Vena vs. Solver: Which Is a Better Fit for Scaling Businesses?

As your business grows, so do the expectations on your finance team. Budgets become more complex. Reporting becomes more cross-functional. And the systems that once supported your workflow start showing cracks—especially if you're working with point solutions like Solver. 

Solver is often a solid starting point for many teams. It helps Small to Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) get up and running with basic planning and budgeting. But when teams outgrow Solver, they need more than an upgrade. 

By choosing Vena from the get-go, you get the benefit of deep integrations with the Microsoft ecosystem, and a solution that will scale alongside your needs. 

Vena brings together everything Solver lacks: powerful Excel-native reporting, scalable integrations, AI-powered insights, and preconfigured solutions that help you grow without starting from scratch. And because it’s built for seamless collaboration, it’s easy to roll out across departments, not just finance. 

In this guide, we’ll break down: 

• Why businesses choose Solver—and why they might grow out of it 

• Why businesses choose Vena 

• What real users are saying about both tools 

• How to decide which platform is right for your next stage of growth 

What Is Solver? 

Solver is a cloud-based corporate performance management (CPM) solution that helps small- to mid-sized businesses manage budgeting, forecasting, and reporting tasks. It offers prebuilt connectors for systems such as Microsoft Dynamics, Sage Intacct and Acumatica, aiming to streamline financial processes.​ 

Users appreciate Solver's customizable reporting features and its integration with various data sources, which can enhance efficiency in data analysis and decision making.  

However, some users have noted that setting up and configuring Solver can be complex and time-consuming. Additionally, certain advanced features may require a steeper learning curve.  

While Solver can be a suitable starting point for organizations focusing on basic financial planning, growing businesses often seek more flexible and scalable solutions to accommodate their evolving needs. 

Where Solver Falls Short 

Solver serves its purpose—at first. For small teams running basic budgeting and reporting workflows, it offers enough. But as your business scales, Solver starts to show its limits. 

Here’s where growing companies often hit friction: 

1. Complex To Implement, Harder To Master 

Solver’s integrations may be “out-of-the-box,” but they’re rarely plug-and-play. Setup often requires weeks of consulting time, and once you’re live, report creation demands deep expertise. 

• Report templates require technical know-how to modify
• Most businesses rely on 1–2 power users to maintain the system
• Onboarding isn’t role-specific, making it harder for broader teams to adopt. For example, a sales manager responsible for inputting quarterly forecasts might receive the same tailored onboarding materials as a finance analyst for building reports. Without role-specific training, they’re left navigating unfamiliar interfaces and workflows, which slows adoption and creates friction across teams. 

2. Rigid Reporting, Limited Scalability 

Solver's reporting functionality is powerful, but not intuitive—and not built to flex with fast-growing teams. 

• Running multiple reports slows performance 

• Custom formatting requires workarounds 

• Cross-functional or multi-entity planning is hard to scale 

3. Consultant Dependency Adds Hidden Cost 

Solver often markets itself as quick to implement, but many customers tell a different story. Because the platform requires deep configuration knowledge, most teams end up relying on external consultants to both launch the tool and maintain it.  

That reliance quickly turns into an ongoing cost center. 

• Need a new report or model? You may need a statement of work. 

• Want to integrate new data sources? Prepare for another round of consulting fees. 

• Hit a performance issue? You’re often stuck waiting for external support. 

What Is Vena? 

If Solver is a budgeting tool, Vena is an AI-powered growth engine. 

Vena is a complete planning platform built for organizations ready to scale. It’s the only solution that combines the flexibility of Excel with a powerful, enterprise-grade engine under the hood. That means your team keeps the spreadsheet interface they know, while gaining the structure, control, and intelligence needed to plan confidently. 

Vena doesn’t just help you build a budget. It helps you build alignment. 

• Familiar interface, zero compromise 
  Vena works right inside Excel—so your team doesn’t have to learn a new spreadsheet environment with its own proprietary forumlas. Although Excel is the window into Vena, behind the scenes, it runs on CubeFLEX™, our analytical data model purpose-built for intelligent reporting and business-wide planning. 
  

• From department silos to team-wide strategy 
  With Vena, finance is no longer the bottleneck. Preconfigured templates and collaborative workflows help every team—sales, HR, operations—contribute to the plan and access self-serve insights. 
  

• One source of truth, always up to date 
  Vena integrates with hundreds of source systems, including Microsoft Dynamics, Sage, Salesforce, and NetSuite. So you’re not just faster—you’re more accurate. 
  

• Built-in AI insights, not bolt-on features 
  Vena Insights makes forecasting smarter, reporting faster, and decision-making more strategic—without a steep learning curve. 

