Business Plan Software Compared for 2026: Prices and Free Options
Business plan software writes the sections of a plan for you, from your answers or from a template. This page compares business plan software: three tools whose pricing pages we checked on 2026-11-04, five tools we name without a checked price, and 15minuteplan.ai. Each competitor price and free option matches its pricing page as we read it on 2026-11-04. 15minuteplan.ai's list prices are checked on the same date against our own price list. The page names no overall winner, because the right tool depends on who will read the plan.
Loan payment and break-even calculator
Change any input. The results update in your browser. We do not store what you type. Analytics record only that the calculator was used. The defaults are the invented business in the calculator example below.
26 grooms a month
This is the monthly volume that covers fixed costs and the loan payment, at the margin you entered.
- Monthly loan payment (US$)
- 249.10
- Operating break-even, fixed costs only (grooms a month)
- 21
- Per day with the loan payment, over 30 days (grooms)
- 0.87
- Total repaid over the term (US$)
- 14,946.02
- Interest over the term (US$)
- 2,946.02
How we work it out. Monthly payment = loan × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)−months), where r is the annual rate ÷ 12. Margin per groom = price − variable cost. Operating break-even = fixed costs ÷ margin, rounded up to whole grooms. Break-even with the loan = (fixed costs + monthly payment) ÷ margin, rounded up. Total repaid = monthly payment × months. Equal payments, no fees.
What business plan software is
A business plan usually covers the same core topics: the business and its goals, the market, what you sell, who runs it, and the money. The SBA outline below lists eight sections; each lender can ask for its own. Business plan software helps you write each topic as a section. Some tools ask questions and draft each section from your answers. Others give you a template, or build a financial forecast from the figures you enter. It is not general project management. A task board plans work, not a business.
Two alternatives differ in one way each. A word-processor template gives you headings to fill in. An AI chat prompt writes text with no fixed structure.
The US Small Business Administration (SBA) describes two kinds of plan. The traditional plan is “very detailed, takes more time to write”.
Its outline lists these sections: executive summary, company description, market analysis, organization and management, service or product line, marketing and sales, funding request and financial projections.
Lenders and investors “commonly request” the traditional plan. Lean startup plans “can take as little as one hour to make and are typically only one page”.
Source: SBA, plan your business, checked 2026-11-04.
How we compared these
We checked three pricing pages on 2026-11-04: Bizplanr, PrometAI and Zarla. We did not run hands-on tests. The table lists those three, five tools we name without a checked price, and 15minuteplan.ai. The rows follow the criteria in this section; the order is not a ranking.
Paid price is the US list price on the tool's own pricing page, with the check date. Where the page sets no price for a plan, the table says so.
Free option is the tool's own wording for its free plan or trial, with any limit the page states.
Plan output is what the page says a finished plan includes, such as PDF or Excel export, or financial projections. A list of features does not show that a lender will accept the plan.
The tools
Bizplanr
On 2026-11-04, Bizplanr's pricing page listed a Basic plan that is free, needs no login and lets you download a PDF straight away. It makes a draft from answers to simple questions. Its paid plan, labelled “Upmetrics AI”, costs US$14 a month and is described as “For comprehensive business plan”.
That plan includes 400+ sample plans, a business plan builder, financial projections, what-if scenario planning, a pitch deck builder, and export to PDF, Doc and Excel. Its footer names Upmetrics Inc. We did not check the Upmetrics site.
Suitable for a plan with financial projections and what-if cases.
PrometAI
On 2026-11-04, PrometAI's pricing page listed a Free plan at US$0 a month, with one business plan, 25 AI requests and 2 AI images a month. Its Basic plan, labelled “Application-Ready”, costs US$55 a month billed monthly. It adds PDF export, two business plans, 200 AI requests a month, financial dashboards and currency selection.
Its Pro plan, labelled “Investor-Grade”, costs US$145 a month billed monthly. It adds PowerPoint export, DCF valuation and stress testing, NDA and term-sheet templates, five business plans, 10 translations, 50 images and 500 AI requests a month.
