Best Business Plan Software of 2021

What Is Tarkenton GoSmallBiz?

Tarkenton’s GoSmallBiz is a one-stop solution small business planning software. 

The all-inclusive membership includes: 

• Business plan builder with an easy, wizard-based interface
• Unlimited business consultations with an experienced team
• Customer Relationships Manager (CRM) to streamline your communications
• Marketing dashboard with crucial social media integrations and metrics
• Website builder with free hosting
• Website analysis by marketing professionals (with a full, written report in two days)
• Human resources (HR) document templates and automated builder
• Corporate minutes to keep track of events and stay compliant

You can also enjoy a discount on legal services from a vast network of providers, as well as an extensive library of business documents and legal forms. 

Pricing 

GoSmallBiz comes at a set price of $39/month, billed month-to-month.

This gives you access to an impressive range of small business tools—from the business planning software to the CRM and HR functions.

Tarkenton GoSmallBiz Best Features

• Easy-to-use wizard
• Loan and investor pitch-friendly end-result
• All-inclusive and affordable pricing
• One-stop-shop for all things a small business needs
• Unlimited consulting to grow your company
• Financial projections made easy (and spreadsheet-free)
• Possibly the best business plan app

What We Disliked

• No accounting integrations
• Better for investor pitching, not long-term business planning

Tarkenton GoSmallBiz User Reviews

GoSmallBiz is one of the oldest companies on our list, with a history going back to 1996. They started out as an affordable expert consulting for small businesses—and this is still a key part of their offer. 

In the span of over two decades, they’ve helped 400,000+ businesses grow and increase sales. Their reputation is squeaky clean, with clients praising the expertise, high-value advice, and helpful one-stop solution they received. 

As far as the business plan generator goes, GoSmallBiz has been ranked as one of the best options for small businesses—since it provides straightforward but comprehensive solutions that attract investors.

We Recommend Tarkenton GoSmallBiz For…

If you’re running a small company, GoSmallBiz is the best business plan software for you. It’s easy to use, detailed, and cost-effective—everything an up-and-coming entrepreneur needs.

What Is LivePlan?

LivePlan is a detailed business plan builder, great for one-time plan generation, as well as long-term tracking.

Its step-by-step plan-building process is extensive, yielding a robust final product. It has 500+ sample plans for all niches—from product development and real estate to NGOs.

It’s an excellent way for startups and enthusiastic entrepreneurs to organize their ideas into a value proposition for investors.

But this business plan app goes beyond that too. 

The financial planning tool goes into great detail to get granular projections and optimize your earnings. LivePlan integrates with Quickbooks and Xero to track performance and compare how your plan stacks up to the results.

You can use LivePlan’s user-friendly interface to prepare investor-ready business programs and stay on top of operations through the detailed dashboard.

Pricing 

The business plan wizard offers two different packages:

• Standard plan—$20/month(or $15/month billed annually) with step-by-step guidelines, 500+ sample plans, derailed financial forecasting—everything you need to get started
• Premium plan— $40/month (or $30/month billed monthly) including everything from the Standard package, plus benchmark data, performance indicators, and other features to achieve sustainable growth

If all you need is a one-time solution, just get the Standard plan. 

But LivePlan is an invaluable tool for day-to-day tracking too. To build a business from the ground up and continue developing, consider Premium membership. 

What LivePlan business plan reviews value the most is that both packages come with a 60-day money-back guarantee, so you can try them risk-free.

LivePlan Best Features

• Detailed planning with an easy-to-use wizard
• 500+ samples for different industries
• Financial projections and tracking
• Accounting software integrations
• The option to add collaborators to work on plans
• 60-day money-back guarantee

What We Disliked

• Steep learning curve
• Time-consuming planning (because of the detailed business plan form)

LivePlan User Reviews

LivePlan is one of the best-liked business planning tools for step-by-step plan creation and financial tracking. 

Users praise the simple, beginner-friendly layout with helpful explanations and examples. They’re also happy with the smooth accounting integrations, though some say the financial planning could improve.

We Recommend LivePlan For…

LivePlan is the best business plan app for creating in-depth plans from the ground up. It’s great for small to mid-size ventures in practically all niches—from personal services to waste disposal and everything in-between.

What Is Upmetrics?

