Is Anaplan or Mode better?

Neither clearly leads. Anaplan starts at On request and Mode at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Anaplan or Mode?

Mode has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Anaplan and Free for Mode.

Does Anaplan or Mode run on more platforms?

Anaplan runs on Web, iOS. Mode runs on Web.

Can I use Mode for free?

Yes. Mode has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Anaplan starts at On request.

What is Anaplan best used for?

Anaplan is most often used for sales territory and quota planning across thousands of reps where a change to segmentation must reflow quota immediately, demand and supply planning at sku and location level for a manufacturer with tens of thousands of items, workforce planning that ties headcount, cost and capacity to a revenue plan across dozens of business units, replacing a spreadsheet estate where the master planning model has become too large and too fragile for excel to open reliably. Of those, sales territory and quota planning across thousands of reps where a change to segmentation must reflow quota immediately and demand and supply planning at sku and location level for a manufacturer with tens of thousands of items are not what Mode is typically brought in for.

What can Anaplan do that Mode cannot?

Anaplan covers Hyperblock calculation engine, Connected planning, Scenario and versioning, Model builder. Mode covers SQL Editor, Python/R Notebooks, Interactive Reports, Version Control.

Business Intelligence · head to head

Anaplan vs Mode

Anaplan

Business Intelligence

Connected planning platform with an in-memory calculation engine for large multidimensional models

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

Mode

Business Intelligence

Collaborative analytics for data teams

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Mode has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Anaplan workspace is licensed by memory consumed, so a model that grows as the business adds SKUs, regions or scenarios generates a bill increase without a single new user being added, and teams end up optimising models for licence cost rather than clarity.; Mode free tier limited to 4GB RAM and 1 CPU for SQL notebooks, insufficient for large datasets
They diverge on capability: Anaplan covers Hyperblock calculation engine, Mode covers SQL Editor.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Anaplan and Mode actually diverge.

Attributes where Anaplan and Mode differ
Attribute	Anaplan	Mode
Starting price	On request	Free
Pricing model	quote	subscription
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Web, iOS	Web
Founded	Unknown	2013

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Business Intelligence).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Anaplan

Hyperblock calculation engine
Connected planning
Scenario and versioning
Model builder
Anaplan PlanIQ
Workflow and approvals
Application lifecycle management
Data integration

Only in Mode

SQL Editor
Python/R Notebooks
Interactive Reports
Version Control
Scheduling
Snowflake
Redshift
BigQuery

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Anaplan

Sales territory and quota planning across thousands of reps where a change to segmentation must reflow quota immediatelynot Mode
Demand and supply planning at SKU and location level for a manufacturer with tens of thousands of itemsnot Mode
Workforce planning that ties headcount, cost and capacity to a revenue plan across dozens of business unitsnot Mode
Replacing a spreadsheet estate where the master planning model has become too large and too fragile for Excel to open reliablynot Mode

Mode

Self-service analyticsnot Anaplan
Data explorationnot Anaplan
Ad-hoc reportingnot Anaplan
Collaborative analysisnot Anaplan
Embedded analyticsnot Anaplan

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Anaplan

Workspace is licensed by memory consumed, so a model that grows as the business adds SKUs, regions or scenarios generates a bill increase without a single new user being added, and teams end up optimising models for licence cost rather than clarity.
Model building requires certified Anaplan modellers using a proprietary formula language, and the labour market for that skill is small, so most customers stay dependent on a systems integrator long after go-live.
Thoma Bravo took the company private in 2022 in a $10.7bn deal, and customers have since reported firmer renewal terms; a private-equity owner optimising for cash flow is a real factor in a multi-year planning contract.
Native reporting and visualisation are weak for anything beyond planning grids, so most customers push data out to Power BI or Tableau for executive reporting, adding another tool and another latency point.
Implementations are long. A connected planning programme across finance and supply chain routinely runs six to eighteen months before the first production plan, which is difficult to justify when the business wants a forecast this quarter.

