The 6 Best Sales Forecasting Software for 2022
Jess served on the founding team of a successful B2B startup and has used a wide range of sales and marketing tools over the course of her 15-year career. She uses her industry knowledge to deliver the best answers to your questions about sales tools and sales management.
Jill is a writer at Fit Small Business specializing on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.
This article is part of a larger series on CRM.
The best sales forecasting tools help business owners make data-backed decisions when determining sales quotas, setting business goals, or making finance-related decisions, like hiring new employees. They also are easy to use and integrate with other apps to process customer data from various sources. In this article, we evaluated dozens of sales forecasting software tools and arrived at the top six options.
The best sales forecasting tools for small businesses below:
- Zoho Analytics: Best overall and great for businesses that use other Zoho business tools, such as Zoho CRM and Zoho Social
- HubSpot CRM: Best sales forecasting software for multiteam data analysis
- Freshsales: Most straightforward sales forecasting software option for beginners
- Bitrix24: Great sales forecasting software option for ecommerce and online store business owners
- Pipedrive: Most mobile-friendly forecasting tool for agents who are always on the go
- Salesforce Einstein Analytics: Most robust option for users who need data visualizations for their sales forecasting reports
Best Sales Forecasting Software Compared
Provider | Free Plan | Free Trial for Paid Plans | Pricing Plans Including Sales Forecasting Feature* | Help & Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Yes (up to 2 users) | 15 days | $24 per month for 2 users | 24/7 email, 24/5 phone, and live chat |
 | Yes (unlimited users) | 14 days | $450 per month for 5 users | Email, chat, and phone (7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time, M-F) |
 | Yes (unlimited users) | 21 days | $69 per user, per month | 24/5 email, live chat, and phone support |
 | Yes (unlimited users) | NA | $39 per month for up to 5 users | Live chat or email (8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Coordinated Universal Time, M-F) |
 | No free plan | 14 days | $49.90 per user, per month | 24/7 live chat and premium phone support |
 | No free plan | 30 days | $75 per user, per month | 30% of subscription fees for premium support |
*Based on annual billing
Zoho Analytics: Best Sales Forecasting Software With Extensive Zoho Tools Integration
Zoho Analytics
Overall Score: 4.53
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Integrates easily with Zoho CRM and other Zoho products
- Built-in AI tools for automation and advanced data insights
- Affordable pricing options
What's Missing
- Dashboard and reporting customization is not very intuitive
- Certain parts of the platform take a while to be able use, like turning data into charts and graphs
Pricing Summary*
- Free: Up to 2 users
- Basic: $24 per month for 2 users
- Standard: $48 per month for 5 users
- Premium: $115 per month for 15 users
- Enterprise: $455 per month for 50 users
- Free trial: 15 days
*Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
Zoho Analytics is a sales forecasting and analytics software native to Zoho, making it easy for Zoho product users to sync their business data between different apps, such as Zoho CRM and Zoho Social. This allows users to process customer data from multiple business tools, enabling them to produce well-rounded sales reports and analytics, and understand the various aspects of their business better, such as customer behavior and social media performance.
Zoho Analytics also offers artificial intelligence (AI) through its conversational sales assistant, Zia. You can ask Zia questions about sales forecasts and data analytics by simply typing into a search bar on the reporting page or calling Zia using your Zoho mobile app.
However, Zoho Analytics takes a while to get used to and new users report experiencing a slight learning curve—especially when creating charts and graphs for the first time. Users who want a beginner-friendly option should subscribe to Freshsales instead. It features a simple, straightforward interface that makes it easy for beginners and experienced users alike to find the functionalities that they need.
Zoho Analytics Features
Zoho Analytics offers helpful features to process sales data and improve a business’ overall performance through data-backed insights. Below are the features we like best from this provider:
- Predictive analytics: Projects revenues and sales performances based on current pipeline and corresponding deal values.
- What-if analysis: Allows you to simulate complex scenarios and find optimal business outcomes. You can study how data points change based on factors affecting different scenarios, such as the number of sales and quality of leads.
- Data storytelling: Create analytics presentations using text and images to tell your data story to your audience in a visual and simplified manner.
- Collaborative analytics: Allows users to work on data reports together with other members of the team to produce more accurate outputs and interpretations.
