IBM Planning Analytics vs Salesforce Einstein Analytics comparison

The compared IBM and Salesforce solutions aren't in the same category. IBM is ranked #4 in BPM , with an average rating of 8.3, and holds a 4.4% mindshare in the category. Salesforce is ranked #19 in BIT , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 92% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 86% of Salesforce users who would recommend it.

IBM Planning Analytics

Read 28 IBM Planning Analytics reviews

3,172 Views
1,364 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Salesforce Einstein Analytics

Read 21 Salesforce Einstein Analytics reviews

2,224 Views
1,712 Comparison Views

86% willing to recommend

IBM Planning Analytics

Salesforce Einstein Analytics

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM Planning Analytics and Salesforce Einstein Analytics based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Anaplan, Oracle, IBM and others in Business Performance Management.

To learn more, read our detailed Business Performance Management Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Business Performance Management

March 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:

ROI

Sentiment score

7.3

IBM Planning Analytics boosts ROI by enhancing budgeting, analysis, and productivity but faces affordability issues due to increased pricing.

Sentiment score

6.2

Salesforce Einstein Analytics offers varied ROI, showing quick returns for some users, while others face challenges due to implementation or company size.

I have seen a return on investment, as the accuracy has really improved in my organization since everything is automated.

Sai Tilak

Team Lead Manager at Finlays

Since using this tool, I can now make decisions faster, even when there is just a small change in the data.

Gladys Njeri

Key Account Manager at DHL

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Planning Analytics report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Salesforce Einstein Analytics report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

7.0

IBM Planning Analytics support is responsive and efficient, rated highly by users, yet there's room for faster direct resolutions.

Sentiment score

7.1

Salesforce Einstein Analytics offers effective customer service, quick responses, knowledgeable support, though some experience slow issue resolution.

We have a multi-level support system, with the initial level handled by the company we bought the license from and subsequent support from IBM.

reviewer1517922

Responsable B.I at a retailer with 51-200 employees

Instead, we rely on third-party partners recognized by IBM, who provide cost-effective support.

Ayman Alshabani

Financial Performance Manager at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees

They have been very dedicated and provided top-notch solutions.

reviewer2798436

Senior Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Planning Analytics report

Tech support for Salesforce Einstein Analytics is generally good.

Sukanya Sen

Preseales And Solution Head at Tata Consultancy

For more quotes and insights, download the Salesforce Einstein Analytics report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

7.9

IBM Planning Analytics offers high scalability, efficiently managing data with real-time handling and flexibility for small to enterprise businesses.

Sentiment score

7.5

Salesforce Einstein Analytics is scalable, easily integrates, handles diverse user bases, and offers seamless expansion, despite cost concerns.

IBM Planning Analytics' scalability is impressive, as it is able to gather data from multiple sources and handle huge amounts of data without any lagging or downtime.

Sai Tilak

Team Lead Manager at Finlays

Scalability is quite hard to implement in TM1, largely since the on-premise installation chosen back in 2014.

reviewer1517922

Responsable B.I at a retailer with 51-200 employees

Scalability is straightforward but it is pricey since it's a SaaS model priced per user.

Ayman Alshabani

Financial Performance Manager at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Planning Analytics report

No quotes available

For more quotes and insights, download the Salesforce Einstein Analytics report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

7.9

IBM Planning Analytics offers stability and reliable performance for forecasting, with occasional fixable issues requiring vendor support.

Sentiment score

7.9

Salesforce Einstein Analytics is praised for its stability and reliability, with occasional minor issues swiftly resolved.

The performance of IBM Planning Analytics has always been fast and reliable for my needs, even when dealing with huge volumes of data.

Gladys Njeri

Key Account Manager at DHL

This stability is really important as we use it for budget calculation, which is time-consuming.

reviewer1517922

Responsable B.I at a retailer with 51-200 employees

IBM Planning Analytics is stable because the reason we switched from IBM Cognos is that IBM Planning Analytics capability allows us to connect to multiple tools, which we could not do before.

reviewer2798436

Senior Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Planning Analytics report

There are certain glitches, especially when the modules are upgraded or when there is a source code update, causing the entire tool to go offline.

Sunny Nair

Solution Architect And Senior Consultant at Keysight Technologies

For more quotes and insights, download the Salesforce Einstein Analytics report

Room For Improvement

Users recommend improving IBM Planning Analytics usability, interface design, automation, integration, performance, scalability, offline access, and reducing upgrade frequency.

