Wondered where to get the best business plan software for mac free? Are you ready to execute your business planning? Or, do you need some tools and templates of a business plan template? If so, these questions were probably the most difficult ones to answer. They can cost you a fortune and consume hours and hours of research and development (R&D).
We are here to revise some of the “best business plan software for mac free” topics. We are not here to evaluate if you should or you shouldn’t. If you want to, great! If you don’t want to, that’s fine too. This article will help rise your understanding of business plan software.
iPlanner – $49 to $55/year
Easily the least expensive of all the major business planning software tools, iPlanner allows you to build a professional business plan for just a few dollars a month. They still have some quality features as well:
Features:
- Unlimited Team Members & Collaboration
- A La Carte Pricing Model vs Packages
- Discounts for Serial Entrepreneurs & Business Coaches
Pros:
- Experience: iPlanner has been in the business planning game since 2007, so they’ve got a solid amount of industry knowledge and experience.
- Options: They’ve got two trademarked business planning services, Startup Framework™ and Strategy Designer™. This can be confusing when you’re navigating their site – to be honest, I got a bit lost myself – but it’s good to have options, right?
- Unlimited Users: All of their business planning packages allow you to have unlimited collaborators and assign people three different roles: Project Owners, Advisors, and Viewers.
- Cost: iPlanner’s rates start at only $49/year, which is much cheaper than many comparable services on the market.
- Modeling Capability: Their Startup Framework software has a business modeling section where you can design a business model canvas and strategize as much as you need before diving into your business plan.
Cons:
- Commitment: iPlanner doesn’t have a month-to-month option for either of their services. Their Strategy Designer is payable only annually, while their Startup
- Framework is available for 3-month, 6-month, or 12-month payments. They also don’t offer refunds, which is a bummer since you’re locked into committing to a minimum of 3 months of their services.
- Clunky: Their website is pretty old school and tough to navigate. For example, initially, we found it difficult to find the checkout page for the Startup Framework software. Their Strategic Designer page is a bit better, but still not super sophisticated.
- Trial: Unlike other business planning software, iPlanner doesn’t offer a free version or trial. However, you can take a tour of their Startup Framework software or view a demo of the Strategy Designer to get a feel for them.
- No refunds
Wise Business Plans – $98/diy plan or 1,800 – $5,000/custom plan
Wise business plans website is a little confusing to navigate, and pricing is by request only, which can get frustrating. They do have a lot of options for different kinds of business plans for various types of business types, which makes them versatile. They also have business building and funding options as well. And, if you wish to establish business credit, they offer net-30 accounts that get reported to Equifax business.
Features:
- Customer business plans starting at $1,800
- Claim to be the only business plan company to write for Fortune 100 and 500 companies
- Business formation services
- Business license searches
- EIN services
- Digital marketing services
- Business website design and branding
- Business education services
Pros:
- Has a lot of helpful information
- Helpful options for forming your business
- Options to help after you start your business
- Helps new businesses establish business credit
- Business formation services
Cons:
- Not an actual business plan software
- Expensive by comparison
- Website is difficult to navigate
- Pricing is by request only
- Limited products and features
- Turnaround is one month
- Requires some work on your end
LivePlan – $20 to $30/month
We love LivePlan overall because it offers great value at an affordable cost. The software lets you quickly create business plans from anywhere in the world using what is arguably the best business plan software available on the market. It does everything better than its competition and costs way less.
What’s more, the online “cloud-based” platform is easy to use and you are under no contract or obligation to keep paying for the service. Even better, if you decide to stop service for whatever reason, Palo Alto Software, the makers of LivePlan, will keep your account active and business plan data preserved for at least a year should you decide to reactivate your account later.
Features:
- Create an unlimited number of business plans
- A forecast feature for those less mathematically inclined. Plug in data, and it will generate charts, graphs, figures, and even the profit and loss, balance sheet, and cash flow documents for your business plan
- 500+ business plan templates spanning all major industries
- Xero and QuickBooks integration
- Real-time financial data tracking
- Export your business plan to Word or PDF
- Step-by-step instruction and expert advice included
- Performance dashboards track sales and budgeting
- Create one-page pitch plans for investors
- Milestone scheduling feature — Some people will use it when working with others on their plan; it will let you assign milestones to people.
Pros:
- Free trial
- Low-cost annual plans
- Affordable pay-as-you-go plans
- No contracts
- No cancellation fees
- Reactivate anytime
- Business plan data saved for 12-months, even after cancellation
- Clean, modern platform
- Cloud-based; works on any business machine (Linus, Windows, Mac)
- Create unlimited business plans
- Access to over 500 business plan templates
- Integrates with Quickbooks and Xero to import your data easily
- Knowledgeable customer support to get help with your plan
Cons:
- No valuation capabilities
Templates built on Palo Alto Software’s earlier software Business Plan Pro require some modifications to be used on LivePlan
Bizplan – $29/month, $249/year, $349 lifetime
Bizplan rates high on our list because they offer a lifetime plan that gets you “forever access” to their business plan software. As an added bonus, you also receive free access to Startup Courses and LaunchRock, a landing page builder.