Zoho Analytics evaluates data sets inputted in the system and is able to analyze valid data from invalid ones. It can also spot missing data inputs—allowing users to produce accurate analytics and reports. (Source: Zoho Analytics)
Zia can easily pull up any information on sales—whether those are forecasted sales or historical sales. (Source: Zoho Analytics)
HubSpot CRM: Best Sales Forecasting Software for Multiteam Data Analysis
HubSpot CRM
Overall Score: 3.91
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Processes customer information from sales, marketing, and service teams for holistic sales forecasts
- Interface is intuitive to navigate, especially for new users
- Wide range of integration capabilities
What's Missing
- Sales forecasting features require a subscription to higher-cost plan
- Users reported data migration issues
Pricing Summary*
- Free: Unlimited user allocation
- Starter Sales Plan: $45 per month for 2 paid users
- Professional Sales Plan: $450 per month for 5 paid users
- Enterprise Sales Plan: $1,200 per month for 10 paid users
- Free trial: 14 days
Note: Sales forecasting feature is only available in the Professional Sales plan and up
*Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at higher rates.
HubSpot CRM’s forecasting software integrates and analyzes available data from various teams, such as sales, marketing, and service, to provide well-rounded business forecasts. It can estimate incoming revenue for the sales team, the number of conversions from marketing campaigns, and the likelihood to purchase based on customers’ sentiments from customer support.
While HubSpot CRM can integrate data and provide insights for various teams, its forecasting feature is only available in the mid-level plan and up, which starts at $450 per month. If you’re in search of a more affordable sales forecasting tool, we recommend Zoho Analytics instead.
HubSpot CRM Features
HubSpot CRM provides users with various CRM reporting tools to make sense of customer data and assist small businesses in developing sound business strategies. Below are the features we like best from this provider:
- System customizations: Customize forecast categories and tailor-fit the tool to match your business needs, including sales pipelines and workflows.
- Level-based data access: Forecasts submitted by reps and managers can be seen by the leadership team to predict potential sales for a specific period. Forecasts permissions also provide the control you need to ensure forecast submissions are coming only from senior members of the team, providing better accuracy.
- Multiteam sales forecasts: Produces various forecasts per team. For example, sales teams can see monthly or quarterly revenue projections, while service teams can create their own pipeline to monitor renewals and upgrade deals.
- Historical re-forecasting: Forecast incoming sales by analyzing trends from the same period of time in the past, including month, quarter, or year.
HubSpot CRM is able to analyze the probable value of a lead in three levels—low, medium, and high—giving users an idea if they can meet their sales quotas for a specific time period (Source: HubSpot CRM)
HubSpot CRM offers free tools that include lead, project, and task management. Its simple interface makes it a great option for beginners seeking their first CRM software. To learn more about this provider, check out our HubSpot CRM review.
Freshsales: Best User-friendly Sales Forecasting Software
Freshsales
Overall Score: 3.80
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- User-friendly with a straightforward dashboard
- Sales forecasting dashboard is laid out nicely with minimal buttons and summarized reports
- Sales forecasting includes AI predictive tools
What's Missing
- 24/7 customer support not available
- Sales forecasting features require a subscription to higher-cost plan
Pricing Summary*
- Free plan: Supports unlimited users
- Growth: $15 per user, per month
- Pro: $39 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $69 per user, per month
- Free trial: 21 days
Note: Sales forecasting feature is only available in the Enterprise plan
*Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at higher rates.
Freshsales’ sales forecasting feature allows users to keep track of their numbers and sales figures in a centralized dashboard, helping them plan sales operations efficiently and prioritize deals likely to convert. Freshsales offers two types of sales forecasting—the first is “committed,” which includes deals reps are confident of closing on a certain date, and the other is “best-case,” or those that have lower chances of being closed.
While Freshsales is intuitive to use and is ideal for beginners, it doesn’t offer round-the-clock customer support, and its sales forecasting feature is only available in the most expensive plan. Users who need always-on customer support should consider Pipedrive, while those who need more affordable sales forecasting tools can consider Zoho Analytics.
Freshsales Features
Freshsales offers a handful of sales forecasting features that help businesses project and fulfill sales quotas. Below are some of the features we like best:
- Freddy AI Insights: Freshsales’ predictive AI analytics tool provides insights about a deal and shows whether it is likely to close or not, helping users identify deals to prioritize.
- Sales quotas: Helps users quantify their team’s sales performance based on historical sales data and active deals in the pipeline.
- Historical forecasting: Provides sales predictions and forecasts based on historical data in a given period of time.
