Sondola vs cfo.ai: which fits your startup?
Reviewed Oct 25, 2026 against cfo.ai/pricing · Plans change, so check theirs before you decide
Short answer
Choose cfo.ai if you want an AI CFO that builds and maintains your financial model, runs hiring and runway scenarios and drafts board packs. Choose Sondola if you want the whole company on one North Star, with product, marketing, revenue and cash metrics, goals with daily pace and a weekly brief. As of Oct 25, 2026, cfo.ai Startup is $375 a month billed annually or $500 monthly, and the Sondola Startup plan is $149 a month billed yearly or $179 monthly.
Side by side
| Topic | Sondola | cfo.ai (formerly Runway) |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A company metrics workspace for tech startups. One North Star metric with its driver metrics in a metric tree, goals, team boards, a weekly brief, cash, burn and runway, and AI spend. | An AI CFO named Ari that builds and maintains a financial model from read-only connections to your ledger, bank and payroll. |
| Price, billed yearly | Startup plan $149 a month per company. Scale plan is custom. | Startup $375 and Growth $1,125 a month. Enterprise is custom. |
| Price, month to month | $179 a month per company on the Startup plan. | Startup $500 and Growth $1,500 a month. |
| Users | Unlimited users on the Startup plan. | No seat limit listed on its pricing page. Startup includes 1 workspace. |
| Integrations | 34 read-only connectors, including Stripe, RevenueCat, QuickBooks Online, Mercury, PostHog, Amplitude, Meta Ads, App Store Connect and AWS costs. Plus a Slack digest. | Up to 5 standard integrations on Startup and 8 on Growth, 600+ on Enterprise. Featured: QuickBooks Online, Xero, NetSuite, Mercury, Ramp, Brex, Stripe, Gusto, Rippling, HubSpot, Salesforce, Snowflake and BigQuery. |
| North Star and drivers | One North Star metric with the driver metrics underneath it, as a metric tree. | Not listed on its pricing page. |
| Goals | Goals on any metric with daily pace and check-ins. | Not listed on its pricing page. |
| AI | Suggestions run on your own OpenAI or Anthropic key. No built-in AI analyst yet. | AI-first. Ari answers finance questions, models scenarios and drafts board material. MCP server and Slack app included. |
| Free for startups | Sondola for Startups: the Startup plan at no cost for startups that have raised under $5M in total with fewer than 50 people, 12 months at a time, renewed while they qualify. | No startup program listed. 14-day free trial, plus a Launch Month offer of your first model free. |
| Best for | Startups that want company-wide metrics and goals, with cash and runway as one part. | Founders and finance teams that want a live financial model, scenarios and board packs. |
When cfo.ai (formerly Runway) is the better choice
A real financial model. Ari builds it from your ledger, bank and payroll and keeps it current.Scenarios and planning. Hiring plans, upside and downside cases, and unlimited models and scenarios.Board packs drafted from the model, with every figure traced to its formula inputs and source rows.Wider finance integrations, including NetSuite, Ramp, Gusto, Rippling, Salesforce and data warehouses, with 600+ on Enterprise.When Sondola is the better choice
Covers the whole company. 34 read-only connectors across product analytics, ads, app stores, CRM and messaging, not only finance.A North Star with its driver metrics, and goals with daily pace and check-ins.A lower price. $149 a month billed yearly, against $375 for cfo.ai Startup.AI spend from OpenAI, Google Cloud and AWS, next to cash, burn and runway.Moving from cfo.ai (formerly Runway)
- Step 1Separate finance from the restNote which numbers you need beyond the financial model, such as signups, activation, ad spend and app store revenue.
- Step 2Connect the tools behind those numbersSondola has 34 read-only connectors, including Mercury, Brex, QuickBooks Online, Xero, Stripe, PostHog and Meta Ads. Connect finance and the rest of your stack.
- Step 3Pick a North Star and set goalsChoose one North Star metric, place the driver metrics under it, add goals with daily pace and check-ins, and turn on the weekly brief by email and Slack.
Keep cfo.ai (formerly Runway) running while you compare. Sondola only reads from your tools.
Questions founders ask
Is cfo.ai the same company as Runway?
Yes. A launch article on FF News dated September 10, 2026 describes cfo.ai as the startup formerly known as Runway. The cfo.ai pages reviewed on Oct 25, 2026 do not mention the old name.
Is Sondola cheaper than cfo.ai?
Yes. As of Oct 25, 2026, cfo.ai Startup is $375 a month billed annually or $500 monthly, and Growth is $1,125 or $1,500. The Sondola Startup plan is $149 a month billed yearly or $179 monthly. The two do different jobs, so compare fit as well as price.
Does Sondola build a financial model like cfo.ai?
No. Sondola shows cash, burn and runway next to the rest of your metrics. It does not list financial modeling, scenarios or board packs. For those, cfo.ai is the better fit.
Can I use cfo.ai and Sondola together?
Yes. Both connect read-only. cfo.ai can own the financial model and board pack while Sondola runs the North Star, goals and weekly brief for the team.
Does cfo.ai have a free trial?
Yes. As of Oct 25, 2026, cfo.ai offers a 14-day free trial and a Launch Month offer of your first model free. No startup program is listed. Sondola for Startups gives the Startup plan at no cost to startups that have raised under $5M in total with fewer than 50 people, 12 months at a time, renewed while they qualify.
Other comparisons
Sources
cfo.ai/pricing · cfo.ai/ · cfo.ai/founders · cfo.ai/integrations · ffnews.com/news/cfo-ai-launches-an-ai-cfo-built-for-founders-b684fc82
Open the live demo and click any number to see where it came from. No signup.