will Impress Lenders

Once your plan is done, you can:

• Customize the look of your plan using 10 beautiful document themes
• Download your plan as a PDF or Word doc so you share it easily
• Print out your plan to get a clean, professional document

See inside a completed plan »

Join over 1 million entrepreneurs who found success with LivePlan

35-day money back guarantee. Start planning for $20 per month.

“LivePlan is incredibly simple and easy to use. The financial sales forecasting tool is very intuitive and makes writing a business plan more fun.”

Helga Douglas Owner, Svala

LivePlan Also Gives You Tools to Help Your New Business Succeed

Access Essential Business & Legal Form Templates

Search our library of hundreds of legal forms that cover credit applications, contractor agreements, employee contracts and more.

Get Insights That Will Help Your Company Grow

Are you charging enough? Will you meet your revenue goals? LivePlan's forecasting tool can answer these type of questions at a glance.

See How You Stack Up Against Competitors

Plug in your industry and where you're located, and LivePlan will tell you how you're doing compared to businesses just like yours.

You Might Be Surprised By What New Business Owners Have Achieved with LivePlan

E'a williams, be fit tri wellness, chicago, il.

“Once the investor saw the plan, he believed in it. The interface was fresh and lively. The program gave wonderful examples of what should be in the different sections. I was able to take bits and pieces of those examples, but when I finished each section it sounded like I had written it. “I could just plug in information without having to do any of the math. That saved a lot of work. It made it very easy to get the business plan done. Once the investor saw my business plan on LivePlan, he immediately got back to me and said, ‘I'm in.’”

Mandie O'Neill

Lucky dog daycare, eugene or.

“LivePlan made an overwhelming task easy. LivePlan is incredibly easy to use. LivePlan's web-based nature allows me to log in anywhere (for me it was with my Mac Book Pro or iPad). At times writing a business plan can be a overwhelming task, especially when it comes to formatting and layout. LivePlan has made it easy to focus on putting your business ideas and goals on paper instead of fussing with all the other pesky stuff. I really liked how each section is defined and gives examples of what a quality business plan should look like.”

Rachid Tajiouti

Olive oil usa, llc, new york, ny.

“I've raised $3M so far with LivePlan! I needed to write a business plan for my investors. I was going nuts trying to create charts and properly format them. Then a friend recommended LivePlan! The financials were so easy to use and I liked knowing the calculations were all correct. It helped me create a precise plan to confidently share with investors, and I've raised $3M so far!”

Our customers give LivePlan 5 out of 5 stars

Software is professional and user-friendly. Highly recommend to any Entrepreneur. Would not be where I am today without LivePlan.

Mar. 15, 2024

I've been using LivePlan to help me write top-tier business plans over the last 2 years. A prominent business plan writing company referred me to this site to help me produce the best business plans, to collaboratively support their clients. I've consistently had the best customer service, whether by email or live chat. Rapid responses that are helpful and this is one of the "hand-down" best platforms if you're looking for high-quality products and services - and AMAZING customer service. The price of the plan subscription is a tiny drop in the ocean compared to the results I've had with business plans created through LivePlan. Thank you for the products and services here that help me present well

Feb. 29, 2024

I've used Liveplan for two projects and I have been happy with both experiences. I've needed support twice and both experiences were quickly resolved using the chat function. I'd highly recommend Liveplan to anyone wanting to get serious about new projects. They have great customer support, and it can be a vital tool to anyone wanting to build something from the ground up.

Feb. 20, 2024

I needed a business plan for a government grant and the platform helped me tremendously. It was super organized with all the touchpoints I had to fill and the AI for improving the texts was also amazing. I did a finance plan a well and I had no clue beforehand in how to do it and that was excellent and everything I needed to submit a full case! I finished my plan and submitted it. I will definitely use it again for when i need another business plan. Thank you

Feb. 3, 2024

Extremely user friendly. I appreciated how intuitive it was and useful when I got stuck or when wanting to rephrase sections - AI was a true support for me then

Sep. 26, 2023

LivePlan helps put your ideas and beliefs on paper in a professional & organized manner. It guides you through planning, organizing, and monitoring your plan.

Sep. 2, 2023

I didn't only get value for the money paid but also got the best customer service experience as well. And of course, I'm sticking to LivePlan forever.

IsefConsult

Aug. 14, 2023

Using LivePlan since March 2015, I've created precise financial plans and business strategies for ventures of all sizes. It's the perfect tool for rapid evaluation, eliminating the risk of spreadsheet errors.

Jul. 7, 2023

It's a great Financial planning software. It can also sync with Xero and Quickbooks.

Jun. 17, 2023

If you are looking to create a Business Plan then don't waste any time, buy LivePlan as it will make your life so much easier and save you days of work!

Jun. 28, 2022

A great tool for entrepreneurs with non-finance backgrounds. We all have business ideas but long-term planning is a challenge. LivePlan makes it simple and easy.

Jun. 24, 2022

I had put off writing a plan because I dreaded the research and didn't really know what I was doing. Because of you, I now have a comprehensive, professional-looking business plan.

May 24, 2022

Overall experience with LivePlan is awesome. Very informative and easy to read. Plans come with templates and other examples you can use to build your plan.

Deonta from Texas

May 11, 2022

The best part for me is the feeling of confidence it gave me. It really made me feel like my goals and even dreams were actually possible to reach.

Mar. 29, 2022

LivePlan was a lifesaver when starting our business! It helped us make a business plan and financial projections to show others, and everyone was blown away.

The Silver Fern Shop

Jan. 27, 2022

University Cycle Works

Best small business software of 2024

Make managing your business easier

Best office software

Best accounting software, best project management software, best for communications, best antivirus, best sales and marketing app, best small business tools.

• How we test

The best small business software makes it simple and easy to manage every day business tasks efficiently and cost-effectively.

1. Best office software 2. Best accounting software 3. Best project management software 4. Best for communications 5. Best antivirus 6. Best sales and marketing app 7. Best small business tools 8. FAQs 9. How we test

While there are obvious basics, such as productivity suites and accounting software , it's always good to have a general idea of what different types of software are out there, so that the moment you identify a need, you can identify a solution. This is especially the case when you start to grow and find yourself wanting to communicate and collaborate with new employees, customers, or suppliers.

Luckily, there is a lot of competition online in the business software market, and while there are big name products priced for big name clients, there are always smaller and cheaper packages which can be just as good. The challenge is to find not just the type you need, but the one that comes in at the right price for you.

However, even some of the more seemingly expensive software suites sometimes have a free tier, so you can try it out and see if it works for you - and if it does, you can grow into the software as your business cashflow improves.

Even better is that sometimes there are free alternatives to paid-for brand name suites, though often it's the case that you get what you pay for, and cheap or free can come with limitations.

We'll therefore look to list a wide range of software types that it's good to be familiar with, and feature the best on the market, so that should you develop a need for anything in particular, you already have an idea of what to look for.

Here are the best small business software solutions currently available.

We’ve also picked out the best small business web hosting .

Google Workspace : Collaboration + productivity apps There are many different office software suites but Google Workspace formerly known as G Suite remains the original cloud one and one of the best business office suites, offering a huge range of features and functionality that rivals can't match. Try it free for 14 days .

The best small business software of 2024 in full:

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

1. Microsoft 365

Our expert review:

Reasons to buy

There are many rivals, but Microsoft still provides the best office software suite, and Microsoft 365 delivers a cloud version you can use on the go as well as at home or in the office.

The first thing going for Microsoft 365 is its familiarity - if you've used Microsoft Office before you'll easily find your way around this platform. Even if you haven't and have used rivals instead the same still applies because Microsoft Office is the market leader that others attempt to copy.

The second is that Microsoft 365 works in the cloud, which offers several advantages, the first being that you can use it on the go with your smartphone or tablet, but the second being that all your documents are saved online in the cloud with OneDrive. This means you don't have to worry about losing important files to a hard drive crash, and also that you can switch between devices without losing your work.

Pricing can seem a little more expensive than it used to be for buying a standalone license for Microsoft 365 Personal, which provides you with Word , Excel , Powerpoint , Publisher, and Access, with online emails served by Outlook , and OneDrive for cloud storage of documents. 

There's also Microsoft 365 Home which offers up to six licenses which could be ideal and cost-efficient for distributing around employees if you have five or less. Microsoft 365 Business Premium is targeted at larger businesses and includes Sharepoint, Microsoft Exchange, and Microsoft Teams .

Altogether, Microsoft 365 delivers what you need in terms of an office software and admin platform, and remains superior in terms of functionality than rivals. Additionally, expect to find many suppliers and contractors also using it, making it easy to share, swap, or send send files between your both without any problems.

Read our full Microsoft 365 review .

• ^ Back to the top

2. Sage Accounting

Sage Accounting makes a good first impression with its clear and gimmick-free pricing. The top Sage Accounting plan offers decent value and there is also a 30-day free trial.

For this, you get modules to manage quotes, invoices, handle and submit tax online, smart bank feeds and reconciliation, cash flow forecasting, some detailed reports, multiple currency support, project tracking and more, all available from your desktop or via a mobile app.

All this is well presented and generally easy-to-use. If you run into trouble, detailed web help and video tutorials are only a click or two away, with the offer of “free unlimited 24/7 telephone and email support” that should help make any newbie comfortable.

Sage also has a more basic offering called Accounting Start. This doesn't include support for quotes, estimates or vendor bills, and has no cash flow forecasts and could be enough for start-ups as well as small businesses.

Read our full Sage Accounting review .

Reasons to avoid

Got both a team and multiple projects to manage? Asana helps you work out who should be doing what at any given moment, maximizing the chances of everything coming together on deadline (though you do need a certain amount of talent and hard work from your staff as well, of course).

As with the other software tools in this list, it's not just the features that Asana has that make it special – it's the way those features are wrapped up in an elegant and accessible interface that's easy to navigate around and works across mobile apps and the web without missing a beat.

We also like the way Asana integrates very well with more than a hundred other products and services. All the big names are included – Dropbox, Slack, Gmail, Salesforce and so on – and this means Asana is flexible enough to fit right into whatever workflow you've got set up at the moment (or want to try in the future).

Whether you're mapping out the steps in a project, assigning duties and responsibilities, checking on the current status of a plan or trying to get a 'big picture' look at exactly what's happening at any given moment, Asana makes the process much more straightforward than you might expect.

Read our full Asana review .

Believe the hype, or at least part of it – Slack may not have killed off email just yet, and it can turn into a time sink if you're not disciplined in how it's deployed, but it's also fair to say that this communications platform has helped transform the way that a lot of small business teams keep in touch.

Like all the best software tools, the basic idea is very simple: real-time messaging in web browsers, mobile apps, and desktop clients. Team members can chat one to one, or in groups, or in channels based around topics (sales, finances, products and so on).

What Slack does well though is bring that simple idea to life very intuitively, with a slick and responsive interface, and a host of integrations, plug-ins and shortcuts to keep the conversation flowing. All the functions you think you might need, from file transfers to video calling, are right there for you.

You don't get much out of Slack for free but it gives you a feel for the app, and should be fine for smaller teams. At the highest pricing tier, you get round-the-clock support and a guaranteed support response time of four hours, as well as unlimited message archives.

Read our full Slack review .

5. Avast Business Antivirus

Avast Business is an excellent business antivirus and online security platform, giving you various tools such as antivirus, firewall, email protection, anti-spam and the ability to sandbox applications for complete security. Avast Business also includes a number of tools for your servers, and ranks top of our best business antivirus as well as our best antivirus in 2021 guide.

The AV protection you get is generally rated as good by independent testing, with Avast's engine blocking 99.7 per cent of threats in AV-Comparative's Real-World Protection report. 

The free version of Avast has long been considered one of the best for home users, but If value for money and simplicity are key factors, Avast Business could be a sensible choice.

Read our full Avast Business Antivirus review .

6. Hubspot Marketing Hub

Hubspot is a platform that provides a range of tools for content management, sales and marketing, and social media advertising. Hubspot goes way beyond simply setting up a website and editing its content, as much as delivering a wide-ranging toolkit to help improve conversions, and ranks as our top pick for best content marketing tools as well as features in our best CRM software .

It does this by offering options for split testing, content hosting, communications within a sales team and with customers, along with goals and targets that can be tracked using Hubspot's analytics software.

There are also a number of additional integrations available, not least Salesforce, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365. 

All in all, Hubspot probably isn't the best at any individual feature that it offers, but the comprehensive set that it does offer makes it a clear market leader, and the best at what it does.

Even better, there's a free tier for trying out Hubspot.

Read our full HubSpot review .

7. Bitrix24

Bitrix24 provides a vast suite of powerful business tools: collaboration, instant messaging, telephony, project management, document handling, scheduling, employee management, and more.

If you prefer to keep things simple then you can concentrate on the excellent CRM, which is a capable system all on its own. Contacts and communications are logged, leads assigned to sales managers, emails sent, calls recorded, quotes and invoices issued. Detailed reports keep you up-to-date and there's convenient access via the mobile app.

Bitrix24's unusually generous free account supports 12 users and includes 5GB storage, but if you need more, there are additional paid-for accounts which offer more and for more users.

Overall, Bitrix24 is offers a powerful suite of tools that is especially going to be handy for small businesses and start-ups to help them develop and grow through improved productivity, all in one platform.

Read our full Bitrix24 review .

Other small business software to consider

We've barely touched the surface of all the different software options a small business might want to consider, not least as there are multiple areas of interest and a strong range of competitors who want to offer the best product for you. However, here are a few more that get honorable mentions, either because they're positioned so well in their respective industries, or they offer a wider ranger of features-and all of them geared toward small businesses:

Paypal  is a long-established merchant gateway provider for taking online payments, and has since moved into physical retail as well as pay and go mobile card readers. All of which means that if you need a payment provider, Paypal can cover you well, no matter what sort of business you have. There's no monthly fee for the basic plan, which will cover online ordering, which helps reduce upfront fees. And once you're well established with a good sales volume and turnover, if you'd prefer to cut down transaction fees then you can switch to a merchant account where for a monthly fee upfront you'll pay mostly interchange rates on each transaction.

Zoho  provides so many different software and apps for small business the bigger question might not be what they do, but what they don't. Zoho provides such a comprehensive range of solutions that it's impossible to do the company justice here, suffice to say that they-currently-provide at least 45 apps covering everything from sales, help desk, finance, people, IT, office, project management, and collaboration. What's even better is that not only do these all integrate with each other, but also often integrate with other popular business software platforms. If you need to do something, Zoho probably have already released software to do it!

Adobe Creative Cloud  is probably another toolkit to consider here, not least because of Adobe 's real strengths in creativity and design, as well as PDF management-something every business will have to address at some point. Adobe sell different apps in different groups, however, so it's important to ensure you're looking at the correct set. However, don't be surprised if you end up subscribing to multiple apps, not least the creativity bundle that includes Photoshop , and Adobe Acrobat for creating, editing, annotating, and signing PDF files. 

Salesforce  is possibly the leading sales solution for businesses of many sizes. Whether you're looking to focus on online or offline marketing, telephone or email sales, then this is an all-in-one platform that aims to bring customer sales and relationships together. However, it's not just about logging numbers and ticketing as much as improving all-round efficiency. This means you can look to improve key metrics across all processes, not least your sales and CRM channels, ensuring both a good synchronicity and efficiency between them. 

Going mobile? We've featured the best small business apps .

Small business software FAQs

Which type of small business software is best for you.

When deciding which small business software to download and use, first consider what your actual needs are, as sometimes platforms that aim to do a lot of different things may not offer such an extensive range of tools as one that focuses on one particular area. Additionally, budget software options can sometimes provide all the tools you may need, but higher-end software can really cater for the specialist, so do ensure you have a good idea of which features you think you may need to save on the pain of changing to a different software platform later on.

How we tested the best small business software

To test for the best small business software we first set up an account with the relevant software platform, whether as a download or as an online service. We then tested the service to see how the software could be used for different purposes and in different situations. The aim was to push each software platform to see how useful its basic tools were and also how easy it was to get to grips with any more advanced tools.

Read how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar .  

