If you’re researching FP&A software, there’s a good chance you’ve come across Datarails. It’s positioned as a flexible, Excel-friendly solution for finance teams looking to automate budgeting, forecasting, and reporting without leaving spreadsheets behind. However, not all Excel-based platforms are created equal—and as teams scale, Datarails’ limitations become increasingly difficult to ignore.
Whether you're currently evaluating Datarails or using it today and running into roadblocks, this guide is designed to help. We’ve compiled six top Datarails alternatives based on real customer reviews to help you:
Datarails is a financial planning and analysis platform that integrates financial data from different sources to build forecasts, budgets and reports—all within a spreadsheet environment. Their strengths include flexible data consolidation, customizable dashboards and accessible pricing for mid-market companies.
But while Datarails may be suitable for some use cases, it isn’t always the most comprehensive or transparent solution. Some drawbacks include:
Due to these issues, you may want to explore which alternatives exist for your needs.
At first glance, Datarails offers an appealing promise: automate reporting and forecasting while keeping Excel at the center of your workflows.
But what begins as a convenient solution can quickly become an operational bottleneck. Across reviews and direct user feedback, we reviewed four critical decision points—each one a potential reason to consider switching platforms.
Datarails functions as an Excel add-in—but that’s not the same as being an Excel-native solution.
Why This Matters:
Add-ins require separate data refreshes. Changes in your enterprise resource planning (ERP) or customer relationship management (CRM) software don’t sync dynamically with Excel models. That increases manual work and delays reporting. Plus, it can lead to versioning conflicts during critical planning cycles.
Where This Breaks Down in Practice:
Because Datarails operates through a plug-in, updates made in your database—like new GL accounts, department roll-ups, or naming convention changes—won’t automatically update in Excel. You’ll need to manually reconnect your sheets or re-pull templates to reflect those changes.
On top of that, when it’s time to distribute templates to budget owners, Datarails requires you to create and manage separate Excel files for each department or user. That fragments collaboration, increases error risk, and adds unnecessary coordination overhead.
And since Datarails operates inside a limited plug-in environment, your team can’t use Excel’s full native capabilities—meaning you miss out on valuable functionality from Microsoft’s ongoing updates.
User Insights:
“Some of the Excel add-in functionality does not always appear to work. Excel formulas often do not work at first or require small tweaks to streamline.” — Capterra Review
“Constantly linking the Excel sheets to the database. I save my files in Datarails and ensure that I pull the file from Datarails before beginning any report to ensure that I have the most up-to-date one, and that it is already linked to Datarails.” — Capterra Review
Bottom Line: If your team’s goal is real-time reporting and agile planning, add-ins will limit your performance.
For small teams or simple budgets, Datarails can work well. But when models grow, as is the case when adding multiple revenue streams, departments, and dynamic forecasting, you’ll start to experience strain.
Key Challenges Reported:
User Insights:
“Our budget comprises many budget worksheets & schedules, which DR consolidates. We find DR a little slow when refreshing and synchronizing all the sheets.” — G2 Review
Bottom Line: A solution that can’t grow with your data complexity will eventually cost you time, accuracy and agility.
For FP&A leaders tasked with long-term software decisions, product selection means ensuring the vendor can meet your team’s performance, scalability, and support needs over several years—and that their public claims reflect reality.
In August 2024, the National Advertising Division (NAD) investigated Datarails for failing to disclose its financial ties to Finance Weekly where it had received prominent rankings in software evaluations. The NAD recommended that Datarails clearly disclose these paid relationships to readers, acknowledging that the rankings were not entirely independent or objective (full ruling).
Why This Matters:
Without transparency in the software research process, the integrity of your evaluation process is compromised. Deceptive marketing tactics pose a risk of selecting a solution based on incomplete or biased information, which can potentially lock your team into an inflexible system.
For finance leaders making recommendations that will affect cross-functional teams and multi-year planning cycles, vendor trust isn’t optional. It’s the foundation for operational success and professional accountability.
While Datarails’ daily tech support is generally well-rated, some users report that its strategic onboarding and complex deployment support can be lacking.
