Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Avalara vs insightsoftware

Avalara logo

Avalara

Accounting

Tax compliance done right

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
insightsoftware logo

insightsoftware

Accounting

A private-equity roll-up of financial reporting and EPM tools for the office of the CFO

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Avalara pricing varies significantly based on products, integrations, transaction volume, and jurisdictions; insightsoftware you are buying one acquired product rather than a platform, and its roadmap depends on portfolio strategy decisions made after your contract is signed.
  • They diverge on capability: Avalara covers Tax calculation, insightsoftware covers Excel-native reporting.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Avalara and insightsoftware actually diverge.

Attributes where Avalara and insightsoftware differ
AttributeAvalarainsightsoftware
Starting price$29/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb, Windows
Founded2004Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).

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 Avalara

  • Tax calculation
  • Returns filing
  • Exemption management
  • Document management
  • Real-time rates
  • QuickBooks
  • NetSuite
  • Shopify

Only in insightsoftware

  • Excel-native reporting
  • ERP connectors
  • Financial close and consolidation
  • Budgeting and planning
  • Embedded analytics
  • Lease and equity management

What people use each for

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

Avalara

  • Real-time sales tax calculation at checkoutnot insightsoftware
  • Multi-state and multi-jurisdiction tax determinationnot insightsoftware
  • VAT, lodging, communications and excise tax calculationnot insightsoftware
  • Feeding tax results into an ERP or ecommerce platform through the APInot insightsoftware

insightsoftware

  • A Dynamics or NetSuite finance team that needs live ERP data in Excel without an IT-built data warehousenot Avalara
  • Month-end close reporting where the current process is exporting to Excel and manually rekeying figuresnot Avalara
  • Statutory consolidation and disclosure management across several legal entities and currenciesnot Avalara
  • A software vendor embedding dashboards into its own application using Logi Analyticsnot Avalara

Where each one falls short

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

Avalara

  • Pricing varies significantly based on products, integrations, transaction volume, and jurisdictions
  • No free tier or trial period published
  • Enterprise sales model requires contacting sales specialists for customized quotes

insightsoftware

  • You are buying one acquired product rather than a platform, and its roadmap depends on portfolio strategy decisions made after your contract is signed.
  • The acquisition pace, roughly twenty-five companies, has produced overlapping products in the same category, and customers of the loser in an internal overlap face a migration they did not plan.
  • Renewal price increases are a recurring complaint across the portfolio, which is a normal consequence of private-equity ownership and should be negotiated into the initial contract rather than discovered later.
  • Support quality varies sharply by product depending on how recently it was acquired and how integrated the support organisation is, so reference checks need to be product-specific rather than vendor-level.
  • Nothing is priced publicly, and because each product is priced separately a finance stack assembled from three insightsoftware products can cost far more than the platform framing implies.

Pricing, plan by plan

Avalara

$29/month
  • AvaTax$50/month
    • Tax calculation
    • Exemption certificates
    • Returns filing

insightsoftware

On request
  • insightsoftware products$undefined/year
    • Priced per product, not as one platform
    • Annual subscription or perpetual licence depending on the product
    • Named user and server-based metrics vary by product

Which should you pick?

Choose Avalara if

  • You need tax calculation.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want returns filing.
Avalara review

Choose insightsoftware if

  • You need excel-native reporting.
  • You work on Web, Windows.
  • You also want erp connectors.
insightsoftware review

Questions people ask

Is Avalara or insightsoftware better?
Neither clearly leads. Avalara starts at $29/month and insightsoftware at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Avalara or insightsoftware?
Avalara starts at $29/month and insightsoftware at On request.
Does Avalara or insightsoftware run on more platforms?
Avalara runs on Web, Api. insightsoftware runs on Web, Windows.
What is Avalara best used for?
Avalara is most often used for real-time sales tax calculation at checkout, multi-state and multi-jurisdiction tax determination, vat, lodging, communications and excise tax calculation, feeding tax results into an erp or ecommerce platform through the api. Of those, real-time sales tax calculation at checkout and multi-state and multi-jurisdiction tax determination are not what insightsoftware is typically brought in for.
What can Avalara do that insightsoftware cannot?
Avalara covers Tax calculation, Returns filing, Exemption management, Document management. insightsoftware covers Excel-native reporting, ERP connectors, Financial close and consolidation, Budgeting and planning.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Avalara: What are the starting prices for Avalara services?

Avalara Tax Calculation and Returns Compliance Package starts at $699. License Guidance is available for as low as $119. Sales Tax Registration costs $403 per location.

Source
insightsoftware: Is insightsoftware one product?

No. It is a portfolio of roughly twenty-five acquired products including Jet Reports, Spreadsheet Server, Longview, Certent and Logi Analytics.

Avalara: How does Avalara's pricing scale?

Avalara uses volume-based pricing that varies based on the number of integrated business applications, volume of monthly sales transactions, number of states or jurisdictions for tax collection, and Streamlined Sales Tax enrollment. Pricing scales with business growth and transaction volume.

Source
insightsoftware: Who owns it?

TA Associates, with Hg investing around one billion US dollars for joint control at a valuation near four billion.

insightsoftware: Does it publish pricing?

No. Each product is quoted separately.

insightsoftware: What should I check before buying?

Where your specific product sits in the portfolio strategy, and whether it overlaps with another acquired product.

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