The 6 best commissions software vendors: what to consider & top picks

The premise of pay-for-performance (P4P) is enticing.

You incentivize seller performance, keep fixed expenses low, and pay out once a sale crosses the line. Pretty straightforward.  

The issue scaling sales organizations run into, however, is the logistical management or administration of commission-based pay. You have different teams and roles with varying quotas and commission structures.  

Moreover, month-end can become stressful as your team combs manually through spreadsheets to determine how much each sales rep is eligible for, only to discover you’re now handling a few distracting commission disputes (taking valuable focus away from selling).

Luckily, the whole commission software category exists to solve the administrative challenges associated with this type of pay. Effective compensation management software tracks sales and calculates commission, then automatically connects with your payroll for accurate, timely payouts.  

But how can you evaluate all the vendors in the landscape—especially considering its continual evolution?

In this piece, we look at the top six commission management software vendors and their pros and cons. What's more, we'll cover some guidance on how to know if a sales performance management (SPM) platform might be even more advantageous for you given your stage of growth.  

First: An intro to commission management software

Used by sales organizations hoping to reduce reliance on spreadsheets, award bonuses accurately, motivate field sales, and avoid disputes, commission software is the platform enabling you to accurately track sales, calculate commission, and automate payouts.

Particularly as your business scales, the benefits of implementing compensation management solutions include (but aren't limited to):

• Avoiding commission disputes. Similar to ensuring salespeople meet quota and perform well, you need to ensure receiving commission expected is a timely priority. In fact, nearly half of employees would consider leaving a job after just one to two issues with pay. You can avoid paying too little (or too much) commission with software that automatically tracks and pays out eligible bonuses.  

• Managing commission calculations at scale. The complexity of commission structures and the volume of transactions can lead to costly errors if managed manually or through outdated systems. Automating these calculations helps minimize human error, ensuring that sales reps are compensated accurately and on time. Precision here reduces potential compliance risks, providing an auditable and transparent process that stands up to regulatory scrutiny. By implementing software, companies can focus on strategic growth and performance, confident that compensation practices remain both accurate and compliant.

• Improving transparency. Commission software gives reps real-time insight into their on-target earnings and how much they’ll earn on each sale.  

So, what's the difference between commissions software and an SPM platform?

As you'll tend to notice, there are a variety of solutions you'll encounter when shortlisting vendors in this landscape; Commissions and incentive compensation solutions, and sales performance management (SPM) platforms, for instance.

But these aren't entirely the same thing:

• Commission software (sometimes also called incentive compensation management software) is foundational and largely focuses on commission tracking and payouts. Most solutions are capable of handling variable compensation, short-term spiffs, and on-target earnings. Sometimes solutions in this bucket cover all aspects of sales compensation—not just commissions. With a typical ICM, you’re able to design, model, and measure the effectiveness of your compensation plans. Gartner describes the ICM category as software helping sales leaders “automate incentive compensation processing while providing greater sales and financial performance insights”.
  

• Sales performance management software (SPM) covers all of the above plus territory and quota management. SPM providers are often providing a full-stack solution that encompasses all aspects of sales performance and helps prevent sales compensation challenges like unbalanced territories or unrealistic quotas.  

In our view, commissions or ICM software alone can be great if you’re just starting out or managing a small team, but pending the size of your organization, you may want to consider your overarching long-term sales performance management strategy.

Given your needs and how robust they may be, you may actually find a (strictly) commissions software or ICM to be limiting or too restrictive.  

While this software can be customized to no end—you can’t adjust quotas or territories within an ICM in a way where territory, quota, and incentive data variables are connected (even though they are entirely reliant on one another). I.e.: if you make a change to your territories at the eleventh hour of your sales planning, this will mean needing to reinspect all the data informing your quotas and incentives as built out separately in the ICM.

This is where a full-stack SPM solution can be very helpful instead.

