Holistiplan suits firms with 100-plus households, very small books or multi-year reviews; FP Alpha suits about 31 to 75 households and reviews that include wills, trusts and insurance. Holistiplan costs $749 (Basic) or $1,499 (Premium) a year for 30 households, rising with count; FP Alpha costs $1,125 a year for 75 tax credits or $1,995 for its all-in-one bundle.
The tools differ less in what they read than in how they bill. Holistiplan bills by household count with unlimited users and offers a 7-day free trial; FP Alpha sells credits shared across the firm, one per tax document, and lists a demo rather than a trial. A firm reviewing two years of returns for each of 75 households would buy 150 FP Alpha credits ($2,175) against $1,599 for Holistiplan Basic. Before paying either, run both on one synthetic return whose answers you already know.
What each tool charges, in one table
Both pricing pages were read in November 2026. Prices are annual USD list prices, and both vendors offer larger or enterprise arrangements on request. Holistiplan's price rises with household count; the per-household column is simple division.
| Households | Basic a year | Per household | Premium a year | Per household |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | $749 | $24.97 | $1,499 | $49.97 |
| 75 | $1,599 | $21.32 | $1,999 | $26.65 |
| 100 | $1,949 | $19.49 | $2,499 | $24.99 |
| 150 | $2,649 | $17.66 | $3,499 | $23.33 |
| 200 | $3,349 | $16.75 | $4,499 | $22.50 |
| 300 | $4,749 | $15.83 | $6,499 | $21.66 |
FP Alpha prices differently. Each package is a flat annual fee for a set of credits, shared by every user in the firm, and the page says each tax document review uses one credit.
| FP Alpha package | Annual price | What it includes | Per credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax Planning, 75 credits | $1,125 | 75 tax snapshots | $15.00 |
| Tax Planning, 150 credits | $2,175 | 150 credits | $14.50 |
| Tax Planning, 250 credits | $3,500 | 250 credits | $14.00 |
| Tax Planning, 500 credits | $6,750 | 500 credits | $13.50 |
| Tax Planning, 750 credits | $9,750 | 750 credits | $13.00 |
| All-in-one bundle | $1,995 | 55 snapshots: 35 tax, 10 estate, 10 insurance | About $36 per snapshot |
The details that matter sit in the small print. Annual credits expire and reload each year; extra credits come in packs of 10 and never expire, and the page does not show a pack price. Logins are unlimited. Regional tax analysis and estate analysis are included at no extra cost, and so are all available integrations. Holistiplan's Basic plan lists unlimited users too, but its page does not say how many returns one household may include, which is worth asking before you assume a household is one document.
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Buy nowPer household or per document: where the lines cross
A planning firm's cost depends on two numbers: how many households it analyses and how many documents each one needs. Holistiplan only sees the first; FP Alpha only counts the second. Here are six illustrative firms, each priced at the smallest FP Alpha tier that covers its credits and the Holistiplan tier for its household count.
| Firm | Credits needed | FP Alpha Tax Planning | Holistiplan Basic | Holistiplan Premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 households, one return each | 30 | $1,125 (75-credit tier) | $749 | $1,499 |
| 75 households, one return each | 75 | $1,125 | $1,599 | $1,999 |
| 75 households, two returns each | 150 | $2,175 | $1,599 | $1,999 |
| 100 households, one return each | 100 | $2,175 (150-credit tier) | $1,949 | $2,499 |
| 200 households, one return each | 200 | $3,500 (250-credit tier) | $3,349 | $4,499 |
| 200 households, two returns each | 400 | $6,750 (500-credit tier) | $3,349 | $4,499 |
Three patterns come out. FP Alpha is cheapest for a firm with roughly 31 to 75 households that reviews one return each; at 30 households or fewer, Holistiplan Basic's $749 undercuts FP Alpha's smallest $1,125 tier. Holistiplan Basic is also cheaper at 100 households and above, and the gap grows fast if you review more than one return per household, for example the current year and the prior year to show a trend. Premium costs $400 to $1,150 more than Basic across these examples, so it needs a reason, which the feature table below supplies.
Two caveats stop the table being gospel. FP Alpha's tier jumps could be softened by buying packs of 10 extra credits instead of moving up a tier, but with no pack price published you cannot tell, so ask. And if Holistiplan does allow several returns per household at the quoted price, its advantage over FP Alpha for multi-year reviews widens further. Both questions go on the call list.
