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Anaplan vs Infor M3 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Anaplan
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
Business Performance Management (2nd), Production Planning (5th), Predictive Analytics (4th)
Infor M3
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
ERP (11th), Activity Based Costing Software (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

Anaplan and Infor M3 aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Anaplan is designed for Business Performance Management and holds a mindshare of 13.1%, down 14.6% compared to last year.
Infor M3, on the other hand, focuses on ERP, holds 5.2% mindshare, up 3.9% since last year.
Business Performance Management
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

Antonio Flor - PeerSpot reviewer
Real-time data integration enhances operational efficiency and flexibility
As a client developer and solutions architect, I use Anaplan for building modules and deploying logic end-to-end. I work closely with the business in an agile manner to ensure the model aligns with business needs Anaplan offers flexibility in building different options within the platform. The…
Pravinkumar Bhandare - PeerSpot reviewer
The solution is a reliable, stable, and cost-saving ERP
Different countries have different finance practices, but I believe they need to fine-tune their practices to match industry standards. Practices vary from country to country, for example, in India, it is different than in the US. Sometimes, clients require alternate processes that are not standard, but they claim that these are the standard practices in their industry. At those times, we feel that the option required is not available with the solution. This is not the case only for Infor M3. Other ERPs also have the same problem. We can't mold the ERP to fit the customer's requirements. There are some standards in place because many screens and programs are integrated into the finance process. We can't make modifications to fit the client's requirements. The customer needs specific screens for different users, so if that program is in place, we have one planning tool in Infor M3. Planners need to know all things related to manufacturing, purchase, and sales in order to make decisions about planning. In one of my clients, I came across the requirement that they were asking for user authority in the planning tool. This is not the case though, because all planners need to know all things. However, on the manufacturing side, we can say that the person who is working with machine operations only needs to know machine-related information and doesn't need knowledge of products or sales. That standard industry is available, so we can give access to the user as per their needs. If the maintenance people are there, we can give them limited access, but if the planner is there, we need to give them all access according to industry standards. However, this requirement from the client side is not possible with the standard Infor software, but Infor can consider implementing it if the need is larger for many customers.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"This product has a very good modeling feature, and its graphical representation of visualizations has also been valuable."
"Anaplan provides 130 GB of cloud storage for organizations to use as part of their license."
"It's simple to use with a lot of functions."
"Anaplan's connected planning feature is its most valuable aspect, allowing for seamless financial planning, HR planning, and updates."
"You don't need to have a programming language to use Anaplan."
"Anaplan's scalability stands out compared to other platforms, especially for scenario planning and what-if analysis."
"Technical support has been good."
"Anaplan's strongest feature is that its GUI is very modern and user-friendly."
"M3 has several useful features for managing supply chains, production, and customer orders. It's an excellent system that helps me meet all my requirements for fixed costs."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to cover different types of activities, and the requirement for maintenance and data is very low."
"Infor M3 has ready-made processes, which provide the best workflows."
"It's simple to use. You don't need any complex training to use it."
"provides all modules, supply chain, HR - it's good for management."
"Overall, I rate Infor M3 nine out of ten for a positive experience."
"The most valuable feature of Infor M3 is the level of detail it has about the different manufacturing processes compared to other ERP solutions. Other ERP solutions provide the same level of integration as Infor M3, but Infor M3 specializes in several functions, such as planning and manufacturing."
"Infor comes up with different tools every year, and they are all compatible with Infor M3, which makes it a more reliable and trustworthy tool. The integration is very smooth."
 

