The 12 Best Sales Forecasting Software for 2024

As a sales leader, few things keep you up at night like the accuracy of your revenue forecasts. After all, being off by even a small percentage can have major repercussions across the entire organization – from hiring plans to budgets to resource allocation.

The good news is, with the right sales forecasting software in place, you can say goodbye to those restless nights and hello to reliable, data-driven predictions. In this guide, we‘ll break down the top tools on the market and share tips for choosing the best one for your business.

What is Sales Forecasting Software?

Sales forecasting software leverages historical data, current pipeline, and predictive analytics to estimate an organization‘s future sales performance. The goal is to provide an accurate projection of how much revenue will be generated within a specific time period, whether it‘s weekly, monthly, quarterly or annually.

By offering real-time visibility and AI-powered insights, these tools enable sales leaders to:

Track team pacing and performance against goals
Identify risks and opportunities in the pipeline
Proactively address issues before they impact results
Make data-informed decisions about headcount, territories, quotas, etc.
Align with other departments on company-wide initiatives

In other words, sales forecasting software takes the guesswork out of planning for the future. Rather than relying on gut instincts or back-of-the-napkin math, you can leverage intelligent algorithms to predict (with a high degree of confidence) how much business your team will close.

Key Benefits of Using Sales Forecasting Tools

There are many compelling reasons to invest in a dedicated forecasting solution. The most significant advantages include:

1. Improved Forecast Accuracy

By analyzing vast amounts of sales data, forecasting software can provide much more precise predictions than a human brain ever could. Many tools claim to deliver over 95% accuracy, which means you can confidently make decisions and set expectations.

2. Real-Time Visibility

Sales forecasting tools integrate with your CRM to provide up-to-the-minute information on your deals and pipeline. This real-time visibility allows managers to course-correct and enables executives to answer questions about future performance at any time.

3. Increased Rep Productivity

With AI providing the heavy lifting, sales reps can spend less time on manual forecasting and more time engaging buyers. Some tools even offer guided selling features that prompt reps on the next best steps to move deals forward.

4. Better Organizational Alignment

An accurate sales forecast benefits the entire organization. It allows sales to align with marketing on demand gen efforts, informs finance about cash flow expectations, guides customer success on onboarding needs, and more. Forecasting software makes it easy to share pacing and predictions with all stakeholders.

Must-Have Features in Sales Forecasting Software

As you evaluate the various tools on the market, here are some of the most crucial features and capabilities to look for:

Customizable forecast views by time period, team, product line, etc.
AI-driven forecasting models that factor in historical win rates, sales cycle lengths, etc.
Real-time, bi-directional sync with your CRM
Deal-level insights on health, risk factors, next steps
Scenario planning to visualize impacts of different pipeline inputs
Flexible collaboration and submission workflows
Mobile app for on-the-go forecast updates
Robust reporting and analytics

With this criteria in mind, let‘s dive into our top sales forecasting tools for 2024.

The Top 12 Sales Forecasting Software

1. HubSpot Sales Hub

HubSpot Sales Hub is an all-in-one sales CRM and forecasting platform. It allows teams to seamlessly manage their pipeline, track rep activities, and predict revenue – all in one place.

Key features:

Automatically rolls up deal-level forecasts submitted by reps and managers
Uses AI-powered insights and tracking to identify at-risk and high probability deals
Offers multiple forecasting views, including by pipeline, team, time period, etc.
Tracks pacing and progress towards goals

What users love: HubSpot‘s native integration with marketing automation and service management tools provides end-to-end visibility into the entire customer lifecycle. The interface is also very user-friendly.

Pricing: Sales Hub starts at $45/month for 2 paid users, with forecasting features available in Professional and Enterprise plans.

2. Salesforce Sales Cloud

Salesforce is the world‘s #1 CRM and offers a powerful suite of sales forecasting tools within its Sales Cloud. From any device, forecast with up to 4 different types of forecasts, adjust based on changing conditions, and monitor progress from the individual rep to the company level.

Key features:

Collaborative forecasts that allow managers to overlay judgement
Built-in AI that identifies insights and suggests actions
Customizable forecasting at every level – opportunities, product families, etc.
Mobile app for easy updates on-the-go

What users love: The flexibility to customize the forecasting experience and the ability to factor in sales rep intuition on top of data-driven predictions.

