Business planning shouldn’t feel this overwhelming.
If you’re trying to create a business plan, budget, or investor pitch, the tools out there can be confusing, time-consuming, or just too complex for what you actually need.
What I hear most often? You’re probably just spinning your wheels every day and struggling to move your idea forward because you’re not sure where to start.
That’s why I thoroughly analyzed Cuttles—a platform aiming to guide you through startup planning with step-by-step templates, smart financial overviews, and simple pitch deck creation, all without you needing an MBA or advanced Excel skills.
In this review, I’ll show you how Cuttles can give you total clarity over your planning process, from business idea to investor-ready pitch.
You’ll see in this Cuttles review how its features stack up, what it’ll cost you, how it feels to use, and how it compares to other options you’re likely considering.
Read on and you’ll have all the insights and features you need to make the right call for your startup planning.
Let’s dive into the analysis.
Quick Summary
- Cuttles is a business planning platform that helps entrepreneurs build plans, budgets, and pitch decks with guided templates.
- Best for early-stage founders and startups needing simple, clear tools to create investor-ready presentations.
- You’ll appreciate its user-friendly design and step-by-step guidance that simplify complex business planning tasks.
- Cuttles offers tiered subscriptions starting at €19/month with a 7-day free trial requiring a credit card.
Cuttles Overview
Cuttles is a business planning tool I’ve found that’s built for entrepreneurs. From their base in Copenhagen, their core mission is to simplify building and pitching a new startup.
What really sets them apart is their dedicated focus on early-stage startups and first-time founders. The platform feels less like a corporate assignment and more like a guided journey for turning your idea into a solid, investor-ready plan.
I’ve noticed their platform has matured to integrate business plans, pitch decks, and financial forecasting. You’ll see this holistic approach in action through this Cuttles review.
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Unlike competitors that are heavy on complex financials or AI automation, Cuttles champions a more guided, less intimidating user experience. It feels like it was built by people who remember the founder’s struggle and genuinely want to help you succeed.
They work with a broad mix of users, including solo entrepreneurs, small startup teams, and even university programs where students need a practical way to structure their ventures.
I believe their strategy prioritizes your confidence and accessibility over feature overload. They are betting that new founders need a practical tool that helps them learn as they build, addressing the real challenges of getting off the ground.
Let’s dive into their features.
Cuttles Features
Struggling to turn your startup idea into a solid plan?
Cuttles features are designed to guide entrepreneurs through the often-complex world of business planning. Here are the five main Cuttles features that simplify startup development.
1. Business Plan Builder
Is writing a business plan holding you back?
The thought of creating a comprehensive business plan can be overwhelming, leading to procrastination and stalled progress. This frustration often stems from not knowing where to start.
Cuttles offers an interactive business plan builder with ready-to-fill templates and in-app guides that make it surprisingly accessible. From my testing, the step-by-step guidance is incredibly helpful, ensuring you cover all critical sections without an MBA.
This means you can easily articulate your vision and strategy, transforming a daunting task into a manageable project that moves your business forward.
2. Pitch Deck Creator
Need to impress investors but lack design skills?
Crafting a visually appealing pitch deck that effectively communicates your idea can be a major hurdle. You want to look professional, but design software is complicated.
The Pitch Deck Creator helps you build a compelling presentation with sleek designs that customize automatically when you upload your logo. This is where Cuttles shines, allowing you to produce polished, brand-aligned decks effortlessly.
The result is a professional pitch deck and one-pager that can capture attention and clearly convey your business concept to potential investors.
3. Budget and Financial Forecasting Tools
Does financial planning feel like a complex maze?
Understanding your startup’s finances, from initial capital needs to future income, can be incredibly confusing. This often leaves founders unsure about their financial viability.
Cuttles simplifies financial planning by allowing you to input key metrics and generate graphs for runway, break-even, and funding requirements. What I love about this feature is how it demystifies essential financial insights, making them easy to grasp.