Upmetrics is a cloud-based business plan writing software that helps you: 

• Generate, customize, and fine-tune plans
• Track your planning progress
• Summarize and forecast financials 
• Invite associates to work on your plan
• Collaborate with real-time feedback
• Publish, export, or share business plans online

You can choose the best business plan template for your niche from its rich library for quick and efficient planning. With its full customization functionality, you can create a high-value business plan even if this is your first time writing one.

Pricing 

All Upmetrics plans come with a 15-day money-back guarantee. Their costs are all-inclusive—you won’t get any hidden fees as an unpleasant surprise.

But if you’re looking for free business plans, this software is not the right choice for you, as there is no free plan.

Solo

The Solo plan will set you back $5.42/month billed annually or $9/month billed monthly. 

For this price, you get one workspace with up to two members and five canvases. It’s an affordable starter pack for new businesses, though most will eventually have to upgrade. 

Team

The Team plan costs $8.25/month billed annually or $14/month billed monthly. 

It’s perfect for mid-size companies and includes five workspaces, up to five members, and eight canvases for each workspace.

Premium

If you’re looking for the best business plan template software for established businesses, the Premium plan is perfect for you!

It costs $29.09/month billed annually or $49/month billed monthly. 

You get unlimited workspaces, members, and canvases, which comes in handy for large companies or professional business consultants looking to streamline their work. 

Upmetrics Best Features

• Easy business plan writing
• Industry-specific templates
• Fully customizable 
• Straightforward collaboration
• Neat financial planning
• Handy integrations—Salesforce, SurveyMonkey, and more

What We Disliked

• No business progress dashboard
• More templates would be useful

Upmetrics User Reviews

As far as ease-of-use goes, clients rank Upmetrics as the best business plan builder on the market. With a slick layout and intuitive UI, it’s very popular among startup owners, as well as large businesses in need of a quick, high-quality planning tool.

We Recommend Upmetrics For…

Upmetrics is a great all-round option for small to mid-size businesses and consultants looking for a process speed-up tool.

What Is Business Plan Pro?

Business Plan Pro is a competitor research and lender-ready business plan maker.

It’s a comprehensive resource tool with up-to-date information on everything you need to start a business—niche overview, legal advice, planning guidance.

Business Plan Pro helps you create an accurate financial plan faster than ever. With the table wizard and integrated financial and spreadsheet support, you can plan for up to 10 years in advance. The software does the heavy lifting for you—all you have to do is add the numbers.

Plus, you can save tons of time with the software’s business plan template features. To speed up your planning process, select from 500+ sample templates, and follow the step-by-step instructions. The software also generates automatic charts and graphs for you—just enter the numbers and you’re ready to go.

Pricing 

You can buy a Business Plan Pro Standard license for $99.95 as a one-time fee. With this edition, you get everything you need to create a killer business plan.

But the Premier package includes additional features to help you get funding, plus a plan vs. actual financial analysis function. All this will set you back $199.95 (cut down to $159.95 at the time of writing this article).

Business Plan Pro Best Features

• 500+ business plan templates
• Lender-preferred formats
• 9,000+ industry profiles for easy research
• Automatic charts and graphs
• Easy financial planning
• Data, accuracy, and spelling check at every step
• Affordable one-time fee license

What We Disliked

• Clunky layout in need of an update
• It doesn’t work on Windows 10

Business Plan Pro User Reviews

Clients praise this reliable software for business plans but warn about the Windows 10 incompatibility issue and the occasional freezes. While Business Plan Pro is a useful tool that makes competitor research and business planning a breeze, virtually all reviewers agree that it seems overdue for an update. Here’s to hoping one comes out very soon!

We Recommend Business Plan Pro For…

Business Plan Pro is great for startups and investor/loan-seeking businesses who want a one-stop solution for research, general planning, and financial forecasting.

What Is Business Power Tools?

Business Power Tools is a suite of solutions for planning, funding, and growing a profitable business. It’s a line of tools that goes beyond the simple business plan builder. It offers:

• Business planning and financial modeling to set the groundwork for your company and win over investors
• Protection and legal compliance with 165+ contract templates
• Contact management with a comprehensive CRM (everything from leads to proposals and transactions)
• Marketing and sales plan functionality     
• Finance tools that work like a virtual CFO—from funding resources to shareholder tracking and plain English financial contracts
• HR features like the Employee Manual Builder, customizable policies, correspondence, and contract templates—making it one of the best business plan software for contracting
• PR & Media package with press releases, media calendar, and complete, easy-to-understand tutorials
• Research & Development tools, including product plans, contracts for R&D, and even Excel-based calculators that crunch the numbers for you

Pricing 

You can try out the software for free for two weeks with instant access to the system. They don’t ask for a credit card to give you the demo. 

