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LivePlan Software Review: Features, Cost, Pros & Cons

Back to Business Plans

Written by: Carolyn Young

Carolyn Young is a business writer who focuses on entrepreneurial concepts and the business formation. She has over 25 years of experience in business roles, and has authored several entrepreneurship textbooks.

Edited by: David Lepeska

David has been writing and learning about business, finance and globalization for a quarter-century, starting with a small New York consulting firm in the 1990s.

Published on September 15, 2023

When you’re starting a business , a business plan is essential whether you’re going to obtain financing or not. Creating a business plan helps you to research and analyze every aspect of your business and create a strategy for success. But for most entrepreneurs, a business plan is not easy to create from scratch without guidance. 

Many online services offer tools to help you create your business plan, but it can be hard to decide which one to choose. In this review, we’ll delve deep into the workings of LivePlan, unpacking its features, analyzing user feedback, and determining whether it’s the go-to tool for aspiring entrepreneurs and established business owners.

• Service Overview
• Our Verdict on LivePlan

LivePlan, created by Palo Alto Software, is a highly regarded cloud-based business plan software designed primarily for startups and entrepreneurs without prior business planning experience.

Its intuitive interface, coupled with video tutorials and comprehensive templates, allows users to craft a professional business plan efficiently.

While the cost of LivePlan’s packages can be prohibitive for some potential users, the overwhelmingly positive reviews, transparent pricing, and extensive feature set make LivePlan an optimal choice for business planning needs.

For those uncertain, the 35-day refund policy offers an added layer of confidence in trying out the software.

Plans and Pricing

Customer Service

Customer Satisfaction

Site Usability

Overall Score: 4.3/5

• Pros and Cons 
• Intuitive step-by-step instructions, simplifying the business planning process
• Comprehensive financial planning features including budgeting and forecasting
• Transparent pricing with 35-day refund policy
• The software contains built-in, customizable templates
• Collaboration capabilities allow partners to concurrently input and revise data
• The subscription model of LivePlan can be prohibitive for some potential users
• Transfering documents to common formats like Word or PDF can be challenging
• What is LivePlan?

LivePlan (product of Palo Alto Software ) is an online business planning app that offers tools, guidance, and resources to help you create a business plan. They provide full guidance through the planning process and help you to develop strategies to grow your business. It’s more than just a template – the LivePlan app guides you through the process of creating your plan and strategy.

• LivePlan Features and Pricing 

LivePlan offers a comprehensive suite of features designed to simplify and enhance the business planning process. It provides step-by-step guidance coupled with expert advice throughout each phase of creating a business plan.

The software supports automatic generation of financials, charts, and graphs, eliminating the need for complex spreadsheets or intricate formulas. With visually compelling performance dashboards, it brings data to life, offering a clear perspective of the business’s standing.

Furthermore, LivePlan enables the use of real accounting data, allowing users to compare their forecasts against actuals through seamless integrations with Quickbooks & Xero. Users also benefit from industry benchmarks, facilitating a comparison of actual performance against industry competitors of similar size.

To cap it off, the platform supports planning for both best-case and worst-case scenarios, ensuring that businesses can use data to create a strategic roadmap, preparing them for various eventualities.

LivePlan’s Standard package costs $20 per month and includes step-by-step planning, lender-ready financial statements, a full financial forecast, and a one-page pitch builder. You’ll also have access to more than 500 sample business plans. 

Their Premium package costs $40 per month ($20 in the first month) and includes everything above plus industry benchmark data and “what if” guides to help you prepare for the unexpected. 

It also includes performance dashboards, real-time profit and cash forecasting, an automatic forecast builder, the ability to export sheets to Excel, and syncing with Quickbooks or Xero. 

LivePlan offers a 25% discount on both plans if you pay annually instead of monthly (Standard Plan is $15/month and Premium Plan is $30/month if billed annualy), as well as a 35-day money-back guarantee, which in effect acts as a free trial. 