This means you gain a clear overview of your financial situation, helping you answer crucial investor questions and make informed decisions about your budget.
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4. Team Overview and Cap Table
Struggling to present your team’s value to investors?
Investors often focus on the strength of your team, but effectively showcasing skills and ownership can be tricky. You need a clear, concise way to present your team structure.
Cuttles provides tools to map out team competencies and present your cap table visually, which can really impress potential funders. Here’s what I found: it makes demonstrating team value straightforward, helping investors see your collective strength.
So as a founder, you can clearly communicate your team’s capabilities and equity structure, building investor confidence in your startup’s human capital.
5. Collaboration Features and Sharing
Is sharing your work with your team or advisors a hassle?
Working solo or with clunky sharing methods can hinder progress and feedback. You need an efficient way for everyone to contribute and view your plans.
Cuttles supports real-time collaboration, allowing multiple team members to work on the same project simultaneously, and offers easy sharing options. This feature ensures seamless internal teamwork and external presentation, which streamlines feedback loops.
This means your entire team can contribute effectively, and you can effortlessly share your business plans and presentations with stakeholders, gaining valuable insights.
Pros & Cons
- ✅ Intuitive, guided process simplifies complex business plan creation for beginners.
- ✅ Excellent visual appeal and automatic branding customization for professional documents.
- ✅ Robust collaboration and secure sharing options enhance team productivity.
- ⚠️ UI can sometimes feel sluggish or experience minor performance glitches.
- ⚠️ Lacks advanced financial modeling or dynamic scenario forecasting capabilities.
- ⚠️ No AI-powered writing assistance for content generation or suggestions.
You’ll actually appreciate how these Cuttles features work together as an integrated solution suite that guides you through every step of startup development.
Cuttles Pricing
What’s the real cost of business planning software?
Cuttles pricing is refreshingly transparent, with clear tiered plans and discounts, making it easy to budget for your business planning needs as an entrepreneur.
Plan | Price & Features |
---|---|
Seed Plan | €19/month or €8/month (billed annually, ~$9.44 USD) • One startup per account • One member per startup • All core features • In-app guides & examples |
Grow Plan | €29/month or €16/month (billed annually, ~$18.88 USD) • Up to three startups • Unlimited members • Password-protected links • Diversity discount available |
Series Plan | €79/month or €48/month (billed annually, ~$56.63 USD) • Unlimited startups • Unlimited members • Priority support |
1. Value Assessment
Excellent value for founders.
From my cost analysis, Cuttles provides significant savings if you opt for annual billing, making it more affordable for long-term planning.
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The tiered pricing allows you to scale as your business grows without sudden, unmanageable cost jumps. What makes their pricing different is the focus on supporting individual founders and small teams.
This means your budget gets maximized with features that directly support your entrepreneurial journey from seed to series.
2. Trial/Demo Options
Try before you buy.
Cuttles offers a convenient 7-day free trial for all plans, allowing you to test features like the business plan builder and pitch deck creator. What I found regarding pricing is that a credit card is required but not charged if you cancel within the trial period, providing peace of mind.
This lets you fully explore the platform and ensure it fits your needs before committing to the full pricing.
3. Plan Comparison
Choose your perfect plan.
The Seed Plan is perfect for individual founders, while the Grow Plan offers better value for teams and multiple startups. Budget-wise, the Series Plan caters to serial founders or consultants managing many ventures, offering unlimited scalability and priority support.
This helps you match pricing to actual usage requirements, ensuring you pay for exactly what your current business needs.
My Take: Cuttles’ pricing strategy is highly competitive, especially with annual discounts and the unique Diversity Discount, making it an accessible solution for all types of founders.
The overall Cuttles pricing reflects transparent value for ambitious entrepreneurs.
Cuttles Reviews
User feedback tells an interesting story.
This section dives into real Cuttles reviews, analyzing user feedback to give you a balanced view of what customers truly think. I’ve sifted through various sources to present the most common themes and insights.
