Cube Software is a spreadsheet-native, cloud-based FP&A platform that improves companies’ budgeting and forecasting automation and accuracy.
It essentially acts as an extension of the spreadsheets you know, bringing cloud power and automation to your finance team’s existing workflows. Cube is designed for organizations that have outgrown manual Excel consolidation but still want the flexibility of spreadsheets with added control and automation.
While Cube Software is a great option for many companies and can greatly improve their financial processes, choosing an FP&A software that starts at $20k+ a year is a big decision.
This article will break down Cube’s pros and cons and highlight important customer reviews to help you make the most informed decision.
Who is Cube Software for?
Cube was made for, and focuses on, small businesses.
While companies such as Workday Adaptive Planning (large, enterprise corporations) and Datarails (small and medium-sized scalable businesses) cater to certain customer bases, Cube’s platform focuses exclusively on small businesses and startups.
Many Cube users require budgeting, forecasting, and reporting across departments but lack the budget or patience for a heavy enterprise solution.
Large enterprises with very complex, multi-dimensional models might push Cube to its limits (Cube has a limited number of custom dimensions and some drill-down constraints).
Those companies might consider more enterprise-grade platforms (we’ll cover competitors below). But for small to mid-size firms, Cube could offer a friendly balance: it’s powerful but easy to use, thanks to its spreadsheet-based interface.
Highlights of Cube’s functions:
- Multi-scenario analysis: Seamlessly model how changes to key assumptions affect overall outputs.
- Spreadsheet integrations: Cube is compatible and bi-directional with any spreadsheet, including Excel and Google Sheets.
- Centralized formulas and KPIs: Store all of your calculations in a central location and manage from a single source of truth.
- Multi-currency support: Evaluate your financials in local and reporting currencies.
- Automated data consolidation: Connect data from multiple sources for automated rollups and drilldowns.
Cube’s New Features (2024-2025)
It’s also worth mentioning that Cube has added several features in the past few years. We previously listed a lack of AI as one of Cube’s limitations, but Cube’s new focus on AI and workflow improvements has addressed this limitation.
With this focus in mind, some of the new features Cube has added include:
- Conversational AI in Slack and Teams.
- Smart Variance Analysis.
- AI-Based Forecasting.
- Plain Language Data Mapping.
- Dashboard and Reporting Updates.
While these additions reflect the growing use of AI in FP&A tools, they don’t eliminate the need for finance oversight. The AI-generated content still requires review, and the quality of insights depends heavily on how well the system is configured.
Cube has some great functions and does a good job of consolidating and upgrading finance teams’ processes. Their growing customer base, numbering around 300 organizations, attests to that.
But let’s take a look at some customer reviews:
What Do Users Say About Cube FP&A? (Customer Reviews)
After analyzing dozens of independent reviews from Cube customers, there are a few positive things that stand out:
- Single source of truth: Perhaps the number one reason any organization wants to implement FP&A technology is to make all company information easily accessible. A single source of truth avoids multiple spreadsheet updates and mistakes that Excel and Google Sheets are famous for.
- Automation: Another top reason for companies to use FP&A software is to automate the manual inputs that took up so much time. Whereas without FP&A software, finance teams used to spend up to 75% of their time on manual work, now customers are able to free up many hours. They can use that time to analyze and conduct other more productive tasks.
- Frequent upgrades: Cube is a relatively young company, and glitches are fixed through product feature updates and ready customer support. Reviewers point to benefits such as frequent product updates and listening closely to customer feedback.
What Are Cube FP&A’s Cons or Limitations?
Cube does have some limitations that buyers need to be aware of. Recent customer reviews on sites such as G2 and Capterra mention the following drawbacks of using Cube.
Difficulties in uploading models
Customers experience consistent difficulties in uploading and arranging their operating model, which is then coded and uploaded to Cube. One small company complained that they have to set aside “30 minutes to an hour” to run “imports from our accounting software Intacct, to bring in actuals each month.”
Limited drilldown
Another big challenge for sophisticated finance teams: Cube does not have drilldown capabilities (the ability to click on a certain statistic and see more detailed descriptions.
For example, sales by geographic location or revenue broken down by time periods.
Messy transfer of data
Cube has a “dimensional structure” that gives users four predefined custom dimensions (for instance, “finance Cube” and “HR cube).
Transferring data between these “dimensions” is relatively complex. Users first have to publish it onto Excel and save the other Cube in Excel. Therefore, the process is not considered stable or secure for many users.