Key User Concerns:
User Insights:
“What I dislike about Datarails is that it requires a fair amount of initial onboarding and support to fully understand the platform and customize it to your needs.” — G2 Review
“The Sales team overpromised and couldn't deliver. Implementation was so tedious that we never got a full set of reports out of it, and only ended up using minimal reporting functionality for some areas that worked.
It was difficult for [the implementation team] to understand the more complex reporting challenges our company faced, which is what made us quit the platform.” — G2 Review
Why This Matters:
Implementing integrated planning isn’t just plugging in software. It requires process change, cross-functional data alignment, and continuous refinement. Lack of support can stall or derail transformation efforts.
Below are some of the top Datarails alternatives on the market. Let’s break down each alternative by key features, use cases, and what customers are saying.
Vena is an FP&A and extended planning platform designed for finance teams that want to keep using Excel—but without the manual errors, disconnected data, or version control headaches that come with traditional spreadsheet processes.
Unlike tools that only bolt on to Excel, Vena integrates natively, allowing real-time, two-way data syncing between Excel and source systems.
This means that when changes occur in your ERP, CRM, or other source systems, those updates are automatically reflected in your planning models and reports. Vena was built specifically for finance and accounting teams that already rely on Excel, but want enterprise-grade functionality, governance, and scalability.
In addition to core FP&A workflows like budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis, Vena supports:
While Datarails functions as an Excel add-in and often requires manual refreshes, Vena’s full integration provides a unified data model and continuous syncing, significantly reducing the risk of reporting errors and speeding up planning cycles.
Vena is best suited for finance teams that are heavily invested in Excel but need more control, scalability, and governance than spreadsheets alone can offer. It’s a strong fit for organizations that want to maintain their existing workflows while gaining the benefits of centralized data, audit trails, and automation.
“Gathering input from dozens of contributors was a challenge with standard Excel workbooks. Users might change formulas, move rows or columns, and generally wreak havoc, then expect Finance to put all the pieces back together. Consolidating the budget or forecast was difficult with fertile ground for errors. Because Vena stores everything in a central database with always-connected and protected templates, a rolled-up view is available on demand and without grief. The cherry on top is an audit trail that can tell you exactly who changed what numbers and when.” - G2 Review
“We didn’t have to overhaul the existing system, which made it easier to adopt the product” - Capterra Review
Final Verdict: Vena is the clear next step for finance teams that rely on Excel but need enterprise-grade planning, governance, and automation. Unlike Datarails, it doesn’t bolt onto Excel—it’s built into it. This helps with real-time data sync, audit trails, and multi-user collaboration without breaking your models.
Vena is a strong fit for teams that want to scale fast without overhauling their existing workflows or introducing unnecessary complexity.
Prophix is a purpose-built corporate performance management (CPM) platform designed to help finance teams automate budgeting, forecasting, and reporting. In contrast to Datarails and Vena, Prophix uses its own web-based interface instead of integrating with Excel. While this means less reliance on spreadsheets, it can require teams to adjust their existing workflows and rebuild some models from scratch.
Both Prophix and Datarails offer automated reporting and forecasting. However, while Datarails prioritizes Excel continuity (though with limitations), Prophix focuses on moving users away from Excel entirely. For teams seeking to modernize beyond spreadsheets, Prophix offers flexibility—but it may increase change management needs compared to Excel-native options like Vena.
Unlike Datarails, users report that Prophix is easy to set up.
“I really enjoy how user-friendly the system is. Onboarding new users is faster than some other software I've used in the past because of how intuitive the interface is. The financial reporting, planning, and budgeting tools are what drew us to the software, and Prophix offers a complete, comprehensive suite of tools for all of these needs” - G2 Review
But, Prophix has limitations for forward-looking analysis.
“I would like to see more of a focus on financial projections and predictive budgeting. Prophix has some tools capable of this, but none have been able to replace our Excel models just yet.” - G2 Review
Final verdict: Prophix is a step up from Datarails if you're looking for a user-friendly, spreadsheet-free environment to manage core budgeting and reporting. It’s especially appealing for teams that want intuitive workflows and fast onboarding without a deep technical lift.