Salesforce Einstein Analytics needs improvements in support, data handling, user-friendliness, flexibility, and cost to boost adoption.

The abundance of features results in complexity, requiring strict guidelines for developers to ensure simplistic approaches are adhered to.

reviewer1517922

Responsable B.I at a retailer with 51-200 employees

IBM's visualization needs significant improvement.

Ayman Alshabani

Financial Performance Manager at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees

The advanced features are somewhat complex to understand, and if the data set is very large, it takes a lot of time to process, which causes performance to become slower.

reviewer2798436

Senior Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Planning Analytics report

There are certain glitches, especially when the modules are upgraded or when there is a source code update, causing the entire tool to go offline.

Sunny Nair

Solution Architect And Senior Consultant at Keysight Technologies

There is a learning curve associated with Salesforce Einstein Analytics, particularly since users need to learn a new language.

Sukanya Sen

Preseales And Solution Head at Tata Consultancy

For more quotes and insights, download the Salesforce Einstein Analytics report

Setup Cost

IBM Planning Analytics offers flexible licensing models and competitive pricing, with consulting fees impacting overall costs significantly.

Salesforce Einstein Analytics is costly yet valued for features, with negotiating licenses helping reduce expenses in enterprise environments.

TM1 is quite expensive, and I'd rate the pricing as an eight out of ten.

reviewer1517922

Responsable B.I at a retailer with 51-200 employees

While IBM's solutions were costly before, the introduction of SaaS models has reduced prices significantly.

Ayman Alshabani

Financial Performance Manager at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for IBM Planning Analytics is that the pricing and licensing cost can be somewhat on the higher side, especially for small organizations.

reviewer2798436

Senior Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Planning Analytics report

A benefit is that the pricing is available online, ensuring there are no hidden costs.

Sukanya Sen

Preseales And Solution Head at Tata Consultancy

In general, I would rate it as a little bit on the expensive side compared to other available options.

Sunny Nair

Solution Architect And Senior Consultant at Keysight Technologies

For more quotes and insights, download the Salesforce Einstein Analytics report

Valuable Features

IBM Planning Analytics provides fast calculations, customization, Excel integration, and automation for efficient financial performance management and data analysis.

Salesforce Einstein Analytics offers user-friendly, scalable analytics with predictive insights and seamless CRM integration for enhanced decision-making and productivity.

Its stability helps controllers win time in their planning processes.

reviewer1517922

Responsable B.I at a retailer with 51-200 employees

It also integrates machine learning and AI engines, enabling us to use algorithms for inventory forecasting which optimizes our inventory and replenishment rates.

Ayman Alshabani

Financial Performance Manager at a retailer with 1,001-5,000 employees

Some of the valuable features of IBM Planning Analytics are its intuitive and user-friendly interface, reporting output and scheduling, access control and security, and mobile capabilities.

reviewer2798436

Senior Software Engineer at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the IBM Planning Analytics report

It allows for a personalized customer experience by providing insights.

Sukanya Sen

Preseales And Solution Head at Tata Consultancy

Their machine learning model, which they have integrated, provides us with accurate data and creates projection maps.

Sunny Nair

Solution Architect And Senior Consultant at Keysight Technologies

For more quotes and insights, download the Salesforce Einstein Analytics report

Categories and Ranking

IBM Planning Analytics

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Performance Management (4th)

Salesforce Einstein Analytics

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools (19th)

Mindshare comparison

While both are Business Intelligence solutions, they serve different purposes. IBM Planning Analytics is designed for Business Performance Management and holds a mindshare of 4.4%, down 9.0% compared to last year.
Salesforce Einstein Analytics, on the other hand, focuses on BI (Business Intelligence) Tools, holds 1.1% mindshare, down 1.2% since last year.

Business Performance Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
IBM Planning Analytics	4.4%
Anaplan	7.1%
Board	5.0%
Other	83.5%

Business Performance Management

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Salesforce Einstein Analytics	1.1%
Microsoft Power BI	9.3%
Tableau Enterprise	6.7%
Other	82.9%

BI (Business Intelligence) Tools

Featured Reviews

Gladys Njeri

Key Account Manager at DHL

Data-driven planning has transformed financial decisions and now saves major reporting time

IBM Planning Analytics helps with collaboration between teams by allowing us to gather data from various departments, analyze it, and collaborate on the data to make data-driven decisions between different departments easily. As I mentioned previously, I mainly use IBM Planning Analytics to visualize the existing data to generate meaningful report dashboards and use it during stakeholder meetings to arrive at the right decision. The best features IBM Planning Analytics offers include budgeting, forecasting, and what-if scenario analysis. The scenario modeling feature in IBM Planning Analytics is probably the most robust planning and forecasting solution we use, especially for what-if scenarios, where we are able to forecast using Watson Studio, which helps in better prediction. I really appreciate the Excel integration in IBM Planning Analytics because it keeps things familiar and adds more power.

