Have you ever setup a business plan? If you’re like most people, then the answer is probably no. But it is time to change that. How do I know? Well, because I created this list of the best business plan software and business plan templates.
After looking at over 100 startup software tools and free startup programs, I narrowed it down to my favorite tools and best business plan templates.
LivePlan
Best overall business plan software.
If you want template-rich, modern-feeling business plan software, then LivePlan may be the right pick for you. LivePlan excels with their user interface, which feels updated and slick, and also offers intuitive, easy-to-use features and options.
Their step-by-step instruction will help you kick things off from the beginning, and you can take advantage of their online learning center to continue to gain business skills.
Pros
- Affordable plans, including pay-as-you-go option
- No long-term contracts or cancellation fee; 60-day money-back guarantee
- Modern, intuitive interface; cloud-based, can be used on Mac, PC, as well as tablets
- Ability to create unlimited plans in one account; over 500 customizable templates
- Variety of business resources including video tutorials, step-by-step instruction, and general customer support
Cons
- Limited integration options
- Challenging to enter your own financial modeling projections
- Can be difficult to learn
Features
- Ability to create an unlimited number of business plans on one account
- More than 500 business plan templates spanning various industries
- Integration with Xero and QuickBooks Online
- Real-time tracking of financial data with accounting integrations
- Ability to export your business plan to Word or PDF
- Expert advice and step-by-step instruction included
- Performance dashboards for tracking against budgets and sales goals
- Ability to create and export a one-page pitch executive summary
Pricing
- Annual plan: $15 per month, billed every 12 months
- Six-month plan: $18 per month, billed every six months
- Pay-as-you-go plan: $20 per month, billed once every month
2. GoSmallBiz
Best for multiple business management tools in one platform.
Next on our list of the best business plan software options is GoSmallBiz, which is much more than just a business plan software. With GoSmallBiz, you have access to business continuity planning software with features that cover creating a roadmap, working through business and legal forms, building a website, and more.
In this way, GoSmallBiz is great for startups or newer businesses looking to access multiple business management tools through one platform.
Pros
- Unlimited business consultation and extensive library of online resources
- Multiple business tools in one software
- Website consultation analysis and business assessment
- Industry-specific business plan templates with emphasis on financial projections and statements
Cons
- Expensive monthly cost compared to alternatives
- Limited business plan features
- Entire business plan can only be exported to Microsoft Word
- Outdated interface
Features
- Industry-specific business plan templates with step-by-step building wizard
- Ability to create financial statements and projections
- Free website hosting and website builder
- Customer relationship manager with integration with MailChimp
- Digital marketing dashboard with social media and Google Analytics integrations
- HR document builder
- Corporate minutes writer
- Business documents library
- Business courses library
- Unlimited business consultation
Pricing
- $39 per month, no contracts, free cancellation
3. Enloop
Best for simple, fast business plan creation.
If you’re looking for free business plan software, Enloop will be one of your closest options—they offer an all-inclusive seven-day free trial, no credit card required. Additionally, unlike some of the other options on our list, Enloop is strictly dedicated to business plan creation, including automated text writing, financial forecast comparisons, and a real-time performance score that tracks your progress.
This being said, if you’d prefer the most straightforward, fast, and simple way to write your business plan, Enloop will be a platform worth considering.
Pros
- Simple and straightforward software, solely dedicated to business plan creation
- Seven-day free trial
- Automatic text generation available to streamline the writing process
- Affordable plans with annual discount option
Cons
- Limited additional educational resources
- Only one template option
- No integration options
Features
- Ability to create three business plans with customizable text, images, tables, charts, and over 100 currency symbols and formats
- Includes automatic text generation for each plan section that you can then customize
- Automatically generated financial statements
- Includes financial performance comparison analysis (using three ratios with Detailed plan and 16 with Performance plan)
- Real-time performance score to track your progress
- Ability to invite users to edit (two with Detailed plan, five with Performance plan)
- Pass/fail report and certificate to help you identify issues with your plan
Pricing
- Free plan: Seven-day free trial with no credit card required
- Detailed plan: $19.95 per month or $11 per month, paid annually
- Performance plan: $39.95 per month, or $24 per month, paid annually
4. Bizplan
Best for startups looking to acquire funding or find investors.
Part of the Startups.com suite, Bizplan gets top marks for their user interface—it’s intuitive, easy to use, and modern. You’ll work with a step-by-step business plan builder to get exactly what you’d like from your business plan. It may remind you of a modern website builder, since it has drag-and-drop tools to build templates.
Moreover, for one subscription fee, you have access to all of the tools in the Startups.com network, including self-guided courses, how-to guides, masterclass videos, and more. All in all, with a direct connection to Fundable, Bizplan is a top business plan software option for startups looking to acquire funding and find investors.
