Anaplan vs SAS Activity-Based Management comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Anaplan and SAS are both solutions in the Business Performance Management category. Anaplan is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.4, while SAS is ranked #19. Anaplan holds a 5.9% mindshare in BPM, compared to SAS’s 2.5% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of Anaplan users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 20% of SAS users who would recommend it.

Anaplan

Read 36 Anaplan reviews

6,841 Views
4,105 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

SAS Activity-Based Management

Read 5 SAS Activity-Based Management reviews

1,223 Views
1,223 Comparison Views

20% willing to recommend

Anaplan

SAS Activity-Based Management

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

SAS Activity-Based Management and Anaplan compete in business modeling and planning. Anaplan often holds the upper hand due to its flexibility and scalability, appealing to a broader range of businesses seeking comprehensive solutions.

Features: SAS Activity-Based Management is valuable for detailed financial analysis, cost allocation, and OLAP functionality. It supports intricate data requirements and is designed for specific accounting projects like cost allocation. Anaplan offers real-time data integration, collaboration features, and easy modeling capabilities. Its cloud-based platform simplifies data updates and supports advanced predictive analytics.

Room for Improvement: SAS Activity-Based Management could improve in simplifying its complexity and deployment time, and enhancing user experience with more intuitive interfaces. Anaplan may enhance its AI capabilities, offer more affordable training options, and further streamline its integration processes.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SAS Activity-Based Management often requires dedicated resources for deployment, which can be complex and time-consuming. Anaplan's cloud-based infrastructure offers a simpler deployment process with faster setup times and adaptable service models, enhancing user experience during implementation.

Pricing and ROI: SAS Activity-Based Management generally involves higher upfront costs, which may affect ROI. However, its analytical precision might justify the expense for some organizations. Anaplan presents a versatile pricing model with lower initial costs, offering quicker ROI and higher perceived value due to its cost-effective nature and robust features.

To learn more, read our detailed Anaplan vs. SAS Activity-Based Management Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Anaplan vs. SAS Activity-Based Management

September 2026

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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

Ranking in Business Performance Management

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Production Planning (2nd), Predictive Analytics (4th)

SAS Activity-Based Management

Ranking in Business Performance Management

19th

Average Rating

5.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Business Performance Management category, the mindshare of Anaplan is 5.9%, down from 10.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAS Activity-Based Management is 2.5%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Business Performance Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Anaplan	5.9%
SAS Activity-Based Management	2.5%
Other	91.6%

Business Performance Management

Featured Reviews

Segun Oladele

Associate Manager, Accounting at BIC

Reporting and forecasting have become more automated through intuitive data organization and flexible number calendarization

I do not have any improvements from my own end at this time.There are some specific features or functionality that I would like to see included in Anaplan in the future. From what we have been using, I do not think there is any specific one because we import and export numbers. Importing and exporting with CSV files is already available in Anaplan. I do not have any special requests from Anaplan. I still decided to give Anaplan an eight because I have not seen a specific dashboard on Anaplan. Anaplan could have a dashboard where you can see the flow of your numbers displayed on pictorials rather than just saying this is the number. Simple dashboards should be implemented.

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it_user530763

CEO at a financial services firm with 1-10 employees

Helps to compare production costs across different departments. Try CostPerform from QPR.

Helps to compare production costs across different departments The data integration is very complex Visualization of the cost flow is not user-friendly It takes hours to build OLAP cubes to analyze the results of the model We have been using this solution for three years. I would rate the…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Anaplan's in-memory calculation engine is super-fast compared to the old tools we previously used. You enter the data and everything shows up in one go."

"It has supported a global process change to sales forecasting and created a single method for this."

"The multidimensionality helps significantly with scenario planning, allowing me to run various scenarios and check the outcomes, which suits my needs well."

"Anaplan's most valuable features are that it's a no-coding platform, everything can be scaled to your other functions, and it's easy to learn and use (especially because Anaplan provides excellent interactive training)."

"Where we're seeing the opportunity in the market is at the Fortune 100 companies that have far more complex modeling type scenarios where you need to be able to have a lot of people collaborating together, and you need a lot of information all at everyone's fingertips. This is where you see the big advantage of a solution like Anaplan."

"It's simple to use with a lot of functions."

"The forecasting and planning cycles that used to take months to collaborate now only take a week to finish and be worked upon."

"There is a full set of reports available for sales."

More Anaplan pros

"Cube generation is a valuable feature."

"The product helped determine the organization's true cost of providing its products and services to customers."

"We use ABM as an expense allocation model and it has improved the awareness and accountability of the cost incurred due to the traceability feature."

"The product allows us to calculate the distributed cost across activities."

"Helps to compare production costs across different departments."

Cons

"Space and integration are a problem."

"One improvement that could be added to Anaplan is to stabilize the models when data complexity increases, allowing us to manage our time and space well."

"The dashboard could be better. Because within a dashboard or report, you have to do a lot of scrolling. You need to scroll down because the table doesn't fit in a single view. That's why even the users aren't happy with that kind of user experience. They need to scroll to see all the data, and it could be better if it fits in just one page. That way, you can see everything. In the next release, I want automation that's connected to Anaplan. For example, to load master data from SAP to Anaplan. I don't know if this already exists, but a log where you can see the progress and see if there's an error will also help. It would be better to give you the error message, for example, if there is an error within the automated process importing to Anaplan."

