Performa
Contact us
Compare

The honest comparison.
By category, not by brand.

Four families of real alternatives if you're evaluating Performa, with the honesty to say where Performa is not the right choice. The real competitor is Excel: every active Performa client today came from there.

The four families

Who shows up in front of the client with us.

  • Enterprise EPM platforms

    SAP PaPM, Oracle PCMCS, OneStream, CCH Tagetik, IBM Cognos

    Strength

    Unlimited power, integration with the same vendor's ERP, global corporate references.

    Weakness for our target

    Licenses from €100k+/year, 6-18 month implementation with certified consultants, 3-year TCO €300k-1M+, dedicated teams required.

    When it's the right choice

    Multinational corporates with dedicated FP&A teams and six-figure implementation budgets.

    Performa vs

    Not attacking: if you are in their tier, they have support structures and integrations that Performa does not replicate.

  • Generalist FP&A "modelers"

    Anaplan, Board, Workday Adaptive, Prophix, Vena, Jedox

    Strength

    Flexible, powerful platforms for planning, budgeting and forecasting. Large modeler communities.

    Weakness for our target

    ABC is not native: it must be built with formulas and hypercubes. The ABC model becomes an internal project that runs 6+ months and depends on the "guru" who wrote it.

    When it's the right choice

    Companies that need a full FP&A platform (planning + consolidation + budget + reporting) and treat ABC as a sub-use-case.

    Performa vs

    Coexistence. If you already have Anaplan or Board and model everything else there: use them for ABC too. If you don't have them and just need ABC, Performa costs and weighs a fraction.

  • International ABC-native software

    CostPerform (NL), MyABCM (BR), PlaidCloud (US)

    Strength

    Pioneers of ABC methodology (CostPerform since the '90s), global scale, pre-built verticals.

    Weakness for our target

    No structured European sales presence outside their home markets. Enterprise-oriented positioning, complex setup, limited EU data-residency options.

    When it's the right choice

    International companies needing a global ABC tool across multiple jurisdictions.

    Performa vs

    For European SMBs our edge is fit: GDPR-native, EU data residency, English + Italian support, a lighter TCO and a shorter time-to-value.

  • Excel + macros + PowerBI

    The real incumbent

    Strength

    Apparent zero cost, total familiarity, full control.

    Weakness for our target

    Not versioned, not auditable, single-user in practice, not reproducible months later, dies with the person who wrote it. Maintenance costs more than the license of a serious tool.

    When it's the right choice

    If you are single-product, with three cost drivers that never change, and you update the ABC model once a year.

    Performa vs

    Our real competitor. Every active Performa client today comes from Excel — not from another SaaS. The real switch is "out of the spreadsheet".

Matrix

Eleven dimensions, five categories.

No column wins on everything. The matrix is meant to de-select categories unsuited to your case, not to declare winners.

Dimension Highlighted column: Performa Excel FP&A Intl. ABC Enterprise EPM
Native ABC (activities + drivers as primitives) Available Limited Not available Available Limited
Time-to-value Weeks Immediate but fragile 3-9 months 3-6 months 6-18 months
Indicative 3-year TCO < €30k Hidden but high €60k-300k €50k-200k €300k-1M+
Multi-tenant for advisors Available Not available Not available Limited Not available
Integrated timesheet → rules Available Not available Limited Limited Limited
Computed drivers (Sum, Count, GroupSum, Residual) Available Limited Limited Available Available
Coverage of non-invoiced costs (staff, depreciation, manual) Available Limited Available Available Available
Drill-down to general-ledger line Available Not available Limited Available Available
Isolated, versioned scenarios Available Not available Available Available Available
EU data residency (GDPR-native) Available N/A Limited Not available Limited
In-product AI Copilot Available Not available Limited Limited Limited

Legend: ✓ native · ~ present but limited / needs building · ✗ absent. Public sources: vendor sites, Gartner Peer Insights, PeerSpot, official documentation. Review conducted August 2026.

Honesty as a weapon

When we are not the right choice.

  • If you need statutory group consolidation with elimination entries, integrated budgeting and forecasting, IFRS planning: you need a full EPM platform (SAP, Oracle, OneStream, Tagetik).
  • If you're already on Anaplan, Board, Adaptive: model ABC there. Replacing a planning platform just to do ABC makes no sense.
  • If you're single-product or have three cost drivers that never change: Excel is still enough.

Performa exists for those in between: the management accounting advisor serving multiple SMBs, the CFO who wants a serious ABC model without buying an entire EPM platform. The models in production today reach 369 nodes and 340 allocation rules — the engine holds.

The next step

Bring us your real case.

If you were evaluating one of the four families above, send us the context: we'll try to de-position ourselves honestly before even selling.

Write to us