Get in touch

• Want to find out about commercial or marketing opportunities? Click here
• Out of date info, errors, complaints or broken links? Give us a nudge
• Got a suggestion for a product or service provider? Message us directly
• You've reached the end of the page. Jump back up to the top ^

Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

• Brian Turner

Adobe Fresco (2024) review

Adobe Illustrator (2024) review

TCL QM851G review – the brightest mini-LED TV yet

Most Popular

• 2 Walmart's huge summer sale just went live: 15 deals I recommend from $14.99
• 3 Your Chromecast and LG TV might soon get a major Google Home upgrade
• 4 Microsoft stoops to new low with ads in Windows 11, as PC Manager tool suggests your system needs ‘repairing’ if you don’t use Bing
• 5 The Lowe's Memorial Day sale is live: up to $1,000 off appliances, tools & patio furniture
• 2 Capture amazing images every single day
• 3 Rural matters: Putting the countryside at the heart of Vodafone’s mission
• 4 Best Amazon Singapore deals May 2024: score big discounts on tech, appliances and more
• 5 This is probably the most outlandish Mini PC of 2024 — Minisforum's latest oddity sports two 5Gbps Ethernet ports, Oculink, a webcam and a 4-inch display as well as Intel's most powerful laptop CPU

Affiliate & Editorial Disclosure

To keep our website running, we partner up with some of the companies featured in our reviews. This means that SmallBizGenius may receive a commission when you sign up for a service or purchase a product using one of our links.

Our website also includes reviews of products or services for which we do not receive monetary compensation; information included in these reviews has been collected by SmallBizGenius.

Product/service details may vary. Please see the issuer’s website for current information. Opinions expressed on the pages of this website belong to the author and do not represent the views of companies whose products and services are being reviewed.

Some pages may include user-generated content in the comment section. The opinions expressed in the comment section do not reflect those of SmallBizGenius.

Best Business Plan Software: Our Top Picks for 2024

Written By Julija A.

Updated: February 6, 2024

To choose the best business plan software for your needs, you must consider several factors. Not all products and businesses are created equal, and some need more detailed financial projections than others.

Thankfully, there are various software solutions on the market you can choose from to assist you with your business planning. But where should you start?

To help you with that, we have researched and compiled a list of the top-rated programs that can make it easier to get your business off the ground and ensure its long-term success.

Show more...

• Unlimited plans
• 35-day money-back guarantee
• Insightful tutorials

Jump to Review

• 30-day free trial
• Valuation tool

• 7-day free trial
• Several free business plans
• Competitive prices

• Business process monitoring
• Revenue projection tool

• 15-day free trial
• Business guide
• Flexible pricing options

Related Product Categories

Amazon Business Credit Card

Business Internet Providers

Best Domain Registrar

Business Plan Software Pros and Cons

Now, let’s review some key advantages and potential disadvantages of these programs.

• They are cost-effective and efficient, providing excellent long-term value.
• Business planning tools help you set reasonable goals and track your progress.
• They allow you to work on the business plan with multiple people and easily share data with mentors and investors.
• Many have video tutorials, extensive knowledge libraries, and even forums, while others have help centers with short but useful guides, at the very least.
• Specific platforms have limited free-trial options. So, check what features your favorite business plan program offers as part of a free trial.
• Some software doesn’t provide live chat, phone, or quick-support options. So, getting in contact with customer service representatives may be a problem if you need urgent assistance.

Although business planning software offers a wide selection of useful features, choosing the one that’s ideal for your needs comes down to evaluating several factors.

Everyone’s requirements are different, so take your time choosing the right software for you. Once you’ve made your decision, all you need to do is put the program to work, define your business plan and operating budget , and get you’ll be able to get the project off the ground in no time!

Choosing Business Plan Software: Things To Consider

Deciding on the best business plan software for your needs can seem daunting – there are so many options available, and it can be difficult to know where to start. However, in our business plan software reviews, we pointed out a few key factors you should keep in mind to narrow down your options.

Both free and paid options are available, so you’ll need to decide what’s right for you. We did not mention any free business planning software in this review, but if you’re on a limited budget and are looking for free software, pay attention to the number of features it allows you to use and how many collaborators you can have onboard.

When using software to devise a business plan, the features offered by the tool are a top priority. Not all of them will be relevant for every business, so it’s important to take into account which features are more important for the type of business you’re running.

Number of Co-Workers

Another important thing to consider is the number of collaborators that you will need to include in the making of your business plan. You won’t need software with unlimited collaborators if you only need to share your project with a few people, but at the same time, the software has to support the number of coworkers you need working with you.

Educational Resources and Tutorials

Next, consider whether you’ll need access to educational resources. Some software options come with templates and tutorials that can help you get started, as well as help you optimize your business plan for the long term.

When it comes to business planning software, user experience is extremely important. The user interface should be intuitive and easy to use, as the last thing you need when devising a business plan is to deal with a clunky interface. That said, you should always thoroughly test out a platform before committing to it for the long term.

Integrations

Last but not least, check out how many integration options your shortlisted platform has and what those are. Programs such as QuickBooks, Xero, and Microsoft Excel are all highly useful and commonly used tools, so having them integrated with your business planning software can make your life easier.

Top 5 Picks: Business Plan Software

1.LivePlan Review

• Pricing: Standard plan: $15/$20 per month, Business plan: $30/$40 per month
• Number of plans: Unlimited
• Free trial: Yes (35-day money-back guarantee)

LivePlan offers high functionality at an affordable price. It boasts an intuitive, user-friendly interface with plenty of useful features, making it easy for users to write detailed business plans . So, if you’re looking for sophisticated, modern business plan software, LivePlan should be among your shortlisted options.

You’ll find there are many things you can use Liveplan software for. Some business plan features it offers are:

• Over 500 sample plans.
• Easy export to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• One-page pitch builder, which creates an infographic version of your business plan.
• Automatic financials – the program creates charts, tables, and reports for you.
• Financial performance tracking, which also helps you plan a budget and offers seamless integration with financial tools.
• Step-by-step guidance: You receive instructions with prompts, definitions, and tutorials as soon as you log in.

The premium package adds performance indicators, a milestone planner, benchmark data for metrics comparisons, and more.

Who Is It For?

LivePlan is among the finest business plan software solutions for businesses and entrepreneurs who need:

• An affordable business planning tool with a variety of useful features.
• To create many reports, as the software lets you create as many as you wish or need.
• Help with creating a report, since the platform has a comprehensive step-by-step guide and tutorials.
• To access their plans for extended periods, as the program saves data for more than a year, even after cancellation.

On the other hand, LivePlan itself is an advanced tool, so there is a learning curve for beginners.

LivePlan has two plans catering to startups, small and large businesses, and long-time investors. The subscription can be paid either monthly or annually.

If you choose the former option, the Standard package will cost you $20 a month, while the monthly price of the Premium plan is $40.

If you opt for the annual subscription, you’ll only have to pay $15 per month for the Standard and $30 per month on the Premium plan. This generous discount makes LivePlan arguably the best business plan software for individuals and businesses willing to commit to a subscription for a longer period.

Key Features

2.PlanGuru Review

• Pricing: Plan Guru App: $99 per month or $899 per year, Plan Guru Desktop: $99 per month or $899 per year
• Free trial: Yes (30 days)

PlanGuru is a good choice if you want robust software that offers a variety of features. The most notable one is the valuation tool, which is only available on the desktop version of the software at the time of writing.

In short, PlanGuru is a business planning software solution committed to helping businesses with their financial planning, providing the tools they need to create reports, budgets, forecasts, and more.

PlanGuru offers two types of plans: Advisor and Business/Non-profit. These are largely the same, with a few slight differences, and the company lets you choose between a cloud-based app and a desktop application.

Whichever option you choose, you gain access to an unlimited number of scenarios per company and can import up to five years of actual results. Furthermore, each plan entitles you to a pre-built three-way forecasting structure and lets you benefit from over 20 standard forecasting methods.

That said, PlanGuru is more of a financial planning tool than business plan writing software.

The desktop application has some additional features. For example, the valuation tool is currently available on the desktop version only. Also, some other features that are only available on the desktop version are the payroll utility, the breakeven tool, and an unlimited number of consolidated projections.

PlanGuru would make an excellent business plan tool for those who:

• Appreciate a comprehensive resources library.
• Wish to compare their finances to the performance of a given industry.
• Are used to importing files using QuickBooks Online, Xero, Excel, or QuickBooks Desktop.
• Need business valuation calculations (PlanGuru is one of the best business planning software solutions with this feature).

On the other hand, you may wish to look elsewhere if you:

• Need a tool focusing on basic business plan writing.
• Have a limited budget. PlanGuru is expensive, especially if you need to include additional users.

Pricing is on the high side with PlanGuru. A subscription will set you back $99 per month or $899 per year, and on top of that, adding additional users costs an extra $29 per month or $299 per year. So, ensure you can get the most out of this software to make writing your business plan worth the time, effort, and cost.

3.Enloop Review

• Pricing: Detailed plan: $11/$19.95 per month, Performance plan: $24/$39.95 per month
• Number of plans: 3
• Free trial: Yes (7 days)

If you’re looking for simple software to create a business plan, Enloop is an excellent option. Dedicated to business plan creation, it offers features such as automated text writing, financial forecast comparisons, and auto-generated financial reports.

Enloop is one of the best business plan software options available on the market if accessibility and ease of use are your priority. It features a simple interface and it’s suitable for users who don’t need more than a few business plans, although more plans can be unlocked for an additional monthly cost.

Both of Enloop’s pricing plans share most of the program’s feature set, such as automated text writing, colored charts, real-time performance score, data and text synchronization, and country currency formatting with over a hundred currency symbols and formats.

The main differences between the two plans come down to the number of team members who can be included in the project, and the number of financial ratios that the app can analyze.

You should consider Enloop if you only need up to three business plans, which is the account limit. However, you might want to keep it shortlisted even if you need more, since it’s possible to unlock additional business plans for an extra $9.95 per month.

Furthermore, you’d likely find this business plan creator software appealing if you intend to have multiple people working on a business plan. The Detailed plan allows two shared users, while the Performance package allows five.

You’ll also find Enloop helpful if you:

• Have a limited budget.
• Value text, tables, and image formatting.
• Wish to have access to helpful written and video tutorials.

On the flip side, Enloop might not be a good fit if you need:

• QuickBooks or Xero integration options.
• More than five co-workers working on your business plan.
• Responsive customer support, as it can only be reached via a contact form.

Enloop offers both monthly and annual subscription options, and the latter allows you to save about 50% if you wish to commit for the long term.

So, if you opt for the Enloop business plan software, the price is as follows:

• $19.95 per month for the Detailed plan
• $39.95 per month for the Premium package

If you choose the annual subscription, the prices are:

• $11 per month for the Detailed package
• $24 per month for the Premium plan

4.Bizplan Review

• Pricing: Monthly plan: $29 per month, Annual plan: $20.75 per month, Lifetime plan: $349
• Free trial: No

Bizplan is yet another tool popular among many businesses due to a variety of benefits it offers. You can include as many collaborators as you wish and create an unlimited number of business plans, have access to a range of useful tools, and use the company’s extensive educational resources, and more.

Bizplan is among the top business plan software options with a number of helpful features that young businesses can benefit from. For example, you can:

• Set your business goals and monitor the progress from a single dashboard.
• Ask for advice or detailed guidance from acclaimed mentors your dedicated advisor connects you to.
• Access courses that can help you scale your business, including customer acquisition and business planning.

Moreover, Bizplan boasts an extensive library of interviews and guides you can use, and you can join the Startup Therapy Podcast for insights on how to deal with issues that every new business experiences.

Among other features, this business planning software also has:

• Revenue-projection tool
• Equity fundraising platform
• Automatic financial projections
• Easy-to-use templates for reports generation
• Extensive library of educational content
• Unlimited business plans, tables, and sections
• Exemplary customer support you can contact via email, live chat, and phone

Bizplan is one of the business plan software providers that grants users access to all of its features with a single plan, with no limitations on the number of plans or collaborators. It caters to startups and seasoned business people, offering ample resources, business plan creation opportunities, and convenient monitoring.

One of the few downsides of this software is the lack of a free trial, which means you’ll have to subscribe if you wish to try the program out.

There are three subscription options with Bizplan:

• Monthly, which costs $29 per month
• Annual, which costs $20.75 per month ($249 per year)
• Lifetime, which costs $349 for lifetime access

Given that no other provider among our shortlisted options offers a lifetime plan, it’s safe to say that Bizplan is the best business plan software for users who wish to commit to a high flat cost rather than worry about subscription costs in the long-term.

5.IdeaBuddy Review

• Pricing: Dreamer plan: starting from $6 per month, Founder plan: starting from $9 per month, Enterprise plan: custom pricing
• Number of plans: Unspecified
• Free trial: Yes (15 days)

IdeaBuddy is a handy tool that can help you with many things, including testing your business ideas, financial planning, and more. It is particularly useful if you have a business idea but aren’t sure how to implement it. The software can accommodate a variety of people and companies, including entrepreneurs, managers, startups, and business schools.

IdeaBuddy is an excellent small business planning software that has five main features:

• Idea validation
• Financial plan
• Business plan

The idea plan feature allows you to map and structure your idea easily and efficiently on a single page without much effort. The process is simple, resembling a website building tool, and it provides you with an overview of the business model upon completion.

As its name suggests, the idea validation feature provides insights into how likely your idea is to become a thriving business.

The business guide gives you valuable insights into how to start your business. It can help you assess how big your target market is, perform competition analysis, allow you to better understand who your prospective customers are, and evaluate the idea’s overall market potential.

The financial plan helps you evaluate your income on monthly, quarterly, and annual bases, complete with long-term cash flow projections and detailed financial reports.

Finally, the business plan feature helps you create a shareable plan that you can edit and export to Word or PDF.

IdeaBuddy is business plan maker software especially suitable for individuals and startups that need guidance when it comes to implementing their business ideas. It is also useful for people with limited budgets. Furthermore, nonprofits and schools benefit from IdeaBuddy’s 30% off policy.

On the other hand, you might not find the platform to your liking if you:

• Wish to test all the features before committing, since the free trial has a very limited feature set.
• Need responsive customer support assistance, since you can contact them only via a contact form.

IdeaBuddy has flexible pricing options, making it one of the best business plan software solutions if money is an issue. You can see some of them in the tables below:

DREAMER PLAN

FOUNDER PLAN

As for the cost and details of the Enterprise plan, you need to contact IdeaBuddy directly via the contact form.

What is the best free business plan software?

Various business plan template software solutions offer a free basic version or a free trial. However, free business planning software usually lacks essential features that a growing business might need.

Which business plan software is the best?

It depends on your professional needs. For example, those who need a valuation tool would find PlanGuru the most convenient, while others might prefer LivePlan if they’re prioritizing flexibility and value.

What is the best business plan software for startups?

LivePlan, Bizplan, and IdeaBuddy are among the finest business planning software for startups. LivePlan provides high functionality for the price, Bizplan has extensive educational resources, while IdeaBuddy guides startups through different planning and implementation stages.

10+ Best Business Plan Software and Tools

Summer Nguyen | 02-16-2021

The Most Popular Extension Builder for Magento 2

With a big catalog of 224+ extensions for your online store

If you ask any successful sports coach how they can win so many games, they will tell you that they have a unique plan for every single game they coach. To win any of their opponents, they need to prepare a specific game plan tailored to each of their opponents’ strengths and weaknesses. Otherwise, they will get crushed.

The same logic applies to doing business. If you want to start a business , developing a robust business plan will be one of the first steps you should take. It’ll cover everything from a detailed explanation of your products/ services and pricing model to at least three years of financial projections - plus much more.

So, whether you are not sure how to get started or you are just looking to make the process easier, you may want to turn to business plan software and tools for help .

In this guide, we’ll break down 10+ of the best business plan software and tools - discussing their key features, pros, cons, pricing plans, and more - so you’ll get all the necessary information to decide which one is right for your business.

We should begin right now!

Table of contents

What is business plan software?

Pros and cons of using business plan software, features to look for in business plan software, 1. liveplan, 3. planguru, 5. gosmallbiz.

• 6. Business Plan Pro
• 7. BizPlanBuilder
• 9. Upmetrics
• 10. iPlanner
• 11. Business Sorter
• 12. MAUS MasterPlan
• 13. The Business Plan Shop

Over to you

First and foremost, a business plan is a detailed road map highlighting the future of business operations. It’s not limited to established organizations but can be written for small businesses to forecast their operations.

Business plan software is specifically designed to guide you through each step of your business plan and fill any gaps. That way, you will be more efficient in clarifying direction, attracting financing, developing team members, and eventually reaching your business goals.

As a business owner, it’s essential to consider whether new software or tools will benefit your business or needlessly add to your overhead. So, before purchasing business plan software, thoroughly weigh the following pros and cons against your business needs.

As a matter of fact, business plan software offers several benefits, including:

Step-by-step guidance . Business plan software has a detailed step-by-step guide to help you make the right choices for your business. It takes the guesswork out of aligning your business’s structure and cash flow forecast with future goals. This is specifically helpful if you are not sure how to begin.

Statement and report generation . Many small business owners don’t have a strong financial background or understanding of the strategic aspects of a business plan. That’s where a business plan tool comes in handy - it creates reports, graphs, and documents based on the information you’ve entered. These generated statements and reports can undoubtedly save you a considerable amount of time.