• Site Navigation

When you first go to the site, you have to click Start Your Plan to see their plans and pricing.

Then you can sign in with Google or email and you’ll go immediately to checkout.

From the home page you can instead choose to watch a video tour to see how it works.

You’ll see that the business planning page is well laid out so that you can click on any section to start writing.

The site will provide instructions to give you some guidance.

You can elect to have AI rewrite what you wrote.

The site also gives much guidance in the financials section of the plan.

The guidance even includes suggested revenue streams based on your business type.

LivePlan does the calculations for you.

The tutorial is a great way to see what you’re getting for your money, and entering your information to create the plan seems incredibly easy. I was also impressed with the financial guidance that it offers, since that’s an area that many entrepreneurs struggle with. 

Overall, the site is quite easy to use and is loaded with information.

• Customer Support

I started a chat and after going through a few prompts I was connected to an agent, Lindsay, in a few minutes. I asked about their cancellation policy and procedure.

I received this message almost immediately. 

Chat Support Rating:

Response time:

The answer was clear – that you can cancel through your LivePlan account and you don’t have to call or email, which is convenient.

I sent an email to ask a slightly different cancellation question and received an immediate auto reply.

Support Rating:

I received an actual response within an hour, which is impressive! The answer was clear and professional.

I called customer service to ask a similar question, but I got a recording that told me that they offered their support through LiveChat and directed me there. I don’t particularly mind this, since I prefer chat, but I’m sure that many customers would prefer to have the phone option. 

• LivePlan Reviews

Palo Alto Software is not an accredited business with the Better Business Bureau and has a D-rating. They have no customer reviews on the BBB website, but they do have a few complaints. The complaints revolved around issues with cancellation and getting a refund, as well as unauthorized re-activation of an account and getting un-authorized charges.

Here are some positive reviews from LivePlan users:

LivePlan is my primary financial forecasting and issue raising tool. I build out annual Pro-forma in Q4 with detailed revenue and expense category forecasts. The ability to build revenue and expense forecasts by category and the appropriate level of detail is highly useful. Monthly, and especially quarterly, we can see if and where we are off track relative to original goals and make necessary adjustments in the business. In my opinion, this is the best tool of its kind for business owners/operators. Well done. – Jason Ogden, President

LivePlan has been a key product in our company when dealing with planning of our company business. It makes it easy for us to keep our entire business enterprise organized for better productivity. More to planning, it offers us an outstanding platform for budgeting, keeping a track of our business progress a d performance as well as doing accurate forecasts on the future of our business. It has made it possible for us to simplify the planning and funding various business projects aimed at promoting the agility and the productivity of our business. – Mariana Jones, National Key Account Manager- Fleet Sales

I started my startup consultancy in 1997. Soon after, I bought my first Palo Alto Business Plan Pro disc and spent quality time chatting with Tim about how helpful the financial section was. Since then, I have recommended this program MANY times and am thrilled to be able to recommend it again to whoever reads this review. Live Plan is wonderful, convenient, and worth every penny! – Victoria D.

Live Plan was perfect for my needs – it helped me shape my strategic plan and think through my start-up capital requirements and revenue projections. I loved that it gave me some industry benchmarks and suggested budget items (like employee payroll liabilities) I hadn’t thought of. The templates were also very helpful to show me what a plan should look like. – Laurie S.

Here’s a selection of constructive feedback from LivePlan users:

Where the product really falls down is when you want to compare with Actuals. It only connects to Xero and Quick Books and you have no control over the data or time period that it syncs at all – current year plus last two years, which is rubbish if your business has pivoted and you only want the last six months data for example. Whats worse is you cant roll back the sync – you have to manually delete all sync’d data. Further if you dont use Xero or QBooks, there is no option to import from a spreadsheet – so again you need a data entry person to manually enter actual data unless you want to spend ages doing it yourself… Very disappointed as up to this point had liked the platform. – Lucy B.

