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Index › Finance › Planning and analysis › Financial modeling › Microsoft Excel vs Vena
Financial modeling and scenario planning · November 2026 Edition

Microsoft Excel vs Vena

Zero of fourteen models named Microsoft Excel first on the direct prompt; zero named Vena. Microsoft Excel was named by thirteen of the fourteen models and Vena by thirteen and Microsoft Excel carries 19 labels and Vena 22, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Microsoft Excel

accepted challenger

Named in thirteen categories this edition.

Vena

accepted challenger

Named in ten categories this edition.

First-choice share19%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate16%5%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#8A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels1922A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Microsoft Excel reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Datarails was named alongside these two in eleven of the fourteen direct answers. Microsoft Excel vs Datarails · Microsoft Excel vs Google Sheets · Microsoft Excel vs Pigment

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the financial modeling and scenario planning page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Microsoft ExcelFirst choices, of fourteen modelsVena
Direct001 against Microsoft Excel · 1 against Vena
Paraphrase011 against Microsoft Excel
Comparative00
Budget-constrained110
Scale-constrained00
Negative001 against Microsoft Excel
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Microsoft Excel and Vena stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.20
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
Microsoft Excel Vena first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Microsoft Excel on the left and Vena on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Microsoft Excel and Vena stood in it.

Neither was the first choice, one was named

9 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
GPT-5.4 miniPigment, Workday Adaptive Planning alternatives: Anaplan, Vena
Gemini 3.5 FlashMosaic alternatives: Cube, Datarails, Pigment, Vena, Workday Adaptive Planning
Perplexity SonarDrivetrain alternatives: Abacum, Datarails, Limelight, Vena
Mistral SmallDatarails alternatives: Cube, Limelight, Vena
Qwen 3.7 FlashDatarails, Limelight alternatives: Aleph, Cube, Jedox, Vena
GLM 4.7 FlashXDatarails alternatives: OneStream, Pigment, Planful, Vena
MiniMax M2.5Workday Adaptive Planning alternatives: Cube, Vena
GPT-6 LunaWorkday Adaptive Planning alternatives: Planful, Vena
Muse Glimmer 30BDatarails alternatives: Aleph, Cube, Limelight, Planful, Prophix One, Vena

Neither was named

5 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Claude Haiku 4.5Datarails alternatives: Cube, Drivetrain, Pigment, Planful
Grok 4.20Datarails alternatives: Cube, Jirav, Quantrix Modeler
DeepSeek V4 FlashPigment alternatives: Aleph, Cube, Datarails, Prophix One
Llama 4 MaverickAleph, Datarails, Limelight
Kimi K2Cube, Datarails alternatives: Drivetrain, Jirav

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Microsoft Excel leads by twenty-two points.
Microsoft Excel22%#1 of 16
Vena0%#13 of 16
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Microsoft Excel leads by eighteen points.
Microsoft Excel19%#1 of 11
Vena2%#8 of 11
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
The order flips: Vena leads at enterprise.
Vena2%#7 of 11
Microsoft Excel0%#– of 11
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Microsoft Excel

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Three of three in this category shown.

“For the absolute best value, Microsoft Excel is the top choice due to its low cost (or free if already owned) and unmatched flexibility.” Mistral Small · budget prompt · first choice
“Microsoft Excel is widely regarded as the best financial modeling software for companies with a limited budget.” Grok 4.20 · budget prompt · first choice
“The most cost-effective starting point. Many successful companies use Excel through their early stages.” Kimi K2 · budget prompt · first choice

What the models said about Vena

No label in this category carried a quote.

Also compared
Microsoft Excel vs DatarailsMicrosoft Excel vs Google SheetsMicrosoft Excel vs PigmentMicrosoft Excel vs Workday Adaptive PlanningMicrosoft Excel vs Prophix OneMicrosoft Excel vs CubeDatarails vs VenaGoogle Sheets vs VenaPigment vs VenaWorkday Adaptive Planning vs VenaProphix One vs VenaCube vs VenaAll twenty-eight head-to-head pages and the full financial modeling standing

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.