The page also says “Money-back guarantee” and “Cancel anytime”, and it offers a sample plan before you pay. It shows a discount for annual billing; this page does not print the discounted figure.
Suitable for investor material, where the Pro features for valuation and term sheets apply.
Zarla
On 2026-11-04, Zarla's pricing page listed a free tier: a business plan generator with five questions, then a complete plan, then a website built from that plan. Zarla prices its product as a website builder, and its paid prices are for the website, not for the plan. The table therefore gives no plan price for Zarla.
Suitable for a plan you also want as a website.
Tools named without a checked price
We name these five for completeness: LivePlan, Upmetrics (its own site), IdeaBuddy, Venturekit and Enloop. We did not check their prices or free options, and Enloop's pricing page did not load. The table marks each one.
15minuteplan.ai
On 2026-11-04, 15minuteplan.ai is an AI business plan generator: you answer a form about the business, the market and the money, and it writes the plan from your answers.
Side-by-side comparison
A “not checked” cell means we did not check that tool's pricing page for this page. It does not mean the tool has no price or no free option.
| Tool | Paid price (US$) | Free option (page wording) | Plan output (page wording) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bizplanr | “Upmetrics AI” plan US$14 a month | Basic: free, no login, PDF download | Financial projections, what-if scenarios, pitch deck builder; export to PDF, Doc and Excel |
| Enloop | Price not checked; pricing page did not load | Not checked | Not checked |
| IdeaBuddy | Price not checked | Not checked | Not checked |
| LivePlan | Price not checked | Not checked | Not checked |
| PrometAI | Basic 55 a month and Pro 145 a month, both billed monthly | Free: 0 a month, 1 business plan, 25 AI requests a month | Basic: PDF export. Pro: PowerPoint export, DCF valuation and stress testing |
| Upmetrics, its own site | Price not checked | Not checked | Not checked |
| Venturekit | Price not checked | Not checked | Not checked |
| Zarla | No plan price; its paid prices are for the website product | Free generator: five questions, then a complete plan | A plan, then a website built from it |
| 15minuteplan.ai | Starter 69, Pro 99 (US list price) | Preview: 5 sections, not downloadable | Sections written from your answers; financial tables |
Bizplanr calls its paid plan “Upmetrics AI”. Its price comes from Bizplanr's page, not from the Upmetrics site.
Which tool fits your case
| Your case | Feature the page lists | Tool |
|---|---|---|
| Financial projections with what-if cases | Financial projections and what-if scenario planning | Bizplanr, “Upmetrics AI” plan |
| Investor material with valuation tests | DCF valuation, stress testing, NDA and term-sheet templates | PrometAI, Pro plan |
| A plan you can try at no cost | A free plan with no login; one free business plan; a free generator | Bizplanr Basic; PrometAI Free; Zarla |
| A plan for an SBA loan | The SBA outline lists financial projections; lenders commonly request the traditional plan | SBA guide, not a tool |
| A first draft written from your answers | The generator writes the plan from your form answers | 15minuteplan.ai |
Calculator example: one invented business
We invented this business, Juniper Lane Mobile Dog Grooming, and its town, Ferrier Creek. We use its numbers only to show the arithmetic that the calculator above performs. They are not a forecast for any real business.
| Input | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Startup costs | 18,000 | Used van 9,000, van fit-out 4,200, grooming table and dryer 2,300, clippers and hand tools 900, licence, deposit and insurance set-up 800, working capital 800 |
| Owners' money | 6,000 | Startup costs less the loan |
| Loan | 12,000 over 60 months | Monthly payments over five years |
| Annual interest rate | 9% | An assumed fixed rate |
| Price per groom | 60.00 | Invented |
| Variable cost per groom | 9.00 | Invented: shampoo, towels, bags, water and power |
| Fixed costs a month | 1,040 | Van insurance 210, fuel 340, yard and parking 150, phone and booking 60, van upkeep 180, marketing 100 |
The payment assumes equal monthly payments over 60 months at 9% a year, with the annual rate divided by 12. It has no fees, no interest-only months and no other debt. Grooms are the only sales.