Generally going out 5 years is more than fine with projections. However, we did have a situation where we brought a new division in 2 years later and we need to combine it with the original plan and would have liked it going 6 or even 7 years. – Reid J.

• LivePlan Alternatives 

BizPlan offers monthly ($29), annual ($249), and lifetime access ($349) payment options. Their business plan software offers full guidance as you write your plan and calculates financial statements.

Their crowdfunding platform, Fundable, can help promote your plan and raise funding from the public and investors. In addition, you can access self-guided courses and educational videos and talk with expert mentors. Visit Bizplan.com here .

Founded in 2010, Enloop stands out with an automatically generated text tool that users can edit as they wish. Enloop offers a seven-day free trial and two paid plans. 

The seven-day trial and the two paid plans (Detailed and Performance) all include a host of features. The Detailed plan costs $19.95 per month, while the Performance plan runs $39.95 monthly.  Visit Enloop.com here .

PlanGuru 

PlanGuru is not business plan software, but rather a sophisticated financial planning tool that can help prepare your company’s budget and financial plan. It’s available as either a cloud-based or desktop app. Both apps cost $99 per month or $899 annually. Visit PlanGuru.com here .

Conclusion – Is LivePlan Worth it?

LivePlan offers robust business planning tools for quite a reasonable price. You can get a professional looking business plan for funding, or just to create your strategy. Their phone support can be a bit better, but live chat and email support are great.

Overall, we would highly recommend LivePlan to new and existing entrepreneurs.

You can cancel your LivePlan subscription at any time through your LivePlan account on the site.

LivePlan’s pricing is quite transparent, with no hidden fees.

LivePlan claims to have bank-level security so you should have no security concerns.

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• Conclusion - Is LivePlan Worth it?

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LivePlan Review 2024

| Written by

If you’re an entrepreneur, one of the most important parts of starting a business is  writing a business plan ; however, you may need a step-by-step process to help lead your small business to success. That’s where LivePlan comes in.

Created by Palo Alto Software, LivePlan is a cloud-based  business plan software that walks you through the entire planning process. With video tutorials and examples at each section, it helps you write a solid business plan in half the time.

Read our LivePlan review to discover the pricing and features that set the tool apart, compare customer reviews, and more. By the end, you’ll know if it is the best business planning software for you.

Craft Your Startup Roadmap With LivePlan

Transform your idea into an investor-ready business plan—Try LivePlan today and save 40% on an annual subscription!

What Is LivePlan?

LivePlan is a business planning and financial forecasting tool powered by artificial intelligence (AI). The platform boasts an array of helpful tools that enable business owners to create business plans, craft investment-ready statements, and make financial projections for their business growth — all in one easy-to-use platform. 

LivePlan At a Glance

Jump Ahead:

• Pros and Cons

LivePlan Pricing

• Standout Features
• Customer Reviews

LivePlan Alternatives

Pros & cons of liveplan, pros of liveplan.

• You don’t need prior experience with professional business planning because the LivePlan software is designed for startups and entrepreneurs who don’t have the time or budget for collegiate-style planning.
• According to many positive online LivePlan reviews, customers are incredibly satisfied with the business plan software.
• LivePlan’s user-friendly website makes it easy to focus and build presentation-ready plans. Also because it’s cloud-based, you can trust LivePlan to keep your data safe and 100% accessible.
• LivePlan provides elegant and fully-customizable template themes you can brand so your business plan looks amazing in presentations with investors, potential partners, lending institutions, etc.
• LivePlan allows you to easily import financial data from other platforms like QuickBooks and Xero…a big time-saver that gives you the peace of mind everything is importing correctly.
• With an annual subscription to LivePlan, you get access to tons of legal forms, fantastic educational e-books, and even an employee handbook template. Their system is set up so the more LivePlan features you add, the less it costs, which is awesome.
• LivePlan sports a great suite of collaboration tools for you and your small business team members. For example, LivePlan locks any section a team member is working on to prevent two users from editing the same section at the same time.

