Excel, classic FP&A suites or Zencount — what your team actually gets, line by line. Including the part where Excel wins.
Slick visuals and strong modeling — but seat-priced and implementation-heavy.
See comparisonStays in your spreadsheet — handy, but the spreadsheet stays the source of truth.
See comparisonPretty models and charts — strong for single plans, weaker for multi-entity groups.
See comparisonVery polished UI from the US — modern, but data leaves the EU and pricing is per seat.
See comparisonStrong metric dashboards out of the box — US-hosted, shallower on planning.
See comparisonSolid collaboration layer from the EU — but per seat and without one shared plan/actual model.
See comparison| Excel & Sheets | Classic FP&A suites | Zencount | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start & operations | |||
| Setup | Instant — but all manual | 3–9 months of implementation | One session |
| Maintaining the model | By hand, every month | Needs dedicated modellers | Mapping is remembered |
| Pricing logic | “Free” — until you debug it | Per seat, 5–6 figures / year | Per plan · ∞ users |
| Planning | |||
| Plan ≡ actuals, one model | — | Partly, per module | ✓ by design |
| Version comparison | Reconcile file copies | Re-mapping per comparison | 0 re-mapping |
| Drill to the source | Hunt manually | Down to account level | SUM(lines) == cell |
| Version safety | budget_v7_FINAL_final.xlsx | ✓ | Locked = read-only |
| Budget workflow | Email ping-pong | ✓ but heavyweight | 1 click, everyone notified |
| Intelligence & security | |||
| AI analysis with evidence | — | Add-on, priced separately | ✓ included (Growth) |
| Scenarios | Yet another file copy | A modelling project | Described in one sentence |
| Access control | File lives on laptops | Roles at app level | RLS at database level |
Planning is teamwork. With us the twelfth department head costs exactly what the first did: nothing. You pay for planning depth, never headcount.
Magic link, chart of accounts via CSV, confirm the mapping — the numbers are up the same day. No consulting project, no “go-live in Q3”.
Zencount AI reads your real model and proposes — nothing is written until a human confirms. Visible provenance: source=ai, forever.
We're not here to bury Excel — we just take off its plate the work it was never built for. The one-off analysis on a Friday afternoon? Excel. The plan four departments maintain together that has to survive the board? Zencount.
Move the sliders — see how much spreadsheet wrangling Zencount gives your team back.
Estimate: Zencount gives back about 60% of manual spreadsheet wrangling (one model, 0 re-mapping, drill to source). Your numbers will vary.
From CSV to a living plan in one session — free, no credit card.
7 days free · no credit card · or talk to sales