As Seth Mars, Principal Analyst at Forrester points out, sales performance management (SPM) platforms, "represent a broader set of capabilities such as planning, territory design, and quota management....[though] most clients engaging with Forrester to evaluate SPM platforms focus on compensation optimization and administration, which includes plan design, deployment, management, and governance".

In short, if you're looking to tackle a broader range of challenges and future proof your tech stack, if you've got a significant number of payees (75+), a full stack SPM might be even more beneficial to your organization long term. This is largely due to the fact a full-stack SPM can unite all of your sales performance data in one ecosystem, and help you design and administer any compensation plan, no matter how complex with data variables that 'talk' to one another across territories, quota, and incentives. Three components that shouldn't be planned in silos!

Now that you're familiar with the differences between each, and how each may be suitable at different phases of an organizations' growth, let's get into each of the vendors...

The 6 best commissions software vendors

It’s difficult to compare apples to apples when ranking commission software vendors because of their varying capabilities (some handle a subset of SPM re: commissions only, whereas others act as a full platform for sales performance). So, we’ll share a range of options below—some full-stack, some combining incentive compensation, and others mainly specializing in commissions—for a well-rounded view.  

While we’re innately biased as a vendor in this space, we’ve done our best below to help you evaluate options based on use case, best features, pros, cons, and user reviews so you can find the best commissions management software for your sales organization.

Here are the vendor's we'll cover:

1. Forma.ai  

2. Xactly Incent

3. CaptivateIQ

4. Salesforce (formerly Spiff)

5. Everstage

6. Performio  

1. Forma.ai

Best suited for: Enterprises that want to adapt sales compensation quickly, merging together territory, quota, and incentives in a holistic sales performance strategy.

Strictly speaking, Forma.ai is a sales performance management (SPM) platform that combines compensation management capabilities with territory and quota management for an all-in-one solution. It’s trusted by large enterprises like Autodesk, WEX, and Trustpilot.

What’s unique about Forma.ai is that it's not exactly a commissions software. We've been a full-stack SPM solution from the start. Unlike other platforms that started as incentive management tools and later extended to include territory and quota management (TQM), Forma.ai has been delivering on this vision for some time.  

Forma.ai's innovative model balances flexibility and scalability. I.e. the way you design and administer plans is fundamentally different (and faster!) thanks to how we're standardizing SPM data in a proprietary data model. Simply select the territory, quota, and incentive plan rule blocks you need (our templates) and customize your inputs accordingly.  

Forma.ai’s capabilities include:

• End-to-end automation to manage commission plans, including payout rules, territory models, and sales quotas

• Real-time modeling architecture to anticipate the outcome of any changes to your incentive plans before an official rollout

• Create account-level scoring to balance and optimize territories: In Forma.ai you can use custom methodologies (e.g., historical sales, projected sales, etc.) to quickly identify the right territory structure that will drive the most sales. Built-in analytical models can be used to supercharge planning effectiveness. 

• Quickly define, configure, and customize any plan type for instant rollout. Forma.ai’s templated rules allow for flexible comp plan calculations, and seamless rule changes. With our easy-to-use UI, it's simpler than ever to define, re-define, re-configure, and customize your plans.

• Manage sales assignments directly inside of your comp tool (integrated sales crediting processing). Forma.ai’s sales crediting capability processes any type of sales crediting structure with ease at any level of granularity. Our sales crediting is directly integrated into ICM with enterprise-grade processing power to credit, calculate, and manage any amount of data or complexity under one hood.  

• Over 600+ pre-built integrations: Forma.ai connects seamlessly to any data source powering your business, including CRM, ERP, HRIS, and more. Easily connect with Salesforce, NetSuite, Workday, Microsoft Dynamics 360, and many, many more.

• Enterprise-grade security features like immutable audit trails, user authentication checks, and policies for SOC 1 and SOC 2 compliance to keep your data safe and comply with all regulations.