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1. Overall User Satisfaction
Users seem genuinely happy here.
From my review analysis, Cuttles generally garners positive feedback, especially for its user-friendly approach to business planning. What I found in user feedback is how the platform simplifies complex planning tasks, making it accessible for founders new to entrepreneurship.
This indicates you can expect a less daunting experience when building your business plan.
2. Common Praise Points
The intuitive design truly shines.
Users consistently highlight Cuttles’ modern interface, step-by-step guides, and valuable examples as major assets. From the reviews I analyzed, the guided process makes business planning a cinch, leading to solid plans without prior expertise.
This means you’ll save significant time and effort in creating a professional plan.
3. Frequent Complaints
Some performance and customization issues arise.
Frequent complaints include occasional UI sluggishness or minor glitches, and limited customization for advanced financial modeling. What stands out in customer feedback is how MBA-level users desire more robust data simulation options beyond basic Excel exports.
These issues seem minor for general users but could be deal-breakers for specific advanced needs, such as managing performance and customization issues.
What Customers Say
- Positive: “The intuitive layout and walk-throughs make creating the hefty and tedious task of creating a business plan truly a cinch for anyone to get theirs started.”
- Constructive: “For MBA-level users or those needing in-depth financial modeling, the Excel exports are basic and not formula-driven.”
- Bottom Line: “While it’s a sinuous task to write a business plan, Cuttles makes the process of thinking, sketching and writing your business plan seamless.”
Overall, Cuttles reviews reflect strong user satisfaction with practical feedback for feature enhancements.
Best Cuttles Alternatives
Considering Cuttles? Explore your other options.
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The best Cuttles alternatives offer distinct advantages depending on your specific business stage, budget, and planning needs, providing different approaches to business development.
1. LivePlan
Need more detailed financial modeling?
LivePlan excels if your priority is advanced budgeting, robust financial projections, and in-depth industry-specific examples for a traditional planning methodology. From my competitive analysis, LivePlan offers more structured financial depth than Cuttles, though its approach can feel less modern.
Choose LivePlan when you require comprehensive financial forecasting and prefer a more traditional planning methodology.
2. Upmetrics
Looking for AI assistance in your plan?
Upmetrics is a strong alternative if you value built-in AI writing help and more serious financial planning capabilities, alongside a business plan editor. What I found comparing options is that Upmetrics provides more complete AI guidance for drafting your plan, which Cuttles currently lacks.
Consider this alternative when AI writing assistance and detailed financial tools are crucial for your planning.
3. IdeaBuddy
Still validating your core business idea?
IdeaBuddy shines if you’re in the very early stages of developing and validating a business concept, offering a fun, graphical interface for idea incubation. From my analysis, IdeaBuddy focuses heavily on initial idea validation before formal planning, a stage Cuttles addresses less directly.
Choose IdeaBuddy if your primary need is idea creation and validation before committing to a full business plan.
4. Venturekit
Prioritizing speed and automation for investor decks?
Venturekit leverages AI to significantly automate the business plan and pitch deck creation process, generating full decks and smart content suggestions. Alternative-wise, Venturekit automates plan generation with AI more extensively than Cuttles’ manual input, saving considerable time in drafting.
Choose Venturekit when speed and AI-driven content for investor-ready documents are your top priorities.
Quick Decision Guide
- Choose Cuttles: Modern, intuitive UX for guided, manual business planning
- Choose LivePlan: In-depth financial projections and traditional business plans
- Choose Upmetrics: AI writing assistance and structured financial features
- Choose IdeaBuddy: Early-stage idea validation and concept development
- Choose Venturekit: AI-powered automation for rapid plan and deck generation
The best Cuttles alternatives depend on your specific stage and planning preferences, from early idea validation to full automated plan generation.
Cuttles Setup
Wondering about Cuttles setup complexity?
This Cuttles review section analyzes the deployment process, setup requirements, and adoption challenges, setting realistic expectations for your business as you consider this software.