"One area of improvement is conditional formatting. It's not very practical, and you need to specify additional formatting."

"A better presentation layer would certainly take it a notch higher."

"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."

"I would like to see more flexible graphs; more varieties of graphs, more customization (like choosing colors, gradients, etc.) and more conditional formatting options."

"The cloud engine slows down when working with a large dataset. It still lacks a powerful engine."

More Anaplan cons

"The usability needs to be improved but bear in mind that we did not have the latest update."

"We experienced severe performance issues when the models created are getting more details and becoming more complex."

"It could be made much more simpler. Most of the time it looks like a black box for developers."

"The data integration is very complex Visualization of the cost flow is not user-friendly It takes hours to build OLAP cubes to analyze the results of the model"

"The interface is poorly designed and could really use an improvement to compete with other comparable software."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This is an expensive product and if the price were reduced then it would attract more customers."

"The price of the solution is expensive."

"A value-for-money product and a very reasonable price compared to competitors like SAP or IBM."

"Anaplan is a bit pricier compared to its competitors - the license costs about $4,000 per user annually."

"The license is a yearly subscription. There are three licensing tiers: the model builder, planner, and the reporting."

"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."

"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."

"The cost of Anaplan is a challenge for clients, especially if they don't have an ongoing long-term use case for it. It's a $50,000 licensing fee just to get started. Clients need a strong business case to switch from Excel to Anaplan. But if clients have used something similar in the past, such as Hyperion or other solutions, that's not a factor because they know what to expect."

More Anaplan pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

18%

Outsourcing Company

Performing Arts

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	18

No data available

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...

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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...

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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...

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Anaplan

October 2026

Download Anaplan product report

Buyer's Guide

Business Performance Management

October 2026

Download SAS Activity-Based Management product report

Overview

Anaplan delivers a comprehensive cloud platform designed for three-dimensional data analysis, visualization, and planning. Known for real-time integration with systems such as Salesforce, it enables efficient budgeting, reporting, and modeling without extensive coding knowledge.

The Anaplan platform enhances operational efficiency with its flexible and scalable capabilities, supporting financial planning, supply chain management, and sales operations among others. Users benefit from features like an advanced in-memory calculation engine, quick updates, and ease of integration with systems like SAP. While Anaplan offers a robust toolset, enhancements in dashboard capabilities and integration processes are needed, with improvements requested in visualization tools, more flexible graphs, and better API integration. Additional desires include machine learning features and streamlined data import processes to reduce latency.

What are the key features of Anaplan?

Three-dimensional Planning: Provides robust data analysis and visualization.
Real-time Integration: Seamlessly integrates with systems like Salesforce and SAP.
Advanced Calculation Engine: Enables quick updates across platforms.
Model Map: Aids easy model navigation and management.
Scalability: Adapts to companies of all sizes with ease.

What benefits should users consider?

Operational Efficiency: Enhances planning and execution processes.
Ease of Use: Reduces the need for extensive coding knowledge.
Flexibility: Adapts to diverse business needs and industries.
Cost-effectiveness: Offers potential ROI by optimizing planning efficiencies.

In industries like financial planning, supply chain management, and sales operations, Anaplan facilitates scenario-based analysis, demand forecasting, and business execution. It is employed in marketing, commercial real estate planning, and integrates easily with existing systems. Users in these sectors find it valuable for improving planning accuracy and responsiveness.

Anaplan

SAS Activity-Based Management is a powerful tool designed to improve cost management and performance analysis by offering detailed insights into business processes and resource allocation.

With its precision in identifying cost drivers and process inefficiencies, SAS Activity-Based Management helps organizations streamline operations by providing clear visibility into resource utilization. It enables informed decision-making across multiple sectors by leveraging data-driven insights, ultimately enhancing productivity and profitability.

What are the key features of SAS Activity-Based Management?

Cost Driver Analysis: Identifies and manages cost drivers to enhance decision-making.
Resource Allocation Insights: Offers detailed reports on resource usage to optimize operations.
Process Improvement Tools: Provides benchmarking tools for continuous process enhancements.
Scalable Architecture: Supports diverse organizational sizes and complexities.

What benefits should users look for in reviews?

Increased Efficiency: Look for improved process efficiency in user feedback.
Better Cost Management: Users often highlight better control over costs and budget management.
Enhanced Decision Making: Reviews frequently mention improved strategic decisions due to data insights.
ROI: Positive impact on ROI due to streamlined operations and reduced waste.

In manufacturing, SAS Activity-Based Management helps track production costs, leading to reduced wastage. Healthcare providers use it to allocate medical resources efficiently, ensuring better patient outcomes. In finance, it aids in cost transparency, helping institutions manage expenditures wisely.

SAS

Sample Customers

HP, ForeScout, DocuSign, EAT, Pandora, Aviva, Intel Security, Zalora

Bank of Queensland, Barclays Bank, BioMar, Danske Bank, Danske Spil, DPPS, First Allied

Buyer's Guide

Anaplan vs. SAS Activity-Based Management

September 2026

Free Report: Anaplan vs. SAS Activity-Based Management

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