After that, the all-in-one subscription is $97/month (or $970/year) for the first user.

If you just want the strategic planning and finance tools (the actual business plan generator,) membership is $27/month or $270/year for one user. 

The HR features alone will set you back $47/month or $470/year. 

The Marketing, PR, Sales & Social Media package is $37/month or $370 per year. 

You can add new users for just $1/month and have granular control over their permissions and access. All the plans come with a 60-day money-back guarantee. 

Business Power Tools Best Features

• Affordable business plan wizard
• Strategic, tactical, and operational planning powers
• Full-featured planning and operations solution
• Hundreds of contracts and legal documents
• Additional users for just $1/month
• Desktop and web-based tools

What We Disliked

• No mobile version
• Rudimentary UI

Business Power Tools User Reviews

Business Power Tools is well-loved for being one of the most customer-centric companies in the business solutions software space. It’s a favorite among serial entrepreneurs and business professors because of the vast scope of features it packs in its high-value subscriptions. 

Some users have mentioned the outdated layout, but other than that, reviews are overwhelmingly positive.

We Recommend Business Power Tools For…

Business Power Tools is a dependable one-stop solution for starting and running your business. It’s not just a simple software for business planning—it’s also a full-stack sales, marketing, HR, and finance solution.

We highly recommend it for new companies looking for the best value and ready to get on top of their operations. Its desktop version is one of the best business plan software options for Mac and Windows users.

What Is PlanGuru?

PlanGuru is a robust financial planning and analytics tool with some business plan functionality. It’s an excellent choice for advanced users, especially managers and owners who want to improve their company finances.

PlanGuru’s essential functions include:

• Financial forecasts for your income, balance sheet, and cash flow statement
• Ledger import and analytics to build rolling forecasts—QuickBooks, QuickBooks Online, Xero & Excel direct integrations
• Full financial reports with just a few clicks every month
• Data-driven management and “what if” scenarios to evaluate strategic decisions—a feature that makes it one of the best business plan software for management

Essentially, PlanGuru helps you create a budget, connects to your actual books, and crunches the numbers to tell you how you’re doing.

It’s one of the most comprehensive financial plan tools on our list since it takes you through every step of the process. But this also means you need some financial and accounting knowledge to get started. 

As a business plan builder, PlanGuru is excellent for making decisions powered by data and optimizing profit. But it won’t provide business plan templates or hold your hand throughout the process—you’re on your own with this one.

Pricing 

The cloud-based and desktop versions of the business plan program will set you back:

• $99/month with $29/month for additional users (the cloud-based version comes with a discount at the time of writing this article—$39/month)
• $899/year with $299/year for additional users

However, it’s worth mentioning there are several desktop-only features, including:

• QuickBooks Desktop import
• Payroll functionality
• Break-even point calculation
• Business valuation utility
• Unlimited forecast consolidation

The cloud-based app, on the other hand, has analytics and reporting tools right in the dashboard. It’s the perfect small business planning software.

With the desktop version, you can use PlanGuru Analytics and PlanGuru Advanced Reporting add-ins, but they’re not integrated.

You can try out PlanGuru with their 30-day free trial, which includes the full functionality, except printing or exporting reports. 

PlanGuru Best Features

• Sophisticated financial planning
• 20+ forecasting methods
• Accounting software integrations
• Analytics and reporting 
• Scenario running to power decisions
• Non-financial data forecasting 
• Free trial

What We Disliked

• Not beginner-friendly
• No pre-made business templates

PlanGuru User Reviews

PlanGuru receives tons of positive business plan software reviews. Its clients give it excellent ratings—4.2/5 on Capterra, 4.2/5 on GetApp, and 8/10 on TrustRadius, among others. 

The major point of praise is the sheer number of functions to support financial planning, though many users also commend the excellent customer service. 

However, virtually everyone warns future buyers that the software is not beginner-friendly, so if you lack fundamental accounting literacy, look elsewhere.

We Recommend PlanGuru For…

PlanGuru provides invaluable finance tools for small to mid-size businesses looking to boost profits and improve strategic decision-making.

What Is iPlanner?

iPlanner is a web-based business plan creator for individual entrepreneurs, mentor-lead work, and larger teams.

Starting a new business? Choose from one of the pre-made templates—for startup ventures, seed capital attraction, financial planning, and more.