Limited dimensions
Companies that require a granular or detailed level in reports find that Cube’s limited number of dimensions makes it difficult to do reporting flexibly or keep existing models used by companies pre-Cube.
In fact, after analyzing over 7,000 calls with potential customers, we found that limited data dimensions were the main reason (cited 54% of the time) for companies choosing Datarails over Cube.
For instance, one nonprofit complained that Cube does not allow them to report on a “number of different areas” and “having more dimensions available to us could make things easier”. In this way, Cube is one of the least flexible solutions.
Companies quickly grow out of Cube
For companies that are growing or scaling fast, Cube is less optimal, though smaller companies report that Cube satisfies their needs. However, when companies hit a certain size, Cube is unlikely to be able to meet their reporting requirements.
How Much Does Cube Software Cost in 2025?
As of 2025, Cube no longer publishes fixed pricing plans on its website. Instead, the pricing is tailored to each customer’s needs, and you have to contact Cube for a custom quote.
This means factors like your company size, number of users, and the complexity of your requirements (e.g., how many data integrations you need, how much data you’ll sync, etc.) will determine how much you pay.
In other words, Cube’s pricing is now quote-based rather than a transparent list of plans.
That being said, we do have some context from past information. Historically, Cube offered a few tiered plans, pictured below:
For example, Cube used to list an “Essentials” plan starting at $1,500 per month for small teams, a “Cube Pro” or standard plan around $2,800 per month for mid-sized companies, and an enterprise plan with custom pricing for larger organizations. These figures were public circa 2023- 2024.
Cube also charged a one-time implementation fee (several thousand dollars) depending on complexity, plus optional consulting support for a monthly fee.
Today, those numbers might have changed (and they may vary with discounts or contract length).
The takeaway: Cube is not a free or super-cheap tool. It’s a substantial investment, typically in the tens of thousands of dollars every year. The custom pricing approach suggests they want to price based on the value and size of the customer.
A startup with a small team and one data source might get a lower price, whereas a larger company with many entities and integrations will pay more.
What are the Alternatives to Cube?
If Cube doesn’t fit your needs—whether due to pricing, limitations in data modeling, or lack of full drill-down—there are several alternatives worth considering, and we cover three of them below.
How Does Cube Software Compare to Datarails?
Datarails and Cube are often compared as they are two of the best FP&A solutions that cater specifically to SMBs and startups. Datarails is a financial planning and analysis platform that automates data consolidation, reporting, and planning, while enabling finance teams to continue using their own Excel spreadsheets and financial models.
What are Datarail’s Standout Features?
- Easy implementation: 1-2 weeks for first output. 6-12 weeks for full implementation. Unlike all other vendors, Datarails takes on the entire implementation until the customer is satisfied.
- Superior customer service: For your entire time with Datarails, customers get dedicated FP&A experts and regular catch-ups. In the words of one reviewer, “Datarails provides exceptional customer service before, during, and after implementation. They were with us every step of customization and building reports, and dashboards. The tool provided accessibility and timeliness of information to the business leaders and business analysts.”
- The only native Excel solution: Datarails is the only truly native Excel solution, so users who know Excel can perform just about anything in Datarails.
- Full, granular drilldown: In contrast to Cube, Datarails offers “full drilldowns in seconds” according to customers.
- Integrates with any source system: Datarails Integrates with any source system, including CRM, ERP, and HRIS.
- Powerful workflows: Workflows allow for better collaboration, audit control, and automatic source data updates.
- Complete flexibility: Datarails supports unlimited dimensions. and allows you to keep any existing models or choose pre-defined ones.
- Integration across your business to provide a complete source of truth: Over 70 available software integrations, including sales, marketing, HR, and accounting. This helps transform business and move from “multiple versions of truth” to “one version of truth.”
- AI: Datarails is an AI-enabled FP&A tool, providing industry-leading AI functions such as DataRails AI, the Gen AI chatbot for finance, and Storyboards, the AI-generated finance presentations.
Datarails has dozens of case studies on its website highlighting how it has improved financial performance and capabilities for various companies.
Here are a few examples:
- How Datarails Saved NovaTech Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars and Four Weeks a Year
- Montreal Mini-Storage’s Growth Secret: Using Datarails to Save $100k (CAD) in Cost Efficiencies and Up to $500k in Productivity Costs
- How Datarails Changed the Insights Game for Zehnder Communications
Check out our full page of Datarails reviews.