- Pipeline forecasting: Involves adding up the value of all the current deals in the sales pipeline based on a user’s identified time frame.
Freshsales’ sales forecasting software shows each sales rep’s performance, including quotas and closed deals. (Source: Freshsales)
Based on customer behavior, Freddy AI can assess lead quality, prompting agents to follow up with leads that are most likely to convert and contribute to sales increase. (Source: Freshsales)
Apart from providing sales forecasting tools for small businesses, Freshsales is a feature-packed CRM system that offers users essential features to strengthen their relationships with customers. These include lead and deal management tools, an in-app phone, sales pipeline management, and territory management. To learn more about this provider, check out our Freshsales review.
Bitrix24: Best Sales Forecasting Software for Ecommerce
Bitrix24
Overall Score: 3.53
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Able to understand and predict customer purchasing behaviors, which is especially helpful for ecommerce businesses
- Free plan includes up to 1,000 data rows for sales forecast analysis
What's Missing
- New users may experience a slight learning curve
- Support is limited to live chat and email
Pricing Summary*
- Free: Unlimited user allocation
- Basic: $39 per month for up to 5 users
- Standard: $79 per month for up to 50 users
- Enterprise: $159 per month for unlimited users
Note: Sales forecasting feature is only available in the paid plans
*Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
Bitrix24’s business intelligence analytics (BI analytics) tool is ideal for ecommerce business owners owing to its capability to forecast sales as well as analyze and predict customer purchasing behavior. Users can also create visual representation reports of their ecommerce store sales data, including high peak seasons, top-selling products, and customers’ browsing patterns in their online store.
However, Bitrix24 is not the most user-friendly software. Its feature-packed dashboard—while beneficial for advanced users—may be confusing for beginners or those who only need to use basic and essential sales forecasting tools. Users who prefer simple, straightforward, and intuitive sales forecasting software should consider Freshsales instead.
Bitrix24 BI Analytics Features
Bitrix24 provides users with tools to host their online stores, understand their customers’ purchasing patterns, and extract sales reports. Below are some of the features we like best:
- Customer behavior analysis: Monitor your customers’ behavior, including purchases, website actions, and browsing trends, and adjust your customer retention strategy accordingly.
- Sales reports: Analyze the most significant sales metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to adjust your strategy and improve your conversion rate.
- Agent sales performance: Create reports on individual agent performance or evaluate your team’s performance as a whole, including the number of deals closed and values of revenue brought in.
- Customizable reports: Decide which metrics you want to include in reports, such as total sales, activities by agent, and top-rated products.
Bitrix24 shows useful sales trends to understand online store performance. (Source: Bitrix24)
Bitrix24 is a feature-packed CRM that enables users to manage leads and pipelines, segment customers, and run their ecommerce business. To learn more about this provider, read our in-depth Bitrix24 review.
Pipedrive: Best Mobile Sales Forecasting Software
Pipedrive
Overall Score: 3.18
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Customizable reporting dashboards
- Platform is easy to set up and operate
- Sales forecasting feature can be easily accessed using the mobile app
What's Missing
- Does not offer a free plan
- Sales forecasting features require a subscription to higher-cost plan
Pricing Summary*
- Essential: $12.50 per user, per month
- Advanced: $24.90 per user, per month
- Professional: $49.90 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $99 per user, per month
- Free trial: 14 days full access
Note: Sales forecasting feature is only available in the Professional plan and up
*Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
Pipedrive’s mobile app is designed to reflect its desktop app, making it easy for users to view customer data and use CRM features in either tool, including the sales forecasting functionality. Pipedrive’s sales forecasting feature bases its predictions on the number of opportunities, length of deals in a pipeline stage, and historical activities. Users can also generate visual sales forecast reports to help readers understand their business performance better.
Pipedrive doesn’t offer a free plan and its sales forecasting feature is only available in its higher-priced plans. Users who need both can subscribe to Zoho Analytics instead.
Pipedrive Features
Pipedrive offers customizable sales reports generated from its sales forecasting features and visual sales pipelines. Below are some of the features we like most from the platform:
- Historical re-forecasting: Lets users predict their sales performance for a specific period of time by analyzing historical data and the factors that affected past sales performance.
- Sales cycle forecasting: Forecasts sales and probability to close based on the length of stay an opportunity spent in a pipeline stage.
- Insights and reporting: Has prebuilt or customizable sales reporting and forecasting templates that show sales trends, revenue, and active leads, and opportunities.
