How we compare

Excel got you here. Kaleidoscope gets you further. We're not a smarter interface on top of the same sheet, we're a better foundation. See how we compare.

Most teams have already tried the obvious fix — layering AI over existing spreadsheet models.

The problem is, if the structure underneath is fragile, the outputs will be too.

Kaleidoscope's builds you a better model infrastructure from your existing spreadsheet models in just minutes. Not just a smarter interface on top, but a foundation that's transparent, robust and easy to flex with accuracy.

The approaches financial modellers are using today

Spreadsheets, built manually

Logic lives in cells. Every assumption, every formula, hand-built and hand-maintained. You know where everything is because you built it.

The problem isn't the spreadsheet, it's that cell-based logic was never designed to be financial modelling infrastructure. Change the business and you're rebuilding. Something always slips through.

Spreadsheets with an AI assistant

You can generate formulas faster and get explanations on demand. Genuinely useful for speed. But the infrastructure underneath hasn't changed, it's still cell-based, still fragile, still dependent on whoever built it.

And when the AI gets something wrong, it's rarely obvious where or why. Faster output. Same structural risk.

Spreadsheets with an AI platform add-in

The interface changes but the underlying model often doesn't.

Many tools — including those using model context protocols (MCPs) to connect AI to your data — can read your numbers and act on them. That's not the same as understanding the numbers and their context.

Connectivity isn't comprehension.

A FP&A platform, with AI layered on top

You're outside Excel, building or interrogating models through a purpose-built planning platform. These tools have genuine financial modelling expertise built in, that's their strength. The challenge is getting there. Implementation takes months.

The budget and complexity were designed for enterprise finance teams, not lean ones.

How the approaches actually compare.

This is how the approaches stack up across the things that matter most to finance building models.

Spreadsheets built manually
Spreadsheets with an AI assistant
Spreadsheets with a platform add-in
FP&A platforms
Kaleidoscope

Calculation reliability

Structured logic (not just cell formulas)

AI understands the model's logic

Limited

Limited

AI outputs validated

Limited

Limited

Reflects business change automatically

Limited

Full audit trail

Limited

Version control

Limited

Transparent logic

Flexible scenario planning

Limited

Limited

Limited

Limited

Fast to get started

Affordable for SMB finance teams

Model smarter and faster with Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope uses a smart calculation engine built for AI financial modelling, from the ground up. A new platform, that fits to your business and removes the legwork with speed, rigour and accuracy. 

Not a legacy platform with AI bolted on, not a general purpose LLM that can get it wrong, not a spreadsheet that takes hours to wrangle for hours to make a simple decision.

Model smarter and faster with Kaleidoscope

How Kaleidoscope can deliver better modelling for SMB finance teams

Move beyond modelling at the micro level — individual cells, specific formulas, localised data blocks. Start modelling at the macro level.

Logic is defined once at a semantic level — products, people, costs — and applied consistently, so every number carries its own context. No hunting for broken formulas, no rewriting logic to reuse it elsewhere — just numbers that stay usable across views and scenarios as your model evolves.

Object-based with meaning, not cell-based

Built by the founder of Anaplan, for the businesses Anaplan was never built for. 

Our mission is to give fast-growing businesses access to powerful planning software that was once only reserved for the giants. A platform designed to be AI-first, flexible, intuitive, and aligned with real-world business models. 

Built by the founder of Anaplan, for the businesses Anaplan was never built for. 

Why choose Kaleidoscope

Proven heritage

Built by the founder of Anaplan — for the businesses Anaplan was never built for. Enterprise-grade financial modelling, designed from the ground up for lean finance teams.

Enterprise-grade power

Our smart calculation engine works with object-based calculations, GAAP and IFRS-aligned categories, and gives you a full audit trail — built to hold up under scrutiny.

Starts from your spreadsheets

Bring the spreadsheet model you already have. No blank template, no costly implementation project, no consultant. Create your first K-model in just minutes.

AI you can rely on

Safe, auditable, and fully in your control. Our AI relies on the smart calculation engine underneath it. Every change traceable, so you have complete confidence in the numbers before you present them.

We haven't launched yet. Join the waitlist.

If you'd like to test the platform early, or just want to be first to hear when we launch, get your name on the list. We're working with finance first, business-wide next.