1. Setup Complexity & Timeline
Is Cuttles easy to deploy?
Getting started with Cuttles is indeed “easy as pie,” primarily involving account creation and basic information entry. What I found about deployment is that initial Cuttles implementation is highly intuitive, allowing users to begin building their business plan almost immediately without significant delays.
You’ll quickly move from setup to actively working on your startup plan, focusing on content creation rather than technical hurdles.
2. Technical Requirements & Integration
Are there major technical hurdles?
As a cloud-based service, Cuttles primarily requires a stable internet connection and a standard computer or tablet for optimal performance. From my implementation analysis, it works seamlessly with existing internet access without needing complex server setups or software installations.
You’ll need reliable internet access and basic device compatibility, but not specialized IT infrastructure or extensive technical configurations.
3. Training & Change Management
How easy is user adoption?
Cuttles is designed for ease of use, minimizing the need for extensive training thanks to in-app guides, examples, and helpful tips. From my analysis, the intuitive design simplifies the learning curve, making it accessible even for those new to entrepreneurship.
Expect quick user adoption due to the guided process and user-friendly interface, reducing the need for formal training sessions.
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4. Support & Success Factors
What support is available for setup?
Cuttles offers strong customer support via email and in-app chat, along with “Startup Success Managers” for guidance. What I found about deployment is that their proactive support aids in smooth onboarding, addressing questions efficiently without long waits, ensuring a confident start.
You should leverage their responsive support and dedicated success managers to optimize your initial setup and ongoing business planning efforts.
Implementation Checklist
- Timeline: Days for initial setup and basic plan creation
- Team Size: Solo entrepreneur or small team
- Budget: Primarily software subscription; minimal external costs
- Technical: Stable internet connection and standard device
- Success Factor: Engaging with in-app guides and support resources
Overall, the Cuttles setup is remarkably simple and user-friendly, emphasizing quick deployment and ease of use for new entrepreneurs.
Bottom Line
Does Cuttles align with your startup vision?
This Cuttles review unpacks who truly benefits from its structured approach to business planning, offering a clear final recommendation based on my in-depth analysis.
1. Who This Works Best For
First-time founders and early-stage entrepreneurs.
Cuttles shines for new founders and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) who need a guided, visual platform to develop and articulate their business idea. What I found about target users is that teams seeking investor-ready pitch materials will find immense value.
You’ll succeed if you prioritize a clear, user-friendly experience to demystify complex business planning.
2. Overall Strengths
Unmatched user-friendliness and design appeal.
The software succeeds by offering an exceptionally intuitive interface, modern design, and a guided, step-by-step approach to business planning and pitching. From my comprehensive analysis, its visual appeal simplifies complex concepts for effective communication.
These strengths will translate into significant time savings and professional presentations, crucial for early business growth.
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3. Key Limitations
Advanced features for detailed financial modeling are basic.
Cuttles relies on manual content input, lacks AI-driven writing assistance, and offers limited customization for advanced templates or reports. Based on this review, its financial tools are not suitable for in-depth analysis required by established businesses or investors.
I’d say these limitations are manageable trade-offs for its target audience but are significant for those with complex needs.
4. Final Recommendation
Cuttles earns a strong recommendation for specific users.
You should choose this software if you’re a first-time founder or small business needing a clear, guided, and visually appealing platform to articulate your strategy. From my analysis, this solution empowers confident investor pitches without requiring extensive prior business knowledge.
My confidence level is high for its target audience, providing excellent value for foundational business planning.
Bottom Line
- Verdict: Recommended for early-stage entrepreneurs and startups
- Best For: First-time founders, startups, and SMBs focused on business planning
- Business Size: Small to medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurial ventures
- Biggest Strength: Highly intuitive interface and guided business planning process
- Main Concern: Limited advanced financial modeling and AI writing features
- Next Step: Start a free trial to evaluate its guided planning features
This Cuttles review shows strong value for its specific target audience, highlighting its strengths while noting areas where more robust solutions might be necessary.