Read full review

Sunny Nair

Solution Architect And Senior Consultant at Keysight Technologies

Business insights improve with reliable integration but face occasional system downtimes

It is difficult to integrate the modules. The customization is also a little bit complex currently, but it is getting easier as they continue improving the market. There are certain glitches, especially when the modules are upgraded or when there is a source code update, causing the entire tool to go offline. There is downtime which still affects the particular product. I would provide a reliability rating of 70%, with 30% still having scope for improvement.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Retailer

Insurance Company

Construction Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	16
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	15

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	12

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Planning Analytics?

The most valuable features of IBM Planning Analytics for streamlining planning processes include a unified database where all data are centralized.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Planning Analytics?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for IBM Planning Analytics is that the pricing and licensing cost can be somewhat on the higher side, especially for small organizations. Howev...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Planning Analytics?

IBM Planning Analytics could be improved by simplifying the learning curve, as it requires a lot of time to learn and master it. The advanced features are somewhat complex to understand, and if the...

See all answers

What do you like most about Salesforce Einstein Analytics?

The tool is valuable. It's one of the greatest programs I'm currently working with, and I believe it will continue to be crucial in the next four to five years. It's the future of our operations. I...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Salesforce Einstein Analytics?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Salesforce Einstein Analytics?

It is more of an integrated platform where marketing, customer service, and the ticketing system are integrated into each other as a SaaS-based solution, which is what we use. For Marketing Cloud, ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Power BI vs IBM Planning Analytics

Compared 10% of the time

SAP Business Data Cloud vs IBM Planning Analytics

Compared 9% of the time

Anaplan vs IBM Planning Analytics

Compared 7% of the time

Jedox vs IBM Planning Analytics

Compared 5% of the time

Board vs IBM Planning Analytics

Compared 4% of the time

More IBM Planning Analytics Competitors

Microsoft Power BI vs Salesforce Einstein Analytics

Compared 14% of the time

Tableau Enterprise vs Salesforce Einstein Analytics

Compared 11% of the time

Databricks vs Salesforce Einstein Analytics

Compared 11% of the time

Oracle OBIEE vs Salesforce Einstein Analytics

Compared 7% of the time

SAP Business Data Cloud vs Salesforce Einstein Analytics

Compared 6% of the time

More Salesforce Einstein Analytics Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Planning Analytics

March 2026

Download IBM Planning Analytics product report

Buyer's Guide

Salesforce Einstein Analytics

March 2026

Download Salesforce Einstein Analytics product report

Also Known As

Cognos TM1, IBM Cognos TM1

Einstein Analytics, Salesforce Wave Analytics

Overview

IBM Planning Analytics is an integrated planning solution that uses AI to automate planning, budgeting, and forecasting and drive more intelligent workflows.

Built on TM1, IBM’s powerful calculation engine, this enterprise performance management tool allows you to transcend the limits of manual planning and become the Analytics Hero your business needs. Quickly and easily drive faster, more accurate plans for FP&A, sales, supply chain and beyond.

IBM

Salesforce Einstein Analytics is a customer and business analytics platform that’s optimized for mobile use and brings flexible customer analytics to everyone in the company. It works with many types of data, from many data sources, and it can change the way your company answers critical questions. Einstein Analytics allows you to:

Connect directly to your CRM data and execute on insights directly in Chatter.
Automatically analyze millions of rows of data and get predictive analytics with Einstein Discovery.
Explore data quickly and automate actions with prebuilt apps.
Use mobile to act, whether you're on Android or iOS.

Salesforce

Sample Customers

ManpowerGroup, Convergys, AIG, Orchard Brands, Citibank, InterGen, Northwestern University, EF Education First, Ironside, Bazan Group, CSOB Insurance, Macquarie Group, Charles Stanley, SATO, Government of Sint Maarten, BMW Financial Services

ADS Securities, Alstom Grid, American Express, Barclays Bank, Coca-Cola, CoderDojo, Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, Financial Conduct Authority

Buyer's Guide

Business Performance Management

March 2026

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We monitor all Business Performance Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.