But when it comes to predictive budgeting or more advanced modeling, users say it falls short, making it better suited for teams with straightforward planning needs rather than those trying to replace Excel for complex use cases.
OneStream is a unified, enterprise-grade CPM platform. It’s designed for organizations that require advanced financial consolidation, reporting, budgeting, and forecasting across multiple business units and complex data environments.
OneStream doesn’t integrate directly with Excel for model building—it seeks to replace Excel entirely with a centralized platform offering pre-built and customizable solutions.
While Datarails focuses on mid-market Excel-centric finance teams, OneStream targets large enterprises seeking to centralize complex financial operations and eliminate spreadsheet dependencies.
For FP&A teams managing multiple entities or international operations, OneStream provides deeper functionality. But it comes with a learning curve and higher implementation complexity than even Datarails.
Finance teams appreciate OneStream’s control over consolidation and ability to own the platform without relying heavily on IT.
"The implementation was easy, and the use of the consolidation tool has improved our close process by reducing the hours spent, but also improving the level of confidence we have in our monthly results. Finance owns the product, and any changes we need to make, we can implement without IT involvement." - G2 Review
However, multiple users complain about the steep learning curve, lengthy installation times, and the lack of training modules.
“The UI on the desktop app feels relatively outdated, and the terminology can be difficult to understand. Extendable dimensionality took me a long time to understand, even with the training provided online, so it would be nice to see additional basic training to help new users get acquainted with the software.” - G2 Review
Final Verdict: OneStream is built for organizations that need advanced consolidation, scalable modeling and structured governance across complex entities. It is a good fit for finance teams looking to move beyond spreadsheet-based tools entirely and standardize planning across departments.
However, its setup, learning curve, and platform terminology can be a barrier for smaller teams, so it’s best suited for companies with the time and internal support to manage a more involved implementation.
Workday Adaptive Planning is a cloud-based planning platform designed to support enterprise-wide financial planning, workforce planning, and operational modeling. Unlike Datarails and Vena, which offer either Excel add-ins or Excel-native experiences, Workday Adaptive moves planning entirely into a modern, browser-based interface.
This approach can streamline workflows and eliminate common spreadsheet risks like version control and manual errors—but it also requires a shift away from the familiarity of Excel. Additionally, for FP&A teams already leveraging the broader Workday ecosystem (ERP), Human Capital Management (HCM), Adaptive Planning offers tight integration.
Like Datarails, Workday Adaptive aims to eliminate manual spreadsheet work and accelerate budgeting and forecasting. But the similarities largely stop there.
Unlike Datarails, Adaptive Planning offers a web-based, version-controlled model:
"Being able to trust the data. Having a web-based solution for all of our budgeting/forecasting needs that eliminates the multiple versions of Excel documents being sent around. Allows for immediate update of data that executives can review and react to." - G2 Review
But, users report that getting up to speed with Workday Adaptive Planning requires support that comes at a premium:
"Formulas and calculations can be tricky to manage. You need one or two administrators who have a strong knowledge of these, as well as triggers. Finding a clear learning path of the product that does not result in additional charges. Taking an accelerated class on formulas and having to pay for it or pay a consultant is not a solution when we already pay for the product. Dashboards are not user-friendly, each tile needs to be manually updated with dates. There are no features to select dates for an entire dashboard tab.” - G2 Review
Cube is a lightweight FP&A platform built specifically for finance teams wanting to enhance spreadsheet workflows, not replace them. Unlike Datarails, which adds functionality to Excel, Cube connects directly to your spreadsheets (Excel and Google Sheets) through a two-way sync with a centralized data engine.
The platform accelerates planning and reporting without forcing users to abandon familiar tools. For mid-sized finance teams seeking to streamline manual tasks while maintaining spreadsheet flexibility, Cube is a practical and intuitive solution.
While both Cube and Datarails target finance teams looking to improve Excel workflows, Cube’s sync is more dynamic, designed for real-time updates across multiple users and models—not just static data pulls.
Cube also provides a more modern user experience, featuring a centralized planning engine that maintains consistency across formulas, data, and templates. In contrast, many Datarails users cite frequent versioning errors and manual refreshes that interrupt planning workflows.
