10 best sales forecasting tools (+ features and benefits)

Sales forecasting tools can help predict how much revenue you'll generate in a given time frame. And the more accurate your forecasts, the better. But knowing how to improve forecasting accuracy can be tricky. That's where sales forecasting software comes in.

In this comprehensive guide, we'll cover the essential questions surrounding sales forecasting tools. We'll also give you tips on selecting the best sales forecasting solution for your business so you can make the most of this incredible time-saving tool.

Sales forecasting software is the ultimate tool for predicting future lead volume, pipeline value, and close probability. It allows businesses to set realistic sales goals with high levels of accuracy.

A top-of-the-line sales forecasting tool should provide well-rounded features to help your team predict trends and assess the performance of past sales initiatives. Here are our software picks for 2023 to help you do just that.

• Zendesk
• Aviso
• Pipedrive
• Avercast
• Mediafly
• Salesforce
• OnPlan
• Clari
• ForecastX
• Anaplan

1. Zendesk

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Zendesk Sell is a modern sales CRM designed to help businesses accelerate revenue through accurate forecasting and real-time pipeline management. Sell delivers a vast catalog of features designed to enable data-driven decision-making, and allow sales teams to keep track of, manage, and analyze the sales process.

Here are some of the top ways sales teams utilize Zendesk Sell:

• Add sales forecast data to deals: Predict the win likelihood and estimated close date for new deals by evaluating historical data.
• Review sources of forecasted sales: With The Forecasted Sales by Source report, review forecasted sales for a given period of time and where leads are coming from.
• Collect activity reports: Access out-of-the-box reports to examine essential metrics on sales rep activities and deal results.
• Review performance metrics: Gain pipeline insights by evaluating factors that led to a deal win or loss.
• Create custom forecast reports: Using Sell data such as weighted forecast by team, you can create customized reports and share crucial insights company-wide.

Reclaim the time you would typically spend plugging numbers into spreadsheets with sales dashboards and reports for quick access to projections.

Features

• Win probability forecasting
• Sales forecasting
• Forecasted Sales by Source report
• Advanced sales reporting
• Pre-built deals dashboard with monthly forecast analytics
• Custom forecast reports

Pricing

• Team: $19 per user/month
• Growth: $55 per user/month
• Professional: $115 per user/month
• Enterprise: Contact sales

Plans billed annually.

Free trial

14 days

2. Aviso

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Aviso is an AI sales forecasting tool that promises 98 percent accuracy. It employs a unified forecasting approach that combines human judgment with its advanced predictive sales forecasting AI feature. (It also touts personalized representative coaching.)

Aviso offers software products for remote sales collaboration and advanced revenue operations. While a great addition to your tech stack, Aviso does not come with CRM capabilities, so if you don't already have a CRM, you may face alignment issues. You may also need to take additional steps to integrate non-CRM software with your sales data.

Features

• Deal level forecasting
• Hierarchy management
• Ensemble models
• Graphic data presentation
• Reporting and analytics
• Forecasting AI capabilities
• WinScore insights

Pricing

• Contact Aviso for a custom quote

Free trial

30 days

3. Pipedrive

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Pipedrive compares its forecasting functions to having your own personal sales manager. It offers a customizable Forecast View that users can check periodically for faster course correction and planning.

The Insights Revenue Forecast—available only with the Professional and Enterprise plans—is advertised as an especially powerful tool for estimating future revenue. Pipedrive users also appreciate its extensive number of integrations, making it easier to connect to other digital business tools.

While Pipedrive's starting price is lower than the majority of forecasting tools on the market, the basic plan offers limited features. Additionally, if you are already a CRM user with a different company (e.g., Zendesk or Salesforce), it might make more sense to keep your forecasting software in-house for easier integration and cost efficiency.

Features

• Dashboard
• Predictive sales analytics
• Drag-and-drop updating
• Sales trend analysis

Pricing

• Essential: $14.90 per user/month
• Advanced: $24.90 per user/month
• Professional: $49.90 per user/month
• Enterprise: $99 per user/month

Free trial

Free demo available upon request

4. Avercast

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Avercast is a robust revenue forecasting and demand planning tool equipped with over 200 algorithms for generating accurate forecasts. It's simple to use and presents your sales data in easy-to-read graphs and charts in a spreadsheet format. Avercast reports are easily customizable, allowing users to create comparative forecasts quickly.