Cons of LivePlan

• You have to be connected to the Internet to use LivePlan. Cloud-based computing does still have its downsides.
• While you can develop more than one business plan using LivePlan, there is no way to copy an existing plan.

Turn Ideas into Action with LivePlan

From templates to financial forecasts, LivePlan makes business planning straightforward and stress-free. And if you end up not liking it as much as we do, just ask for a refund within 35 days.

It would be tough for LivePlan pricing to get any more straightforward, and you don’t have to worry about any hidden fees. Here are the following LivePlan pricing packages that entrepreneurs and small businesses can choose from:

• Standard Monthly Subscription: Pay as you go for $15/month for first 3 months, then $20/month after
• Premium Monthly Subscription: Pay as you go for $30/month for first 3 months, then $40/month after
• Purchase a Standard annual subscription for $12/month 
• Purchase a Premium annual subscription for $24/month 

You can save 40% if you choose an annual plan. Go with whichever package you feel most comfortable with. Either way, you have 35 days to try the business planning software and explore everything it’s capable of.

With every pricing package, you’ll gain access to a variety of LivePlan features, such as over 500 sample business plans, automatic financials, and more.

LivePlan’s Standout Features

LivePlan sets itself apart with several key offerings:

Step-By-Step Instructions

Especially valuable for first-time business owners, LivePlan’s step-by-step instructions help guide users through the business and financial planning process. This hands-on service ensures all statements are tailored to the business’s specific needs and ready for fundraising efforts through support and guidance at every step of the way. 

AI-Powered LivePlan Assistant

LivePlan’s AI-powered assistant helps to clear roadblocks, enhance the planning process, and expedite tasks. The AI writing tool helps improve writing by adjusting for tone, grammar, and spelling. Additionally, the AI-generated suggestions help users create better financial forecasts. 

550+ Sample Business Plan Templates

With more than 550 sample business plans, LivePlan offers users ample inspiration from other businesses. These industry-specific samples aren’t customizable, but do provide a foundation for new business owners to create their own personalized business plan. 

Financial Projections Software

With LivePlan, users can create full financial forecasts — including balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and cash flow forecasts — without complicated spreadsheets. Plus, the platform’s AI assistant can help business owners conduct the most effective analysis possible through forecast suggestions and financial analysis tools. 

Intuitive Performance Dashboard

LivePlan offers performance dashboards that automatically compare projections to accounting data. Users are able to review more than 20 charts, graphs, and metrics to assess their company’s financial performance and compare that to financial projections.  

Growth Planning

For businesses seeking alternatives to a traditional business plan, LivePlan offers support for entrepreneurs opting to take a growth planning approach. The process includes four stages: plan, forecast, review, and refine. This data-driven process allows business owners to craft a business plan in just 30 minutes, generate feedback, and refine their business strategies. 

35-Day, Money-Back Guarantee

Unlike some competitors that offer short-term satisfaction guarantees, LivePlan offers subscription customers a 100%, 35-day, money-back guarantee. This allows business owners to explore the platform risk-free in order to determine if it’s the right fit for their business. 

Industry Research

The LivePlan platform includes tools to conduct industry research, allowing business owners to make more educated decisions for their company. Through the platform, users gain access to data on industry risks, current conditions, trends, benchmarks, financial insights, and more.  

Cloud Access

With cloud access, users can access the LivePlan platform from any location or device. This allows business owners to have access to their professional business plan no matter where they are.

Multilingual Plans

With LivePlan, users can write and share their business plan in multiple languages including Spanish, French, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, and German. Plus, users can display their company’s financials in the currency of their choosing.

LivePlan Reviews

What LivePlan review would be complete without customer testimonials?