Multiple users highlight the flexibility Cube affords them in their workflows:
"Really happy with the overall flexibility of the system, with the ability to have transactional and operational data all in one place! As it is based in Excel, it is easy to look at things in different ways to quickly analyze data or change the drivers of your forecast." - G2 Review
But users also complain about difficulties with adaptation and scaling:
"There is no in-depth training as every user's use case is slightly different. Needed outside help to implement to get fully up and running. Had to rebuild all forecast models in Excel in a way that was compatible to load the data into Cube, which was more time-consuming than anticipated. Additionally, formatting of reports does not save in Cube, so every time you go to fetch/build something from the system, you have to reformat or manually add a new account to an existing report in Excel. Gets tricky when business is constantly evolving/changing." - G2 Review
Final Verdict: For teams prioritizing speed, usability, and Excel continuity, Cube provides a streamlined, lower-friction alternative to both Datarails and more enterprise-heavy tools like Workday Adaptive Planning.
It’s a good switch or plug-in when you need short-term syncing and continuity for existing workflows, but it breaks down if you scale.
Anaplan is a cloud-native enterprise planning platform built for connected, large-scale business modeling. Unlike Datarails, which overlays automation onto Excel, Anaplan provides a centralized environment for financial, operational, sales, and workforce planning.
Anaplan’s core strength is its multidimensional modeling engine, which enables complex scenario planning across departments and time horizons. This makes it especially powerful for enterprises with distributed teams, global operations, or rapidly shifting forecasting needs.
Datarails supports small to mid-sized teams with financial reporting and forecasting within Excel. Anaplan, in contrast, targets larger enterprises with complex modeling needs that go beyond finance.
Key Differences:
Users frequently commend Anaplan on its product roadmap and evolution with user needs, as well as its online training:
“Anaplan continues investing in its product roadmap. New products, either organically developed like Anaplan Workflow and Data Orchestrator or externally acquired like Fluence, provided Anaplan a range of capabilities required in the planning space.
It has an excellent online learning centre. Courses for recently acquired products were developed using the same standard as the Anaplan core courses. This made the learning experience easy.” - G2 Review
However, multiple users report confusion around pricing:
“Anaplan's pricing can be confusing and opaque. This is due to an evolving platform, technology, and GTM model. Customers from just 3 years ago may have completely different expectations on pricing and that can cause friction.” - G2 Review
The most common criticism of Anaplan is that it lacks capabilities for what’s supposed to be an enterprise-ready tool:
“Anaplan could benefit from better rendering tools for model builders to manage complex models. The lack of a ‘saved views’ parameter-setting page, similar to the ‘line item’ page, can lead to a loss of time when analysing complex models.
It is also not easy to find an indication of the publication of modules, and this information could be needed for a detailed analysis, particularly in the case of models with a very large number of pages in their app.” - G2 Review
Final Verdict: For teams that need multidimensional planning across departments and global entities, Anaplan offers more scale and structure than Datarails can provide. Its centralized platform and deep modeling engine are built for complex, connected use cases—but they come with trade-offs.
While users appreciate the platform’s evolution and strong training ecosystem, many cite gaps in model-building efficiency and ongoing friction with pricing transparency, making it best suited for organizations with both the scale and internal resources to manage the complexity.
Choosing the right FP&A software isn’t just about replacing Excel or automating reports—it’s about selecting a platform that fits your business today and can grow with it tomorrow.
If you’re considering Datarails, it’s likely because you want to reduce manual work without abandoning your existing models. But as we’ve seen, many teams outgrow their Excel add-in architecture quickly—especially when workflows scale, data sources multiply, or collaboration expands beyond Finance.
Whether you're looking for deeper integrations, better governance, or simply a faster and more intuitive way to plan, the alternatives we’ve covered offer distinct advantages, depending on your business’s size, complexity and planning maturity.
If Excel continuity with enterprise capabilities is your priority, Vena offers a purpose-built, native solution that scales with your needs—without forcing a full rebuild. For teams ready to evaluate a better fit, Vena’s team is here to help you map your use cases and see what integrated planning looks like in practice.
Curious how Vena would work for your team? See it in action with a demo.