• AI that works where you do 
  Vena Copilot lives inside Microsoft Teams, using natural language and enterprise-grade AI to help you analyze data, generate forecasts, and get instant insights—without disrupting your workflow. 
   

Why Customers Replace Solver With Vena 

As businesses evolve, their financial planning needs become more complex, often outpacing the capabilities of initial solutions like Solver.  

For example, you might acquire a new company and suddenly need to consolidate reports across multiple entities. Or you expand internationally and now have more budget owners, currencies, and compliance requirements to manage. As data sources multiply and collaboration becomes more critical, teams often find that point solutions no longer provide the flexibility or scale they need. 

While Solver offers robust features for budgeting and reporting, organizations frequently encounter limitations that prompt them to seek more scalable and user-friendly alternatives.​ 

 Vena emerges as a compelling choice for many businesses on their path to scale, offering a platform that combines the familiarity of Excel with advanced functionalities tailored for growing enterprises. 

Here's why customers are making the switch:​ 

1. Enhanced User Experience and Accessibility 

Solver's complexity can be a barrier for teams without deep technical expertise. Users have noted that while Solver is powerful, its setup and configuration can be time-consuming and challenging.​ 

"One of the least helpful aspects of Solver is its occasional complexity in setup and configuration. While it offers powerful features, getting everything optimized and customized to fit specific business needs can sometimes be time-consuming, especially for users without technical expertise." 
— G2 Reviewer​ 

In contrast, Vena's Excel-based interface offers a more intuitive experience, reducing the learning curve and facilitating broader adoption across finance teams.​ Vena’s deep integration with Microsoft Technologies provides a native integration to Microsoft Excel, meaning you have access to the newest and most powerful Excel features.  

“Vena works right within Excel, so I don't have to learn a completely new tool. It keeps all the formulas and functions I already use, but with added automation and control."  

 — G2 Reviewer​ 

"Vena's ease of use is what I appreciate most about it. It facilitates speedy financial data management and analysis. Additionally, the platform saves time and is highly dependable." 

 — G2 Reviewer​ 

2. Scalability and Advanced Features 

As organizations grow, they require solutions that can scale with their expanding operations. Solver users have reported challenges with scalability, particularly when dealing with large datasets or complex reporting needs.​ 

Vena’s flexibility makes it easy to add new capabilities and support new data sets as your organization grows. This ensures you gain a platform that flexes with your business–not one you’ll have to replace again in one or two years’ time. 

Plan Beyond Point Solutions 

Point solutions can get you out of a sticky problem. They’re helpful when you need to patch a gap, automate a report, or get a workflow off the ground. But as your planning needs evolve—across departments, systems, and reporting requirements—those isolated fixes can start to work against you. Integrations get messy. Data lives in silos. And teams spend more time managing workarounds than building strategic plans. 

That’s why many organizations are shifting away from point solutions and toward platforms that offer broader utility. The key isn’t to implement everything at once—it’s to start with one high-impact use case and grow from there. A connected platform can meet you where you are—and where you plan to be in the next five years. 

Vena is built to support that kind of growth. With native Microsoft Excel and 365 integration, pre-built templates and robust data connectivity, Vena helps you lay a strong foundation—then expand when you're ready. 

Here’s what that unlocks: 

• A faster path to alignment 
  Vena’s preconfigured templates and Excel-native environment mean every department—finance, sales, HR, ops—can work from the same source of truth. No friction. No rebuilds. 
  

• Smarter decisions, powered by AI 
  Vena’s AI tools help you forecast faster, run what-if scenarios and surface the metrics that matter in just minutes. 
  

• Integrations that flex with you 
  Whether you use Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, Sage, NetSuite, or a combination of these systems, Vena plugs into your ecosystem and grows with it. 
  

• Support that’s built in, not bolted on 
  With Vena Academy, live support, and a proven onboarding framework, you’ll never be stuck waiting for a consultant to reply. 

 Vena vs. Solver: Which Is Best for Your Business? 

Solver is a fit for finance teams that want to centralize key reports, automate recurring tasks, and gain a clearer view of their numbers without a steep learning curve. It works well when planning processes are relatively contained and the need for real-time collaboration or customization is minimal. 

Vena is likely to be a better fit for organizations primed to scale and looking beyond a point solution. Built on the familiar foundation of Excel, Vena brings structure, scalability, and real-time collaboration to every part of your planning process.  

Vena connects departments, strengthens governance, and supports decision making at every level of the organization. Whether you're expanding your planning scope or formalizing your processes, your team has the tools to move forward with clarity. 

Let’s walk through it together. Book a demo.