LivePlan boasts a high rating on ShopperApproved, earning 4.8 stars out of five with more than 1,000 five-star reviews on the site. Many customers praised the company’s accessible pricing and quick customer support team in the event of questions or troubleshooting issues. The company responds to most positive reviews, but doesn’t appear to address negative reviews on the ShopperApproved website. 

Here are some verified reviews from ShopperApproved by people who used LivePlan for their businesses:

“Great experience using LivePlan to create a business plan. I loved the automated tools, which made it seamless to auto-populate and ensure accuracy. My favorite feature was the navigation guide, which mapped out all the elements of a living business plan: financials, goals, milestones, and charts. The second feature was functionality; the export and printing features were seamless. LivePlan is already thinking about more product tools that can help business owners and leaders toggle between operational and financial forecasts and snapshots. I highly recommend the tool.”

“It was difficult to use and understand. Perhaps [on-demand] training videos would help[.]”

“LivePlan is a fantastic resource for small business owners and consultants assisting them to develop their business plans. LivePlan software has helped many clients put together professional business plans and international[ly] export plans to help them actualize their entrepreneurial dreams!”

“[L]ove the way everything is customized so that all you have to basically do is insert information. However, I wish it was [a] little easier to add custom charts or copy other business plan formats. Customer service is great and the response time is quick.”

LivePlan also features several verified customer reviews on its website. Here are a couple more examples:

“LivePlan has reinvented business planning. It’s the only tool that helps entrepreneurs track their progress with a unique dashboard specifically designed for small business.”

“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.”

“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.”

Before settling on a business planning software, it’s important to consider competitors to ensure you’ve found the right provider for your business. Upmetrics, Bizplan, and Enloop are three popular business plan software solutions — each offering a unique set of features and capabilities. Here’s how each of these competitors stacks up against LivePlan. 

Upmetrics vs. LivePlan

Upmetrics offers AI-powered business planning, financial planning and forecasting, and pitch deck creation software. The platform is slightly less expensive than LivePlan with pricing starting at $7 per month (billed annually). 

Overall, Upmetrics offers more robust features for financial and business strategy than LivePlan. However, Upmetrics’ AI-features are limited for subscribers of the company’s low-cost plan. LivePlan also offers more hands-on support, making it potentially more suitable to new business owners. 

Bizplan vs. LivePlan

Bizplan is business planning software offered by Startups.com. Bizplan offers fewer tech-driven features than LivePlan as well as an overall smaller feature set. However, the Bizplan platform includes a fully guided plan builder, financial statement templates, and access to the company’s online fundraising platform: Fundable. Bizplan is more expensive than LivePlan with plans starting at $20.75 per month (billed annually). 

Enloop vs. LivePlan

Enloop is business planning software that offers basic features for planning and financial performance assessment. While Enloop lacks many of the tech features offered by LivePlan, it may be a suitable platform for non-technical users. 

Enloop offers a seven-day free trial rather than a money-back guarantee like LivePlan. This allows customers to test the platform before committing to a subscription. On the Enloop platform, users can create up to three business plans for the cost of their subscription. Any additional business plans incur a $9.95 charge per document. 

Is LivePlan Right For Your Startup?

LivePlan ’s business planning software boasts extensive features for both creating a business plan and conducting effective financial forecasting. But, how do you know if LivePlan is the best business plan software for your business? 

It’s particularly well-suited for:

• Business owners who prefer hands-on assistance 
• Entrepreneurs who require only one business plan 
• Businesses with small teams 

However, it may not be the best fit if:

• You’re looking for a platform that accommodates many contributors
• You’re looking for only basic, non-technical business planning 

The bottom line? LivePlan is a great choice for businesses looking to create a business plan and assess their financial performance over time. The platform boasts extensive features for industry research, financial analysis, and investor-ready business planning. Plus, startup founders seeking hands-on, personalized support will appreciate the excellent customer service offered by the platform.

Plan, Forecast, Succeed with LivePlan

Start building your investor-ready business plan today with LivePlan’s easy-to-follow steps and expert guidance.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is liveplan.