- Monthly loan payment: 12,000 × 0.0075 ÷ (1 − 1.0075−60) = 249.10.
- Margin per groom: 60.00 − 9.00 = 51.00.
- Operating break-even, before the loan payment: 1,040 ÷ 51.00 = 20.39, so 21 grooms a month cover fixed costs.
- Grooms that also cover the loan payment: (1,040 + 249.10) ÷ 51.00 = 25.28, so 26 grooms a month, about 0.87 a day over 30 days (26 ÷ 30 = 0.87).
- Total repaid over 60 months: about 14,946, of which about 2,946 is interest.
Draft your own plan
The free preview covers 5 sections and cannot be downloaded. Downloads need a paid plan.
Start the free previewThe SBA outline against each plan
Table 4 sets the eight SBA outline sections against the section titles our generator writes. The free preview writes five sections; the paid Starter and Pro plans write 10 and 17. Other tools are marked “Not checked”: we did not record their section lists.
| SBA outline section | Free preview (5 sections) | Starter (10 sections) | Pro (17 sections) | Other tools |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive summary | Executive Summary | Executive Summary | Executive Summary | Not checked |
| Company description | No section with this name | No section with this name | No section with this name | Not checked |
| Market analysis | Industry Overview; Target Market | Industry Overview; Target Market | Industry Overview; Target Market | Not checked |
| Organization and management | No section with this name | Management | Management Structure and Roles; Recruitment and Training | Not checked |
| Service or product line | No section with this name | Product and Pricing | Products and Services; Pricing and Distribution | Not checked |
| Marketing and sales | No section with this name | Distribution and Advertising | Customer Decision Process; Advertising | Not checked |
| Funding request | No section with this name | No section with this name | No section with this name | Not checked |
| Financial projections | No written section; financial tables are built from your answers | No written section; financial tables are built from your answers | No written section; financial tables are built from your answers | Not checked |
Starter also writes Operations and Risk and Mitigation. Pro also writes Key Activities and KPIs, Quality Control and Implementation, Technology Strategy, Digital Strategy, Growth Strategy, and Risk and Mitigation. The SBA outline has no section with those names.
What the lender still decides is which sections it requires, in what order and format, and whether a plan written with software meets its test.
Questions buyers ask
Is there free business plan software?
Some tools have a free option. Bizplanr's Basic plan is free and needs no login. PrometAI's Free plan includes one business plan. The 15minuteplan.ai free preview covers 5 sections and cannot be downloaded. Zarla's free generator builds a plan from five questions, then a website.
How much does business plan software cost?
Prices differ by tool and by country. 15minuteplan.ai's US list price is US$69 for Starter and US$99 for Pro, as checked on 2026-11-04. A public sale can lower the checkout price, so the list price is not always what you pay. The table gives each other price with its check date, and it marks the prices this page did not check.
Is a plan written with software better than a template?
It depends on how much writing you want done for you. Software drafts each section from your answers and can build financial tables from the figures you enter. A template gives you headings to fill in, and you write every line. The trade-off: a drafted section is only as accurate as the answers behind it, so check each figure against your own records.
Will a lender accept a plan written with software?
This page cannot say. Table 4 sets the SBA outline against each plan's sections. The SBA guide says lenders and investors commonly request the traditional plan. Ask your lender which sections and format it requires, and check every figure you did not supply yourself.
Related: AI business plan generator · SBA loan business plan template · Loan payment and DSCR calculator
Sources and date checked
- 15minuteplan.ai US list prices (Starter US$69, Pro US$99; prices differ by country), checked 2026-11-04 against our product price list; the free preview (5 sections, not downloadable); and the section counts (Starter 10 sections, Pro 17 sections), counted in our generator's section list on 2026-11-04.
- PrometAI pricing, checked 2026-11-04.
- Bizplanr pricing, checked 2026-11-04.
- Zarla pricing, checked 2026-11-04.
- SBA, plan your business, checked 2026-11-04.
Not checked for this page: the prices and free options of LivePlan, Upmetrics (its own site), IdeaBuddy, Venturekit and Enloop.