The independent guide to AI tools for CPG brands.

Best for

Brands selling through multiple retailers who need unified, near-real-time sales data without manual pulls.

Our take: Crisp is the data infrastructure play. If you're pulling from 5+ retailers manually, Crisp eliminates that pain. But it's a data platform, not an insights engine — you still need someone to build the reports and automations on top of it.

Best for

Brands that spend days building category decks for retailer meetings. Strong for category management teams.

Our take: Bedrock saves real time on category decks. If you're building 10+ retailer presentations a quarter, the ROI is clear. The catch: it still requires your syndicated data subscription (SPINS/Nielsen), so budget for both.

Best for

Smaller brands ($1M-$20M) that need NielsenIQ data but can't afford a full enterprise subscription.

Our take: Byzzer democratized NielsenIQ data for smaller brands. The data is solid, but the platform can feel limited compared to a full Nielsen subscription. Good entry point if SPINS isn't your primary data source.

Best for

Brands doing $10M+ that want to replace spreadsheet-based trade management with a purpose-built platform.

Our take: Vividly is the most modern TPM tool in the market. If you're managing $5M+ in trade spend via Excel, this is the upgrade. But implementation takes 3-6 months and requires clean historical data — budget for the transition.

Best for

Natural channel brands ($2M-$50M) that need trade management AND broker management in one tool.

Our take: Promomash is the pragmatic choice for natural channel brands. It won't win any design awards, but it does the job at a price point that makes sense for $5M-$30M brands. The broker management module is uniquely useful — nobody else combines these.

Best for

Larger brands ($50M+) with significant trade budgets looking for predictive optimization, not just tracking.

Our take: Adesso is the deep analytics play for trade optimization. If your trade budget is $10M+ and you need predictive modeling, it's worth evaluating. For most mid-market brands, Vividly or Promomash will cover 90% of needs at a lower price point.

Best for

Brands with complex multi-retailer distribution that struggle with demand variability and inventory allocation.

Our take: Alloy.ai addresses a real pain: the gap between sell-through data and supply planning. If you've ever over-shipped to Costco based on a buyer's forecast that was 40% off, you understand the value. Works best when combined with a data platform like Crisp.

Best for

Brands with owned manufacturing that need production planning integrated with demand signals.

Our take: DOSS is interesting for brands that own their manufacturing. If you're co-packed, the production planning features are less relevant. Good for brands at the stage where supply chain is becoming a competitive advantage.

Best for

Brands that want AI-driven pricing recommendations and promotion optimization alongside demand planning.

Our take: Hypersonix tries to be the all-in-one AI layer for pricing, promotion, and inventory. Ambitious scope means it does a lot but may not go as deep as category-specific tools. Best evaluated alongside rather than instead of TPM and demand planning tools.

Best for

Brands with DSD or field teams that need a modern, mobile-first execution platform built on Salesforce.

Our take: Aforza is compelling if you're already on Salesforce. The Salesforce-native approach means deep integration but also Salesforce-level pricing and complexity. For brands without Salesforce, the switching cost may not be worth it.

Best for

Brands that need automated shelf auditing and in-store compliance monitoring at scale.

Our take: Trax is the gold standard for shelf analytics and computer vision in retail. But it's enterprise-priced and enterprise-complex. For mid-market CPG brands, you're likely better off with field team photos and manual audits until you hit $50M+ in revenue.

Best for

Brands with field sales or merchandising teams that need route planning, task management, and store-level reporting.

Our take: Repsly is the practical choice for brands that have field teams but aren't ready for Trax-level investment. Good for managing merchandisers and tracking in-store conditions. The per-user pricing scales linearly, so budget accordingly as your team grows.

Best for

Brands with significant Walmart or Amazon business dealing with high deduction volumes.

Our take: SupplyPike is the deduction recovery specialist. Their Walmart integration is best-in-class — if Walmart deductions are a major pain point, start here. The pay-for-performance model means low risk. For other retailers, coverage is more limited.

Best for

Brands already using or evaluating Vividly for TPM who want integrated deduction management.

Our take: If you're going with Vividly for trade management, adding deductions makes sense — everything in one place. If deductions are your primary pain and trade management is secondary, SupplyPike's focused approach and performance-based pricing may be better.

Best for

Innovation and marketing teams looking for data-driven consumer insights for product development, positioning, and trend identification.

Our take: Tastewise is genuinely useful for innovation teams. The trend data is unique — nobody else aggregates menu, recipe, and social data at this scale. Worth evaluating if you're launching 2+ products per year. For brands focused purely on operations, this is a nice-to-have.

Best for

R&D and innovation teams focused on flavor development, menu trends, and foodservice opportunities.

Our take: Datassential has been around longer and has deeper foodservice data. If your brand has a foodservice channel, this is essential. For retail-only brands, Tastewise's social and recipe data may be more actionable. Many brands subscribe to both.