LivePlan is business management software created by Palo Alto Software to help entrepreneurs and small business owners develop business plans, financial projections, and performance tracking.

How does LivePlan work?

LivePlan works through a step by step process, guiding users through customizable templates to create professional business plans. Users input their business’s financial data, product plans, marketing strategies etc. and LivePlan uses the data to create a structured business plan document with projections, graphs, financial models and performance analytics.

What businesses does LivePlan work with?

LivePlan boasts over 500 sample plans, covering just about every business model imaginable. From mom-and-pops to larger corporations, from freelancers to nonprofit entities, LivePlan really does cover every possible base.

Does LivePlan have any hidden fees?

There are up-charges for premium features like the ability to simultaneously edit multiple business plans. But, LivePlan clearly communicates these from the get-go. Also, most people probably won’t need them because they’re working on one plan at a time.

How do I cancel my LivePlan subscription?

Within the first 35 days, if you decide you’d rather not use LivePlan after all contact them via their app, by email or by phone. They’ll cancel your account and refund your money, no questions asked.

How is LivePlan customer support?

LivePlan customer support is surprisingly responsive. Use the site’s live-chat option or give them a call on their toll-free line.

Is LivePlan secure?

LivePlan is about as secure as it gets. Your business plan — and all of the information within — is entirely confidential. All credit card transactions get bank-level encryption treatment. Also, your account and plan are both backed up to the cloud every few seconds, so there’s no chance you’ll ever lose any work.

How much does LivePlan cost?

Here are the LivePlan pricing plans:

• Standard monthly: $15/month for first 3 months, then $20/month after
• Premium monthly: $30/month for first 3 months, then $40/month after
• Standard annual subscription for $12/month 
• Premium annual subscription for $24/month 

Should You Use LivePlan?

We’ve chosen LivePlan as the best business plan software – it helped us get Startup Savant off the ground. Being able to take our core data and translate it into a beautiful presentation-ready business plan that’s refined and customizable was a lifesaver in so many ways.

If it feels like LivePlan is the right choice, start to plan, pitch and track your business growth with it today. And if you end up not liking LivePlan as much as we do, just ask for a refund within 35 days.

Showcase your startup with confidence — Try LivePlan and create an investor-ready business plan today.

Further Reading

• 7 Best Business Plan Software for Startups in 2024 September 6, 2024
• Lean Startup Business Plan Guide August 29, 2024
• Top 2 LivePlan Alternatives July 10, 2024

Topics to Explore

• Startup Ideas
• Startup Basics
• Startup Leadership
• Startup Marketing
• Startup Funding

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5 Best Business Plan Software in 2022

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When you’re starting a business, developing a strong business plan will be one of the first steps you take. Your business plan will cover everything from a detailed explanation of your products or services and pricing model to at least three years of financial projections—plus much more. Therefore, whether you’re not sure how to get started or you’re just looking to make the process easier, you may want to turn to business plan software for help.

In this guide, we'll break down five of the best business plan software options—discussing their pros, cons, features, pricing, and more—so you have all the information you need to decide which solution is right for your small business.

Looking for tools to help grow your business?

Tell us where you're at in your business journey, and we'll direct you to the experience that fits.

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The 5 best business plan software options

The right business plan software will make the process of writing your business plan much simpler. Like many business software solutions, however, there are a number of different business plan software options out there—each of which has a unique set of features, user experience, and price.

This being said, if you're looking for a place to start your search for the best business plan software, you can explore the five top options below:

How much do you need?

with Fundera by NerdWallet

We’ll start with a brief questionnaire to better understand the unique needs of your business.

Once we uncover your personalized matches, our team will consult you on the process moving forward.

1. LivePlan

Best overall business plan software.

If you want template-rich, modern-feeling business plan software, then LivePlan may be the right pick for you. LivePlan excels with their user interface, which feels updated and slick, and also offers intuitive, easy-to-use features and options.