Accurate reporting . Creating a business plan from scratch by yourself may result in missed mistakes, skewing the data, and rendering reports - and hours of work - useless. A well-designed business plan software often comes with guarantees for accountability and accuracy in any reports generated under that program.

Customization . Business plan tools typically offer the option to personalize your reports. It also gives you the freedom to test out multiple scenarios depending on your long-term business goals, providing you more confidence in your business.

Easy to update . It’s so simple to adjust or replace any ideas or numerical calculations for a different outcome using a business plan tool. Certain features also keep you up to date on your business’s current situation and give you an insight into your future endeavors.

However, business plan software can also come with a few downsides, such as:

Lack of flexibility . Some business plan software only allows for specific customizations, which could limit personalizing your business plan. This includes sticking to available templates the software provides and being unable to rewrite the script or customize certain points in the data (unless you upgrade to a more expensive subscription plan).

Missed industry insights . As you aren’t writing the base coding that makes up a business plan tool, there may be discrepancies between your industry and the developed software. This could lead to missing out on essential industry insights and practical experience.

Expensive price tag . Depending on each type, some business plan tools can be pricey. They can range from basic plans to premium versions; however, it’s difficult to know whether the premium plan will assist you or just create a dent in your budget.

There are a lot of reasons to buy business plan software, but there are also some drawbacks that might turn you away from the investment. Therefore, weigh your options according to your business’s specific needs and determine which is right for you.

If you decide to purchase business plan software, it’s worth considering several key features to make sure that the process of creating your plan is smooth. Below is more about the specific features to look for in a business plan software application.

Step-by-step wizard . Step-by-step wizards take much of the guesswork out of trying to decide which sections to work on and in which order. This feature can take you through each section and make sure you’re including everything your plan needs.

Templates . Setting up a business plan from scratch can be tough. That’s why it’s great to have a jumping-off point. Many tools include dozens, if not hundreds, of templates to choose from. Many templates are geared toward particular types of businesses, so you can pick one that is right in line with the business you’re planning.

Financial projections . Most software applications can provide you with financial tools, so you can lay out your case for a successful venture. With some options, you plug in the numbers for expenses, cash flow, revenue, etc., and churn our financial projections. The easier this process is, the better your business plan creation experience is.

Charts and graphs . The tool you choose should be able to turn the financial data into eye-catching charts and graphs automatically. This will make your business plan more enticing to potential investors.

Integrations . Some software integrates with popular accounting programs, such as QuickBooks or Xero . This is useful when transferring financial details from your accounting software into your business plan, so that your plan is free from mathematical errors.

Contributors . Many businesses aren’t being launched by one person only. When multiple people are involved, you’d like all of your collaborators to contribute to the development of your business plan. That’s why you need to verify the number of contributors who can make edits to the plan. Some software caps this number, while others allow for unlimited contributors.

Additional services . Some software providers offer access to additional services that new entrepreneurs may find helpful, such as digital marketing help, website design services, and direct contact with consultants who can provide knowledgeable advice.

10+ best business plan software and tools

LivePlan can be the right pick for you, in case you want template-rich, modern-feeling business plan software. With more than 500 free and full-length sample business plans for inspiration, together with step-by-step assistance, you can start without any hassle.

The platform offers advanced financial services that automatically calculate financial outcomes for the five upcoming years. Plus, if you’re a Xero or QuickBooks user, you can easily import your data into the system to gain an in-depth view of how your business is performing from a financial standpoint.

You can start with a one-page business plan before moving to a complete professional plan that can be used to pitch to investors. The final business is not only high-quality but also professional. As all the charts and graphs are well-organized and easy to understand, you’ll love them.

Key features:

• More than 500 templates
• One-page business plan with a fill-in-the-blank template to jot down your ideas
• Access to educational materials
• Availability of financial charts and graphs
• Industry benchmark comparison
• Intuitive, modern interface
• A huge number of customizable templates
• Bank-level security
• Affordable plans
• Able to work on multiple active plans simultaneously
• Variety of business resources, including step-by-step instruction, video tutorials, and general customer support
• 60-day money-back guarantee
• Require a learning curve
• Can’t customize financial projection dates
• Limited third-party integrations

Pricing plans:

• Standard plan: $15 per month if paid annually - $20 per month if paid monthly
• Premium plan: $30 per month if paid annually - $20 per month if paid monthly

VISIT LIVEPLAN

Specifically built for tech startups, Bizplan will help you create a customizable business pitch and plan that appeals to several investors.

As a part of the Startups.com suite, Bizplan gets top marks for its easy-to-use, intuitive, and modern user interface. You will work with a step-by-step business plan builder to get exactly what you want from your business plan. It might remind you of a modern website builder , as it has drag-and-drop tools to build templates.

Moreover, if you’re a paying user, you’ll have access to all the materials in the Education corner, including online courses and more than 600 in-depth videos to help you explore more things.

In case you have an issue, you can contact its customer representative during business hours (from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m to 9 p.m), or send an email with all the questions you may be having.

• Drag-and-drop templates for business plan building
• Ability to track all business financials in one place with the financial command center
• Ability to access Fundable.com, an online fundraising platform that connects startups or small businesses to potential investors
• Unlimited account collaborators
• Availability of online courses, including tracks, master classes, guides, and expert answers
• Ability to control who can view or comment on your internal business information
• User-friendly, intuitive drag-and-drop business plan builder
• Excellent educational materials
• Subscription options give you access to all Startups.com tools
• You can easily integrate it with bookkeeping software
• Available lifetime pricing
• No free trial
• No mobile compatibility
• No templates based on specific industry
• Limited financial projection customization
• Monthly plan: $29/ month
• Annual plan (most popular): $20.75/ month
• Lifetime access plan: $349

VISIT BIZPLAN

PlanGuru is a cloud-based budgeting and business plan software that is all about financial planning. It offers more than 20 insider forecasting methods, allowing you to create projections for up to 10 years.

On top of budgeting and financial analysis, the tool lets you set goals and analyze performance. It also provides a rolling forecast, helping you understand the implications of spending on overall cash flow before you do it. Furthermore, strategic planning helps you manage your team and keep everyone accountable.

With its income statement, cash flow statement, and balance sheet, you can see how your venture will map out in a range of different scenarios. Furthermore, it enables you to harness turnkey methods and use business drivers to predict growth.

Unfortunately, PlanGuru doesn’t include the expert consultation function, so you’ll need to seek mentorship elsewhere. However, if you want a solution that can streamline the financial piece of your business plan, PlanGuru certainly has the most to offer.

• Budgeting and forecasting for up to ten years
• More than 20 standard forecasting methods
• Dashboard and reporting tools
• Formula builder to set up custom methods
• Ratios and KPIs
• Work with Quickbooks, Xero, and Excel
• Help guides, video tutorials, knowledgebase, and US-based customer support
• Extensive financial tools and detailed budgeting, forecasting, and reporting capabilities
• A substantial library of educational resources
• 14-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee
• No templates or tools for basic business plan writing
• Difficult to get started without prior financial knowledge
• Expensive, especially for additional users
• Single Entity: $83/month (paid annually) - $99/month (paid monthly)
• Multi-Department Consolidations: $250/month (paid annually) - $299/month (paid monthly)

VISIT PLANGURU

If you’re looking for an easy-to-navigate solution that can complete your business plan quickly, Enloop is there for you. It does this through its Autowrite feature and performance score that acts as a digital mentor.

Furthermore, Enloop has a strong focus on the financial aspect of the process, which is ideal for people with great ideas but aren’t necessarily financial wizards. Demonstrating profitability is crucial for raising capital from investors, and the software delves into this financial viability of your vision. It lets you add charts and graphs and analyze 16 distinct financial ratios.

It also allows you to compare financial projections with industry averages, so that you’ll get a clear picture of how your idea stacks up. You’re able to consult with an expert in case you need guidance. Enloop also offers business plan templates and an HR/ legal document builder, making it one of the strongest candidates for first-time start-ups.

Key features: *

• AutoWrite and TextSync features automatically create basic customized text for your business plan
• 16 different financial ratios indicate your financial health
• Performance score from 0-100 serves as motivation to complete the plan
• More than 100 currency symbols and number formatting
• Access to business templates
• Attractive interface
• Automatically populated text
• Well-explained financial ratios
• Instant access to all business reports
• 7-day free trial
• Affordable pricing plans
• Limited additional education resources
• Limited customer support
• Detailed plan: $11/ month (billed annually) - $19.95/ month (billed monthly)
• Performance plan: $24/ month (billed annually) - $39.95 / month (billed monthly)

VISIT ENLOOP

Initiated by NFL Hall of Famer and veteran entrepreneur Fran Tarkenton, GoSmallBiz offers hundreds of industry-specific templates that create the exact documents users need. Plus, its step-by-step wizard helps you set up a business plan by filling up business details in multiple segments.

Another helpful feature is its online calendar management. You can schedule events, meetings, and appointments and get automatic reminders. Besides, it lets you generate financial statements and projections. You’re allowed to create a range of insightful reports, such as profit and sales analysis, cash flow, balance sheets, and more.

For anyone new to business planning, GoSmallBiz offers a slew of online learning tools, including business courses, business mentoring, and weekly updates. It also provides help from a real CEO and business planning expert, so you can entirely rest assured knowing that you will never be steered in the wrong direction.

In addition to the business plan software, it provides a customer relationship management (CRM) tool , text-based business consultations, and legal business documents. No other business plan software offers this suite of tools - all for one cost.

• Step-by-step guide walks you through every single step
• Around 100 business templates
• Financial projections and statements
• Reports based on your financial data
• Integrate with major social media channels, such as Mailchimp, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter
• A wide range of industry-based templates
• Multiple educational videos
• Unlimited mentoring and business consultations
• Customized reporting
• Several additional business tools
• 30-day money-back guarantee
• Outdated interface
• Limited business plan features
• Expensive monthly cost compared to alternatives
• Lack of an annual subscription package
• Only exports to PDFs and Microsoft Word

Pricing plan :

• Grow: $39/ month
• Guide: $49/ month
• GO: $199/ month

VISIT GOSMALLBIZ

6. BizPlanBuilder

As an intuitive business plan tool, BizPlanBuilder provides a simple wizard that walks users through step-by-step business planning. With its premade industry-specific templates, the software can help you craft a plan that reflects your business goals.

With a single link, you can share your plan with investors online. So, instead of sharing bulky attachments, you can present your plan directly in a browser using modern navigation.

If calculation is not your strength, don’t worry! BizPlanBuilder’s financial tools, including calculators, cost analysis, financial projections, budget sheets, charts, and graphs, will help you with that. It also lets users import financial data from different accounting software programs.

In addition to business planning and financial features, the software offers real-time collaboration, meaning multiple team members can simultaneously view and edit the business plan.

• Premade industry-specific templates for business planning
• Available financial tools, including calculators, chart and graph generators, and budget-feasibility tools
• The collaboration feature lets team members log in, view, and edit the business plan at the same time
• Available technical support, including email and telephone support, FAQs, and video tutorials
• Eye-appealing visuals
• Easy-to-use drag-and-drop templates
• Various industry-specific templates
• In-depth presentations
• No mobile-friendliness
• Difficulty in exporting PDFs
• BizPlanBuilder for startups/ funding/ MBA students: $97/ year (add as many team members as you want for $10/ year each)
• BizPlan Builder for growing the company/ strategic planning/ growth financing: $27/ month (add an unlimited number of team, advisors, investors for $1/ month each)

VISIT BIZPLANBUILDER

Cuttles is a fully interactive and guided business plan software that helps entrepreneurs build, understand and grow their business.

Their web app has all the features and in-app guides you need to create a startup pitch, write a business plan, define a startup team, do budgets and financial projections. It’s simpler, faster and more impactful than ever to start a business.

• Cloud-based web app
• Strong focus on simplicity with UX and design
• Freemium version
• Fully guided and customisable business plan
• One-page pitch section for investors
• Financial forecasts and budgets
• Team feature to showcase your team
• Available in 6 languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, & Danish
• Share & Export options: Share with links, export to PDF, & invite members to view in the app
• Student discounts and diversity pricing initiatives
• Seed plan ( for founders who want to build and grow a startup): €8/ month - paid annually
• Grow plan ( For founders who want to collaborate with their entire team and stakeholders): €16/ month - paid annually
• Series plan (For serial founders and consultants who work with multiple startups): €48/ month - paid annually

VISIT CUTTLES

8. Upmetrics

Upmetrics is a well-rounded business demand planning software that helps small businesses and entrepreneurs find success in their business planning processes and growth strategies.

Are you just starting your business? Easily create a polished, professional business plan that lenders and investors will appreciate. Upmetrics simplifies the process of writing a business plan with step-by-step guidance, 200+ sample plans, and excellent customer support.

Are you looking to grow your business? Make confident decisions by forecasting your financials, and preparing your budget in Upmetrics.

Upmetrics is used by over 100K+ entrepreneurs all across the globe to plan their businesses and collaborate with remote teams to create growth strategies. Along with that, the software makes it easier to keep track of your projects and customize your plans as per your needs and requirements.

Key features: -Business Plan Builder -Financial Forecasting -Pitch Deck Creator -Business Models -200+ Sample Business Plans -Business Plan Cover Pages -Share With Pride -Comments & Feedback

• Business plan builder:- Guides you on creating your business plan at every step so you can have the clarity and confidence to excel in your business.
• Financial forecast:- Finance is the lifeline of any business. With our financial forecasting tool, create accurate financial sheets to convince investors & banks of your business viability and calculate your monthly & yearly financial projection.
• Pitch deck designer:- With our pitch deck designer, make your business pitch ready and present your business to investors & banks with confidence! -Business Model Canvas:- Business Model canvases bring planning and collaboration to the next level with great canvases and a great app.
• We dont have the real time live tracking of system
• Our business plan templates are kinda generic
• Our finanical forecast is limited to only 5 years
• Starter: $9/month ( paid monthly) - $7/month ( paid annually)
• Premium: $19/month ( paid monthly) - $14/month ( paid annually)

VISIT UPMETRICS

9. iPlanner

Launched in 2007, iPlanner has been helping many businesses raise finance for growth, manage risks, and improve internal communication. The software is designed as a planner for new enterprises, but it can also function as a project management tool.

The business modeling framework helps you generate a business model in real-time while collaborating efficiently with your team members. Plus, it offers various user-friendly business plan templates, such as venture capital business plan, restaurant business plan, elevator pitch, etc.

The software is also equipped with a financial engine to gauge different metrics, like sales, quantities sold, forecast price, and more. Moreover, all the projects have separate and secure URLs to protect your confidential business information.

You can integrate iPlanner with Microsoft Office and Dropbox, so collaboration and contribution are extremely easy. There’s also a huge library of how-to articles and business plan samples to help you stay on track.

• Business plan templates
• Step-by-step wizard to help you right from the start
• Financial templates and projections
• Integrate with Dropbox and Microsoft Office
• Expert mentors provide personalized assistance
• Available customer support via emails, how-to guides, and expert consultation
• Premade industry-specific templates to create custom business plans
• Feed-in content from different external sources, such as websites, MS Word, Excel, corporate intranets, etc.
• Regular backup of your data on the cloud
• Pretty old-school interface
• No monthly pricing option
• Professional plan: $55 (billed annually, 1 project)
• Corporate plan: $93 (billed annually, 12 projects)
• Corporate Plus plan: Custom pricing

VISIT IPLANNER

10. Business Sorter

Business Sorter is a cloud-based solution that offers the content to create plans you can share and keep track on. The content covers six key areas, including finance, sales, brand, people, operations, and goods and services.

The platform promises to simplify and speed up business planning via a novel 273 card sort system that covers many common situations. You can also include, edit the existing cards, delete, or add your own ones.

You can keep everything, including your ideas and thoughts, at a centralized location. It also offers tips and advice at every step to help you put your strategy into action. Unlike some software with videos, the educational resources here are provided as Word files and PDFs, which can be quicker to access, but harder to follow for some beginners.

• Card-based planning system with 273 digital cards
• Built-in tips and additional information
• Add team members and assign tasks
• Multi-device access
• Secure data protection
• Innovative, visual plan builder
• Unique card sort system to simplify planning
• Real-time collaboration with an unlimited number of users
• Regular updates for free
• Strong data security
• 14-day business trial
• Limited in financial planning needs
• No video educational resources

Pricing plans: From $10/month

VISIT BUSINESS SORTER

11. MAUS MasterPlan

MAUS MasterPlan is an Australian business plans solution with more than 60,000 clients worldwide. It aims to make the creation and implementation of your business strategy simple by offering templates, walkthroughs, and education for every step of the process.