What each product produces, from the vendors' own pages
The two pages describe different products that overlap in the middle. Holistiplan's pitch is the tax return report and scenarios, with a starter insurance module (listed as included from 150 households; a banner also calls it free, so confirm whether smaller plans pay for it) and estate planning on a waitlist. FP Alpha's pitch is a planning engine across tax, estate and insurance documents. These are the features each page names.
| Capability | Holistiplan | FP Alpha |
|---|---|---|
| Reads the tax return | Automated return and transcript scanning, with an instant generated report (Basic) | Tax Snapshot reads each tax document and surfaces opportunities |
| Scenario and projection modelling | National-level scenarios in Basic, regional scenarios in Premium | Tax Projector and Scenario Insights, described as powered by agentic AI; regional analysis included |
| Roth conversion work | Roth analysis is listed among its tools; multi-year projections are a Premium feature | Roth conversion in the Tax Snapshot and scenarios |
| Client-facing output | Client-ready summary reports (Basic); tax preparation letters, step-by-step explainer, client upload link, age-related reminders (Premium) | Custom reports on every package; tax wrap preparation |
| Estate documents | Waitlist; the page lists an estate report, asset diagram and beneficiary review | Estate Snapshot, Insights and Lab read wills and trusts into visual flowcharts |
| Insurance documents | Starter insurance module for home, auto and umbrella declarations, included from 150 households | Home, umbrella and auto snapshots and insights |
| Integrations | CRM and API integration listed generically | Redtail, Wealthbox, Salesforce, eMoney and MoneyGuidePro named |
| Security stated on the page | Multi-factor authentication; SOC 2 Type II | Two-factor authentication; permissions and usage dashboard |
| Trial | Free 7-day trial on every subscription plan | Demo booking; no trial listed |
Read the table for gaps rather than ticks. If your clients bring wills and trusts to reviews, FP Alpha covers something Holistiplan lists only as a waitlist. If your main need is a tidy client summary and a preparer letter from one return, Holistiplan Premium names more of that output. And neither page says which AI models are used or how the extraction is checked, which is why the test below matters more than the brochure.
A synthetic return that tests both tools
Comparison pages rank tools on features. A planner needs to know what each does with one return whose answers are already known. Build a synthetic return, not a real client's: invent the household, fill the lines yourself or ask your tax software for a demonstration return, and keep an answer key. Do not upload a real client's return to any tool in a trial until you have read the vendor's terms and have the client's agreement.
Make the household a couple, one of whom retires this year, with wages, a pension that has just started, a taxable investment account, a traditional retirement account, some charitable giving and a small side business. Then plant eight things for the tools to find, and eight numbers for them to read correctly.
PLANTED OPPORTUNITIES (the answer key)
1. Income sits well below the top of the current marginal bracket: room for a partial Roth conversion.
2. A capital loss carried forward from a prior year is only partly used.
3. Itemised deductions land just under the standard deduction: a gift-bunching opportunity.
4. A taxable bond fund throws off interest while equity funds sit in the retirement account.
5. Under-withholding: a balance due plus an underpayment penalty.
6. Side-business income with a deduction that phases out above an income threshold.
7. Required distributions begin next year and will raise income.
8. Dividends mix qualified and ordinary: check the split is read correctly.
NUMBERS TO CHECK (read from the PDF by a person first)
Total income | Adjusted income | Taxable income | Total tax | Marginal bracket
Effective rate | Interest and dividends | Capital loss carried forwardKeep the key to yourself until each tool has finished, and run each tool on the same PDF with the same defaults. Record the time from upload to a report you would show a client, and every place you had to correct the tool by hand.
Scoring the results: a filled-in sheet with invented numbers
Score each tool on five measures. The sheet below is filled in with made-up results, labelled Tool A and Tool B so that nothing here is attributed to a real product. Use it as a template for your own run.
| Measure | Tool A | Tool B | How to score it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Numbers read correctly (of 8) | 8 | 7 | Compare each figure with the PDF |
| Planted opportunities surfaced (of 8) | 5 | 6 | Count only those shown without prompting |
| Statements that are wrong or unsupported | 0 | 2 | Check every sentence in the client-facing report |
| Minutes from upload to a client-ready summary | 40 | 25 | Include your own corrections |
| Client-ready quality, 1 to 5 | 4 | 3 | Ask a colleague who has not seen the key |
| Annual cost at your household count | $1,949 | $2,175 | From the price tables above |
How to read an illustration like that: Tool B found more opportunities and was quicker, but it made two statements that were wrong or unsupported and misread one number. In a client report, two bad statements outweigh one extra insight, so A wins on trust even though B looks stronger on coverage. The point is to weigh error count first, coverage second and speed third, in that order, and to decide the order before you see any results so the demo cannot talk you out of it.