Their step-by-step instruction will help you kick things off from the beginning, and you can take advantage of their online learning center to continue to gain business skills.

Affordable plans, including pay-as-you-go option

No long-term contracts or cancellation fee; 60-day money-back guarantee

Modern, intuitive interface; cloud-based, can be used on Mac, PC, as well as tablets

Ability to create unlimited plans in one account; over 500 customizable templates

Variety of business resources including video tutorials, step-by-step instruction, and general customer support

Limited integration options

Challenging to enter your own financial modeling projections

Can be difficult to learn

Ability to create an unlimited number of business plans on one account

More than 500 business plan templates spanning various industries

Integration with Xero and QuickBooks Online

Real-time tracking of financial data with accounting integrations

Ability to export your business plan to Word or PDF

Expert advice and step-by-step instruction included

Performance dashboards for tracking against budgets and sales goals

Ability to create and export a one-page pitch executive summary

Annual plan: $15 per month, billed every 12 months

Six-month plan: $18 per month, billed every six months

Pay-as-you-go plan: $20 per month, billed once every month

2. GoSmallBiz

Best for multiple business management tools in one platform.

Next on our list of the best business plan software options is GoSmallBiz, which is much more than just a business plan software. With GoSmallBiz, you have access to business continuity planning software with features that cover creating a roadmap, working through business and legal forms, building a website, and more.

In this way, GoSmallBiz is great for startups or newer businesses looking to access multiple business management tools through one platform.

Unlimited business consultation and extensive library of online resources

Multiple business tools in one software

Website consultation analysis and business assessment

Industry-specific business plan templates with emphasis on financial projections and statements

Expensive monthly cost compared to alternatives

Limited business plan features

Entire business plan can only be exported to Microsoft Word

Outdated interface

Industry-specific business plan templates with step-by-step building wizard

Ability to create financial statements and projections

Free website hosting and website builder

Customer relationship manager with integration with MailChimp

Digital marketing dashboard with social media and Google Analytics integrations

HR document builder

Corporate minutes writer

Business documents library

Business courses library

Unlimited business consultation

$39 per month, no contracts, free cancellation

Best for simple, fast business plan creation.

If you're looking for free business plan software, Enloop will be one of your closest options—they offer an all-inclusive seven-day free trial, no credit card required. Additionally, unlike some of the other options on our list, Enloop is strictly dedicated to business plan creation, including automated text writing, financial forecast comparisons, and a real-time performance score that tracks your progress.

This being said, if you'd prefer the most straightforward, fast, and simple way to write your business plan, Enloop will be a platform worth considering.

Simple and straightforward software, solely dedicated to business plan creation

Seven-day free trial

Automatic text generation available to streamline the writing process

Affordable plans with annual discount option

Limited additional educational resources

Only one template option

No integration options

Ability to create three business plans with customizable text, images, tables, charts, and over 100 currency symbols and formats

Includes automatic text generation for each plan section that you can then customize

Automatically generated financial statements

Includes financial performance comparison analysis (using three ratios with Detailed plan and 16 with Performance plan)

Real-time performance score to track your progress

Ability to invite users to edit (two with Detailed plan, five with Performance plan)

Pass/fail report and certificate to help you identify issues with your plan

Free plan: Seven-day free trial with no credit card required

Detailed plan: $19.95 per month or $11 per month, paid annually

Performance plan: $39.95 per month, or $24 per month, paid annually

Best for startups looking to acquire funding or find investors.

Part of the Startups.com suite, Bizplan gets top marks for their user interface—it’s intuitive, easy to use, and modern. You’ll work with a step-by-step business plan builder to get exactly what you’d like from your business plan. It may remind you of a modern website builder, since it has drag-and-drop tools to build templates.

Moreover, for one subscription fee, you have access to all of the tools in the Startups.com network, including self-guided courses, how-to guides, masterclass videos, and more. All in all, with a direct connection to Fundable, Bizplan is a top business plan software option for startups looking to acquire funding and find investors.