You can generate detailed action plans based on your specific goals and projections for the future. Moreover, it’s possible to delegate tasks within the program and track progress.

If you want to calculate your finances, you just need to put the details, and it’ll do the rest. Other than that, it allows your team members to access your plans. You can invite them to help you with the business plan and invite your accountant to review once more once you’re done with the work.

MAUS MasterPlan includes information about segmentation, so it’s easy to break large markets down into smaller ones. According to that, you’re able to create different strategies for the various segments. More than financial reports for budgeting and projections, the tool can generate marketing and performance reports.

• Step-by-step wizard guides you through the whole strategic planning process
• Create cash flow and financial budgets & 5-year forecasts
• Market segmentation features
• Collaboration features
• Easy to use
• Detailed statement and impressive graphs
• Automated action plan monitors different tasks to keep the whole team on track
• Expensive for startups and small businesses
• Real-time errors occur sometimes
• Business planning & HR Pack: $97/ month
• MasterPlan Lean: $299/ year
• Business Planning Pack: $499/ year

VISIT MAUS MASTERPLAN

12. The Business Plan Shop

Last but not least, as one of the best business plan tools out there, The Business Plan Shop can help you generate a simple yet effective plan.

The software features a user-friendly interface and clean design. Once you sign up, you will enjoy an in-depth business plan together with instructions that you need to make one.

More than that, its financial forecasting section will collect your product and service information, so you can play around with the figures and come up with the right directions for your business. It can help you to forecast for up to 3 or 5 years.

• A financial forecast over 3 or 5 years
• Step-by-step guide with instructions and examples
• Exports to MS Word or PDF format
• Chart, break-even point analysis, financial analysis, and credit analysis
• Quite easy to use
• Clear instructions and examples for each section of your business plan
• Strong data protection
• Helpful educational materials
• Limited business planning features
• Can’t import financial information from spreadsheets
• Business & CFO: $25.50/month (monthly payment) - $14.08/month (annual payment)
• Advisor: $94.20/month (monthly payment)

VISIT THE BUSINESS PLAN SHOP

Create your business plan - step-by-step guide

Step 1: Craft a Powerful Executive Summary

Don’t let your business plan gather dust on a shelf! Start with an executive summary that captivates busy decision-makers. This concise overview introduces your company, highlighting its mission, goals, and what makes it stand out. Think of it as an elevator pitch – you only have a few floors (or sentences) to make a lasting impression.

Here’s how to craft a compelling executive summary:

Grab Attention: Start with a strong hook piques the reader’s interest. Briefly describe the problem you solve or the opportunity you present.

Define Your Mission: In a sentence or two, explain your company’s purpose and what drives you.

Showcase Your Offerings: Briefly describe your products or services and how they benefit your target market.

Target the Right Audience: Who are you trying to reach? Define your ideal customer and why they need your solution.

Highlight Your Value Proposition: What makes your business unique? Explain why customers should choose you over the competition.

Keep it Concise: Aim for one to two pages, focusing on the most critical information.

Source: Canva

Step 2: Create an attractive company overview

Provide a comprehensive overview of your company. Detail its history, legal structure (e.g. sole proprietorship, LLC, corporation), and the factors that will contribute to its success in the market. Here are some tips to help you create an engaging company overview:

Introduction : Engage with a captivating opening that sets the tone.

Company Background : Highlight key milestones, history, and achievements.

Products/Services : Clearly outline offerings and their unique features.

Target Market : Describe your audience’s needs and preferences.

Value Proposition : Clearly state what sets your company apart.

Differentiators : Emphasize unique selling points compared to competitors.

Success Stories : Include case studies or testimonials to validate claims.

Team Expertise : Showcase the qualifications and experience of key team members.

Vision/Goals : Share long-term objectives and strategic plans.

Visual Appeal : Use design elements to enhance readability and brand identity.

Step 3: Conduct Market analysis

Do thorough market research to understand your industry, your customers, and your competition. Find out what your customers need and like. Look closely at your competitors to see how you can stand out.

Step 4: Describe your products or services in depth

Provide detailed descriptions of your products or services. Explain their features, benefits, and how they fulfill the needs of your target customers. Highlight what makes your offerings unique compared to competitors.

Step 5: Make a marketing and sales strategy

Describe your marketing and sales plans for connecting with your target audience. Clarify your promotional efforts, pricing strategies, distribution channels, and sales methods. Explain how you intend to attract and keep customers.

Step 6: Project your financial performance

Forecast your financial performance for the next three to five years. This should cover projected revenue, expenses, and cash flow. Provide details on your startup expenses and funding needs, if relevant. Ensure your projections are realistic and backed by thorough market research.

Step 7: Implement business plan

Develop a comprehensive plan for implementing your business strategy. Establish clear objectives and checkpoints. Divide tasks and delegate responsibilities accordingly. Incorporate timelines and methods for monitoring advancement.

Now that you’ve read through the 10+ best business plan software available, it’s time to decide which one is best for you. It can be helpful to consider specific features you’re looking for, as well as your business budget. By doing so, you will have a set of criteria in mind when you explore different solutions.

For future recommendations, don’t forget to bookmark this blog post. We’ll continuously update it with juicy content that helps you create a solid business plan for any projects.

Marketing Manager of Mageplaza. Summer is attracted by new things. She loves writing, travelling and photography. Perceives herself as a part-time gymmer and a full-time dream chaser.

Share this post:

Related Post

Shopify Themes Brooklyn: Enhancing Your E-commerce Experience

By discovering modern design, features, how to set up and some examples, we aim to help you elevate your e-commerce experience with the Shopify themes brooklyn.

Shopify Dawn Theme: Elevate Your Online Store’s Design

Let's unleash the power of Shopify Dawn theme! You will learn key features, easy customization steps & see inspiring examples on this guide.

How to Edit Your Checkout Page in Shopify: A Comprehensive Guide

Find out how to make your Shopify store's checkout better with our easy guide. Learn why it's important and get simple steps to change your checkout page.

How to Edit Shopify Theme: A Step-by-step Guide

Want to optimize user experience? Already get bored with the old Shopify store’s layout? Discover how to edit a Shopify theme by reading this article!

How to Cancel Shopify Subscription: Everything You Need to Know

Learn how to cancel your Shopify subscription stress-free. Follow our simple steps and get essential tips for a smooth process. Take control of your subscription management today!

Website Support & Maintenance Services

Make sure your store is not only in good shape but also thriving with a professional team yet at an affordable price.

When you use links on our website, we may earn a fee.

7 Best Scheduling Software of 2024

It makes sense that if you have more control over your time and adopt a more intelligent approach to utilizing it, you’ll be in a better position to be more productive and ultimately make more money. Now think beyond yourself and how better time management could impact your entire team or business. One extremely valuable scheduling tool to achieve this is good scheduling software.

The best scheduling software allows you to better manage your own time and keep tabs on coworkers or team members. This makes it easier to coordinate meetings, projects, and deadlines. Choose scheduling software that’s intuitive to use and readily accessible. This article profiles some of the very best.

Table of Contents

• Best Scheduling Software
• Things To Consider When Buying
• How We Chose

Microsoft Outlook  »

Integrates email management, to-do list management, and solo or group calendars with a group scheduling tool

Included with all Microsoft 365 Personal and Business subscriptions

Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and cloud-based versions available

Rather limited customization options

Need a subscription to unlock all Outlook features

Most useful to subscribers and users of Microsoft 365

While a free plan that includes a limited version of Microsoft Outlook is available to anyone who has a free Outlook email account, the Premium version comes bundled with all Microsoft 365 subscriptions. It offers contact management, a customizable calendar, scheduling functionality, to-do list management, and email management – all from a single app.

Users can view multiple, color-coded individual or group calendars at the same time and easily access or share calendar and scheduling data between users. With a click or on-screen tap, switch between a day, work week, week, or month calendar view. Outlook is also a great scheduling tool for minimizing time conflicts, tracking deadlines, and automatically generating alerts for upcoming meetings or events.

ZoHo Calendar and ZoHo Bookings  »

Can integrate with all ZoHo business applications, including ZoHoCRM

ZoHo Calendar and ZoHo Bookings can be used together or separately

Can manage a personal schedule, manage events, share calendars with team members, and sync events across devices

Can integrate with popular third-party apps, including Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook Calendar

Free app limited in functionality

Some users report difficulty initially setting up the app but then have little or no problem using it

Works best when used in conjunction with other ZoHo apps

ZoHo Calendar is a stand-alone personal calendar and scheduling app, although it allows for calendars to be shared between coworkers. The app nicely handles resource booking and allows for multiple calendars to be viewed in one place. You can also sync events across multiple platforms.

ZoHo Bookings integrates seamlessly with ZoHo Calendar but allows customers to self-schedule and pay for appointments, using an interface that’s customizable based on your industry. This app helps to reduce no-shows. You can also qualify appointments by adding customizable question fields that someone must fill out when booking an appointment.

Both apps allow you to define your work hours and break times, mark off vacation days, and generate customizable reports.

Google Calendar  »

Easy access to Google Calendar from any computer or mobile device

Online group and public calendars

Can easily migrate data from Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Exchange, Apple iCal (Calendar), and data stored in the .ics and .csv industry-standard file formats

Can manage resources at the same time meetings are scheduled

Event and activity dates, like airline reservations, received via email (using a Gmail account) are automatically imported into the Calendar

Few advanced features

Certain views can appear cluttered if managing several calendars at once, especially on a smaller screen

Limited customization options

The personal version of Google Calendar is available on a free plan to everyone and even comes preinstalled on all Android and ChromeOS-based smartphones, tablets, and computers. The cloud-based version of Google Calendar, which is part of Google Workplace, offers a more robust collection of scheduling and time management tools best suited to business professionals, teams, and businesses.

One of the best things about this app is that it integrates seamlessly with Gmail, Google Drive, Contacts, Meet, and many other Google applications and services. It also offers smart scheduling for meetings and the ability for coworkers to share calendar and scheduling information. Reporting is available to individuals or supervisors, so people can see insight into how their time is being spent through graphical reports.

Calendly  »

Schedule/appointment automation platform used by service providers

More than 20 million active users

Can share your schedule availability with others online and allow them to book meetings or appointments with you remotely

Can automatically detect time zones

Limited free plan

Doesn't handle recurring bookings well

Limited live customer service options

Once you set up an account with Calendly, you can determine who can schedule appointments or meetings with you, showcase your available meeting times, and collect specific information about the person scheduling a meeting or appointment with you at the time they book it. This allows you to create an easy booking experience for your customers or clients. You’re also able to pre-define specific appointment types and durations, create group events, and choose notifications in the form of emails or texts.

HubSpot Meetings Scheduler Tool  »

Ideal for small businesses to set up and coordinate group meetings

Allows prospects to automatically and remotely schedule meetings with users online

Offers integrations with Google Workplace, Microsoft 365, and more

Allows users to book meetings by emailing or embedding their calendar into their website

Can trigger personalized emails to be sent to prospects or clients after a meeting is booked

Limited support for users of just the free Meetings Schedule app

Less robust functionality than Calendly and some others

Hubspot’s Meetings Scheduler is a free, stand-alone, cloud-based application that seamlessly integrates with the company’s fee-based CMS, email marketing, and sales lead applications. Additional scheduling tools that allow for more advanced functions used to automate and scale a business’ sales operations are available with a paid subscription to HubSpot’s Sales Hub. However, thanks to integrations with other widely used applications (from other companies), the Meetings Scheduler application can be used with those instead.

Schedulicity  »

Unlimited client appointments

Multiple forms of payment with seamless payment options

Integrated marketing tools, including email templates and an Instagram Book button

Clients can be billed by text, swipe cards, or accept cash/check payments

2.5% flat-rate payment processing fee, plus $0.15 per transaction

Not suitable for larger businesses or non-service-oriented businesses

More emphasis on customer/client appointment booking than on calendar sharing between coworkers

Designed for solo service providers or small service-oriented businesses, Schedulicity is a comprehensive appointment/reservation booking tool combined with payment processing and online marketing tools. You get calendar management, client booking, appointment scheduling, and client rebooking options. You can also showcase scheduling policies, set your own business hours, and block off specific times of the workday.

Marketing tools include appointment reminders for clients via email or text message, email marketing tools, the ability to maintain detailed client notes, and a calendar syncing option. A flat rate option for accepting online or in-person payments is integrated into the application.

Homebase  »

Ideal for small retail businesses

Can manage employee scheduling for one or multiple retail locations

Offers excellent communication tools for employers to communicate and share schedule information with employees

Allows employees to use a smartphone to clock in and out and track work hours

Lets employees request time off or switch shifts with someone else using the mobile app

Must use U.S. dollars and pay extra for payroll feature

Reported problems with employees receiving schedule change notifications sent through Homebase

If you operate a small to medium-sized retail business with one or a few locations, you know the challenges of scheduling employees and managing a team. Homebase is an easy-to-use application that focuses on providing scheduling, time clocks, payroll, and HR-related tools within a single application. With Homebase, it’s easy to build, edit, and share colorful schedules that can help to manage and lower labor costs.

The app can automatically contact employees via email or text message to remind them of upcoming shifts or schedule changes. Homebase also makes it easy for employees to pick up or trade shifts. And for the employer, the app makes managing time off requests easier. Tools are included that help track labor costs and sales together.

The Bottom Line

When choosing the best scheduling software, focus on four key areas. First, the application should adapt to your workflow so employees don't have to change how they do things. Second, determine what you need the software to do, including how you want to manage your scheduling process. Third, determine if you will be using the application yourself or deploying it across your entire team or company. Finally, make sure the selected application is cross-platform compatible and integrates seamlessly with other applications you already use, such as a CRM, other calendar apps, or a payment gateway.

When used correctly, the right scheduling software can bring better organization and discipline to an entire business by increasing efficiency on all levels. Scheduling software forces everyone to stay punctual and respect everyone else’s time within a company.

Things To Consider When Buying Scheduling Software

The best scheduling software allows you to do much more than just keep track of your appointments. It can help you better manage your time, coordinate your schedule with coworkers, and seamlessly share scheduling data with other key applications you’re already using. Here are some important factors to consider when selecting the best scheduling software to meet your needs.

Scalability and User Limits : Pay attention to whether the software can accommodate the required number of users.

“Scalability is a must-have feature for any potential scheduling software," says Justin Soleimani, co-founder of Tumble , a San Diego-based homeware and furniture design and manufacturing company. "One of the best things a new business learns from scheduling software is how to streamline and optimize everyone’s time in the company’s calendar. When that happens, business owners can better allocate resources and start thinking about growth. Finding scheduling software that then scales to match that growth is crucial to avoid the cost of migrating platforms down the road."

Scheduling Flexibility : Ideally, the software should support various appointment types, such as phone calls, virtual meetings, one-on-one meetings, group meetings, and events.

Integration Capabilities : The best scheduling software makes it easy to sync data across a wide range of other software and cloud-based applications, such as other calendar apps, CRM systems, project management applications, and/or payment gateways.

Mobile Accessibility : Because most people are no longer chained to their desks and rely heavily on their mobile devices as a productivity tool, scheduling data should be readily accessible from a smartphone, tablet, or even a smartwatch.

“Scheduling software works best when it's cloud-based and available from multiple locations and on multiple devices so that all relevant stakeholders can stay informed," says Nick Valentino, vice president of market operations at Bellhop , a nationwide moving services company. "Strictly local schedules need to be individually sent out to other people. This creates a lot of work and leaves room for miscommunication and scheduling errors."

Customization Options : Not everyone’s workflow is the same. Choose scheduling software that lets you customize fields to match your organization’s or industry-specific needs.

“Scheduling software is generally very customizable," says Alexis Haselberger , a professional time management and productivity coach. "For instance, I have several different event types set up for consultation calls, coaching sessions, workshops, etc. For each event type, I can select general parameters for how long the appointment will last, how much buffer time is needed between meetings, how many meetings can be scheduled per day, and which days and times these meetings can be scheduled."

Sara Bandurian, operations supervisor at the digital marketing company Online Optimism , especially appreciates the ability to color-code calendars is significant. "This makes it easier to know at a glance whether I’m looking at my personal calendar, the company-wide calendar, or an individual employee's calendar," she says. Bandurian adds that if you have employees in different time zones, it's also important to be able to set your time zone, work hours, and work location.

Automated Reminders and Notifications : The scheduling software you choose should be able to generate automated reminders for you, coworkers, and customers or clients. Reminders or notifications should be able to be sent via email or text message.

Resource Management : In addition to managing time, you may need scheduling software that can manage and allocate resources, such as meeting rooms, required equipment, and support staff.