How Does Cube Compare to Anaplan?
Anaplan was founded in 2006 and caters to a wide range of customers, serving a “connected planning” platform. Anaplan has complex analysis features and has above-average adaptability to business and data structural changes.
Anaplan has a comprehensive solution that can be used to model any type of planning requirement and level of complexity, including planning models that incorporate data down to transactional levels.
Anaplan clients include corporate multinationals such as Coca-Cola and Dollar General, which have petabytes of financial data to handle.
They are the most likely buyers of this impressive and highly sophisticated Excel-killing software. These larger companies also have the resources for the lengthy implementation required, which takes up to a year.
Anaplan can run impressive what-if scenario modeling on a cloud-based platform that allows many users to be synced with the system. All of this makes it very attractive for its target companies.
Pros:
- Robust functionality allowing users to revert or view a model at any point in its history.
- Above-average and consistent system upgrades.
- The graph display and KPI display options are endless.
- Consistent assumptions and calculations occur in real time.
- Flexibility to quickly develop in response to business needs.
- Robust history functionality allowing users to revert or view a model at any point in its history.
Cons:
- Endless option plans and customizable fields leave many customers overwhelmed.
- Integration with legacy systems is complex and resource-intensive.
- Anaplan doesn’t have prices on the website, but reviewers point to the tool as one of the more expensive options.
- Difficult to implement in-house. Usually need an experienced team or outside help.
Jedox
Jedox is one of the best overall options for finance teams as it is one of the few FP&A solutions that caters to small, medium, and large businesses. The company was founded in 2002 and has been a stock corporation since 2008.
Although most FP&A solutions provide Enterprise Performance Management, Jedox specifically advertises as an EPM platform. Additionally, customers have the option of cloud-based or on-premise models, which is a nice attraction point for many.
Jedox has strong integrations and contains one of the largest numbers of well-rounded integrations.
Here are a few examples:
- BI and Analytics: Microsoft Power BI, Qlik Sense, QlikView, Tableau, and more.
- Databases: Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle Database, IBM DB2, SAP HANA, MySQL, and any other relational database via JDBC driver.
- ERP/ CRM: SAP ERP, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365/Nav, Oracle Netsuite, Infor, and more.
- File-based connections: File-based data sources include Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access CSV, JSON, XML, Directories, and more.
Pros:
- 14-day free trial. Jedox remains one of the few FP&A solutions that still provides this.
- Above average scalability thanks to the wide range and large number of customers.
- Flexible modeling capabilities.
- AI-assisted planning is especially helpful for corporate management.
- All-in-one performance management solution that controls the entire value chain.
Cons:
- Complex projects require expertise from specialized consultants.
- Many customers reported “a need for ongoing maintenance and support during upgrades”.
- Needs coding or professional services to take full advantage of all the functions.
- The Excel add-in is less responsive when running with other add-ins. This makes it less efficient than native Excel software.
- Difficulty in creating and customizing dashboards and workflows.
Conclusion
Cube is one of the leading FP&A software solutions for startups and small businesses. Cube has a 4.5-4.7 rating on all of the leading software review sites and comes with many functions that will reduce manual work and increase insights into financial data.
Ultimately, Cube works best for:
- Startups and small businesses.
- Companies looking for a cheap and basic plan to gain better insights into FP&A.
- Finance teams that rely heavily on Mac or Google Sheets
However, companies that are looking for an FP&A solution that covers the following:
- Completely native Excel that reduces onboarding time and doesn’t require coding knowledge.
- Solutions that are built for scalability and growth.
- Unlimited dimensions.
- Industry-leading AI tools.
- Easy-to-use workflows and audit control
These organizations will find Datarails a better fit for their needs.
Check out Datarails, the Cube alternative
Cube Software: Frequently Asked Questions
Cube handles both local and reporting currencies and converts them using your configured exchange rates—useful for international reporting.
Cube connects to ERPs, CRMs, HR systems, and more to automatically consolidate data across departments or entities into a central platform.
Yes. While the Excel add-in is Windows-only, Mac users can use Cube via Google Sheets or its web interface with similar functionality.
Most companies go live in a couple of months. Cube’s team supports setup, and the Excel/Sheets interface keeps onboarding relatively simple for most customers.
Cube is designed for small to mid-sized businesses. Larger enterprises may find their modeling limits restrictive.