As a non-CRM software, Avercast works best when integrated with a strong sales CRM. By combining Avercast's advanced algorithms with sales automations, you can ensure your forecasts are accurate and include the most up-to-date data.

Features

• Correction analysis
• Sales trend analysis
• Exception reporting
• Planned vs. actual tracking
• Built-in algorithms
• Integratable
• Demand forecasting
• Inventory planning
• Capacity planning

Pricing

• Pricing starts at $1,000/month. Contact Avercast for additional information.

Free trial

Free demo available upon request

5. Mediafly (formerly InsightSquared)

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Mediafly Intelligence360 utilizes AI-powered forecasting, letting users ditch the spreadsheets and simplify the process of making predictions.

This user-friendly platform allows users to generate hyper-specific reports—segmented by region, product, and line of business—and view data from any time frame to get a close-up of purchasing patterns. Users can also look at individual client behaviors and repeat purchases to create case-by-case forecasts.

As with any non-CRM software, Intelligence360 works best when paired with a robust sales CRM for maximum data and forecasting efficiency.

Features

• Ad hoc reporting
• Sales performance metrics
• Data visualization
• Trend/problem indicators
• Reporting and analytics
• RevOps dashboard
• Interactive reporting
• Conversational intelligence

Pricing

• Pricing available upon request

Free trial

60 days available upon request

6. Salesforce

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Salesforce is a larger technology suite that includes products for sales, customer service, and marketing. Sales Cloud is the company's sales tool and includes pipeline management and forecasting solutions.

Using out-of-the-box KPIs and quick filters, this platform promises real-time visibility of sales pipelines so users can zero in on the most promising opportunities. It also allows users to transform one-on-one status updates into coaching sessions so teams can learn with real-time customer data.

Salesforce comes with a variety of support software for your entire tech stack. If you're already a Salesforce customer, it makes sense to keep your software in-house. And if you don't have a CRM yet, it's important to note that many of Salesforce's favorite features only come in the more advanced (and expensive) packages—not the $25 Essentials tier.

Features

• CRM
• Predictive AI
• Process automations
• Reporting dashboards

Pricing

• Essentials: $25 per user/month
• Professional: $75 per user/month
• Enterprise: $150 per user/month
• Unlimited: $300 per user/month

Free trial

30 days

7. OnPlan

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OnPlan is a financial modeling tool and sales forecasting solution that's best for businesses from all industries with 25 to 500 employees. It allows users to create “What if” scenarios to model their way through different circumstances and better understand their leverage points.

Additionally, OnPlan features a powerful budget vs. actual (BVA) tool. Users also enjoy the tracking feature, which provides insights into actions other team members took on specific accounts in the past.

OnPlan is simple to use, is easy to integrate with larger CRM software, and presents data in clear models and graphics. The pricing depends on the size of the company, and accounts can scale as businesses grow. This is especially ideal for startups that aren't quite financially ready to commit to a full tech stack.

Features

• Audit trail
• Benchmarking
• Dashboard
• Milestone tracking
• Premade dashboards
• Financial reporting

Pricing

• Essentials: Call for a quote
• Growth: Call for a quote
• Growth+: Call for a quote

Free trial

Free demo available upon request

8. Clari

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Clari is a forecasting tool for B2B sales leaders who want to shorten their sales cycles and get better forecasting accuracy.

See real-time visualizations for your business' revenue health indicators, track changes to your forecast, and use predictive forecasting to get a better view of where you'll land every quarter. The tool also has products for pipeline inspection, account engagement, CRM automation, and revenue intelligence.

Clari, as the name suggests, focuses on clear and accurate predictions presented in simple formats. The software uses strong graphics and template options for easy reporting and communication.

For the best accuracy with Clari, pair it with a CRM and sales automation platform for consistent cross-departmental data transparency.

Features

• Dynamic modeling
• Sales trend analysis
• Statistical analysis
• Interaction tracking
• Graphic data presentation
• Reporting and analytics
• Forecasting dashboard

Pricing

• Pricing available upon request

Free trial

Free demo available upon request

9. ForecastX

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ForecastX is a sales forecasting solution that uses Excel to let users create instant forecast reports. It has tools for managing inventory levels, optimizing safety stock, and measuring the impact promotions and special events have on sales.