User Experience and Interface : The user interface should be visually appealing and highly intuitive.

Security and Privacy : Ensure the application provides robust security features to protect sensitive scheduling data and user information. Also, teach people on your team to use data security best practices to help avoid data breaches.

Customer Support and Training : Research the availability of customer support, training resources, and related documentation to assist with software setup, deployment, data migration, and day-to-day usage.

How We Chose the Best Scheduling Software

Our contributor Jason R. Rich performed extensive research to find the best scheduling software. He also conducted in-depth interviews with several business leaders and time management experts to create this review.

Experts he talked to include Alexis Haselberger , a professional time management and productivity coach whose corporate clients include Google, Lyft, and CapitalOne; Justin Soleimani, co-founder of Tumble , a San Diego-based homeware and furniture design and manufacturing company; Nick Valentino, VP of Market Operations at Bellhop , a moving company that operates nationwide; and Sara Bandurian, Operations Supervisor at Online Optimism , a digital marketing company based in New Orleans.

For each scheduling application featured in this roundup, Jason evaluated its key features, including ease of use, integrations, cross-platform compatibility, multiuser features, and pricing. He also considered what set each scheduling application apart from its competition.

Although Jason placed each scheduling application into a specific category based on the type of professional, team, or business that could benefit the most from using it, most of the applications he reviewed can accommodate many different types of users or businesses with diverse scheduling needs.

WHY YOU SHOULD TRUST US

Jason R. Rich is an internationally recognized consumer technology expert with more than 30 years of experience as a writer, journalist, and photographer. In addition to the U.S. News 360 Reviews website, his articles and in-depth product reviews continue to appear on CBS Essentials, Forbes Vetted, and within AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin.

These days, that line is blurred. A basic calendar app is typically used by a single person to manage their own schedule. Scheduling software can serve as a calendar app, but it also syncs data with a separate calendar app and allows your invited coworkers, colleagues, employees, clients, and prospects to schedule or request time on your calendar. This makes it easier to find a mutually agreeable time for a meeting.

Project management software is more robust than scheduling software, allowing you to organize your tasks and projects, either on your own or as part of a group. Like scheduling software, project management tools can be integrated with your calendar.

Whether you’re a business professional, part of a busy team, someone who offers services to clients, or someone who leads a busy lifestyle, chances are you’ll benefit dramatically by using calendar or scheduling software. The right application can help you make better use of your time, become more organized, and prioritize the tasks and responsibilities that are the most important. The trick is to choose scheduling software that best accommodates your needs, not software that forces you to adapt to its functionality and interface.

If you're concerned about the cost of scheduling software, look for a free trial so you don't have to commit right away. Some software has a free plan, but be aware that these are usually quite limited.

This depends on the application you choose. The best scheduling applications allow you to better manage your own time. This type of application can also be used to share or integrate calendars and related data with coworkers, employees, or teammates, which can make scheduling meetings easier.

Retail managers, for example, can use certain scheduling applications for staff scheduling and as an employee time clock. This can help budget for and control labor costs. If you provide a service to customers or clients, the right software allows people to access your schedule online and book their own appointments based on preset criteria.

“Scheduling software allows you to be more productive in two ways," says Haselberger. "First, you can save hours each week by not exchanging emails back and forth about when to meet, or cluttering your calendar with multiple ‘hold’ appointments until folks confirm. Second, you are able to better control your calendar, maintaining larger blocks of time for deep work. You can shift meetings, for example, into times that work better for your brain and chronotype."

About Our Team

Contributor

Jeff Kinney

Senior Editor

U.S. News 360 Reviews takes an unbiased approach to our recommendations. When you use our links to buy products, we may earn a commission but that in no way affects our editorial independence.

The Best CRM Software for 2024

By Mark Fairlie • May 14, 2024

Best for Small Businesses

Best for Project Management

Best for Automation

Best for Communication

Best for ERP Capabilities

If you feel your marketing, sales and support teams should get better results, it may be time to invest in top-notch customer relationship management (CRM) software . The right CRM software can help you generate more leads, improve sales conversion rates and deliver market-leading after-sales service. 

There are numerous CRM providers, each with unique selling points and target markets. I’ve researched and analyzed 10 of the leading CRM software vendors, paying particular attention to their essential features, strengths, target users and best use cases to help you decide on the best CRM platform for your needs. 

What is CRM software?

CRM software is an application that helps businesses efficiently manage, track and store all lead, prospect and customer interactions during their buying journeys . CRM systems give marketing teams the data and insights they need to run more successful campaigns. They store in-depth customer histories to help sales reps close deals and assist support teams in resolving issues across multiple communication channels. 

CRM platforms improve efficiency via customized lead- and ticket-management tools and workflow automations that handle repetitive manual tasks, freeing teams to focus on more strategic work. CRM software generates in-depth business performance reports that help leaders make better decisions and identify opportunities to become more efficient and profitable.

Best CRM Software

• Salesforce: Best for Small Businesses
• monday: Best for Project Management
• Pipedrive: Best for Automation
• Freshsales: Best for Communication
• NetSuite: Best for ERP Capabilities
• Zoho CRM: Best for Remote and Hybrid Teams
• Hubspot: Best for Integrations
• Insightly: Best for Customization
• Zendesk: Best for Complete Customer Life Cycle
• Thryv: Best for Service Businesses

Compare Our Best Picks

Salesforce Best for Small Businesses

Pros & cons, our review for salesforce.

When reviewing Salesforce CRM, I was impressed that this platform brought enterprise-level functionality to small-business owners.

For example, Salesforce’s powerful artificial intelligence (AI) features are the best executed and most useful on the market. For a small fee on top of your subscription package, Salesforce’s Einstein AI will handle jobs such as finding and executing time-saving workflow automations, thereby reducing the time your staff spends on manual data-entry tasks.

I was also impressed that Salesforce centralizes data from other apps so that sales, marketing and customer service teams always work with the latest information. I found the omnichannel communication platform excellent for mass marketing and one-to-one conversations between a company and its customers. Perhaps most impressive is the availability of thousands of built-in and third-party apps, many of which are free or low-cost.

monday Best for Project Management

Our review for monday.

monday is a great example of a CRM system that prioritizes the user experience . Out of the box, it offers excellent sales pipeline management tools, a leading customer data management system, an easy-to-use workflow automation suite and excellent team collaboration tools.

I was impressed by how monday extends the best aspects of its project management tools — specifically, the logical, clear and intuitive interface — to help users quickly and accurately customize numerous business processes, including lead generation pipelines and automated analytics and reporting. Users can access hundreds of preloaded process customization templates.

I really like the platform’s attention to detail. Workflow tools such as Kanban and Gantt reports and color-coded leads in the visual sales pipelines let managers know where every live deal is at a glance.

You’ll need to connect the platform to third-party apps to unlock mass marketing and one-to-one communication tools. However, there’s an excellent app selection, and the integration process is straightforward.

Pipedrive Best for Automation

Our review for pipedrive.

Pipedrive is an excellent sales-focused tool for managing multiple deals at different stages. The vendor understands its target market well, as is evident in the platform’s vast array of sales tools and automations.

CRM software works best when it knows its audience, and Pipedrive gets this exactly right. Companies have numerous options to improve sales performance. For example, they can create multiple sales pipelines or set up helpful reminders and notifications when a sales rep needs to move a deal to the next stage.

Users get more than 30 pre-built and fully customizable sales task management automations out of the box, including handy functions that launch welcome campaigns and send introductory emails.

I really like the Smart Contact Data option, which appends the customer records on a company’s database with LinkedIn data. Third-party configure-price-quote (CPQ) apps are excellent for companies with highly customized products and services at various price levels.

Pipeline’s built-in marketing platform is excellent, especially the email marketing and power dialing features. The 400 apps in the platform’s marketplace can extend this solution’s functionality.

Freshsales Best for Communication

Our review for freshsales.

Strong customer relationships are built on regular, quality, predictable and personalized communications at all stages of the sales cycle. I like how Freshsales CRM, part of the Freshworks platform, handles this task.

The solution’s email, telemarketing and social media marketing platforms are well designed and easy to use for prospecting. For companies running Freshsales, outreach will become much more straightforward and manageable.

The platform’s sales management features are also excellent. I was impressed with the platform’s built-in AI, which can help reps identify promising leads. I also like how the VoIP system allows reps to connect with customers in more than 90 countries from within the platform.

Although Freshsales has many upsides, there’s a slight learning curve for setting up and executing sales automations, workflows and other features. However, you should still consider this system because of its excellent wider functionality, especially its reporting and analytics.

I like how the platform integrates seamlessly with Google Business Messages, Line, WhatsApp, Messenger, SMS and more. An impressive 500 apps are available in the Freshworks marketplace.

NetSuite Best for ERP Capabilities

Our review for netsuite.

You must subscribe to NetSuite’s broader ERP package to use NetSuite CRM. However, if you do, NetSuite CRM is an excellent option for your business. It’s a capable and feature-packed CRM solution.

Like most modern CRM systems , NetSuite CRM allows you to track a customer’s progress from initial contact to the point of sale and beyond. The ERP part of the software fills in the details in between, making it a viable solution for even the most complicated businesses.

Unlike most other platforms I looked at, NetSuite CRM doesn’t have a built-in omnichannel communications and marketing tool, which I found disappointing. You’ll need to use third-party providers for this function. However, NetSuite will record the data these plug-ins generate, so the CRM software can provide high-level functions, like sales forecasting, CPQ, granular analytics and reporting, upsell recommendations and e-commerce management.

I like that NetSuite is incredibly customizable; you can get it to work precisely as you envision it. If you want to extend the platform’s functionality, you can select from more than 2,000 apps in the NetSuite marketplace.

Zoho CRM Best for Remote and Hybrid Teams

Our review for zoho crm.

Zoho CRM is an excellent option for businesses with remote teams and hybrid working arrangements. I really like how the system simplifies remote work management and helps you create uniform, specific workflows for teams in various locations.

In companies where office attendance is not compulsory, maintaining high standards across the board can be challenging. However, Zoho CRM’s customizable workflow options effectively address this concern.

The well-stocked Zoho marketplace offers more than 1,000 apps. I was pleased to see the number of communication and collaboration apps this CRM tool offers, including popular software such as Slack, Mailchimp, Google Workspace, GoTo Meeting, Docusign and Everbrite.

All users get access to Zoho’s impressive omnichannel platform that supports mass and one-way communication with customers by phone, email, social media, messaging apps and even website chatbots.

The Zoho mobile app is particularly impressive. It offers full functionality for both managers and agents. Many platforms treat mobile apps as an afterthought, but that’s not the case for Zoho. I was pleasantly surprised by how effectively Zia, the platform’s AI assistant, works on the mobile app, helping staff members complete routine tasks and manage their days effectively.

Hubspot Best for Integrations

Our review for hubspot.

The HubSpot marketplace is not the biggest; NetSuite and Salesforce have twice the number of apps. However, I was impressed that HubSpot’s marketplace had a wide assortment of apps focused solely on improving marketing, sales and customer service team performance.

Since its launch, HubSpot has been the tool of choice for companies that want to drive better results from their marketing and sales teams. It has an excellent — and well-justified — reputation in the marketplace.

The platform’s built-in marketing and sales automation features are superb. If you want to extend functionality, you can choose from more than 750 marketing apps, 600 sales apps and 200 customer service apps in the marketplace.

I found much to like about HubSpot, including its standout omnichannel communications and marketing platform. And if customers want to contact you in a specific way, HubSpot has an app for that.

HubSpot’s customer segmentation and general marketing tools are superb, as are the reports that link responses to campaigns (attributions), forecast sales volumes, and identify drop-off locations in sales funnels.

The user interface is simple, making it a breeze to set up and manage automations. I really like that HubSpot offers a free plan with limited functionality so you can test the platform at no cost.

Insightly Best for Customization

Our review for insightly.

Insightly CRM is highly intuitive and comes packed with dozens of valuable features out of the box. While it’s a lesser-known platform, I like that it has attracted enough developers to populate its marketplace with an impressive 2,000 available integrations.

More than 260 sales and marketing apps are available in Insightly’s app marketplace, with direct links to Shopify, Adobe Commerce, Microsoft Advertising, Buffer (social media marketing), X (formerly Twitter) and Twilio. The marketplace also boasts app categories such as AI and machine learning, collaboration, finance and accounting, and project management. I really appreciate the volume and quality of the available apps.

I was also impressed by how simple Insightly makes it to customize dashboards and automate repetitive tasks. These features free managers to focus on their core activities, making the tools particularly crucial for improving team productivity and performance.

Analytics and reporting are superb across the board. I was impressed by the level of granularity the system provides on marketing campaign performance and customer satisfaction levels.

Zendesk Best for Complete Customer Life Cycle

Our review for zendesk.

I was impressed that Zendesk’s unified customer database allows companies to manage all stages of the sales cycle, from cold prospecting to closing deals and beyond.

As more sales and inquiries come from online forms, I appreciate how Zendesk measures, analyzes and reports on dozens of client touchpoints. Sales managers can monitor a diverse range of metrics to see what works best. These include email click-through and open rates, website visits, inbound calls and texts, and more.

I really like that Zendesk provides features to help you build a self-service online knowledge base for your customers. The AI tools can help you decide what content to use on the self-service areas. You also get a choice of more than 100 visual layouts and themes, which is great for branding.

Zendesk’s omnichannel communications tool is excellent for mass marketing and one-to-one communications. I particularly like the power dialer, as phones are still crucial all-around tools in marketing, sales and support.

I also appreciate Zendesk’s customizability and collaboration tools, particularly the “side conversations,” where a colleague can join a live conversation with a client or act as a “light agent,” hiding their involvement.

Thryv Best for Service Businesses

Our review for thryv.

Thryv is a simple, versatile CRM system and a compelling proposition for service businesses, especially smaller firms that serve local areas.

There are two primary services: Marketing Center and Business Center.

• Marketing Center: I was underwhelmed by the Marketing Center options, which are designed to help you build and manage marketing campaigns. This service costs between $199 and $349 monthly, with a $250 onboarding fee. I found this a bit pricey; you could probably source many of this offering’s functions for $1,000 from freelancers on sites such as Fiverr.
• Business Center: The Business Center is a much better package. It’s a scaled-back CRM system with features that are essential to service businesses, like sending estimates and invoices, accepting client payments, and recording appointments. Healthcare businesses can add HIPAA compliance for an additional small fee each month. The Professional and Unlimited packages cost between $349 and $499 a month, which is pricey if you have only two or three employees. The Business Center package offers many features from the Marketing Center option, plus either 10,000 or unlimited email and SMS marketing messages.

Thryv is somewhat lacking compared with the other CRM systems on this list. However, it has earned its place here because it’s an intuitive, user-friendly system that offers smaller service businesses a highly relevant set of features. If the vendor changed from a per-location pricing model to a per-user model, this platform could be more compelling for its target market.

CRM software costs

CRM systems have become much more affordable in recent years, especially as many platforms target small business owners. Several factors contribute to CRM software costs, including the following: 

• Subscription costs: You typically pay a per-user-per-month charge for CRM software (with the exception of Thryv, which charges per location). Starter packages can range from as little as $9 per user per month with Freshsales to $25 per user per month with Salesforce. Most platforms offer tiers where the number of bundled services increases with the price. Many CRM vendors offer a discount if you pay your subscription fees annually in advance instead of monthly.
• Add-on fees: CRM platforms often charge add-on fees for utilizing third-party apps and integrations to boost functionality. Other add-on services, including AI functions, incur additional costs. Add-on fees are typically charged per user per month.
• Fees for exceeding limits: You also may need to pay extra for exceeding limited options, like API calls and workflow allotments. However, this is generally only for high-level enterprise users.
• Setup fees: Some providers charge setup and implementation fees. For example, HubSpot charges a $3,000 professional onboarding fee for its Marketing Hub Professional package.

How to choose CRM software

To find the right CRM software for your business, follow these steps.

Decide on the most valuable CRM features for your business.

Before you research CRM vendors, consider precisely what you want your CRM to do. Isolate areas of your business where you could improve, and determine what your company needs to perform to your standards.

If you’re clear on what you want from the get-go, you’ll improve your chances of finding the right solution and not overpaying for features you don’t need.

Set a budget, evaluate options and make a CRM software short list.

Even a small-business CRM system can incur thousands of dollars in monthly fees. Set a budget and stick with it so costs don’t spiral out of control. 

Next, build a short list of potential CRM suppliers. The ones in this guide are a great starting point. You also may benefit from visiting the websites of trade associations and membership organizations related to your industry. These resources will likely offer advice and list special offers on CRM solutions.

You can also survey colleagues, suppliers and customers to learn about their CRM systems.

Contact CRM vendors for free demos and trials.