Subscription gives you access to all Startups.com tools

Lifetime access subscription option

User-friendly drag-and-drop business plan builder

Excellent educational resources

Connection to Fundable great for businesses looking for capital

No free trial

No templates based on industry

No mobile access

Drag-and-drop templates for business plan building

Financial command center to track all business financials in one place

Unlimited account collaborators

Ability to share business plan online with investors

Online resources including self-guided courses, masterclass videos, how-to guides, mentorship access

Unlimited software use for Fundable, Launchrock, and Startups.com

Monthly plan: $29 per month

Annual plan: $20.75 per month, billed at $249 per year

Lifetime access: $349 one-time fee

5. PlanGuru

Best for financial planning and budgeting.

Finally, for some of the strongest financial features among business plan software options, including budgeting and forecasting, you might check out PlanGuru. Whereas the other solutions we've reviewed were first and foremost focused on writing a business plan, PlanGuru is dedicated to business financial planning —providing the tools you need to create budgets, financial forecasts, reports, and more.

Therefore, if you need a software solution that can streamline the financial piece of your business planning processes, PlanGuru will certainly have the most to offer.

Extensive financial tools and detailed forecasting, budgeting, and reporting capabilities

Substantial library of resources

Cloud-based and desktop options

14-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee

Expensive, especially for additional users

Only focuses on the financial aspect of business planning; no templates or tools for basic business plan writing

Difficult to use without prior financial knowledge

Cloud-based version of software, as well as locally installed Windows version (desktop version has a few more features)

Works with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Excel

Budgeting and forecasting for up to 10 years

Over 20 standard forecasting methods

Formula builder to create custom methods

Ratios and KPIs

Dashboard and reporting tools

Help guides, video tutorials, knowledgebase, and live U.S.-based customer support

14-day free trial

$99 per month (additional users $29 per month)

$899 per year (additional users $299 per year)

What to look for in business plan software

Ultimately, it's up to you to decide, which, if any, of the best business plan software solutions on our list is right for your business.

So, if you're trying to figure out how to choose between the various options out there, it might be helpful to compare your top choices based on the following criteria:

Features: As we've seen different business plan software solutions offer different features. You'll want to look carefully at the feature list of any software and determine what features are most important for your business needs. Do you need an extensive library of templates with detailed customization? Would you prefer software that includes an online learning center for business skills? Are you looking for a solution that combines business plan writing with other tasks? It may be useful to list out your ideal feature set, so you can compare individual software plans to that list.

Price: Although you might be able to find some free business plan software options (or at the very least, free trials), in most cases, you'll need to pay a subscription fee to access the platform you choose. Therefore, you'll want to think about what your budget is for this business tool and what type of software is most cost-effective for your needs.

User experience: User experience can vary widely among different business plan software options. You’ll find some programs that are newer or have been recently updated. Others might have the kind of interfaces that felt new years ago but are now pretty out of date—and, subsequently, make them a little harder to use. The right user experience for your needs is genuinely a matter of opinion and comfort—nevertheless, it's worth testing thoroughly testing out a platform to ensure that it can truly work for you before investing in a monthly or annual subscription.

The bottom line

There's no doubt that properly crafting your business plan is important for the future growth and success of your small business. Luckily, the right business plan software should make the process much simpler.

This being said, whether you opt for one of the best business plan software options listed here, or another platform entirely, you'll want to take the time to compare multiple solutions and ensure you choose the one that's right for your business.

As we mentioned, it can be helpful to think about the features you're looking for, your budget, and your user-experience preferences ahead of time—that way, you'll have a set of criteria in mind as you explore different solutions.

Ultimately, perhaps the best thing you can do to find the right software is to actually test out the platforms themselves—either by using a free trial or a money-back guarantee.

This article originally appeared on JustBusiness, a subsidiary of NerdWallet.

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