Pros of this vendor:

• G2 rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars

• Praised by G2 reviewers for ease of use, intense commitment to our partners outcomes, and overall robustness

• Full-stack SPM solution to manage commissions, territories, and quotas in one platform

• Proven to reduce commission errors by 93.8% and calculation run-time by 91.7%, on average  

Potential considerations of this software:

• Represents a different operating model for sales comp (in Forma.ai the way you design and administer plans is fundamentally different (and faster!) thanks to the innovative way we're standardizing SPM data.

• May be too robust a solution for smaller sales organizations with only a handful of reps.

2. Xactly Incent

Best suited for: Companies in the mid-market where the compensation plan doesn't undergo too many changes or a high degree of complexity.

Incent is an incentive compensation management software that sits in the Xactly suite of products. It can track sales incentives, payout commission, benchmark sales data, and map territories to optimize sales compensation plans—though some of these features come at an additional cost.

Best features include:

• Customized incentive statements to show each rep’s commission breakdown

• Compensation figurator to design incentive plans with reusable rules and quotas

• Ability to benchmark sales data against brands in the same industry  

• Calculation engine to accurately award sales commissions

• Drag-and-drop hierarchy management to restructure your sales team

Pros of this commission vendor:

• G2 rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars

• Native Android and iOS support

• Lots of integrations to choose from  

Potential considerations of this commission software:

G2 reviewers say that the set-up and implementation process can be confusing.  

“The reporting dashboard is not intuitive and hard to set up, as well as programming,” wrote one reviewer. “We have to outsource both of these and it would be great if we could easily do it ourselves.”

Pricing: Xactly Intent doesn’t share pricing details publicly. However, it does say that some features, including commission expense accounting and quota management functionality, are add-ons that come at an additional cost.

3. CaptivateIQ

Best suited for: Sales leaders at SMB to mid-market companies that want commission software that offers an Excel-like user experience.

CaptivateIQ focuses heavily on sales commission management. It offers SmartGrid, a unique calculation engine that helps with commission forecasting and automated payouts. It’s worth considering if you’re looking for a simple, spreadsheet-like interface that’s easy to customize.

Best features include:

• Advanced, real-time commission reports

• Sales commission dashboards to help reps course-correct if they’re falling short of OTE

• AI-powered Payee Coach to encourage reps to hit quota  

• Detailed audit trails to maintain compliance

Pros of this commission vendor:

• G2 rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars

• Intuitive user experience

• Integrates with HubSpot, Salesforce, and Stripe  

Potential considerations of this commission software:

CaptivateIQ is geared towards mid market and enterprise brands, but it lacks features that let you manage other aspects of incentive management.  

“Our compensation plan is very complicated,” said one G2 reviewer. “I wish there was a way to see an excel file from CaptivateIQ with the exact calculations for our commission checks. I find myself often doing this offline in my own excel calculations, which is prone to error.”

Pricing: CaptivateIQ charges per seat, but the cost of these hasn’t been shared publicly by the commission management vendor. Vendr values the typical contract at $60,613 per year.

4. Salesforce (formerly Spiff)

Best suited for: Small to mid-sized sales organizations already using Salesforce + want a simple commission tracking system.  

Salesforce acquired Spiff’s sales commission tracking software in late 2023. Shortlist this option if you’re looking for a simplistic tool that lets you track commission and integrates with the Salesforce CRM.

Best features include:

• Reporting dashboard to show commission trends and monthly attainment

• Overwrites and adjusts to quickly change commission payouts  

• Real-time commenting and alerts to address dispute management before payout

• One-click payroll reports to pay your sales team the commission they’ve earned

Potential considerations of this commission vendor:

• G2 rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars

• Mobile app for reps to check commission on-the-go

• Native integration with Salesforce

Potential considerations of this commission software:

Spiff isn’t a full-stack SPM solution, so its incentive management functionality is limited—like the ability to award recurring commissions.  