Where tax analysis tools mislead, and the five-number check
Whatever the tool, five failure modes recur, and a planner stays responsible for the report that goes out with their name on it.
- Extraction slips. A poor scan, a long consolidated brokerage statement or an amended return can send a figure to the wrong line. A misread interest figure that lands in the dividend line changes the bracket picture without any visible warning.
- Assumptions you cannot see. Growth rates, inflation and the tax rules assumed for future years drive every projection. Find where the tool shows them and print them on the report.
- Opportunity lists with no context. A tool can see that income sits below a bracket threshold. It cannot see that the client needs the cash, expects a large expense or is planning a move.
- Wording that sounds like advice. A generated sentence such as "convert the full amount this year" carries the planner's name and regulatory duties the moment it is sent.
- Stale rules. FP Alpha's page says its insights track legal and tax changes, and Holistiplan's pricing page does not address it. For either, check year-specific thresholds against the official source before a client decides anything.
The habit that catches most of these is a five-number check before any report leaves the firm. Compare total income, adjusted income, taxable income, total tax and marginal bracket with the PDF, line by line, by a person. Then read the assumptions panel and delete any instruction to the client. The check takes about five minutes a household and costs nothing.
The wording point deserves a before and after. A tool's generated summary might read: "You should convert $38,000 to a Roth account this year." The planner's version, after review: "The projection shows about $38,000 of room before income reaches the next bracket. Whether a conversion suits you depends on your cash needs and plans, which we will discuss at your review." The second sentence reports what the numbers show and leaves the recommendation to the conversation where it belongs. Ask your compliance lead which phrases your firm treats as advice, and add them to a banned-wording list used on every generated report. For a fuller view of how planners handle AI output generally, see what compliance allows when financial advisers use ChatGPT.
A cover note that keeps the generated report in its place
Whatever you choose, the report should never travel alone. A short cover note sets expectations, tells the client what to check and keeps the conversation with you. This one is filled in for a fictional household and is a starting point for your compliance lead to adapt, not approved wording.
Subject: Your tax return summary and what we will cover at your review
Dear [first name],
Attached is a summary of your latest tax return, produced with software that reads
the return and models a few what-if scenarios. It is a planning aid. It is not the
return itself and it does not replace advice from your tax preparer.
Three things to do before we meet:
1. Check that the income, deductions and total tax on page 1 match your return.
2. Tell me about anything planned this year that is not in the summary: a house
move, a large purchase, a change of work, gifts you intend to make.
3. Note any line you do not understand, and we will go through it together.
At the review we will look at the two or three scenarios that matter most for you,
and decide together whether any is worth taking further.
[your name]The second request earns its place. A planner who asks about planned changes catches the context the tool cannot see, which is what separates a report from a recommendation. The third turns a document the client might skim into a list of questions you can answer in the meeting. Keep a copy of the note and the report together in the client file, with the date, the tool used and the name of the person who ran the five-number check.
From tool cost to client fee: a quick sum
Take a planning firm with 100 households. The yearly costs from the tables are $1,949 for Holistiplan Basic ($19.49 a household), $2,499 for Premium ($24.99) or $2,175 for FP Alpha's 150-credit tier ($21.75 per household, counting 100 credits used). Suppose reviewing a return by hand takes 45 minutes and the tool brings that to 15, so it saves 30 minutes. At a planner's time value of $120 an hour, that is $60 a household against a cost of about $20 to $25.
The break-even is lower than most people expect. At $120 an hour, $19.49 buys about 10 minutes, $21.75 about 11 and $24.99 about 12.5. If the tool saves more than that per household, it pays for itself on time alone. The figures are illustrative; measure your own manual review time on three real returns before you rely on them. Time is only half of it, since the other half is what you do with a faster review: an annual tax conversation for every household instead of the top third. That is a service decision, and the tutorial on preparing for annual client reviews with AI shows how advisers fit it in.