Mode

Free tier limited to 4GB RAM and 1 CPU for SQL notebooks, insufficient for large datasets
Requires SQL knowledge for most analysis tasks, creating dependency on technical resources
Paid plan pricing not publicly listed; requires sales consultation
Recently acquired by ThoughtSpot in 2026, creating product direction uncertainty
Limited customization options for visual aspects and embedded analytics

Pricing, plan by plan

Anaplan

On request

Anaplan$undefined/year
- Licensed by user tier and by workspace capacity
- Workspace charged on memory consumed by models, independent of user count
- Multi-year enterprise agreements are the norm

Mode

Free

FreeFree
- SQL Editor
- Python/R Notebooks
- Basic Charts
Business$65/month
- Advanced Visualizations
- Collaboration
- Integrations

Which should you pick?

Choose Anaplan if

You need hyperblock calculation engine.
You work on Web, iOS.
You also want connected planning.

Anaplan review

Choose Mode if

You need sql editor.
You want to start without paying.
You also want python/r notebooks.

Mode review

Questions people ask

Is Anaplan or Mode better?: Neither clearly leads. Anaplan starts at On request and Mode at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Anaplan or Mode?: Mode has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Anaplan and Free for Mode.
Does Anaplan or Mode run on more platforms?: Anaplan runs on Web, iOS. Mode runs on Web.
Can I use Mode for free?: Yes. Mode has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Anaplan starts at On request.
What is Anaplan best used for?: Anaplan is most often used for sales territory and quota planning across thousands of reps where a change to segmentation must reflow quota immediately, demand and supply planning at sku and location level for a manufacturer with tens of thousands of items, workforce planning that ties headcount, cost and capacity to a revenue plan across dozens of business units, replacing a spreadsheet estate where the master planning model has become too large and too fragile for excel to open reliably. Of those, sales territory and quota planning across thousands of reps where a change to segmentation must reflow quota immediately and demand and supply planning at sku and location level for a manufacturer with tens of thousands of items are not what Mode is typically brought in for.
What can Anaplan do that Mode cannot?: Anaplan covers Hyperblock calculation engine, Connected planning, Scenario and versioning, Model builder. Mode covers SQL Editor, Python/R Notebooks, Interactive Reports, Version Control.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Anaplan: Why is Anaplan expensive even when user counts are low?

Because workspace is licensed on the memory your models consume as well as on users. Large models cost money regardless of how many people log in.

Mode: What languages does Mode support for analysis?

Mode notebooks support SQL, Python (3.11 with pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn, matplotlib), and R (4.2.0 with ggplot2, dplyr, tidyr). Both Python and R allow additional library installation at runtime.

Source

Anaplan: Do we need a systems integrator?

Almost always for the first implementation. The proprietary modelling language and the scale of typical models make an experienced partner or an internal certified team effectively mandatory.

Mode: Can I integrate Mode notebook results into reports?

Yes. Mode allows adding notebook cell results directly to reports, with synchronized scheduling so reports re-run to keep data current.

Source

Anaplan: Who owns Anaplan?

Thoma Bravo, which took it private in 2022 for $10.7bn.

Mode: Does Mode support collaborative analysis?

Yes. Mode notebooks provide moveable code blocks and markdown cells enabling exploratory analysis and team collaboration on data queries and visualizations.

Source

Anaplan: Can it replace our BI tool?

No. It is a planning and calculation platform; most customers still export to Power BI or Tableau for reporting and dashboards.

Anaplan vs Mode

Anaplan

Mode

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Anaplan

Only in Mode

What people use each for

Anaplan

Mode

Where each one falls short

Anaplan

Mode

Pricing, plan by plan

Anaplan

Mode

Which should you pick?

Choose Anaplan if

Choose Mode if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Anaplan

More on Mode

Keep looking

Other head to heads