From the executive summary to the marketing and sales plan, iPlanner has sleek templates to provide structure and attract investors. 

If you need additional support, iPlanner’s mentors can review your projects in real-time and provide advice.  

Apart from the small business and startup functionality, iPlanner can optimize planning for larger enterprises. It can speed up your annual planning with easy financials and straightforward collaborations.

Pricing 

iPlanner is not a free business plan software. It has three paid subscription tiers and no free trial. All membership levels include business modeling, planning, and financials.

Professional

With this plan, you can plan one project with an unlimited number of collaborators. It’s great for new ventures and smaller businesses looking for value at an affordable price. 

The plan costs:

• $24 for three months
• $39 for six months
• $55 for a year 

Corporate

With the corporate plan, you can create a set number of projects with unlimited team members. You’ll get a dedicated workplace for your organization to review progress in the same space. It’s the perfect interactive business planner.

Pricing depends on the pre-agreed number of projects, starting at 12: 

• $59 for six months
• $93 for a year

The subscription goes up if you want to work on more projects—for example, 500 projects will set you back $1,566 for six months or $2,345 per year.

Corporate Pro

The Corporate Pro pricing is available on a quote only basis. It’s perfect for consultants and mentoring organizations since it includes additional features like: 

• Action planning functionality
• Budget vs. actual financial statements and analysis
• Review meetings
• Bespoke business plan writing

iPlanner Best Features

• Small-business-friendly functionality
• Mentorship available
• Easy planning 
• Best business plan template collection
• Excellent collaboration functionality
• Simple financials

What We Disliked

• Online-only
• Outdated layout

iPlanner User Reviews

We’ll just say it: 

iPlanner isn’t the best-known business plan maker software. It’s well-liked by users, but you can’t find many reviews online. 

On Capterra, the app has 4.8/5, based on just nine reviews. Still, the high rating speaks for itself.

iPlanner clients love how the tool sped up their planning process and made collaboration easy, even with multiple stakeholders involved. Price-wise, most users are happy, though some argue the app could be cheaper.

The only real downside that iPlanner clients mention is the lack of an offline version. Sure, you can export your documents, but you can only use the software online. If you travel a lot and lack a stable Internet connection, this might be a significant limitation.

We Recommend iPlanner For…

iPlanner is a great online business plan software for small businesses and startups looking for high-value advice and mentorship.

It’s also a reliable option for larger organizations and consultancies that want to streamline their process and speed up the strategic planning procedure.

What Is Bizplan?

Bizplan is an interactive business planner, financial tool, and funding platform for ambitious startups.

The cool thing about Bizplan is that it takes you from ground zero to securing investors in no time—and it makes the process easy for you. Here’s how it works:

• Create your plan with the step-by-step wizard. It’s one of the most user-friendly tools and it doesn’t compromise the quality either.
• Get your finances in order by filling in a simple questionnaire—Bizplan will take care of the rest. You get balance sheets, income statements, and break-even analysis at the click of a button. 
• Raise capital with Fundable—Bizplan’s fundraising platform, which has granted over $500 million to startups worldwide.

Plus, Bizplan is a fantastic educational resource for entrepreneurs. If you’re a newbie, this is the perfect software for your startup business plan. Their University section features 650 masterclass videos and 1000+ how-to articles on everything from getting venture capital to choosing the ideal HR professional. 

Pricing 

Bizplan’s all-inclusive plan gives you access to all features—the business plan wizard, financial tools, and funding platform.

You can pay $29 month-by-month, get a yearly subscription for $20.75/month (billed at $249/year), or enjoy lifetime access for $349. 

BizPlan Best Features

• Simple, user-friendly wizard 
• Fully-guided business plan writing
• Full-featured financials
• Investor-ready plans
• Direct funding platform access
• Educational resources
• Lifetime access available

What We Disliked

• Non-customizable graphics
• No mobile support

BizPlan User Reviews

BizPlan is the ideal software for a startup business plan. It gets lots of positive reviews from startup founders and serial entrepreneurs as a one-stop planning and financing tool. 

Users love that it made their planning process easier and less overwhelming, though they point out the learning curve is rather steep. The lack of customizable graphics is another common point of complaint.

We Recommend BizPlan For…

BizPlan is the best business plan app for new ventures—they help you create an impressive plan and win over investors. The built-in financials and direct access to a fundraising platform can make the life of startup owners easier.