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Business Intelligence · head to head

Anaplan vs Snowplow

Anaplan logo

Anaplan

Business Intelligence

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

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Snowplow logo

Snowplow

Business Intelligence

Behavioural data pipeline you run in your own cloud, relicensed away from Apache 2.0 in 2024

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; Snowplow the core pipeline was relicensed from Apache 2.0 on 8 January 2024 to the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement and a Confluent-derived community licence, so organisations that adopted it as permissively licensed software must now review their entitlement, buy a licence, or migrate.
  • They diverge on capability: Anaplan covers Hyperblock calculation engine, Snowplow covers Own-cloud deployment.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Anaplan and Snowplow actually diverge.

Attributes where Anaplan and Snowplow differ
AttributeAnaplanSnowplow
PlatformsWeb, iOSLinux, Web, Docker

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 Anaplan

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

Only in Snowplow

  • Own-cloud deployment
  • Schema enforcement
  • Warehouse loading
  • Enrichment
  • Trackers
  • Streaming output
  • Data models
  • Snowplow BDP

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 Snowplow
  • Demand and supply planning at SKU and location level for a manufacturer with tens of thousands of itemsnot Snowplow
  • Workforce planning that ties headcount, cost and capacity to a revenue plan across dozens of business unitsnot Snowplow
  • Replacing a spreadsheet estate where the master planning model has become too large and too fragile for Excel to open reliablynot Snowplow

Snowplow

  • A data team that needs full-fidelity event data in its own warehouse to build attribution or machine learning features rather than to populate dashboardsnot Anaplan
  • A regulated business that cannot send behavioural data to a third-party analytics vendor and must keep collection inside its own cloud accountnot Anaplan
  • A product organisation tired of silently malformed events, which wants a schema contract enforced at collection timenot Anaplan
  • A company modelling customer behaviour across web, mobile and server events that needs them in one consistent structurenot 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.

Snowplow

  • The core pipeline was relicensed from Apache 2.0 on 8 January 2024 to the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement and a Confluent-derived community licence, so organisations that adopted it as permissively licensed software must now review their entitlement, buy a licence, or migrate.
  • You run the pipeline in your own cloud, which means the infrastructure bill, the on-call rota and the upgrade work are yours, and at high event volume that operational cost frequently exceeds what a hosted product would have charged.
  • Schema enforcement is the main benefit and the main friction, because every new event requires a schema to be authored and versioned, and teams without discipline around that end up blocked on their own governance process.
  • There is no analysis layer: Snowplow delivers data to your warehouse and nothing else, so you still need modelling, a BI tool and the people to run them before anyone sees a number.
  • The licence change fractured the community, spawning an Apache 2.0 fork, which means community contributions and third-party tooling are now split across two codebases with uncertain long-term maintenance.

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

Snowplow

On request
  • Snowplow BDP$undefined/year
    • Commercial pricing quoted by event volume and deployment
    • Core pipeline components under the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement, not Apache 2.0
    • Trackers, analytics SDKs and Iglu SDKs remain Apache 2.0

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 Snowplow if

  • You need own-cloud deployment.
  • You work on Linux, Web, Docker.
  • You also want schema enforcement.
Snowplow review

Questions people ask

Is Anaplan or Snowplow better?
Neither clearly leads. Anaplan starts at On request and Snowplow at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Anaplan or Snowplow?
Anaplan starts at On request and Snowplow at On request.
Does Anaplan or Snowplow run on more platforms?
Anaplan runs on Web, iOS. Snowplow runs on Linux, Web, Docker.
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 Snowplow is typically brought in for.
What can Anaplan do that Snowplow cannot?
Anaplan covers Hyperblock calculation engine, Connected planning, Scenario and versioning, Model builder. Snowplow covers Own-cloud deployment, Schema enforcement, Warehouse loading, Enrichment.

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.

Snowplow: Is Snowplow still open source?

Not in the permissive sense. On 8 January 2024 the core pipeline moved from Apache 2.0 to the Snowplow Limited Use Licence Agreement, with version 1.1 following in December 2024, alongside a community licence based on the Confluent Community Licence. Trackers and analytics SDKs remain Apache 2.0.

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.

Snowplow: Can we still run it for free in production?

Free use of the relicensed core components is materially constrained and commercial use generally requires an agreement. Read the current licence text against your intended use rather than relying on older documentation.

Anaplan: Who owns Anaplan?

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

Snowplow: Is there an Apache 2.0 alternative?

Yes, a fork called OpenSnowcat was created in response to the relicensing and continues under Apache 2.0.

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.

Snowplow: What does Snowplow BDP cost?

Not published. It is quoted by event volume and deployment, and your own cloud infrastructure costs are separate and additional.

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