Contact the CRM vendors on your short list. Many offer free trials of 14 to 30 days. If they don’t, they’ll almost certainly offer a free demonstration. 

Here are a few tips for this stage: 

• Tell the vendor your budget. When you contact the vendor, explain what you need the system to do, and share your monthly or annual budget. 
• Test-drive the CRM. During your free trial, upload some data to the platform, and determine how easy it is to use features such as contact management tools. Test all of the core CRM features you’d want in your system to see how well the software functions. 
• Contact customer support. During your trial, contact customer service. Ask the representative to explain how to customize a specific function. You’ll be able to test how quick and responsive the platform’s support teams are.
• Ensure you get a thorough demo. If you’re only offered a free demo, ask the rep to walk you through all of the sales, marketing and service tools you’ll need. For example, ask them to demonstrate how to use the platform’s marketing automation features to run an email marketing campaign or show you how the software handles the sales process from start to finish.
• Involve your team in evaluations. Involve other members of your team when you’re testing CRM software, particularly if they’ll be the ones using the system after it’s rolled out.

Get quotes for the most promising CRM systems.

Request quotes from the vendors whose platforms impressed you the most. Although most CRM providers have set pricing based on user numbers and features, many have some flexibility, particularly if they’re competing with other vendors for your business.

If you already have CRM software and are thinking about switching to a new one, you can also use this process to try reducing the fees you’re paying your current supplier.

Read online reviews of your CRM finalists.

Before making your final decision, check out online user reviews of the CRM platforms you’re considering. 

User reviews will give you an idea of how the system performs in the real world and how responsive support teams are when issues arise. If you can find reviews from companies in the same industry as you, they’ll be even more relevant. It may be worthwhile to go with a more expensive option if the solution’s customers are pleased with its responsiveness and uptime. 

Methodology

When evaluating CRM platforms to find the best options, I examined their marketing campaign functions to rate how well they generated leads and improved sales. I also looked at how well they enriched customer and prospect data, as well as their workflow automation capabilities and their after-sales support. From 65 prospects, I researched 25 in depth and selected the 10 on this page as best-in-class. I assigned best use cases to each vendor based on various factors, including customizability, workflow automations, data enrichment, AI enhancements, reporting, analytics, on-platform features and third-party integrations.

CRM software FAQs

Examples of CRM software include HubSpot, Salesforce, Zendesk, monday Sales CRM and Pipedrive.

What are the three types of CRM?

The three types of CRM systems are operational, collaborative and analytical. Operational CRM software focuses on streamlining a business’s operations and customer interactions. They focus mainly on a company’s sales, marketing and service departments. Collaborative CRM systems are designed to improve communication and collaboration among people within a business, its customers and other partners. Analytical CRM systems analyze customer data and interactions to provide insights that inform business decisions and strategies. Modern CRM software has elements of all three system types.

Which CRM is the easiest to use?

CRM systems vary in complexity. However, reviewers and users consider HubSpot, monday, Zendesk, Zoho and Insightly to be highly usable CRMs.

Is Salesforce a CRM?

Yes, Salesforce is a CRM that launched in the 1990s and has become one of the most popular customer relationship management software packages, with 150,000 users.

What is the number one CRM in the world?

Although there’s much competition in the market, many analysts consider Salesforce the number one CRM in the world based on the number of users and applications available for the platform.

Personal Finance

Best personal finance management software in 2024.

Our evaluations and opinions are not influenced by our advertising relationships, but we may earn a commission from our partners’ links. This content is created independently from TIME’s editorial staff. Learn more about it.

There are dozens of apps designed to help you budget smarter, track your spending, set financial goals, and keep an eye on your investments. Some are free while others charge a monthly fee, which could be worth it if you can save more money or pay off debt faster.

We narrowed down the field of personal finance software to a handful of standout apps that offer brilliant financial insights, simple user interfaces, a host of useful features, and, above all, help you hit your financial goals. Here are the best personal finance management software options available today.

Best personal finance management software compared

Our recommendations, best for investment tracking: empower personal dashboard.

Why we recommend it: Empower Personal Dashboard (formerly Personal Capital) is a free investment-tracking app that offers retirement-planning tools and investment insights. You can create a retirement plan, track your progress, and compare your investments to market benchmarks to see how your portfolio is performing. There’s also a built-in budgeting feature to help track your day-to-day spending habits.

Empower allows you to connect your financial accounts and it will automatically import your account balances, transactions, and other financial data. One of the most powerful tools that Empower offers is the Retirement Fee Analyzer, which shows your current investment fees and how much they will cost over time. Overall, Empower is a well-designed free app that simplifies investment tracking for everyday investors.

• Built-in retirement planning tools.
• Investment fee analysis.
• Financial-planning services available.
• May receive a solicitation call selling Empower wealth management service after linking accounts.
• Wealth-management fees are higher than the competition.
• Very limited budgeting features.

Best for daily budgeting: You Need a Budget (YNAB)

Why we recommend it: You Need a Budget (YNAB) is a comprehensive budgeting app that offers detailed tracking and spending insights to help you stay on top of your finances. YNAB has a unique approach to budgeting—you can only budget for money you actually have in your account. The app requires that you give every dollar a job. If you overspend in one budget category you’ll be forced to pull the money from another category.

While there’s a bit of a learning curve to get started, YNAB is hands-down the best app for daily budgeting and staying on top of every transaction. Its accountability features help prevent overspending and encourage you to take your daily spending habits seriously. YNAB is available as a desktop or mobile app—and even on the Apple Watch. It isn’t cheap, though. You’ll be charged $14.99 per month or $99 if you pay for a 12-month subscription up front.

• Powerful budgeting features.
• Tracks transactions automatically.
• Detailed spending reports.
• Can share your budget with others.
• High monthly cost (compared to other apps).
• Steep learning curve.
• Limited investment tracking.

Best for business and personal finances: Quicken Business & Personal

Why we recommend it: Quicken is a time-tested personal finance management software that lets you track both personal and business finances. You can budget, track, and get reports on your personal finances. If you have a small business or own rental property, you can get reports on your business's finances and tax situation, too.

Quicken offers a comprehensive desktop app for both Windows and Mac computers as well as a companion mobile app for iOS and Android devices. However, some features are only available on the Windows application, so Quicken is best for Windows users. There are several versions of Quicken. The Business & Personal version currently costs $5.50 per month.

• Tracks both business and personal finances in one app.
• Available on desktop and mobile devices.
• Povides tax reports, profit-and-loss statements, and other business reports.
• Low monthly fee.
• Not all features are available on mobile or Mac devices.
• May be overwhelming for beginners.

Best for saving money: Simplifi

Why we recommend it: Simplifi is a budgeting app by Quicken that offers (unironically) simple budgeting tools and goals features to help users save more money. Simplifi connects to user financial accounts, tracks spending automatically, and gives real-time alerts for your budget and spending. And the app has built-in savings goals, allowing you to track saving toward future goals, such as a vacation, a house down payment, or holiday gifts.

Simplifi doesn’t offer all the bells and whistles of Quicken—but it’s designed that way on purpose. Beginners can quickly set up a budget and connect accounts to start tracking spending right away without the complicated setup procedures of other budgeting apps. Simplifi is inexpensive, too. It costs $2 per month, which is billed annually.

• Simple user interface.
• Built-in goal-tracking features.
• Low fee ($24 per year).
• No monthly payment option.
• Limited investment tracking features.

Best for bill tracking: Rocket Money

Why we recommend it: Rocket Money (formerly TrueBill) is a budgeting and bill-tracking app that allows you to connect your financial accounts. One of its best features is automatically flagging any recurring payments. This helps users find unused subscriptions and other recurring charges quickly—Rocket Money can even cancel unused services for you.

Rocket Money lets you see spending reports, establish budget categories, and set up spending alerts. You can only use the budgeting features on the mobile app, though, and some of the best services come at a cost. Rocket Money has a free plan. However, if you want to add more budgeting categories and premium features, you’ll need to pay anywhere from $6 to $12 per month.

• Free version of app available.
• Finds recurring subscriptions automatically.
• Bill negotiation and cancellation services available.
• Free app very limited.
• Bill-negotiation services cost extra.

Best for payments: CashApp

Why we recommend it: CashApp is a premier peer-to-peer (P2P) payment app that offers more than just paying your friends back for drinks. It is a fully-fledged payment and investing app offering P2P payments, brokerage accounts, and even the ability to invest in crypto. CashApp is also really simple to use—you just have to provide a phone number (or email address) and your debit card number to get started.

CashApp makes it very easy to make payments by assigning everyone a $cashtag ID that you can send money directly to. Sending money is always free, though you may be charged to cash out funds faster. There are spending limits for unverified accounts—you can only send or receive up to $1,000 within a 30-day period. Once the account is verified, these limits are lifted. CashApp is available on supported iOS and Android devices.

• Sending money is free
• Built-in stock and crypto investing
• Simple account setup
• Low account limits for unverified accounts
• Charges a fee for instant transfers

Best for credit-score monitoring: MyFico

Why we recommend it: MyFico is a credit monitoring app and tool that allows you track your credit score from the three major credit bureaus. The MyFico app presents your credit score in an easy-to-understand format, showing your credit-score history and items affecting your credit report. It also offers identity-theft protection, monitoring, and insurance to protect yourself from fraud.

Another service offered is receiving alerts when something changes on your credit report. This allows you to quickly address any negative items on your report and helps you protect your score. MyFico has a free version of the app that only tracks your score through one credit bureau. You’ll need to upgrade to a paid version for access to all three bureau scores as well as identity-theft protection. Plans start at $29.95 per month.

• Free plan available.
• Tracks credit score (and reports) from three major credit bureaus.
• Identity-theft protection available.
• Complete credit score monitoring is expensive.
• Credit-report alerts are not in real-time.

Best for buy now, pay later tracking: Cushion ai

Why we recommend it: If you’ve ever used a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service, you know that tracking the payments can be difficult. But what you might not know is that BNPL services aren’t reported to credit bureaus and don’t improve your credit score. Cushion ai solves both issues by combining all of your BNPL purchases into a single account and reporting payments to the three major credit bureaus to boost your credit score.

Cushion ai offers a virtual credit card that you can use for all of your BNPL purchases. The app then lets you track your purchases and payment plans all in one place—and automatically pays them off on schedule. There are two plans for Cushion ai—Builder and Pro. The Builder plan is only $4.99 per month and works with BNPL plans, whereas the Pro plan is $12.99 per month and works with all types of subscriptions, bills, and other recurring expenses. The Pro plan will also soon let you track your credit score and split bills.

• Consolidates BNPL purchases.
• Tracks BNPL payment plans and schedules.
• Reports BNPL purchases to credit bureaus.
• Pro plan is expensive.
• Required to use Cushion ai virtual card.
• Limited budgeting features.

Methodology

We reviewed more than two dozen personal finance management software options across multiple categories, including budgeting, investing, payment apps, and credit-score monitoring. The goal was to find the best paid and free apps for various money-management needs. In addition to looking at which services the software offers, we considered online reviews from users, fees, and security.

Each app represents a standout example in its respective category, giving users access to a wide range of features that help accomplish specific financial objectives. The top apps also automatically important transactions in real-time and offer comprehensive reports for users.

More about the best personal finance management software

What is personal finance management software.

Personal finance management software includes desktop and mobile apps that offer budgeting, account tracking, financial reports, banking, payments, and other financial tools. More and more financial companies offer mobile device support and online access. Personal finance management software helps users aggregate these accounts and access everything in one place.

Types of personal finance management software

There are various types of personal finance management software, including:

Budgeting apps . There are dozens of budgeting apps to choose from with a wide range of features available. From basic expense tracking to detailed budget and goal-planning, budgeting apps can help you keep an eye on your spending habits and balances across multiple accounts. And the best budgeting apps offer detailed reports to help you track your financial progress.

Investment-tracking apps . Investment-tracking apps help you keep an eye on your investment accounts, track your net worth, and analyze your investment portfolio. You can connect retirement and brokerage accounts—and even track crypto investing by connecting to major crypto exchanges. The best investing apps can help you save on fees and plan for retirement without spending a fortune.

Payment apps . Payment apps allow you to pay your friends back or use your phone to pay for goods and services. Some even allow you to invest in stocks and crypto with low fees. The best payment apps are simple to use and don’t charge fees for making payments to family and friends.

Credit monitoring apps . Credit monitoring apps track your credit report and scores from major credit bureaus. These apps give you insights into items on your credit report and history that may be affecting your score—and help guide you toward actions that can help improve your score. The best credit monitoring apps enable you to monitor the data all three major credit bureaus hold on you.

How to set up and use personal finance management software

Most personal finance management software lets you sign up online or download a mobile app to get started. Here’s how to set up and use personal finance management software:

Sign up for an account. Often you can sign up with just an email and password, although some financial software requires setting up two-factor authentication with an app or your phone number. Once your account is verified, you can start linking accounts.

Link your financial accounts. Before you can set goals or create a budget, you’ll need to link your financial accounts. This allows you to automatically track your spending in real-time and stay on top of your expenses. If the software supports investment accounts, you can also link those to track your progress toward retirement.

Create a budget (or goals). For most finance software, you’ll set up budget categories or financial goals that you are aiming for. This helps you track your progress and track your finances in a more detailed and intentional way.

Set up alerts. Most finance apps let you set up alerts for your budget and accounts. This will let you know if you overspend or if an account balance gets too low. Alerts help you stay on track in real-time—even if you’re not logging into the app daily.

Track your progress. It’s important to log into your finance software frequently to keep an eye on your progress toward your financial goals. This will help you course-correct (if needed) and make better spending and investing decisions.

How to choose a management software for personal finance

To choose the best personal finance management software, you need to understand your financial goals and priorities, and the insights you’re seeking. There are several types of apps to choose from (budgeting, investing, payments, credit monitoring, etc.), so you’ll need to review the features you want before choosing a type.

Once you’ve made that decision, you’ll also want to see which apps in that category have the features best suited to your preferences. Compare costs as well, of course, to ensure you’re getting the best deal.

Key considerations when choosing a personal finance management software

Before downloading a popular finance app and signing up for an account, here are a few things to consider:

How much does it cost?

While some personal finance software is free, many come with a monthly or annual cost. The more expensive software may be worth it to some, but a higher cost doesn’t always result in a better service. Compare app features and costs before choosing which one to use.

What are your goals?

Before you can choose the right finance software,you need to review your financial goals. Are you looking to save more money or pay off debt? Or maybe you want to track your investments a bit closer or need help improving your credit score? The answers to these questions will help guide you toward the right finance software for your goals.

Budgeting or investment tracking

Most finance software has budgeting or expense-tracking components, but some budgeting apps are far superior to others. If you’re looking for budgeting features, it’s a good idea to stick to apps that are solely designed to help people stick to a budget.

If your priority is investing, you may be fine with simple expense tracking and budgeting features but prefer detailed investment analysis. Choosing software that specializes in investment features may be a better fit than a budgeting app that happens to track your investment accounts.

Pros and cons of personal finance management software

• See all your financial accounts in one place.
• Easily create a budget.
• Track your spending automatically.
• Gain insights with financial reporting.
• Track investment performance.
• Obtainable for free or at a low monthly cost.
• Some apps offer limited mobile app support.
• Can take time and effort to learn the software.
• Some apps require paying a year upfront.
• May have issues linking to your financial accounts.
• May not categorize transactions properly.

Alternatives to personal finance management software

While personal finance management software can help you keep an eye on your spending and track your overall financial progress, it may not help you achieve all your financial goals. Here are a few alternatives routes to consider:

Hiring a financial advisor

While apps are great, sometimes you need to talk to a professional. A licensed financial advisor can help you put the financial puzzle pieces together with a comprehensive financial plan. A financial planner can help you plan for retirement, taxes, and your future generations. Just be aware of fees and costs associated with hiring a planner. These costs can add up over time. Make sure to review and compare the best financial advisors for your needs.

A pen and paper

No, really. A pen and paper can help you quickly put together a simple spending plan and give you a starting point for your budget. Sometimes getting everything on paper can clarify your financial situation and enable you to start making better financial decisions.

TIME Stamp: Get better with money with the best personal finance software

Personal finance software has come a long way from the days of complicated spreadsheets. Now you can automate your budget, set up alerts, set financial goals, and make smarter financial decisions with inexpensive or free apps. The best apps offer comprehensive planning features and a friction-free design to help beginners jump right in and get started.

While some free apps offer basic tracking features, most of the best personal finance software require some sort of monthly or annual payment. To find the best solution for you, consider your financial goals and needs, then compare the fees and features of the apps that best address them. Consider getting outside help, too. Even though these apps can give you a clearer picture of your finances, it may still be worth consulting a licensed financial advisor for more in-depth planning.