Which tool for which firm, and a first week to settle it
Use the numbers from your own client list, then apply the rule. These are my rules of thumb built on the list prices above, not vendor advice.
| If your firm looks like this | Lean towards | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 30 households or fewer, reviews led by the tax return alone | Holistiplan Basic | $749 a year undercuts FP Alpha's smallest tier |
| About 31 to 75 households, one return each, and client reviews that include wills and trusts | FP Alpha: Tax Planning, or the all-in-one bundle | The credit cost is low at this volume and estate documents are covered |
| 100 or more households, reviews led by the tax return, several years compared | Holistiplan Basic | Household pricing stays flat however many returns you review, if the vendor confirms it |
| You want letters for the client's tax preparer, a client upload link and regional scenarios | Holistiplan Premium | These are named Premium features |
| Estate and insurance reviews matter as much as tax | FP Alpha all-in-one | One package covers all three document types |
| You cannot say which row fits | Run both on the synthetic return | An afternoon of testing costs less than a year of the wrong subscription |
Here is a first week that gets you to a decision. On day one, build the synthetic return and the answer key. On day two, start the Holistiplan free trial, since its 7-day clock runs from the start, and book the FP Alpha demo with your sample return in hand. Run the scoring sheet on both on days three and four, with a colleague scoring client-readiness blind. On day five, compare error counts first, coverage second and speed third, then put your questions to whichever vendor is ahead.
- For Holistiplan: How many returns can one household include at the quoted price? What do renewal prices look like as household count grows? What are the retention and deletion terms for uploaded returns?
- For FP Alpha: What does a pack of 10 extra credits cost? Does re-running a corrected return use another credit? Do failed or partial reads consume credits? Can the demo run on my synthetic return?
- For both: Can I see a current independent security report, where documents are stored, and what is kept after I cancel?
Two further checks sit outside the vendors' control. Confirm that each tool reads the kind of tax return your clients actually file, because both are built around one country's returns and a mismatch would make the whole comparison moot. And check how the output will fit into your wider tool stack: the evaluation checklist for AI software in wealth management covers supplier and compliance questions, and who needs Holistiplan Basic and who needs Premium goes deeper on that side of the choice. For a broader view of what AI tax-planning tools model and what you must confirm yourself, read AI tax planning tools: what they model and what to confirm.
Questions planners ask before choosing a tax report tool
Which tool is cheaper for 100 households?
On list prices Holistiplan Basic is $1,949 and Premium $2,499 at 100 households. FP Alpha needs about 100 credits for one return each, which means its 150-credit tier at $2,175 unless pack top-ups undercut it, and the pack price is not published. Review more than one return per household and the gap changes.
Can I trial FP Alpha for free?
Its pricing page lists a demo booking and no free trial, while Holistiplan offers a free 7-day trial on every subscription plan. Ask FP Alpha to run your synthetic sample return in a live demo, and score what it returns with the same sheet you use for Holistiplan.
Does either tool replace my financial planning software?
FP Alpha's pricing page says it is designed to complement your existing planning software, not replace it. Holistiplan's pricing page describes tax reports, scenarios, client summaries and a cash-flow visual, not a full financial plan. Plan on keeping your planning platform and adding one of these beside it.
Is it safe to upload client tax returns to these tools?
Holistiplan's page lists multi-factor authentication and SOC 2 Type II, and FP Alpha's lists two-factor authentication. Before any client data goes in, ask both for their current independent security report, retention and deletion terms and storage location, and check what your client agreement says about third-party tools.
Further reads
- AI for Wealth Management Firms: A 90-Day Rollout Plan for Small Firms — A 90-day AI rollout plan for small wealth firms.
- AI Agents for Financial Advisers: What They Can Do Without Advising — What AI agents can do without giving advice.
- Best AI App for Wealth Management: Jump, Zocks and Wealthbox — Meeting-notes tools for advisers, compared.
- Year-End Tax Planning Letters With AI: Personalise Without Errors — Personalised year-end tax letters without errors.
- AI CRM for Financial Advisers: What Is Built In and What Is Bolted On — Which CRM AI is built in and which is bolted on.
- AI in Wealth Management Examples: Five Admin Jobs Worth Trying — Five admin jobs in wealth management worth trying.
- Using AI in Financial Planning: Tax Return Data Into a Client Plan — A planner's source-to-plan workflow for tax-return figures, with a checked example and a client question log.
- AI Tools and AI Development: The Complete 2026 Guide — the AI hub, including every tutorial in the AI-for-business series.
Sources: Holistiplan and FP Alpha pricing and platform pages, read in November 2026; every test result, time and rate in the worked examples is an invented illustration.