Cons

"The tool needs to work on its integration with MS Excel and MS Word. The tool does not allow data analysis in spreadsheets which is possible on other platforms. I want the solution to be more collaborative to facilitate decision-making in organizations."
"One area of improvement is conditional formatting. It's not very practical, and you need to specify additional formatting."
"One key area of improvement is pricing."
"Anaplan's workflow component is probably the biggest area for improvement. I'd also like to see Anaplan add an ad hoc reporting tool that allows users to query things. It's going to factor into how you design your data set and your models, but I'd like the ability to create ad hoc queries against the data that's in there."
"Automation needs to be built into this solution."
"Anaplan could enhance its user interface by including a more user-friendly API."
"When there is a lot of data, it sometimes takes long to load."
"Anaplan could be improved with a stronger consolidation module."
"Sometimes, M3 alone cannot handle all the planning functionalities required by a customer. It has to be used along with industry-specific planning tools because M3 doesn't have all the features. However, no product can handle all the requirements of all the industries. There will be some shortcomings in all the products. Though this is an area for improvement, it is not a very serious shortfall or limitation. It can be covered by using third-party planning applications that integrate with Infor M3."
"The solution must provide more learning documents."
"It should be improved in terms of procurement of the supply chain and business intelligence analysis. We have the Infor BI tool, but it's more complex to use than, for example, Power Pivot or QlikView in the market."
"Infor should create one product to handle the whole business. At present, they make ERP systems for each type of business, and then sell additional features. I would like to have one system handing all organizations or all the business in deep ways and not have to buy additional features."
"It would be great if Infor added some new workflows in the finance module. I'd also like to see better integration with third-party applications."
"The solution is stable but not agile."
"Customer support from Infor is responsive and addresses issues, but the response time can be delayed, which sometimes leads me to explore private vendors."
"An area for improvement in Infor M3 is training. There should be more training resources available for clients. Clients also find it challenging to get consultants or integrators for Infor M3. The product doesn't have enough resources in the market to help clients."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Anaplan is a bit pricier compared to its competitors - the license costs about $4,000 per user annually."
"The entry-level is anywhere from about $30,000 to $50,000 a year, however, it does go up significantly after that depending on the complexity and how much space you're using."
"The price of the solution is expensive."
"A value-for-money product and a very reasonable price compared to competitors like SAP or IBM."
"The license is a yearly subscription. There are three licensing tiers: the model builder, planner, and the reporting."
"This is an expensive product and if the price were reduced then it would attract more customers."
"We are currently using a free workspace license for 90 days. We are satisfied with the price of the solution. There are additional costs if you want more storage, the default limit is 250 GB."
"This is a yearly subscription. So a customer initially buys a workspace and specifies how much GB they want. The minimum starts at around 30 GB. You can buy multiple workspaces."
"Infor M3 is a tier-two product and is cheaper than tier-one products such as SAP and Oracle. However, it is more expensive than some other tier-two products. The licensing cost is dependent on the number of users. Also, if you purchase other tools from Infor as a package, then there may be other discounts offered."
"I'm not part of the team that manages Infor M3 pricing, but it depends on the client, integration, ship-out, and training levels. You get the price from the solution provider, but it would be best to discuss it because nothing is set in stone regarding pricing."
"There is a yearly licensing cost. The price is based on the modules you need. There are several modules, such as HR module, accounting module, sales module, scheduling module, etc., and the price will vary depending on the number of modules you choose. The customers always say that it's very expensive. It can cost a lot of money if your organization is huge. It's not implemented in a lot of organizations in my country because it's too expensive."
"The tool’s licensing is yearly."
"If you compare Infor M3 to SAP, Infor M3 is less expensive than SAP, but if you compare Infor M3 to Dynamics 365, Infor M3 is more expensive. It also depends on the model that you buy. It depends on whether you have the complete package or whether you have separate models."
"The cost is between $50 and $100 per user annually."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Retailer
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Wholesaler/Distributor
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What are your main use cases for Anaplan?
Anaplan is an industry-leading cloud-based corporate performance management (CPM) platform that combines business planning and analytics in a single solution. It is designed to assist organizations...
Is Board better than Anaplan as a Business Intelligence (BI) solution?
We've had several FP&A departments include Anaplan in their analytics discussions, and while BI information IS generated, the focus is generally on compiling input from various sources and simu...
Is Anaplan better than SAP ERP?
There are different aspects of both Anaplan and SAP ERP that I like and dislike. Anaplan improves forecast accuracy and drives up the quality of analytics. Rather than spending all of their time co...
What do you like most about Infor M3?
The product's initial setup phase is easy.
What needs improvement with Infor M3?
Some customers expect more out-of-box reports, and in some areas, they should provide more reports. However, Infor has introduced a report tool so that key users or global champions can generate re...
What is your primary use case for Infor M3?
Infor M3 is specifically dominant in fashion, food and beverages, and chemicals manufacturing; it works into micro-verticals. In food and beverage, it specializes in meat processing, confectionery,...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Infor Lawson M3, Lawson M3
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

HP, ForeScout, DocuSign, EAT, Pandora, Aviva, Intel Security, Zalora
Grosfillex, High Five Sportswear, L_derach, OTK Group, PHS Group, Propper International, Red Wing Shoe Company, Reynolds Catering Supplies, Saudi Diesel, Sheetz, Zeppelin, Zodiac Aerospace
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle, Anaplan, IBM and others in Business Performance Management. Updated: August 2025.
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