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Business Intelligence · head to head

Phocas vs Sigma Computing

Phocas logo

Phocas

Business Intelligence

Pre-built BI and FP&A for wholesale distributors and manufacturers running mid-market ERPs

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sigma Computing logo

Sigma Computing

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheet-style analytics that queries a cloud data warehouse directly with no extract layer

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Phocas the value is the pre-built vertical content, so a company outside distribution, manufacturing or retail pays premium prices for dashboards it must build itself anyway.; Sigma Computing every user interaction is a live warehouse query, so compute costs rise with adoption and land on the warehouse invoice rather than the BI line item, which routinely surprises the team that approved the purchase.
  • They diverge on capability: Phocas covers ERP connectors, Sigma Computing covers Spreadsheet interface over SQL.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Phocas and Sigma Computing actually diverge.

Attributes where Phocas and Sigma Computing differ
AttributePhocasSigma Computing
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb
CategoryBusiness IntelligenceSpreadsheets

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Phocas

  • ERP connectors
  • Pre-built distribution content
  • Grid-first analysis
  • Financial statements
  • Budgets and forecasts
  • Rebates module
  • Alerts and subscriptions
  • Mobile apps

Only in Sigma Computing

  • Spreadsheet interface over SQL
  • No extract layer
  • Input tables and write-back
  • Workbooks
  • Embedded analytics
  • Version control and dbt awareness

What people use each for

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

Phocas

  • A wholesale distributor on Prophet 21 whose sales reps need per-customer margin and stock availability without waiting on a report writernot Sigma Computing
  • A manufacturer that wants budgeting on the same data as its sales analysis rather than in a separate spreadsheetnot Sigma Computing
  • A multi-branch retailer comparing branch and product performance daily without an internal BI teamnot Sigma Computing
  • A private equity owner standardising reporting across several acquired distributors on different ERPsnot Sigma Computing

Sigma Computing

  • A finance or operations team that lives in spreadsheets and needs warehouse-scale data without exporting CSVsnot Phocas
  • An organisation that has consolidated on Snowflake or Databricks and wants one governed access layer rather than several desktop toolsnot Phocas
  • Planning and scenario work where users need to type assumptions back into governed tables rather than into a local filenot Phocas
  • Embedding customer-facing analytics into a product where each tenant must only see their own rowsnot Phocas

Where each one falls short

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

Phocas

  • The value is the pre-built vertical content, so a company outside distribution, manufacturing or retail pays premium prices for dashboards it must build itself anyway.
  • If your ERP is not on the maintained connector list you fall back to generic database extraction and lose the fast time to value that justifies the price.
  • The visualisation library is thin next to Power BI or Tableau, and analysts who want fine control over chart design will find it constraining.
  • Pricing is quoted per user and never published, and buyers routinely report large gaps between initial and renewal quotes with limited comparison leverage.
  • Modules are licensed separately, so a customer who bought Analytics and later wants Financial Statements or Rebates faces a new negotiation rather than an upgrade.

Sigma Computing

  • Every user interaction is a live warehouse query, so compute costs rise with adoption and land on the warehouse invoice rather than the BI line item, which routinely surprises the team that approved the purchase.
  • It cannot work without a supported cloud data warehouse, so an organisation running analytics on an on-premises database or a plain application database has nothing to connect to.
  • Pricing is not published and seats are differentiated by capability, so budgeting requires a sales cycle and a headcount forecast before you can compare it with a tool you could simply buy.
  • Performance is only as good as the warehouse behind it, which means slow or badly modelled tables surface as a slow interface and the fix is a data engineering project, not a Sigma setting.
  • Statistical and scientific visualisation is limited compared with dedicated tools, so anything beyond standard business charting has to be done elsewhere and brought back in.

Pricing, plan by plan

Phocas

On request
  • Phocas$undefined/year
    • Annual subscription quoted by user count and modules
    • Analytics, Financial Statements, Budgets and Rebates licensed separately
    • One-off implementation and ERP connector setup fee

Sigma Computing

On request
  • Sigma Computing$undefined/year
    • Quoted per organisation
    • Seat types are differentiated by whether a user views, explores or authors
    • Warehouse compute is billed separately by your cloud data warehouse vendor

Which should you pick?

Choose Phocas if

  • You need erp connectors.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want pre-built distribution content.
Phocas review

Choose Sigma Computing if

  • You need spreadsheet interface over sql.
  • You also want no extract layer.
Sigma Computing review

Questions people ask

Is Phocas or Sigma Computing better?
Neither clearly leads. Phocas starts at On request and Sigma Computing at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Phocas or Sigma Computing?
Phocas starts at On request and Sigma Computing at On request.
Does Phocas or Sigma Computing run on more platforms?
Phocas runs on Web, iOS, Android. Sigma Computing runs on Web.
What is Phocas best used for?
Phocas is most often used for a wholesale distributor on prophet 21 whose sales reps need per-customer margin and stock availability without waiting on a report writer, a manufacturer that wants budgeting on the same data as its sales analysis rather than in a separate spreadsheet, a multi-branch retailer comparing branch and product performance daily without an internal bi team, a private equity owner standardising reporting across several acquired distributors on different erps. Of those, a wholesale distributor on prophet 21 whose sales reps need per-customer margin and stock availability without waiting on a report writer and a manufacturer that wants budgeting on the same data as its sales analysis rather than in a separate spreadsheet are not what Sigma Computing is typically brought in for.
What can Phocas do that Sigma Computing cannot?
Phocas covers ERP connectors, Pre-built distribution content, Grid-first analysis, Financial statements. Sigma Computing covers Spreadsheet interface over SQL, No extract layer, Input tables and write-back, Workbooks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Phocas: What does Phocas cost?

Nothing is published. It is quoted annually by user count and module, with a separate implementation fee, and varies by region.

Sigma Computing: Does Sigma store a copy of my data?

No. Queries are executed on your warehouse and results are returned for display, which is why there is no extract refresh to manage.

Phocas: Is it worth it over Power BI?

Only if you are in its target verticals on a supported ERP. Power BI is far cheaper per seat but you supply the data model.

Sigma Computing: What does it actually cost?

The vendor does not publish prices. Expect an annual contract priced by seat type, plus a warehouse compute increase you should model separately.

Phocas: Does it replace my ERP reporting?

It replaces day-to-day analysis and sales reporting. Transactional and statutory reporting stays in the ERP.

Sigma Computing: Can business users break the warehouse?

They can run expensive queries. Warehouse sizing, query limits and materialised tables are the controls, and they need configuring before a wide rollout.

Phocas: Can it do budgeting?

Yes, through a separately licensed Financial Statements and Budgets module on the same warehouse.

Sigma Computing: Is it a replacement for a modelling layer like dbt?

No. Sigma works best on top of modelled tables and is usually deployed alongside dbt rather than instead of it.

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