Full-suite financial platform vs focused UK FP&A
Planful (formerly Host Analytics) offers end-to-end financial planning, consolidation, and close management. Grove FP focuses on delivering excellent budgeting, forecasting, and reporting for UK SMBs.
Choose Planful if you need financial close management and advanced consolidation alongside planning, and your budget can accommodate a mid-market enterprise platform. Choose Grove FP if you want focused, modern FP&A — budgeting, forecasting, workforce planning, and UK compliance — at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the implementation time.
Both Planful and Grove FP cover core budgeting and forecasting well. Planful's strength is its breadth: it extends beyond planning into financial close management, advanced consolidation, and intercompany eliminations — capabilities that Grove FP does not attempt to replace. Grove FP focuses on doing budgeting, forecasting, and workforce planning exceptionally well for SMBs. If your finance team spends most of its time on annual budgets, rolling forecasts, and headcount planning, Grove FP covers those needs comprehensively. If you also need to manage month-end close workflows and complex multi-entity consolidation, Planful offers that additional scope.
Planful has invested heavily in modernising its user interface, but it remains a platform that typically requires 2–4 months of implementation and often involves a consulting partner. The learning curve reflects its breadth — there is a lot to configure. Grove FP is designed for finance teams to set up and own independently. Pre-built UK templates, a no-code formula builder, and a familiar spreadsheet-like grid mean most teams are live within 1–2 weeks. The trade-off is clear: Planful offers more breadth at the cost of implementation complexity, while Grove FP offers faster time to value for core FP&A.
Planful integrates well with mid-market ERPs — NetSuite, Sage Intacct, and Oracle — and offers Planful Hub for additional connectors. For UK businesses running Xero or Sage 50, however, these integrations are less relevant. Grove FP provides native Xero, Sage 50, and QuickBooks integrations alongside CSV and API imports. If your accounting system is Xero or Sage 50 (as is the case for most UK SMBs), Grove FP connects more naturally without middleware or custom configuration.
Planful positions itself in the mid-market-to-enterprise bracket, with pricing typically ranging from £25,000 to £100,000+ per year depending on modules and user count. Multi-year contracts are standard. Grove FP starts at £399 per month with all modules included and no lock-in. For a UK SMB, this represents a significant difference in commitment — both financial and contractual. Grove FP's monthly billing means you can scale up or down as your needs change, without being locked into a multi-year agreement.
Planful has a presence in the UK market but is fundamentally designed for US GAAP and IFRS reporting. FRS 102 templates, VAT return support, Making Tax Digital compliance, and Companies House reporting are not included out of the box. UK customers typically need to configure these manually or work with a partner. Grove FP includes all of these features natively, reducing both setup time and ongoing maintenance for UK finance teams.
UK SMBs focused on budgeting, forecasting, and reporting
Mid-market finance teams needing close management and consolidation alongside planning
Grove FP is the right choice for UK SMBs (10–500 employees) whose primary need is budgeting, forecasting, workforce planning, and compliant reporting. If your finance team is 1–10 people, you run on Xero or Sage, and you want to be live in weeks rather than months, Grove FP delivers exceptional value without the enterprise overhead.
Planful is the right choice for mid-market companies (200+ employees) that need financial close management and advanced consolidation alongside their planning workflows. If you run NetSuite or Sage Intacct, have a dedicated finance operations team, and your month-end close process is as important as your planning cycle, Planful's broader scope justifies its higher price point.
From £399/mo, month-to-month available
Custom pricing, typically £25,000–£100,000+/yr
Migrating from Planful to Grove FP focuses on the planning and reporting layers — budgets, forecasts, reports, and workforce plans. Export your data from Planful as CSV, map your reporting hierarchy to Grove FP's chart of accounts, and import via the import wizard. If you used Planful for close management, you will need a separate tool for that workflow. Most teams find that simplifying to a focused planning tool reduces both cost and complexity. The migration typically takes 1–2 weeks, with a parallel run period to validate figures before fully transitioning.
Ready to switch?
Experience what FP&A looks like when it is built for your size of business. No credit card required.