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Accounting · head to head

Spendbase vs Vena Solutions

Spendbase logo

Spendbase

Accounting

SaaS and cloud spend management that charges a share of the savings it finds rather than a licence

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Vena Solutions logo

Vena Solutions

Accounting

FP&A planning that keeps Excel as the front end and puts a database and workflow behind it

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Spendbase has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Spendbase charging a share of savings gives the vendor an interest in defining savings generously, and the customer cannot verify a counterfactual price it never saw.; Vena Solutions vena publishes no pricing and contracts are modular, so two organisations of similar size can pay very different amounts and neither can benchmark without going through procurement.
  • They diverge on capability: Spendbase covers Subscription visibility, Vena Solutions covers Excel add-in interface.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Spendbase and Vena Solutions actually diverge.

Attributes where Spendbase and Vena Solutions differ
AttributeSpendbaseVena Solutions
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree card tier, plus a share of savings on the managed planquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, Windows, Excel add-in

Identical on both: 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 Spendbase

  • Subscription visibility
  • Discount marketplace
  • Virtual cards
  • Cashback
  • Renewal management
  • Savings-share billing

Only in Vena Solutions

  • Excel add-in interface
  • Central multidimensional database
  • Workflow and approvals
  • Audit trail
  • Rolling forecasts
  • Close management
  • Power BI integration
  • ERP connectors

What people use each for

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

Spendbase

  • A startup with no procurement function that wants renewal dates and subscription owners in one placenot Vena Solutions
  • A company with heavy Azure or cloud spend that can use pre-negotiated credit allocationsnot Vena Solutions
  • Issuing virtual cards per subscription so a forgotten trial cannot renew silentlynot Vena Solutions
  • A finance lead who wants software cost reduction without hiring anyone to do itnot Vena Solutions

Vena Solutions

  • A finance team that wants governance and audit over budgeting but refuses to give up Excel formulasnot Spendbase
  • Replacing a shared drive full of departmental budget workbooks with routed templates and tracked submissionnot Spendbase
  • Consolidating actuals from more than one ERP into a single reporting set without a data warehouse projectnot Spendbase
  • Running monthly rolling forecasts where the model is complex enough to need real spreadsheet logicnot Spendbase

Where each one falls short

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

Spendbase

  • Charging a share of savings gives the vendor an interest in defining savings generously, and the customer cannot verify a counterfactual price it never saw.
  • The savings share is reported at around 25 percent but is not published on the pricing page, so the actual commercial terms only appear in a contract.
  • Spendbase is both a banking provider and your software negotiator, so a company using both concentrates operating cash and vendor relationships in one small, young company.
  • Banking is delivered through partners rather than held directly, meaning deposit protection and service continuity depend on those partners rather than on Spendbase.
  • It is scoped for startups and small companies, so organisations needing approval workflows, purchase orders or ERP integration will find it thin against a real procurement platform.

Vena Solutions

  • Vena publishes no pricing and contracts are modular, so two organisations of similar size can pay very different amounts and neither can benchmark without going through procurement.
  • Implementation services for data integration and template configuration typically make up a large part of first-year cost, often exceeding the licence, and that figure only appears in the proposal.
  • Excel dependency is structural: organisations on Google Workspace, or staff working only in a browser or on Chromebooks, cannot use the primary interface as intended.
  • Because it accepts existing spreadsheets, it can preserve years of undocumented logic and circular workarounds rather than forcing the clean-up that a rebuild on a purpose-built modelling tool would require.
  • Model performance degrades with very large dimensional models, so organisations that grow into genuinely large planning problems eventually hit the limits of the spreadsheet-first design and face a second migration.

Pricing, plan by plan

Spendbase

Free
  • Digital bankingFree
    • No monthly fee per user
    • Up to 100 virtual cards
    • EUR and GBP account details
  • Spend management$undefined/year
    • Everything in the free tier
    • Reported share of roughly 25 percent of savings achieved
    • 200 percent return guarantee against a deposit

Vena Solutions

On request
  • Vena Professional$undefined/year
    • Core planning platform and Excel add-in
    • Workflow, audit trail and version control
    • Standard support
  • Vena Complete$undefined/year
    • Everything in Professional
    • Power BI integration
    • Premium support and a customer success manager

Which should you pick?

Choose Spendbase if

  • You need subscription visibility.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want discount marketplace.
Spendbase review

Choose Vena Solutions if

  • You need excel add-in interface.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Excel add-in.
  • You also want central multidimensional database.
Vena Solutions review

Questions people ask

Is Spendbase or Vena Solutions better?
Neither clearly leads. Spendbase starts at Free and Vena Solutions at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Spendbase or Vena Solutions?
Spendbase has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Spendbase and On request for Vena Solutions.
Does Spendbase or Vena Solutions run on more platforms?
Spendbase runs on Web. Vena Solutions runs on Web, Windows, Excel add-in.
Can I use Spendbase for free?
Yes. Spendbase has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Vena Solutions starts at On request.
What is Spendbase best used for?
Spendbase is most often used for a startup with no procurement function that wants renewal dates and subscription owners in one place, a company with heavy azure or cloud spend that can use pre-negotiated credit allocations, issuing virtual cards per subscription so a forgotten trial cannot renew silently, a finance lead who wants software cost reduction without hiring anyone to do it. Of those, a startup with no procurement function that wants renewal dates and subscription owners in one place and a company with heavy azure or cloud spend that can use pre-negotiated credit allocations are not what Vena Solutions is typically brought in for.
What can Spendbase do that Vena Solutions cannot?
Spendbase covers Subscription visibility, Discount marketplace, Virtual cards, Cashback. Vena Solutions covers Excel add-in interface, Central multidimensional database, Workflow and approvals, Audit trail.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Spendbase: Is Spendbase free?

The card and banking tier is genuinely free with no per-user fee. The spend management service is paid from a share of the savings it finds, reported at around 25 percent.

Vena Solutions: Do we have to give up Excel?

No, that is the point of the product. Excel is the interface, backed by a central database and workflow.

Spendbase: How is a saving calculated?

The methodology is not published. Agree the baseline, the measurement period and what counts as a saving in writing before signing.

Vena Solutions: Is pricing published?

No. Vena quotes per organisation based on users, modules and services.

Spendbase: Does Spendbase hold my money?

Banking is provided through regulated partners including Moorwand in the UK and EEA and Sutton Bank in the US, with Mastercard issuing the cards.

Vena Solutions: How much is implementation?

It is quoted separately and commonly forms a large share of first-year cost. Get it itemised before comparing against Anaplan or Adaptive.

Spendbase: Is it suitable for an enterprise?

No. There are no purchase orders, approval hierarchies or ERP integration; it is built for startups.

Vena Solutions: Does it work without Microsoft Office?

Not properly. The Excel add-in is the main working surface.

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