ForecastX uses PROCAST, a best-fit algorithm designed to identify the most effective forecasting model for your business, allowing users to create accurate statistical forecasts. It also offers collaboration features for teams so you can keep external stakeholders and internal sales teams updated.

Similarly to Avercast, ForecastX takes an algorithmic approach to data and forecasting with less emphasis on graphic presentation. Pairing ForecastX with a CRM that offers reporting templates is a great way to combine ForecastX's accuracy and complex numbering with a clean, consistent presentation.

Features

• Modeling and simulation
• Performance metrics
• Correlation analysis
• Exception reporting
• Statistical analysis
• Built-in algorithms
• Reporting and analytics

Price

• ForecastX Lite: $59/month + $500 one-time setup fee
• ForecastX: $99/month + $500 one-time setup fee

Free trial

Free demo available upon request

10. Anaplan

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Anaplan is a connected planning and sales forecasting solution for maintaining more control over business performance. With solutions for budgeting, operational planning, supply planning, and sales incentives, Anaplan is an all-in-one finance and supply management tool for large and quickly scaling businesses.

The software is well-regarded for its adaptability, which allows users to build reports based on existing spreadsheet models. The platform focuses on the collaborative big picture, helping sales, finance, HR, and operations work better together to plan for growth.

While Anaplan is one of the few non-CRM software solutions, it doesn't come with the communication capabilities of a CRM or the graphics capabilities of some of its competitors. Companies just starting to build their tech stack may struggle with data presentation if they don't have a graphics team.

Features

• Dashboard
• Ad hoc analysis and reporting
• Modeling and simulation
• KPI monitoring
• Qualitative and quantitative analysis

Pricing

• Contact for a quote

Free trial

90 days

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of sales forecasting: qualitative and quantitative.

• Qualitative forecasting: This type of forecasting is highly subjective and relies on non-measurable data and opinions to make generalized predictions. These predictions are valuable, but you wouldn't necessarily use them to forecast anything specific, like next quarter's budget.
• Quantitative forecasting: This type of forecasting is much more reliable because it relies on statistics and historical data to create accurate insights.

There's nothing wrong with qualitative forecasting (and you should absolutely use it), but quantitative forecasting offers the most accurate data and, therefore, the most accurate predictions.

It's important to pick the forecasting solution that best suits your business. Here are some key features to look for when searching for forecasting software:

• Pipeline management
• Data integration capabilities
• Reporting
• Customizable sales dashboard
• Sales automation

Admittedly, the benefits of sales forecasting software vary based on how your company utilizes it, but these are five of our favorite benefits for sales-centric organizations.

1. Trust the data. With sales forecasting software, the tools do the data entry and calculations for you, ensuring that your data is consistent, accurate, and free from human error.
2. Save time. Not only is manual data entry error-prone, but it's also painstakingly slow. Using a spreadsheet, your sales leaders might have to work for days to run a complete forecast. With software, churning out accurate numbers takes mere seconds.
3. Streamline the sales process. Accurate predictions let you set realistic sales metric goals so you don't overstress or underutilize your sales team's skills.
4. Plan strategically. Knowing how many sales are likely to come in helps you better allocate your resources and budget, manage risks, and justify expenditures.
5. See the whole picture. Consistent forecasting gives you an idea of the overall health of your business. Better still, it does it in real time, so you can act quickly if predictions and actual sales aren't matching up.

Find the right sales forecasting software for your business. An ideal tool will allow you to:

• Set data-driven business goals
• Identify business goals and CRM needs
• Review past sales forecasts

Set data-driven business goals

Your CRM system must have the ability to help your team achieve business goals, especially when it comes to making sales. To ensure that you find the right sales forecasting software for the job, review past performance reports and identify key business objectives.

From there, determine what sales software will work best for you and verify that any forecasting tools come with the features and functionalities that matter most.

Identify business goals and CRM needs

Many businesses use a CRM to create sales forecasts, reports, and other insights to help sales reps refine their processes and procedures, encouraging more sales throughout the fiscal year.

Use simple trends and historical, seasonal, and territorial data to develop business goals. Once you understand your needs and the capabilities of various solutions, you can choose what CRM features are most important to you.

Review past sales forecasts

Assess past sales forecasts to determine useful sales data and identify any informational gaps in order to determine your upfront needs and find the best solution for your business.

Learn how to use your CRM for sales forecasting and other tips for implementing new software.