Frequently asked question (FAQs)

What is the best software to keep track of personal expenses.

One of the best free apps for simply tracking expenses is Empower Personal Dashboard. It automatically categorizes transactions and lets you generate spending reports. Alternatively, if you are willing to pay, YNAB is the most powerful budgeting and expense-tracking app around.

Are there any free personal finance management software options available?

Among the good free personal finance software options on the market are Empower Personal Dashboard, Rocket Money (limited version), and EveryDollar. Some of these apps have limited functionality compared to paid apps. Several of these offer free trials so you can test their financial-planning firepower, including YNAB, Rocket Money, and Monarch Money.

Is personal finance management software suitable for small business owners or freelancers?

Small business owners have several personal finance software options. The best is probably Quicken Business & Personal. With Quicken, users can track a personal budget and expenses and separately track business finances as well. Quicken Business & Personal offers tax reports, profit-and-loss statements, and other business features that most other personal finance software does not include.

Can personal finance management software be used on mobile devices?

Most personal finance software is available on most Android and iOS mobile devices. With this software, you can track your spending, get financial reports, and set up real-time alerts on your mobile device. On the other hand, some personal finance apps have limited functionality on mobile devices and require using a desktop app or website for full-featured support.

The information presented here is created independently from the TIME editorial staff. To learn more, see our About page.

SMALL BUSINESS MONTH. 50% Off for 6 Months. BUY NOW & SAVE

50% Off for 6 Months Buy Now & Save

Wow clients with professional invoices that take seconds to create

Quick and easy online, recurring, and invoice-free payment options

Automated, to accurately track time and easily log billable hours

Reports and tools to track money in and out, so you know where you stand

Easily log expenses and receipts to ensure your books are always tax-time ready

Tax time and business health reports keep you informed and tax-time ready

Automatically track your mileage and never miss a mileage deduction again

Time-saving all-in-one bookkeeping that your business can count on

Track project status and collaborate with clients and team members

Organized and professional, helping you stand out and win new clients

Set clear expectations with clients and organize your plans for each project

Client management made easy, with client info all in one place

Pay your employees and keep accurate books with Payroll software integrations

• Team Management

FreshBooks integrates with over 100 partners to help you simplify your workflows

Send invoices, track time, manage payments, and more…from anywhere.

• Freelancers
• Self-Employed Professionals
• Businesses With Employees
• Businesses With Contractors
• Marketing & Agencies
• Construction & Trades
• IT & Technology
• Business & Prof. Services
• Accounting Partner Program
• Collaborative Accounting™
• Accountant Hub
• Reports Library
• FreshBooks vs QuickBooks
• FreshBooks vs HoneyBook
• FreshBooks vs Harvest
• FreshBooks vs Wave
• FreshBooks vs Xero
• Free Invoice Generator
• Invoice Templates
• Accounting Templates
• Business Name Generator
• Estimate Templates
• Help Center
• Business Loan Calculator
• Mark Up Calculator

Call Toll Free: 1.866.303.6061

1-888-674-3175

Accounting Software Built for Business Owners and Accountants

Get 50% off for 6 months.

Try it free for 30 Days. No credit card required. Cancel anytime.

Easy-to-Use Accounting & Bookkeeping Features

Time tracking, near-instant invoicing.

Bill Clients Fast, Get Paid Faster

Keep an Eye on the Big Picture

Never Miss an Expense

Track Time to the Minute

Keep Everyone on the Same Page

Know Your Business Better

Take FreshBooks Anywhere

Invoicing and Accounting Tools Built for Any Sized Business

For Freelancers

Keep your books in check, your clients happy, and deliver the work you love doing.

For Self-Employed Professionals

Get more time for your business and clients, and even a little extra to plan for the future.

For Businesses With Contractors

Work better with your partners by staying organized and always knowing where you stand.

For Businesses With Employees

Empower your staff to help grow your business and build lasting client relationships.

Why 30+ Million People Have Used FreshBooks

“FreshBooks has really helped me to be more efficient throughout the year so that tax time…it’s less stressful”

Damona Hoffman

Owner, Dear Mrs D, Inc.

Los Angeles, US

“Accounting’s not that scary. It can be easy or easy-ish. FreshBooks definitely makes it easier for us ‘non-numbers’ people”

Carolina Ramirez Herrera

CHR Collective, Miami, US

“We’re basically saving $2000 a month. And that doesn’t include all the things that we were able to do in place of all that admin.”

Zachary Martz

Owner, zmartz Marketing, King of Prussia, USA

Los Angeles, USA

CHR Collective

Owner, zmartz Marketing,

King of Prussia, USA

“FreshBooks offers a well-rounded, intuitive, and attractive double-entry accounting experience. It anticipates the needs of freelancers and small businesses well—better than competitors in this class.”

“FreshBooks automates daily accounting activities namely invoice creation, payment acceptance, expenses tracking, billable time tracking, and financial reporting.”

FreshBooks is an online accounting and invoicing service that saves you time and makes you look professional – Fortune 500 professional.”

“FreshBooks makes it easy to stay organized, keep track of payments owed and expenses made, send invoices and accept payments.”

“FreshBooks is an online accounting and invoicing service that saves you time and makes you look professional – Fortune 500 professional.”

An AppStore for All of Your Business Needs

FreshBooks integrates with over 100 great apps to streamline work for business owners, keep teams and clients connected, and better understand your business. 

Add Value and Grow Your Business, Become a Partner

Build an integration, use our API, or grow your business with our Accounting Program. Or reap the rewards of our Affiliate and Referral programs – look no further for your next growth opportunity.

The Support You Need, When You Need It

• Help From Start to Finish : Our Support team is highly knowledgeable and never transfers you to another department.
• 4.8/5.0 Star Reviews : Yup, that’s our Support team approval rating across 120,000+ reviews
• Global Support :We’ve got over 100 Support staff working across North America and Europe

Frequently Asked Questions

During a trial, small business owners get access to all FreshBooks features except Advanced Payments (like FreshBooks invoicing, time tracking, and expensing). So you’ll know exactly why it’s the accounting software used by over 30 million business owners. That doesn’t mean your small business doesn’t get access to some online payment features, you can still craft time-saving workflows.

But, once you sign up for a FreshBooks plan, check out our Advanced Payments feature, which includes recurring billing. Advanced Payments lets your small business accept credit cards online and accept payments like bank transfers, payments over the phone, and invoice-free payments with Checkout Links.

Also, check out this article about how service-based businesses can make the most of a free 30-Day FreshBooks trial.

At the end of your free 30-day FreshBooks trial, you get to choose a plan specifically built for small business owners. But which one is right for small businesses? How do you know which accounting software features are right for your small business, to save you time and get you paid faster?

First off, you don’t need to worry about your business being interrupted when you transition from a free trial to a paid plan. FreshBooks plans are as follows:

• Lite Plan (add up to five clients)
• Plus Plan (our most popular plan)
• Premium Plan (lots of advanced features)
• Select Plan (a customizable plan for growing businesses)

All of your information stays in your account.

Want to know how much FreshBooks costs? We know every small business is different, which is why there are different plans to choose from. You can review them here . Our advice? Take a moment and take stock of:

• Where your small business is today
• Where you hope to grow your business in the next 6 months
• Your overall income and expenses
• The features you need to help your business accomplish all its goals
• Do you need business health reports?
• Do you need mobile mileage tracking?

Read this article for even more information to help you choose the right FreshBooks plan for your business: Wondering Which FreshBooks Plan Will Be Right For You?

Accounting software is a tool that allows you to track and manage the day-to-day finances of your businesses. It should allow you to create professional invoices, manage expense tracking, run double-entry accounting reports, accept online payments, and monitor all parts of your business’s money – both in and out.

FreshBooks accounting software allows you to do all of this – and more. It includes invoicing features, expense tracking, time tracking, online payments, industry-standard double-entry accounting, balance sheets, mileage tracking, project profitability, bank reconciliation, client retainers, and the list goes on. It’s the reason we’re one of those most popular small business invoicing software – having been used by over 30 million people worldwide.

All features are built to be easy to use for small business owners and their teams, clients, and accountants. Plus, as a cloud accounting software – your data is stored and ready to be accessed wherever you are in the world.

Learn more about our accounting features here.

FreshBooks accounting software gives you instant access to the tools you need to manage your finances. It’s perfect for everyone from self-employed professionals to growing business owners.

All you have to do is sign up for a FreshBooks account, add your business details, and you’re ready to go. From the FreshBooks dashboard, you can explore the invoicing features, add billable clients, choose to accept credit card payments with FreshBooks payments, run accounting reports, discover the project management tools, and a whole lot more.

Plus, if you prefer to manage your business on the go with a mobile device, you can download the FreshBooks mobile app – and handle your accounting from anywhere.

FreshBooks works in any web browser on all your devices (desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or phone). There’s also a FreshBooks mobile app for both iPhone and Android, which includes mileage tracking.

Do much more than just bill clients. Small businesses can run their business, create invoices, set up recurring invoices, log expenses, track financial data,  get paid online, track revenue streams, connect bank accounts, and easily create new customers in their account…all on the mobile app.

Learn more about FreshBooks on mobile here.

FreshBooks offers small businesses amazing support. Our customer support team has won 11 Stevie Awards, which are international awards given out to the absolute best customer support department in the world. While we all think our support team is the best, they have the hardware to prove it. 

Get in touch with customer support here .

We also have a massive help center that has answers to just about every question we’ve ever been asked by our customers. Check it out here.

Invite up to 10 Accountants per business at no extra cost, on Plus and Premium plans . If your Accountant wants to learn more and familiarize themselves with FreshBooks’ accounting features, they can sign up for the Accounting Partner Program to become a FreshBooks certified partner, which comes with a bunch of cool benefits. If you don’t have an Accountant yet, reach out to us and we can help you get matched with one of our partners based on your geographical location, industry, and your accounting needs.

If you’re not sure about things like accounts receivable, general ledger, balance sheets, or doing your business taxes, not to worry. Getting your accountant on board and working with you in FreshBooks can be done in just a few clicks.

Learn more about working effectively with your accountant on FreshBooks in this great article.

Yes! It’s called Easy Switch, and you can chat with a specialist to learn about your options today.

WHY BUSINESS OWNERS LOVE FRESHBOOKS

SAVE UP TO 553 HOURS EACH YEAR BY USING FRESHBOOKS

SAVE UP TO $7000 IN BILLABLE HOURS EVERY YEAR

BUSINESSES IN OVER 160 COUNTRIES HAVE USED FRESHBOOKS

👋 Welcome to FreshBooks

To see our product designed specifically for your country, please visit the United States site.

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?

ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.

When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.

ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form .

The best web hosting services: Expert tested

If you want to build a website, there are dozens of web hosting providers available. Choosing the right web hosting service for you can be challenging, but you no longer need to be a programmer or pay someone to build advanced features such as e-commerce or forum management to launch a site.

Today many web providers will provide these functions, as well as a content management system and other features like SEO assistance and security checks, in standard subscription packages. Below, you will find our top recommendations for web hosting services, ranging from providers that give you a quick and easy way to build your website all the way up to the big companies that provide full data center infrastructure capabilities as a service.

Also:   The best VPNs

What is the best web hosting service right now?

ZDNET has conducted extensive research and hands-on testing with many of the top web hosting services. Our pick for the best web hosting service overall is Hostinger . Hostinger offers inexpensive plans starting at only $2.99/month suitable for most website owners. Its premium plan has everything you need: a website builder, WordPress integration, templates, emails, SEO, marketing help, and more. Read on for the rest of our picks for the best web hosting services.

Best web hosting services of 2024

Best web hosting service overall.

• Inexpensive
• One-click WordPress install
• Enhanced security limited to more expensive plans
• Prices jump on renewal

Hostinger's premium plan ($2.99/month, three months free) is excellent value for the money if you want to operate multiple websites for personal or business reasons under one account.

The premium plan supports up to 100 websites. It offers users 100GB storage, up to 100 email addresses and forwarders, free SSL website security, and unlimited bandwidth, and a free domain name. 

While there's no dedicated IP address, this won't bother most website owners. Furthermore, you'll be given basic e-commerce capabilities and one-click WordPress installation and migration. The same WordPress installation can be used to support multiple WordPress websites. 

Review:   Hostinger review: Good support, killer entry-level price web hosting

If you need a theme, Hostinger also provides a drag-and-drop website builder and 150 templates. The plan includes Google Analytics integration, SEO tools, and standard DDoS protection. 

Overall, we consider Hostinger's premium plan an excellent option for most website owners and small businesses. Business options begin at $2.99/month with three months added, for free.

A downside, however, is that you can only access more advanced features -- such as daily backups and increased performance -- with more expensive subscriptions. In addition, while many customers applaud Hostinger's customer service, there are reports of bounceback and slow loads by some clients operating multiple websites.

There is a limited, free plan available, with 300MB storage but no free domain or email.

Hostinger features:  cPanel : Yes |  SSL : Some plans |  SSH : Yes |  Backups : Yes |  Money-back guarantee : 30 days |  Support : 24/7, live chat support

Best web hosting service for professionals

• Over three-month money-back guarantee
• Many hosting options
• Email an additional cost

DreamHost's easy-to-use interface, efficiency, and customer support stand out to business owners and new webmasters alike. The hosting provider offers WordPress hosting, shared hosting, virtual private servers, dedicated servers, cloud hosting, and more. 

We particularly like that DreamHost offers G Suite integration, with domain integration and Google Cloud support. The company also provides a great set of resources and guides that can help customers grow their businesses, all in a cost-effective way. A free SSL certificate is available on all plans. 

Review:   DreamHost review: I'm a satisfied 15-year customer

Nick Farnborough, the co-founder of  Clavis Social , told ZDNET that he has "tried almost every host out there over the years and ultimately found DreamHost to be the best overall package, taking into account cost, performance, and ease of use." 

Customers online, too, have applauded the customer support and value for money of this web host, although some also note that reaching customer support teams can be challenging. Prices begin at $2.95 per month for a basic, shared plan, with email available for an additional monthly fee.

DreamHost features :  cPanel : No, proprietary panel |  SSL : Free |  SSH : Yes |  Backups : Yes |  Money-back guarantee : 97 days |  Support : 24/7 chat, ticket, and call-back

Best budget web hosting service

• Affordable plans
• Paid plans can become expensive following promotion time periods

Ionos is one of our top picks for affordable, long-term web hosting. The web hosting provider offers reliable, stable uptime with daily backups included on all plans. Free wildcard SSL certificates, email, a free domain, and 24/7 support are also included. 

Customers report great customer service and uptime, as well as easy setup and web hosting transitions. 

Basic plans supporting one website and with 10 databases, alongside 10GB storage space, are typically $6/month, but with the agreement of a three-year plan, will cost you $4/month. A free domain name for one year is included. 

The top deal at the moment is for Ionos Plus, a website hosting package suitable for larger, scalable projects and WordPress. On a three-year plan, you will only pay $6/month and you can operate unlimited websites with unlimited databases and storage. You will also receive a wildcard SSL certificate.

Ionos f eatures:  cPanel : Yes |  SSL : Yes, wildcard |  SSH : Yes |  Backups : Daily |  Money-back guarantee : 30 days |  Support : 24/7

Best web hosting service for the environmentally-conscious

• Reasonably priced
• Eco-friendly
• On-demand backups limited to premium plans

GreenGeeks is a great web hosting option if you want to sign up for a sustainable, eco-conscious service.

GreenGeeks has developed its marketing around the concept of being environmentally friendly, with three times the power your hosting demands replaced with wind power credits and tree planting. 

It's not just the environmental factor, however -- GreenGeeks prides itself on a speedy, reliable service. Although the company's own website could use some modernization and an overhaul, the important part is the hosting, which includes standard hosting, WordPress installs, commerce, VPS, and dedicated tiers. 

You can expect to pay $2.95/month for basic plans, with options to upscale and grow over time. The basic web hosting plan only covers one website with 50GB storage, but once you move up a level, you can expect support for unlimited websites, managed WordPress installs, unlimited space, a free SSL certificate, and more. 

Customers applaud GreenGeek customer service, although there are reports of "hidden" fees related to specific products.

GreenGeeks f eatures:  cPanel : Yes |  SSL : Free |  SSH : Yes |  Backups : Varies by plan |  Money-back guarantee : 30 days |  Support : Depends on plan

Best web hosting service for GoDaddy domain customers

• Free, unlimited SSL for all websites on the Deluxe plan and up
• Tutorials online to help guide your website-creating process
• Large payment down to start hosting

GoDaddy has made a business of offering as wide an array of services as possible for individuals and small businesses in need of an internet presence. It's widely known, and many customers enjoy the service.

