Comparison
Where Valento positions itself.
Between the Excel status quo and enterprise pricing suites, there is no honest answer for B2B companies with their own product portfolio. We're building it.
| Excel | Enterprise pricing suites | Valento | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial cost | None — just your time. | Significant project budget plus consulting. | Margin Scan as a clearly scoped entry — proposal after the intro call. No follow-on costs without your go-ahead. |
| Time to first result | Immediate. But doesn't scale. | 6–12 months to the first recommendation. | First results in 1–4 weeks. Without an IT project. |
| Predictive? | No. Shows what was. | Yes — but requires your data to be clean first. | Yes. Starts with your export data as it is. |
| Market data foundation | None — you research yourself. | Licensed data packages, often generic. | External data integration available. |
| Heterogeneous portfolios | Manual. Every exception costs hours. | Requires structured master data. Real portfolio diversity rarely fits. | Built for this. Model diagnostics visible per cluster. |
| Explainability | You explain it yourself — formula in cell B4. | Recommendation output. The reasoning behind it: often a black box. | Every recommendation with reasoning. Model diagnostics per cluster. |
| Who decides? | Everyone. Or no one. | IT, procurement, board, steering committee. | Business unit and management, together. |
| Built for whom? | Anyone with a computer. | Large corporates with pricing teams and implementation budgets. | B2B companies with their own product portfolio — manufacturers, industrial goods, distribution. From the 50-employee specialist to the Hidden Champion with over €1bn revenue. |
| Data sovereignty | On your server — or in the Microsoft cloud. | Usually US cloud. GDPR compliance varies. | EU-hosted. GDPR-compliant by design. Made in Germany. |
Initial cost
Excel
None — just your time.
Enterprise pricing suites
Significant project budget plus consulting.
Valento
Margin Scan as a clearly scoped entry — proposal after the intro call. No follow-on costs without your go-ahead.
Time to first result
Excel
Immediate. But doesn't scale.
Enterprise pricing suites
6–12 months to the first recommendation.
Valento
First results in 1–4 weeks. Without an IT project.
Predictive?
Excel
No. Shows what was.
Enterprise pricing suites
Yes — but requires your data to be clean first.
Valento
Yes. Starts with your export data as it is.
Market data foundation
Excel
None — you research yourself.
Enterprise pricing suites
Licensed data packages, often generic.
Valento
External data integration available.
Heterogeneous portfolios
Excel
Manual. Every exception costs hours.
Enterprise pricing suites
Requires structured master data. Real portfolio diversity rarely fits.
Valento
Built for this. Model diagnostics visible per cluster.
Explainability
Excel
You explain it yourself — formula in cell B4.
Enterprise pricing suites
Recommendation output. The reasoning behind it: often a black box.
Valento
Every recommendation with reasoning. Model diagnostics per cluster.
Who decides?
Excel
Everyone. Or no one.
Enterprise pricing suites
IT, procurement, board, steering committee.
Valento
Business unit and management, together.
Built for whom?
Excel
Anyone with a computer.
Enterprise pricing suites
Large corporates with pricing teams and implementation budgets.
Valento
B2B companies with their own product portfolio — manufacturers, industrial goods, distribution. From the 50-employee specialist to the Hidden Champion with over €1bn revenue.
Data sovereignty
Excel
On your server — or in the Microsoft cloud.
Enterprise pricing suites
Usually US cloud. GDPR compliance varies.
Valento
EU-hosted. GDPR-compliant by design. Made in Germany.
Why this comparison
We name our limits too.
Valento is not the answer for everyone. If you are a large corporate with your own pricing centre of excellence, a dedicated IT PMO, and an appetite for an 18-month implementation — then an established enterprise pricing suite is probably the right choice.
If you are a B2B company with your own product portfolio, working in Excel today, needing predictive models, not wanting to start a large IT project — and expecting a decision basis in weeks, not years — then we are built for you.
The question is not: which tool is best? The question is: which tool is right for your situation?
Next step
30 minutes on your specific situation.
We talk through the comparison using your example — and you decide whether Valento is the right path.
EU-hosted · GDPR-compliant · Made in Germany