Features:
- Easy, “fill-in-the-blanks” plan builder
- Publish your business plan online
- Unlimited business plans
- Bizplan takes care of the financials
- Cloud-based (use any browser on any computer)
- Unlimited tables
- Unlimited sections
- Options to add more graphics and photos
- Export to PDF
- Currently integrates with Xero accounting software
- QuickBooks integration in the works
Pros:
- Inexpensive lifetime plan
- Low-cost yearly plans
- Affordable pay-as-you-go plans
- No contracts
- No cancellation fees
- Clean platform
- Cloud-based; works on any business machine (Linus, Windows, Mac)
- Create unlimited business plans
- Xero to import your data easily
- Excellent and responsive customer support (email/chat/phone)
- Free access to Startup.com and LaunchRock.com
- Discount at Fundable.com (connect with lenders and investors)
Cons:
- No valuation capabilities
- Can’t export in Word
- Doesn’t currently integrate with QuickBooks
- No free trial
- No third-party app integrations
Tarkenton GoSmallBiz
Heavy on the mentoring and advice side, Tarkenton GoSmallBiz delivers an an easy-to-use business planning application that works using step-by-step templates with built-in advice modules.
PROS
- Highly configurable and detailed business plan.
- Advice from business experts.
- Able to generate financial statements and projections without outside spreadsheet software.
- Links to third-party services.
CONS
- Few sample business plans.
- Only exports to Microsoft Word and PDF formats.
Enloop – Free to $39.95/month
If you’re looking to try before you buy, Enloop is a strong choice as one of the only business planning software tools with a free trial.
Features:
- User-friendly platform
- Compare your financials against your industry’s performance
- Bank ready financial statements (Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash flow)
- Enloop’s business plan software lets multiple team members work on a business plan
- 36-Month detailed financial reports
- Sync date and text into your business plan
- Real-time performance rating
- Financial projections
- Generated business plan Pass/Fail report
- Colored charts
- Multiple currency formatting
- Enloop’s performance rating score
- Customizable sample plans
- Write a business plan fast with auto writing feature
Pros:
- Seven-day free trial (no credit card required)
- Video tutorials to help you with business plan writing
- Low-cost yearly plans
- Affordable pay-as-you-go plans
- Advanced financial ratios
- Financial projections
- No contracts
- No cancellation fees
- Cloud-based; works on any business machine (Linus, Windows, Mac)
Cons:
- No phone or chat support, just a “contact us” form.
- No valuation capabilities
- Three business plan limit per account
- Doesn’t integrate with QuickBooks or Xero
- No third-party app integrations
- No financial forecasts beyond 36-months
- No 30-day money-back guarantee
EquityNet
EquityNet doesn’t focus exclusively on business plan creation. Instead, it’s really a platform for those seeking investors as well as those looking to invest. Still, its bundled business planning tool is solid and can help speed startups toward getting funded.
PROS
- Offers unique services that match entrepreneurs with investors, with business plan features to enable that process.
CONS
- Its design is in the framework of crowdfunding investments from people you don’t know.
- If you simply need a plan to sell your local Angel investor on your process, EquityNet probably is overkill.
PlanGuru
Less a business plan creator than a financial reporting tool, PlanGuru nevertheless does a creditable job for those seeking to build a worthwhile business plan document. Still, rank beginners or those less focused on financial calculations might need to look elsewhere.
PROS
- Strong budgeting and forecasting features.
- Links to analytics add-on.
- Breakeven analysis.
- QuickBooks support available.
CONS
- Requires some financial sophistication to use.
- Lacks sample business plan templates.
IdeaBuddy – $15 to $45/month
IdeaBuddy makes our list because of what’s behind their approach. IdeaBuddy focuses on helping entrepreneurs develop their idea first, then share it, and then refine it into a plan. If you have a business idea and don’t know what to do next, IdeaBuddy could be what you’re looking for in a business plan software.
Features:
- Single-page business plan pitch (Idea plan)
- Clean modern design platform combined with great financial tools
- Business guide
- Financial plan
- Business plan
- Marketing plan for selling and promoting your products
- Market overview plan where you create targeted customer profiles, identify your competition and calculate the market potential.
- Create a financial plan to learn how much you need to get started.
- Business plan creation that includes forecasting performance and cash flow projections.
- A proprietary algorithm calculates a final score for your idea providing recommendations for improvement after you complete “Story Mode.”
- Idea Journal, that is an internal business plan for you to show potential investors.
- A 15-day free trial, no credit card needed.
Pros:
- A lifetime plan costs only $178
- Great for developing ideas
- Great for doing market research
- Lower-cost yearly plans offered
- Pay-as-you-go plans offered
- No contracts
- No cancellation fees
- Cloud-based software option
- Excellent and responsive customer support (email/chat/phone)
Cons:
- Email-only customer service
- Software lag time issues
- Fewer software options than most other small business options
Conclusion:
Funding can make or break a company and every business owner wants to fully fund their business plan and generate revenue. Unfortunately, it’s not always an easy task. You might feel overwhelmed thinking about how to create a business plan and start generating revenue for your business.