“I have a quarterly $2,500 payment that is supposed to be made, and I have to manually check that it has been added by management,” said one G2 reviewer. “It's not automatic and it has been missed in the past being added by management and I didn't notice because it wasn't there.”

There’s also some uncertainty around vendor viability. While Salesforce is a huge brand, its acquisition of Spiff is recent. It’s not clear how much innovation and investment will be put into Spiff over the coming years.

Pricing: You’ll need a Salesforce plan to use Spiff’s commission tracking system. This comes at an additional cost of $75 per user per month, which is added on top of a CRM subscription.

5. Everstage

Best suited for: Small to mid-market sales teams who are looking to progress from commission software to an ICM platform.

Everstage is an ICM solution that offers commission management. Its user interface, which allows you to design commission plans without coding knowledge and accurately track eligible commissions, is sleek and easy to navigate.

Best features include:

• No-code commission plan designer  

• Automated commission calculations and payouts

• User management to restructure your sales team and commission plans

• Commission contract management functionality

• Leaderboards to gamify the payee experience

Pros of this commission vendor:

• G2 rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars

• Intuitive payee experience with real-time commission visibility

• Over 50 integrations with other business tools  

Potential considerations of this commission software:

According to G2 reviews, Everstage lacks the advanced functionality needed to manage large scale incentive plans.  

As one person wrote, “The only thing I dislike is sometimes my plans are too complex and leadership does a lot of changes so we have to keep changing our plans frequently.”

Pricing: Everstage doesn’t share the pricing details for its commission payment software publicly, though Vendr says its average annual contract value is $38,000.

6. Performio

Best suited for: Mid-market sales leaders.

Performio’s ICM solution is capable of managing multiple aspects of sales incentive, including commission calculations and reporting. It’s designed to be as user-friendly as possible—the dashboard can be configured by role, period, and commission type, with auto-sort and filtering functionality to surface the data you need.

Best features include:

• Sales rep portal to show eligible commissions in real-time

• Payroll integrations for automated payouts

• Structured compensation plan builder

• Flexible data model to import existing commission data into the ICM solution

• Customizable reporting dashboards

Pros of this commission vendor:

• G2 rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars

• SOC 1 and SOC 2 compliant

• Very user-friendly

Potential considerations of this commission software:

G2 reviewers say a disadvantage of this commission management system is that there’s a sharp learning curve. As one reviewer put it:  

“There is a lot going on, it monitors a lot of data, and it's a little daunting at first glance.”

Pricing: While Performio’s pricing isn’t shared publicly, Vendr says plans average around $90,000 per year.

Choosing the best commission software vendor for your sales organization

We can give our two cents on commission software as leaders in the space (and acknowledge our inherent bias), the only way to confirm the best vendor for your business is to demo your shortlist.

You’ll get to see how easy it is to manage commissions, and get feedback from your sales operations, finance, sales leaders, and revenue, plus IT stakeholders.  

Commission software FAQs

What is commission software?

Commission software lets sales leaders track, award, and payout commission earned by sales reps. With real-time visibility into commission for both sales leaders and agents, it reduces commission disputes and improves payout accuracy.

What is sales commission management?

Sales commission management is the term used to describe the process of planning, tracking, and optimizing commission offered to sales representatives. Commission software is the platform that’s capable of handling these activities.

How much does commission software cost?

There’s a wide variety of commission software costs depending on the vendor and the features available. As a consideration, there may also be extra fees, such as implementation costs and training fees when budgeting for some sales commission software.

How do you keep track of sales commissions?

There is a range of both rudimentary and complex ways organizations track sales commissions:

• Manual tracking (i.e. spreadsheets): This is the simplest way to track commission, but most prone to errors. It requires manual calculations and is hard to scale for larger teams.

• Commission sheets: This is a method that puts the onus on your sales reps to track eligible commissions independently.

• Sales commission software: the best option to improve accuracy and automate commission payouts.