Pricing begins at $5.99/month for one website. With specific plans, you may be eligible for a free domain name and SSL certificate. Regarding security, automatic WordPress updates are applied and malware scanning services are available. Each plan comes with a one-click WordPress installation, a cPanel, and daily backups. 

Review:   GoDaddy: A no muss, no fuss website-building service

Customer service is reasonable, and, although not 24/7, if you need a technical lead to get something accomplished, you can usually find someone with a clue (after jumping through a few hoops, of course). However, the refund policy is restrictive and I would say the host's website is cluttered, making it difficult to find exactly what service you need -- and for what price.

ZDNET author David Gewirtz has decades of experience with GoDaddy, and he has come to respect how this web host provides the key services most customers want. They're definitely not the best at anything, but they do a good job with almost everything. 

"GoDaddy, in my opinion, is the best web host," Gerrid Smith, director of E-commerce of  Joy Organics , told ZDNET. "They promise a minimum of 99.9% availability. To prevent malicious activities and repel DDoS attacks, their security team works around the clock."

GoDaddy f eatures:  cPanel : Some plans |  SSL : Some plans |  SSH : Some plans |  Backups : Some plans |  Money-back guarantee : 30 days for annual plans, 48 hours for monthly plans |  Support : 24/7/365 US-based ticket and phone

Best web hosting service for simple e-commerce

• Lots of templates to choose from for beginner web designers
• Simple interface
• Website apps available with Wix support
• Monthly plans are expensive
• Can't switch templates, must start from scratch

If you've ever watched a YouTube video, you've seen a Wix ad. They are everywhere. With six million premium subscribers, they've got some momentum -- and are certainly capable of grabbing attention.

When selecting a website builder, why would you go with Wix over WordPress? The answer is simplicity. WordPress offers tremendous depth and customization options with plugins and widgets, but Wix quickly gets you up and running with an attractive site. 

There is nothing like the thousands of plugins and themes offered by WordPress in the Wix world, but if you want a well-designed site and you need an e-commerce solution, this is a great option. 

I selected this provider when I assisted someone in setting up a small online business, and the learning curve was easy, with no payment or downtime issues. However, for someone used to CMS backends, the more restrictive website builder can be somewhat frustrating.

Free versions, however, do contain Wix banners. You can start there, and if you like the system, convert to a paid plan and link up your chosen domain name. Plans begin at $17/month with a free domain name thrown in.

Wix f eatures:  cPanel : No |  SSL : Free |  SSH : No |  Backups : Site history |  Money-back guarantee : 14 days |  Support : 24/7 English call-back

What is the best web hosting service overall?

Hostinger is ZDNET's top choice because it offers excellent features at outstanding price points, with a large selection of tools to make the process easy, even for beginner webmasters. Hostinger offers plans starting at only $2.99/month suitable for most website owners. Its premium plan has everything you need: a website builder, WordPress integration, templates, emails, SEO, marketing help, and more. However, our other top picks are also worthy competitors.

Which web hosting service is right for you?

To help make the process of selecting your new web hosting provider simpler, here is a guide to making your decision less of a hassle, based on what is most important to you. 

Factors to consider when choosing a web hosting service

When selecting your new web hosting provider in 2024, there are some crucial factors you should consider:

• Reliability : We always recommend you choose a web hosting provider with a long history of stable, reliable service. After all, your website could end up being the central hub of your business for promotion and customer communication, so constant downtime can harm your reputation.
• Affordability : Your budget must be based on the purpose of your web hosting package. Whether you want a single, small slice of hosting real estate for a personal blog or you want to run a large e-commerce store, it will change how much you should expect to pay. Set a budget that you can easily afford and find the right provider to match you.
• Scalability : You need to consider what the most important functions or uses of your website will be. If you expect to grow your business over time and you expect heavy traffic, you will need to be able to scale the hosting's capabilities over time. Choose a provider with upgrade options. 
• Customer support : We find that customer support can be extremely important when you sign up for a web hosting service. Regardless of whether you are a beginner or you want to run a plethora of websites, you should choose a provider with customer support options.

How did we choose these web hosting services?

When we compiled this list, we began with web hosts ZDNET authors are personally familiar with. ZDNET does extensive testing on and research into web hosting providers, taking into consideration user reviews, competitor analysis, personal usage and experiences, and more.

Some of us have been running production websites for decades, with sites that have served millions of pages. Others have used web hosts for personal blogs, writing projects, and to help individuals launch small businesses. 

We chose these providers because we believe they offer some of the best services in the market. These are the main factors we considered:

• Features offered : Deciding on the best web hosting provider for you requires you to consider what features are a priority. We've included options for CMS implementation, e-commerce, design services, SEO services, cybersecurity functions, and more. 
• Price : Naturally, the price point is a very important factor when we choose our web hosting provider recommendations. We have included options suitable for varying budgets, all the way from personal blogs to small businesses and large enterprise setups that will need to scale.
• Stability : We have included only reputable web hosting providers that provide stable services with minimal downtime. After all, there's no point in having a speedy, responsive website if downtime is a constant problem.
• Customer experiences : If you are going to sign up for a long-term web hosting service, you need to know how the company treats and supports its customers. We have examined customer reviews and feedback.

Which web host is best for beginners?

Wix and Squarespace are the two web hosts we would recommend for beginners. With an abundance of creative templates between the two platforms, users can gain experience in web development with an attractive site. If you have experience with CMS platforms, you could look at WordPress.com.

Can you get web hosting for free?

Yes. There are many sites that allow for free hosting, but to do so, you will have a generic, branded domain. For example, if you were to have a free WordPress website, your domain would be [yourwebsitename].wordpress.com. 

Be careful, though. Many of the free offers end after a period of time and then you're stuck on a service that will likely charge you a considerable additional fee to keep using it. Or, the website host may allow you to have a free website on the condition that you allow adverts to be displayed.

Who is the largest web hosting company?

GoDaddy is one of the most popular web hosting service providers. Then, of course, there are the hosting plans from Amazon and Google, which are larger (in terms of revenue) than some countries.

What are the best WordPress hosting services?

We might as well get WordPress out of the way since if we're talking web hosts, we're going to talk WordPress. About  63% of websites  with content management systems use  the open-source WordPress CMS . 

The WordPress ecosystem is huge, and finding the right WordPress host is a challenge on its own. Beyond WordPress.com, the service offered by the creators of the CMS, there are a large number of managed hosting providers and an even larger number of hosting providers that specialize in providing a WordPress-optimized server for your website. Nearly every hosting provider will allow a WordPress install, considering its popularity.

What are the best Infrastructure-as-a-Service providers?

Our recommendations include IaaS providers you probably know intimately, such as Amazon. They are highly credible vendors who've been providing infrastructure for years.

If you're just starting, you might not want to go all-in with an IaaS provider, although they offer the most flexibility. Some, like Amazon and Digital Ocean, allow you to point-and-click configure virtual WordPress machines or almost any other open-source content management system you may want. It might be overkill for SMBs, though.

What are the best point-and-click website builders?

A website builder is a type of software that lets you craft your business website, generally without programming knowledge or experience. Many allow you to choose from templates and then modify those templates to suit your look and layout.

Nearly all web hosting providers include some kind of website-building software. But for most hosting plans, it's often an afterthought. By contrast, the website builders listed in this section are provided by web hosting services that have made point-and-click website building tools with excellent customer support and solid up-time a core priority in their offering. 

You do sacrifice some control when choosing a website builder solution, but if you've never done any web development and you want a beautiful, usable website quickly, these services are for you. One warning: There are a lot of lock-ins here. You won't be able to transfer the look of your site (and sometimes the content) to another hosting provider easily. So keep that in mind when you choose a website builder. 

Are there alternative web hosting services to consider?

There are countless web hosting providers out there and not all of them can make the list regarding our top recommendations, despite offering excellent service. Below, you will find other hosts to consider that may be more suitable for your requirements:

ZDNET Recommends

The best business internet service providers, the best vpn services of 2024: expert tested, the best external hard drives you can buy: expert tested.

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Free Cyber Services #protect2024 Secure Our World Shields Up Report A Cyber Issue

Categorically Unsafe Software

By: Senior Technical Advisors Bob Lord and Jack Cable, Senior Advisor Lauren Zabierek

In many of our writings about the secure by design initiative, we use phrases like “classes of coding error”, “classes of vulnerability”, or “categories of defect”. You may wonder why we place so much emphasis on grouping defects together rather than focusing on individual ones. In fact, we’ve had many people ask us why we urge software manufacturers to eliminate entire classes of defect like cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection (SQLi) , directory traversal , and memory unsafety, as called for in our Secure by Design Pledge . To illustrate how focusing on quality and eliminating groups of errors improves security, we offer our current thinking. 

From patterns to progress

Copying successful industries . While it might seem like a novel concept to making software more secure, root cause analysis and mitigation of repeated classes of defect is the norm in industries that have significantly higher levels of quality and safety. In the aviation industry, experts analyze safety-related incidents to understand not just the proximate causes of the problem, but the multiple contributing factors, thereby allowing them to make recommendations to change pilot, crew, and air traffic controller training, plane maintenance, and cockpit and aircraft design, among others. 

Recognizing patterns . To improve product quality and security at scale, we need to spot patterns of recurring defect so that we can move from addressing each defect one at a time to eliminating them from the start. What kinds of coding errors do developers repeatedly make at any given software manufacturer, or across the industry? When we group negative outcomes into classes, we can start to engage in systems thinking to understand the real root causes and potential remedies. Moreover, this helps us to better predict how these product defects will be exploited by malicious actors, thereby giving defenders a leg up when leveraging limited resources.

Analyzing trends over time . Pattern detection is just the first step. We also need to understand how those patterns change over time. Are classes of defect increasing or decreasing over time for any given software product, or across the entire industry? By looking at trends, we can start to see which software companies are making progress and which need to initiate a quality improvement program. 

Generalizing remedies . By thinking about classes of defect, we can think beyond the symptom of the problem, and start to reason more about ways to generalize remedies. This line of thinking also serves to shift the responsibility of security from the least capable to the most equipped. Instead of software developers asking, “How can I fix this one defect?” they can ask “How can I prevent all similar defects?” Rather than fixing one SQL injection (SQLi) defect, why not eliminate them entirely, as some companies appear to have done? 

Remediation scale . Some classes of coding error can be eliminated with relatively low effort, while some may require significant effort. Until we learn how widespread various classes of defect are, we won’t be able to distinguish between classes of defect that companies should eliminate on their own, and those that require a coordinated effort by the larger software ecosystem.

Shift left . In the context of software development, people use the phrase “shift left” to mean conducting certain activities earlier in the software development lifecycle (SDLC). Part of the idea is that preventing coding mistakes is cheaper than catching and fixing them later in the timeline. The phrases “shift left” and “eliminating classes of vulnerability” are different sides of the same coin. If you truly align your product security program to prevent defects as early in the development cycle as possible, meaning that you are shifting security left on a timeline, you must contemplate ways to eliminate entire classes of coding error.

Developer ecosystems . Google’s March 2024 whitepaper titled “ Secure by Design at Google ” includes this important observation: “The security posture of software products and services is an emergent property  of the developer ecosystem in which they are designed, implemented and deployed”. They further write that “careful design of developer ecosystems can drastically lower the incidence of certain kinds of defects, and in some cases practically eliminate them”. The idea is that repeated types of software defects are not the fault of the individual software developer. That means that “developer training” might not be the best remedy. Instead, they argue, those repeat offender defects are an emergent property of the tools and practices that the company has given their coders. Some tools make it nearly impossible for the developer to avoid coding errors. As one example, see the prevalence of memory safety defects in languages like C/C++ compared to others like Swift, C#, Java, Rust, Python, JavaScript, Go, and Ruby. 

Reducing costs to software manufacturers . Software defects can be reported at random times. Pulling software developers off other tasks to address software defects can be expensive and disruptive to project schedules. As any business looks to save where it can, it is useful to examine the costs of insecurity to the company. To instead achieve economies of scale, companies should invest in the tools and resources needed to prevent the introduction of entire classes of defect and achieve secure outcomes like secure developer ecosystems.

Reducing costs to the customers . Applying software updates is not a trivial matter in businesses, small or large – not to mention the costs of an intrusion. We now know that security will not be achieved by simply “patching harder.” Therefore, reducing the number of critical security fixes can reduce the load on IT professionals, and improve customer security.

Increasing costs to the threat actors . When we eliminate entire classes of defect, we make it harder for threat actors to exploit simple vulnerabilities. That raises their cost to conduct malicious cyber activity. If product teams eliminate enough of the classic defects, they may price some threat actors out of the market. 

Aren’t we doing that already?

Some software companies are already working to eliminate classes of coding error. Some have even accomplished that goal for the most common classes. But there is evidence that the industry as a whole is not making sufficient progress. In fact, many top software products fail to protect their customers from exploitation of the most common classes of defect. We read in the news about these common defects causing significant damage to companies and government agencies.

Let’s compare two documents, MITRE’s 2007 paper titled, “ Unforgivable Vulnerabilities ”, and their 2023 analysis of “ Stubborn Weaknesses ”. It would be a reasonable hope that the classes of defect from 2007 would have been eliminated and that the 2023 report would have all new classes of defect that are more expensive to exploit. We would hope that the software industry would eliminate top classes of defect every few years because doing so would increase the cost to threat actors.

Sadly, the truth is that the software industry has made inadequate progress since 2007, the year the iPhone was introduced. Of the 13 “unforgivable vulnerabilities”, most are still present in the 2023 report in one form or another. We are still plagued by classes of defect like memory unsafety, XSS, SQL injection, directory traversal, and improper input sanitization. What’s especially noteworthy is that for most of these classes of defect, we have known of ways to prevent them at scale for years, and even decades . Some damaging and costly cyber intrusions were likely preventable.

Over the past 17+ years, many software companies have prioritized fixing software defects found in customer deployments over fixing them in their product designs, thereby putting customers at risk and leading to significant real-world harms.

The CWE/CPE challenge

The above two reports rely on the Common Vulnerability and Exposure (CVE) program, and in particular, CVE Numbering Authorities’ (CNA) commitment to provide timely, complete, and correct CVE records. Especially important to root cause analysis are the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) and Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) fields. The CWE explains the type of coding error that created the defect. The CPE provides information about product and platform naming. 

Today, some CNAs ensure CWE and CPE fields are included with all CVE records they create, but many are not as diligent. Until all CNAs and software manufacturers fully commit themselves to ensuring that their CVE records (and CWE/CPE fields) are timely, complete, and correct, we will struggle to become a data-driven industry. Incomplete or inaccurate data will keep us in the dark about the root causes of cyber intrusions and inhibit our ability to prevent them at scale. 

But we’re seeing signs of progress. Recently Microsoft announced that they would “now publish root cause data for Microsoft CVEs using the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE™) industry standard”. Their blog post is worth reading to understand their perspective. This development — and the commitment of 68 software manufacturers as part of our pledge to do the same — is exciting, and we hope all CNAs and software manufacturers follow suit. 

The next time you see a security-sensitive update for a software product, don’t focus on how the threat actors are abusing that specific coding error. Ask yourself what class of coding error it belongs to. If it belongs to one of the “unforgivable vulnerabilities” from the 2007 paper, or one of the recurring “stubborn weaknesses”, ask yourself why the software manufacturer shipped the product with that defect when systemic preventions are well-known. More importantly, ask those software companies what they are doing to eliminate that entire class of defect. As customers, we should demand that companies stop the practice of shipping defective software, and then only fixing the problems that are found in the field, often after a customer has been injured. 

The bottom line is that a secure by design software development program necessitates formal efforts to eliminate entire classes of defect before the product ships rather than playing whack-a-mole with defects that appear on customer systems in production. For the software manufacturer, a secure by design program that works to eliminate entire classes of defect is likely to be cheaper in the long run and will create a higher quality product that requires fewer emergency fixes. Such a program should be part of the company’s business strategy. For the customers, it will reduce the burden of having to apply as many urgent software updates. For our country, it will result in greater security and safety. It is the norm in other industries to perform root cause analysis and to work towards eliminating classes of defect and it is long past time for it to be the norm in the software industry.

For more information on developing software that is  secure by design , please see  CISA’s Secure by Design whitepaper . We encourage all software manufacturers to demonstrate their commitment by taking CISA’s  Secure by Design Pledge .

Related Articles

Prepared together – cyber storm ix recap, securing tomorrow: a recap of cisa’s cyber resilient 911 symposium (central region), opening statement by cisa director jen easterly at the update on foreign threats to the 2024 elections hearing.

CISA Updates Toolkit with Nine New Resources to Promote Public Safety Communications and Cyber Resiliency