Pricing: Pricing starts at $25/user/month for the Salesforce Essentials plan. More advanced forecasting is available in higher tier plans.

3. Gong

Gong takes a unique approach to sales forecasting by analyzing customer interactions across phone, email, and video conferencing. Its "Revenue Intelligence" software records, transcribes and analyzes every touchpoint to deliver deal-level forecasts.

Key features:

Forecasts deal risk based on sentiment analysis of prospect conversations
Tracks customer engagement and suggests next steps to move deals forward
Delivers real-time visibility into team performance against goals
Integrates with Salesforce and other CRMs

What users love: Gong provides unparalleled visibility into the heart of every deal – the actual conversations reps are having with customers. These insights power highly accurate forecasts.

Pricing: Prices are customized based on the size and needs of each business.

4. Clari

Clari is an AI-based forecasting platform that integrates with CRM, email, calendar and other systems to predict revenue with over 95% accuracy. It delivers real-time visibility and actionable insights to improve pipeline health.

Key features:

AI analyzes rep activity data and deal progression to predict win likelihood
Provides early warning signs of deals at risk
Flexibly segment forecasts by geography, product line, etc.
Mobile app for on-the-go submission and tracking against quota

What users love: Sales leaders rave about the time savings and simplicity Clari provides. It takes the heavy lifting out of the forecasting process.

Pricing: Prices are customized based on the size and needs of each business.

5. InsightSquared

Recently acquired by Mediafly, InsightSquared is a sales analytics platform that offers interactive dashboards and granular pipeline insights. It enables teams to forecast revenue, understand pipeline trends, and measure sales rep performance.

Key features:

AI-powered forecasting based on historical performance
Intuitive, visual pipeline management
Drill-down analytics to understand forecast influencers
Pre-built reports and dashboards for sales leaders

What users love: The breadth and depth of insights provided, from pipeline velocity to sales cycle analysis to forecast vs actual tracking. Users find the dashboards very intuitive to use.

Pricing: Pricing is based on the number of users and data sources. Plans start around $1000/month.

6. Aviso

Aviso offers an AI-guided selling and forecasting platform to help teams predictably hit their revenue goals. It captures data from multiple systems, including CRM, to deliver deal-specific insights and next best actions.

Key features:

"AutoML" AI that builds a unique forecasting model for each business
Deal-specific insights including engagement scores and next step suggestions
Collaborative forecast submissions and approvals
Scenario modeling to test forecast assumptions

What users love: Aviso‘s AI assistant proactively alerts managers to risk areas in the forecast and suggests steps to get deals back on track. The AI is also customized to each company‘s sales process and historical data.

Pricing: Pricing is customized based on the size of the team and amount of data/users.

Choosing the Right Forecasting Software

With so many great options on the market, selecting a sales forecasting tool can feel overwhelming. Our recommendation is to start by deeply understanding your requirements and goals. Consider questions like:

What are our biggest challenges or limitations with forecasting today?
What stage is our business at, and how might our needs change as we grow?
What other tools does the forecasting software need to integrate with?
Who will be using the tool, and what are their expectations for UI/UX?

Answering these questions will help you determine which features and capabilities are true must-haves vs. nice-to-haves. From there, consider these steps:

Make a list of your top 5-7 choices based on your criteria
Sign up for free trials and demos where available
Get input from a few sales managers and reps who will be end users
Evaluate each option for overall usability, insights, and value
Select and implement the tool that will make your team most effective

Remember, sales forecasting software should make your life easier, not harder. Choose an intuitive tool that your team will actually use and that delivers both high-level and granular insights to drive revenue growth.

Boost Your Win Rates with Accurate Sales Forecasts

Don‘t let unreliable sales forecasts keep you up at night. By implementing a cutting-edge forecasting tool, you can harness the power of AI and real-time data to confidently predict revenue, monitor pipeline health, and course-correct as needed.

Whether you‘re an early-stage startup, growth-stage company, or established enterprise, there‘s a sales forecasting solution that can help you level up your process and results. Use this guide as a starting point in your evaluation, and don‘t hesitate to lean on peer reviews and expert opinions as you narrow down your choices.

With a best-in-class forecasting tool on your side, you‘ll be unstoppable in hitting and exceeding your bookings goals, quarter after quarter.

Looking for more ways to boost sales productivity and performance? Check out these resources:

The 12 Best Sales Forecasting Software for 2024

What is Sales Forecasting Software?