Pros
- Subscription gives you access to all Startups.com tools
- Lifetime access subscription option
- User-friendly drag-and-drop business plan builder
- Excellent educational resources
- Connection to Fundable great for businesses looking for capital
Cons
- No free trial
- No templates based on industry
- No mobile access
Features
- Drag-and-drop templates for business plan building
- Financial command center to track all business financials in one place
- Unlimited account collaborators
- Ability to share business plan online with investors
- Online resources including self-guided courses, masterclass videos, how-to guides, mentorship access
- Unlimited software use for Fundable, Launchrock, and Startups.com
Pricing
- Monthly plan: $29 per month
- Annual plan: $20.75 per month, billed at $249 per year
- Lifetime access: $349 one-time fee
PlanGuru
Best for financial planning and budgeting.
Finally, for some of the strongest financial features among business plan software options, including budgeting and forecasting, you might check out PlanGuru. Whereas the other solutions we’ve reviewed were first and foremost focused on writing a business plan, PlanGuru is dedicated to business financial planning—providing the tools you need to create budgets, financial forecasts, reports, and more.
Therefore, if you need a software solution that can streamline the financial piece of your business planning processes, PlanGuru will certainly have the most to offer.
Pros
- Extensive financial tools and detailed forecasting, budgeting, and reporting capabilities
- Substantial library of resources
- Cloud-based and desktop options
- 14-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee
Cons
- Expensive, especially for additional users
- Only focuses on the financial aspect of business planning; no templates or tools for basic business plan writing
- Difficult to use without prior financial knowledge
Features
- Cloud-based version of software, as well as locally installed Windows version (desktop version has a few more features)
- Works with QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Excel
- Budgeting and forecasting for up to 10 years
- Over 20 standard forecasting methods
- Formula builder to create custom methods
- Ratios and KPIs
- Dashboard and reporting tools
- Help guides, video tutorials, knowledgebase, and live U.S.-based customer support
Pricing
- 14-day free trial
- $99 per month (additional users $29 per month)
- $899 per year (additional users $299 per year).
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
Insider Information:
Talking to the nice people at LivePlan we learned some inside information that we wanted to share with our readers.
Here’s what we learned:
- LivePlan has been used by contestants on ABC’s hit show “Shark Tank” to win over angel investors to help them get their ideas and businesses funded.
- LivePlan makes business plans for those who don’t want to create them themselves.
- Accountants use LivePlan as an added-value service to sell to their clients.
- Businesses continue using LivePlan because of a feature called “Dashboard” which lets you manually enter your actuals or pull actuals from Quickbooks online to do comparative forecasting and analysis.
- LivePlan helps with business continuity planning (BCP).
- LivePlan executives use LivePlan to make important business decisions.
- “Dashboard” does profit and loss, cash flow, and balance sheet reports and lets you compare and contrast your actuals from your forecasts to be able to show to investors.
- LivePlan lets you create business plans in 1/5th the time it takes using templates.
Customer Reviews:
LivePlan receives great feedback from customers. LivePlan reviews average 4.6 stars out of 5 on GetApp. LivePlan is an easy company for us to recommend for the best business plan software.
Get 25% OffRead Review
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
Insider Information:
Talking with BizPlan insiders, we learned that the premise behind BizPlan is to help startups easily create professional business plans to give them a leg-up with lenders and investors.
Here’s what else we learned:
- BizPlan’s does all your financial calculations for you.
- BizPlan strives to be an all-in-one solution for Startups needing funding.
- BizPlan is constantly making improvements to its software.
Customer Reviews:
BizPlan receives great feedback from customers. BizPlan reviews average 4.4 stars out of 5 on GetApp. Still a relatively new option, BizPlan already has over 30,000 satisfied customers. As their platform grows, we wouldn’t be surprised to see them integrate even more valuable features. Keep a close eye on this one.
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
Insider Information:
We learned that the premise behind Enloop is to make business planning easier for entrepreneurs. Enloop achieves this by making plan software easy to navigate through and takes risks off the table with their no credit card needed seven-day free trial. Their business plan creation software offers financial forecasting for up to 36 months.
Here’s what else we learned:
- Enloop utilizes 16 financial ratios to get your business ready for investors.
- Enloop offers some sample business plans that are easy to modify.
- Enloop’s performance score increases as you create your detailed plan.
- A new business or small businesses benefit the most from Enloop’s solutions.
- The process of creating an Enloop business plan is relatively straightforward.
Customer Reviews:
Enloop receives fair feedback from customers. Enloop’s reviews average 3 stars out of 5 on PCMag. Enloop’s main complaint is its lack of instructional text for writing mission statements and other key sections of a business plan. What they rank high on is their efficiency and the speed at which the software lets you write a business plan.
Even beyond the free version, Enloop Basic is just $9.95/month ($6/month when paid annually), so they’re one of the least expensive tools for writing a business plan.
Conclusion
Business plan software is like an insurance policy for your business. It’ll ensure that you consider all of the necessary steps when creating your new venture. Using business plan software can also help save time; giving you more to spend on growing your startup.