Pigment vs Planful: Model or Close

Finance teams still drop Pigment and Planful into one generic FP&A bucket. The 12 May 2026 Pigment license article does not. A new member starts as an Explorer, and the member who creates formulas and the model’s logic is an Editor.

The failure shows up when that shortlist is asked to change the model on day one and still finish a global close by working day 12. Pigment’s 10 Sep 2026 announcement is Frames, an interface on the live planning model, with open beta set for 28 Sep 2026. Planful’s 12 Mar 2026 close post names structured workflows, rules-based intercompany eliminations, governed currency translation, and a full audit history.

Overview

	Pigment	Planful
Primary use case	Governed planning models across finance, sales, HR, and supply chain, with scenarios on the live model	Planning, close, consolidation, and reporting in one financial performance platform
Day-to-day workflow	An Editor changes formulas and model structure. A Contributor imports data and edits list items. Frames builds an interface on that model from a description	Finance runs the close workflow, posts rules-based eliminations, and reports from the same platform. Planner Assistant answers a forecast question and does not write back
Main buying consideration	Whether the people who change model logic are Editors, and whether Frames in open beta is on the order	Which modules are on the subscription, and whether Analyst Assistant plus Signals and Projections are included

Pigment’s platform page describes a web application with hosting in Europe or the US, plus sovereign hosting via S3NS. Planful’s company page, updated April 2026, lists the deployment model as Cloud / SaaS.

We reviewed Pigment’s license article updated 12 May 2026, the 10 Sep 2026 Frames announcement, and the financial consolidation use-case page, and Planful’s company page updated April 2026, the 21 Apr 2026 Planner Assistant post, and the 12 Mar 2026 close and consolidation post.

Pigment

Planful

Pigment was founded in 2019 by Eléonore Crespo and Romain Niccoli and its May 2026 company page still lists that private company with both as co-CEOs, while Planful is the current name of Host Analytics and the April 2026 company page says it is privately held and backed by Vector Capital.

Editions and pricing

On 4 Oct 2026 neither public page showed a price with currency, unit, period, commitment, and included product, so this page states no dollar amount.

	Pigment	Planful
How it is sold	A plan made of a platform fee, a number of licenses, and associated features. The plan name, start and end dates, and license use sit on the in-product Plan and Usage page	A subscription shaped by company size, user count, and selected modules, on the April 2026 company page
Names on the public page	Explorer, Contributor, and Editor. Legacy v1 and v2 pricing is closed to new customers and cannot be renewed	FP&A, workforce planning, marketing financial management, financial close and consolidation, and operational planning. No public edition grid with a price
What moves the license	A new member starts as Explorer. Write access or list and import permissions move that member to Contributor. Permissions past that, including formulas and application configuration, move the member to Editor. Builder, Workspace Admin, Security Admin, and Primary Owner are Editors	Planner Assistant is included only for customers who already have Analyst Assistant and Signals and Projections. It is not a standalone product
Main buying consideration	Count Editors separately from people who only view or enter data. The 10 Sep 2026 announcement also describes a free trial in which a description produces a starter model and an interactive board	Ask which modules are on the order, and whether Analyst Assistant plus Signals and Projections are among them

Modeling

Pigment’s homepage puts the Modeler Agent on the planning model: a description becomes a governed model aligned to the workspace structure, with the logic visible. The platform FAQ says scenarios are what-if cases on the existing model, not a new plan started from scratch. Planful’s homepage names a Planner that builds forecasts from Planful data. The 21 Apr 2026 post is the dated control for that assistant.

	Pigment	Planful
Who changes the model	Editor license: create formulas and define the model’s logic. Contributor: add or remove list items, import data, and open Block Explorer, without those formula permissions	Planner Assistant generates a forecast from existing Planful models and actuals. At launch it is read-only. Write-back is described as later work, not as a current control
Scenario control	Platform FAQ: several what-if scenarios from the current plan, with Graphite named as the modeling layer underneath	Planner Assistant explores scenarios in the same conversation as Analyst Assistant. It requires Signals and Projections, which flag outliers and build a projection from historical actuals
Interface on the model	Frames, announced 10 Sep 2026: a description becomes a form, a what-if planner, or an executive view on the live model, with write-back and the model’s access rights. Open beta date on that announcement: 28 Sep 2026	The 21 Apr 2026 post keeps planning questions inside the Planful AI conversation. It does not describe a separate interface builder
Main buying consideration	Whether model changes are an Editor permission, and whether Frames in open beta is in scope	Whether the order includes Analyst Assistant and Signals and Projections. Without both, Planner Assistant is not available

Pigment’s 10 Sep 2026 announcement also names Agent Connectors that pull context from Notion, Google Drive, and Slack, plus an MCP server so an external assistant can use Pigment under existing permissions. Planful’s homepage also names an MCP server for bringing an external assistant to Planful data. That shared label is not a shared close workflow.

Close and consolidation

Planful’s homepage connects planning, close, consolidation, and reporting in one platform. The 12 Mar 2026 post names the close controls: structured workflows, rules-based intercompany eliminations, governed currency translation, AI-assisted variance analysis, and a full audit history. Pigment’s financial consolidation use-case page also names multi-entity consolidation, intercompany matching and eliminations, currency translation at period-end and average rates, journal entries, and close workflows. Those shared names are overlap.

	Pigment	Planful
Close path on the page	Use-case page: collect actuals, reconcile and eliminate, generate statements, then analyze. Multi-GAAP starter kits named there include IFRS, US GAAP, UK GAAP, and French GAAP	12 Mar 2026 post: structured workflows and a repeatable close, with finance-owned low-code configuration called out in the same post
Eliminations and currency	Intercompany matching and eliminations. FX uses period-end and average rates, on the use-case FAQ	Rules-based intercompany eliminations and governed currency translation, on the 12 Mar 2026 post
Audit and adjustments	Use-case page lists auditability, controls, traceability, journal entries, and adjustments. The platform page lists audit logs that can export to a SIEM	12 Mar 2026 post: full audit history, and adjustments the Alltech example calls visible and traceable
Main buying consideration	Whether consolidation has to stay on the same model an Editor changes for planning	Whether the close needs the workflow, elimination rule, and audit history named on the 12 Mar 2026 post. Consolidations Premium, a layer for complex ownership, sub-consolidations, and equity pickup, was still described as coming soon on that date. General availability after that post: Not confirmed in public documentation

Reporting

Pigment’s platform page names on-the-fly analysis and reporting, and tailored views at any granularity. Frames, on the 10 Sep 2026 announcement, adds an executive view and a presentation-grade deck on the live model. Planful’s company page names real-time reporting, dynamic dashboards, self-service analysis, and drill-down, and the 12 Mar 2026 post puts that reporting on the same platform as close management and consolidation. Neither page is a reason to say the other product cannot report.

Favor Pigment when the documented requirement is the 12 May 2026 license article plus the 10 Sep 2026 Frames announcement: an Editor who creates formulas and the model’s logic, and an interface built on the live planning model. Favor Planful when the documented requirement is the 12 Mar 2026 post: structured close workflows, rules-based intercompany eliminations, governed currency translation, and a full audit history, in the same platform as planning.