IBM Planning Analytics vs Oracle Essbase comparison

The compared IBM and Oracle solutions aren't in the same category. IBM is ranked #6 in BPM , with an average rating of 8.0, and holds a 4.9% mindshare in the category. Oracle is ranked #11 in DDM , with an average rating of 7.9, and holds a 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 90% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Oracle users who would recommend it.

IBM Planning Analytics

Read 25 IBM Planning Analytics reviews

2,959 Views
1,213 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

Oracle Essbase

Read 18 Oracle Essbase reviews

1,744 Views
279 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

IBM Planning Analytics

Oracle Essbase

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM Planning Analytics and Oracle Essbase based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle, Anaplan, Domo and others in Business Performance Management.

To learn more, read our detailed Business Performance Management Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Business Performance Management

December 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

IBM Planning Analytics

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Performance Management (6th)

Oracle Essbase

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

4.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Database Development and Management (11th)

Mindshare comparison

IBM Planning Analytics and Oracle Essbase aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. IBM Planning Analytics is designed for Business Performance Management and holds a mindshare of 4.9%, down 9.2% compared to last year.
Oracle Essbase, on the other hand, focuses on Database Development and Management, holds 1.1% mindshare, down 1.2% since last year.

Business Performance Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
IBM Planning Analytics	4.9%
Anaplan	7.4%
CCH Tagetik	5.7%
Other	82.0%

Business Performance Management

Database Development and Management Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Oracle Essbase	1.1%
Redgate SQL Toolbelt Essentials	4.8%
SolarWinds Database Performance Analyzer	4.1%
Other	90.0%

Database Development and Management

Featured Reviews

reviewer1517922

Responsable B.I at a retailer with 51-200 employees

Ensured functionality meets user needs, yet complexity remains a challenge

Since I'm using TM1 as an old version of Planning Analytics, it wouldn't be fair to specify what needs improvement because it's possible these issues have already been addressed in newer versions. If we talk only about the TM1 engine, it's quite rich and possibly too rich, making it complex to perform simple tasks. The abundance of features results in complexity, requiring strict guidelines for developers to ensure simplistic approaches are adhered to. This complexity makes it hard to maintain and evolve developments.

Read full review

Bhavya N

Senior System Engineer at Infosys

Ensuring efficient data analysis and reporting while identifying areas for calculation and export improvements

The features of Oracle Essbase are valuable, such as its multi-dimensional database used for dynamic calculations and reporting purposes. These features are valuable because they support multi-dimensional data views, allowing users to analyze relationships across various data categories and establish a comprehensive perspective on business operations. Moreover, dynamic calculations allow real-time data analysis, significantly improving the accuracy and depth of financial insights. I have utilized Essbase's data aggregation capabilities. The Oracle Essbase interface provides a good user experience, allowing users to easily navigate and analyze data with fast query performance, effective data visualization tools such as charts, graphs, and tables, and flexibility for customizable analysis and reporting, including the ability to create ad hoc reports. The benefits of the interface include improving productivity and enhancing decision-making.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"A lot of the platform is in-memory, so Planning Analytics can run calculations quite fast. It also offers several user interfaces. And in the newest version of Planning Analytics, there is a new one called the Planning Analytics Workspace. Maybe it could be useful for the business side."

"All the different platforms are well integrated."

"The scenario modeling capabilities are frequently used to create different scenarios, compare them, and see which action leads to which result."

"IBM Planning Analytics is easy to use and deploy. It is quick to develop. The calculation machine is also very fast."

"The most valuable features of IBM Planning Analytics for streamlining planning processes include a unified database where all data are centralized."

"Planning Analytics' best features include automatic updates and slicing."

"This level of stability is crucial for a product like Cognos TM1, as using an unstable platform would result in loss of time."

"The flexibility of IBM Planning Analytics is a great feature of this solution. The design flexibility with data rules and defining calculations The ability to combine online and offline calculations are a benefit. Additionally, the forecasting features and predictive analytics is very good."

More IBM Planning Analytics pros

"The solution is scalable."

"The solution is stable and reliable."

"Oracle Essbase enables organizations to take their strategic decisions, which helps them make the right decisions at the right time."

"Unlike relational, where you're linking together multiple tables, with Essbase, you basically define what the dimensions are beforehand, and you define the hierarchy, and then load the data. This allows you to do a pretty sophisticated analysis so that you can drill into it and slice and dice the data."

"I have found the most valuable aspect is the user-friendly environment and current features."

"The solution can handle a large volume of data."

"It's a very powerful analytical engine with Essbase as the back end. We can analyze, transform, or utilize a big chunk of data for our calculations."

"It helps us fetch specific data sets per users' requirements."

More Oracle Essbase pros

Cons

"It's wonky, and not super user-friendly with Excel."

"The tool should include features for prediction. It can also improve the scalability."

"If we talk only about the TM1 engine, it's quite rich and possibly too rich, making it complex to perform simple tasks."

"The local authentication part is difficult to manage in the product, making it an area where improvements are required."