- Extensive CRM integrations: Can be connected to 300-plus third-party apps, including project management, email marketing, ecommerce, and invoicing and accounting tools.
Users can easily view their sales pipeline on their mobile phone as it is meant to enable users to toggle between desktop and mobile easily. (Source: Pipedrive)
Pipedrive has a clean and sleek interface, as well as essential tools like an automated sales assistant, workflow automation, and deal reports to help users manage their customers and business more efficiently. To learn more about its features, read our Pipedrive review.
Salesforce Einstein Analytics: Best Sales Forecasting Software With Data Visualization
Salesforce Einstein Analytics
Overall Score: 2.35
OUT OF 5
What We Like
- Solid visualization options for presenting data
- AI-driven sales forecasting tools for more accurate revenue predictions
What's Missing
- Lacks affordable pricing options
- Needs technical expertise to operate
Pricing Summary*
- Einstein Predictions: $75 per user, per month
- Tableau CRM Growth: $125 per user, per month
- Tableau CRM Plus: $150 per user, per month
- Free trial: 30 days
*Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
Einstein Analytics is an application native to Salesforce that creates advanced AI-driven analytics to measure businesses’ various performance metrics, including sales performance, deal closing rate, and agent performance. It allows users to deploy sales forecasts and analytics with excellent data visualizations through customizable templates, third-party apps, and custom-built dashboards, so users can present reports that are easy to understand.
Einstein Analytics, however, is highly technical and is priced on the higher side. If you need an easy-to-use option, consider Freshsales. Meanwhile, if you need advanced sales forecasting tools that are more affordable compared to Einstein Analytics, two options you can consider are Bitrix24, for retail and ecommerce businesses, or Zoho Analytics if you use other Zoho products.
Salesforce Einstein Features
Salesforce Einstein offers industry-specific templates, prebuilt integrations, workflows, and dashboards to help users predict sales accurately. Below are its standout features:
- Centralized sales data source: Find customer insights in your data, even across multiple internal and external data sources, through app integrations.
- Team collaboration: Work simultaneously on dashboards and share insights directly with your team via Salesforce’s collaboration app, Chatter, to close a deal, resolve a case, and predict sales performance.
- Extensive data analysis: Analyze thousands of data rows in minutes to understand various aspects of your sales performance and access data-driven insights to make business decisions.
- Industry-specific data analysis: Can be customized to produce industry-specific insights, including finance, insurance, healthcare, retail, and the public sector.
Einstein provides next steps and recommendations based on its sales predictions and processed sales data. (Source: Salesforce Einstein Analytics)
Visit Salesforce Einstein Analytics
How We Evaluated the Best Sales Forecasting Software Apps
To determine the best sales forecasting software, we evaluated various aspects of dozens of providers, including features on forecasting and analytics, pricing, and level of customer support. Businesses that use sales forecasting tools need a provider that can process large volumes of customer data to provide actionable insights. It should also be easy to use, can be integrated with other business tools, and generates easy-to-understand reports.
We chose Zoho Analytics as the best sales forecasting software for small businesses because it provides the most affordable options for sales predictions and analytics tools—even offering a free plan with two-user allocation. It also provides helpful features such as predictive and what-if analysis, as well as data storytelling.
The tabs below offer more insight into our evaluation process for selecting the best sales forecasting software for small businesses:
40%
Pricing
20%
General Features
15%
Ease of Use
15%
Support
10%
Expert Score
40% of Overall Score
Cost is always an important factor, so pricing was the most heavily weighted when reviewing our top picks. We also considered the availability of a free plan, pricing of entry tiers, savings for annual prepayment, and whether or not monthly billing options are available.
20% of Overall Score
We evaluated the overall set of sales forecasting features, including reporting and analytics. In addition, we looked at the availability of third-party integrations to expand the functionality of the software.
15% of Overall Score
It’s essential that sales forecasting software is easy to use. We evaluated whether the software can be used out of the box or requires technical experience that may include a steep learning curve.
15% of Overall Score
Support is a critical part of running any software provider, especially for small businesses that don’t have in-house technical support. We analyzed the types and availability of support offered by these providers through live chat, email, and phone.
10% of Overall Score
We looked through existing customer reviews on credible sites to measure the level of satisfaction current users have and any problems they typically encounter. We also added our thoughts and expert opinion on key features, value for money, and popularity.
*Percentages of overall score
