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Business Intelligence · head to head

Phocas vs Yellowfin

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
Yellowfin logo

Yellowfin

Business Intelligence

Action-based business intelligence

From
$50/month
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.; Yellowfin the pricing page publishes no rate, no minimum and no per-user price; every model ends in a Get Pricing form
  • They diverge on capability: Phocas covers ERP connectors, Yellowfin covers Automated Analysis.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Phocas and Yellowfin actually diverge.

Attributes where Phocas and Yellowfin differ
AttributePhocasYellowfin
Starting priceOn request$50/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, Mobile, Embedded
FoundedUnknown2003

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Phocas

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

Only in Yellowfin

  • Automated Analysis
  • Data Stories
  • Collaboration
  • Signals
  • Embedded Analytics
  • Salesforce
  • Google Analytics
  • SQL Server

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 Yellowfin
  • A manufacturer that wants budgeting on the same data as its sales analysis rather than in a separate spreadsheetnot Yellowfin
  • A multi-branch retailer comparing branch and product performance daily without an internal BI teamnot Yellowfin
  • A private equity owner standardising reporting across several acquired distributors on different ERPsnot Yellowfin

Yellowfin

  • Embedding white-labelled dashboards and analytics into a software productnot Phocas
  • Enterprise reporting with automated business monitoring and alertingnot Phocas
  • Data storytelling and guided natural language querying for business usersnot 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.

Yellowfin

  • The pricing page publishes no rate, no minimum and no per-user price; every model ends in a Get Pricing form
  • One of the three embedded models is a revenue share, so Yellowfin takes a cut of the revenue your analytics module earns
  • Another model prices by server core, so scaling deployment hardware raises the licence cost independently of users
  • Getting a quote requires submitting a form with a marketing consent checkbox and a user-count band rather than seeing a rate card

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

Yellowfin

$50/month
  • Team$50/month
    • Dashboards
    • Stories
    • Collaboration
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Advanced Features
    • Embedding
    • Custom SLA

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 Yellowfin if

  • You need automated analysis.
  • You work on Web, Mobile, Embedded.
  • You also want data stories.
Yellowfin review

Questions people ask

Is Phocas or Yellowfin better?
Neither clearly leads. Phocas starts at On request and Yellowfin at $50/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Phocas or Yellowfin?
Phocas starts at On request and Yellowfin at $50/month.
Does Phocas or Yellowfin run on more platforms?
Phocas runs on Web, iOS, Android. Yellowfin runs on Web, Mobile, Embedded.
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 Yellowfin is typically brought in for.
What can Phocas do that Yellowfin cannot?
Phocas covers ERP connectors, Pre-built distribution content, Grid-first analysis, Financial statements. Yellowfin covers Automated Analysis, Data Stories, Collaboration, Signals.

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.

Yellowfin: What pricing models does Yellowfin offer?

Yellowfin offers three flexible models for embedded analytics: Aligned Utility Model (price per unit), Revenue Share Model (based on analytics revenue value), and Server Core (fixed price based on server deployment).

Source
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.

Yellowfin: Is Yellowfin pricing predictable and scalable?

Yes, Yellowfin pricing is simple, predictable and scalable with no hidden costs or surprises.

Source
Phocas: Does it replace my ERP reporting?

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

Yellowfin: Are there limits on user access or development environments?

No limitations exist on access to functionality across users. There are also no limits on dev and test licenses, ensuring DevOps is covered.

Source
Phocas: Can it do budgeting?

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

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