"The workspace API should be improved and documented so we know better which objects are used."

"IBM is behind competitors like Tableau and Power BI in terms of visualization. Their visuals are less innovative and practical with fewer varieties."

"It is a bit expensive, but it does the job."

"The tool's transport layer could be improved when promoting development between environments."

More IBM Planning Analytics cons

"They should improve the solution's performance."

"There is room for improvement in terms of cost-effectiveness."

"I would like to see an integration with application performance management and a version control management tool."

"The ability to drive external reporting out for development could be improved."

"It's an expensive product to use."

"The initial setup is pretty complex."

"The solution could enhance business analytics. I delved into the data using Oracle Essbase to create a new support tool."

"Essbase has a programming language, and it has a couple of functions to do forecasting, however, their feature set for that is not that good."

More Oracle Essbase cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"IBM Planning Analytics is priced well, and licensing costs are yearly."

"IBM Planning Analytics is not the cheapest solution, but it's priced per the market standard for this type of solution. I rate the price at seven out of ten."

"The license of this solution is paid annually. Most of my customers choose a license that includes support."

"Our licensing cost is approximately $50,000.00 per year."

"Compared with the other tools in the market, IBM Planning Analytics is a bit expensive."

"I would rate the tool's pricing a nine out of ten since it's expensive."

"It is a bit expensive, but you get what you are paying for."

"It is a costly solution."

"I believe the licensing is on a monthly base."

"The solution is expensive."

"Essbase is competitively priced."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Retailer

Insurance Company

Financial Services Firm

20%

Insurance Company

Computer Software Company

Retailer

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	16
Midsize Enterprise	4
Large Enterprise	11

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	14

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about IBM Planning Analytics?

The most valuable features of IBM Planning Analytics for streamlining planning processes include a unified database where all data are centralized.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IBM Planning Analytics?

While IBM's solutions were costly before, the introduction of SaaS models has reduced prices significantly. Comparatively, IBM rates may be better than those of competitors, such as Hyperion ( /pro...

See all answers

What needs improvement with IBM Planning Analytics?

IBM is behind competitors like Tableau ( /products/tableau-reviews ) and Power BI in terms of visualization. Their visuals are less innovative and practical with fewer varieties. IBM's visualizatio...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Essbase?

It's not that expensive, but also not cheap. I'm not sure because it's a private license.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Oracle Essbase?

A significant area for improvement in Oracle Essbase is that financial statement analysis, CAPEX and OPEX analysis, and financial consolidation must be done manually, as Oracle Essbase doesn't incl...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Oracle Essbase?

The initial setup of Oracle Essbase is dependent on whether you select BSO or ASO cubes. First, you need to set up the type of information and once the type of cubes is defined, you need to define ...

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Power BI vs IBM Planning Analytics

Compared 15% of the time

SAP Analytics Cloud vs IBM Planning Analytics

Compared 12% of the time

Anaplan vs IBM Planning Analytics

Compared 9% of the time

Oracle Hyperion vs IBM Planning Analytics

Compared 6% of the time

OneStream XF vs IBM Planning Analytics

Compared 3% of the time

More IBM Planning Analytics Competitors

Microsoft Power BI vs Oracle Essbase

Compared 21% of the time

SAP Analytics Cloud vs Oracle Essbase

Compared 9% of the time

IBM Cognos vs Oracle Essbase

Compared 8% of the time

Tableau Enterprise vs Oracle Essbase

Compared 6% of the time

Jedox vs Oracle Essbase

Compared 6% of the time

More Oracle Essbase Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Planning Analytics

January 2026

Download IBM Planning Analytics product report

Buyer's Guide

Oracle Essbase

January 2026

Download Oracle Essbase product report

Also Known As

Cognos TM1, IBM Cognos TM1

Essbase

Overview

IBM Planning Analytics is an integrated planning solution that uses AI to automate planning, budgeting, and forecasting and drive more intelligent workflows.

Built on TM1, IBM’s powerful calculation engine, this enterprise performance management tool allows you to transcend the limits of manual planning and become the Analytics Hero your business needs. Quickly and easily drive faster, more accurate plans for FP&A, sales, supply chain and beyond.

IBM

Oracle Essbase is an OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) Server that provides an environment for deploying pre-packaged applications or developing custom analytic and enterprise performance management applications.

Oracle

Sample Customers

ManpowerGroup, Convergys, AIG, Orchard Brands, Citibank, InterGen, Northwestern University, EF Education First, Ironside, Bazan Group, CSOB Insurance, Macquarie Group, Charles Stanley, SATO, Government of Sint Maarten, BMW Financial Services

CHU de Rennes, Bellco Credit Union, Akindo Sushiro Co. Ltd, Deutsche Telekom AG, Samarco MineraÊo S.A., PCCW Ltd., QDQ media S.A.U., Boiron Italia, Specialized Bicycle Components Inc., Akindo Sushiro Co. Ltd., Air Canada, Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd.

Buyer's Guide

Business Performance Management

December 2025

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We monitor all Business Performance Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.