Xactly, Varicent, and Performio are all widely regarded names in ICM software, frequently appearing on shortlists for evaluation. All three cover the basics of incentive compensation management, and each brings its own strengths. But when it comes to supporting real-world comp plans, the differences become clear.
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Performio provides solid performance across the board. It’s accessible enough for admins to manage directly, powerful enough to handle advanced plans, and backed by the highest-rated customer support in the industry.
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Varicent offers stability at scale and the industry’s leading sandbox environment for testing, but it demands heavy technical expertise and comes with a longer onboarding process.
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Xactly is an agile platform with a decent testing environment, but it lags in usability, self-service, and support, often leaving teams dependent on vendor services.
As our CEO, Grayson Morris, explained in his letter on the future of ICM, every ICM platform should be able to deliver four core capabilities as a baseline:
- Organize and manage commission data
- Manage incentive plans and calculate payouts
- Provide transparency into performance and payouts
- Automate comp-related workflows
Without these, an ICM platform isn’t even worth considering. Thankfully, Xactly, Varicent, and Performio all meet these fundamental criteria. But they diverge on how effectively they deliver at scale, along with how well they adapt to the growing complexity of modern sales organizations.
How we scored ICM vendors
To compare these platforms objectively, we unpacked the four differentiation areas into ten specific decision factors, each with its own grading criteria. We evaluated the top ICM platforms against this rubric and gave them each a weighted final score. The weightings were based on findings from our 2025 Incentive Compensation Trends report, evaluation criteria from the 2025 Forrester Wave report, and interviews with experienced professionals in the industry.
This approach reduces bias and grounds the results in what buyers actually care about. For a full breakdown of each factor and scoring methodology, see our ICM Buyer’s Guide.
4 key ICM software differentiation areas
To see where ICM solutions truly stand apart, you have to move beyond the baseline. In our Best ICM Software in 2026 analysis, we evaluated vendors on four areas where performance varies most: self-service, handling complexity, ease of use, and customer support. These are where the biggest differences emerge between Performio, Varicent, and Xactly.
Self-service
- Performio: 4.0/5
- Varicent: 2.7/5
- Xactly: 2.3/5
Self-service determines whether admins can manage plans directly, without coding or vendor intervention. Performio takes the lead here. Varicent comes with more of a learning curve, and Xactly lags even further behind, relying heavily on both technical expertise and vendor support.
Handling complexity
- Performio: 4.9/5
- Varicent: 4.9/5
- Xactly: 3.5/5
Sales plans inevitably grow complex—and that isn’t a bad thing. Complex mechanisms allow sales organizations to fine-tune incentives for the greatest impact. But your ICM platform has to keep up. Performio and Varicent both excel at supporting advanced complexity, while Xactly offers more limited coverage.
Ease of use
- Performio: 4.8/5
- Varicent: 4.2/5
- Xactly: 2.8/5
Ease of use reflects the overall quality of life for admins. It includes things like the ability to import data without having to preconfigure it, in-tool support for adding new data points, and mid-cycle adjustments that don’t break existing logic. Performio leads with intuitive tools that minimize technical lift, Varicent offers strong capabilities but requires more effort, and Xactly struggles to keep up.
Customer support
- Performio: 4.3/5
- Varicent: 4.1/5
- Xactly: 3.2/5
Support can make or break the value of any system. Performio consistently earns best-in-class marks. The 2025 Forrester Wave report even highlighted this fact:
“Customers emphasize the value of Performio’s customer success, with one stating, ‘It’s like Performio is one of our employees.’”
Varicent also performs well, while Xactly’s customer support falls behind.
Xactly vs. Varicent vs. Performio: A side-by-side comparison
Each of the ten factors maps to a practical question every buyer should ask. For every factor, ICM vendors were scored from 1 to 5 based on how well they deliver. The chart below provides a factor-by-factor breakdown of how Xactly, Varicent, and Performio compare:
| Differentiation area | Factor | Key question | Wgt. | Xactly | Varicent | Performio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-service | Technical skill required | How much technical knowledge is needed? | 8% | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 |
| Safe testing & experimentation | How safely can you experiment? | 8% | 4.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 | |
| Custom reporting | How easily can you build reports? | 7% | 2.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | |
| Handling complexity | Out-of-box complexity support | How well does it support advanced components? | 13% | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.8 |
| Common-sense workflows | How accessible are automated workflows? | 13% | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | |
| Ease of use | Data management & transformation | How easy is data processing? | 14% | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Scalability | How well does it scale? | 12% | 2.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | |
| Agility | How well can it adapt mid-cycle? | 9% | 4.5 | 3.0 | 5.0 | |
| Customer support | Onboarding momentum | How prepared are you post-implementation? | 6% | 2.7 | 3.2 | 3.5 |
| Customer service quality | How strong is vendor support? | 10% |
3.8 |
4.3 | 5.0 |
Xactly vs. Varicent vs. Performio on technical skill required
With the right ICM software, compensation teams should be able to manage plans directly and intuitively. But many platforms demand proficiency in programming languages, workflow logic, or complex formulas. This forces organizations to either rely on costly vendor support or simplify their plans to fit the system’s limits.
Performio (5.0) sets the standard with the lowest technical barrier. Its component-based logic allows admins to design and adjust even complex plans without the need for coding, advanced logic, or formulas.
Varicent (1.0) comes with a steep learning curve. Admins need expert-level skills in programming and workflow logic, plus at least basic fluency in spreadsheet formulas.
Xactly (1.0) technically ties with Varicent, but only because both of their scores bottomed out. Xactly requires even more advanced proficiency with formulas in addition to the same expert-level skills in programming and workflow logic.
Xactly vs. Varicent vs. Performio on safe testing & experimentation
Testing new plan configurations should never put live operations at risk. The best ICM solutions provide dedicated sandboxes for experimentation, along with version control to track and roll back changes. Without these safeguards, adjustments can lead to broken setups, costly errors, and delayed payouts.
All three of these ICM solutions provide a sufficient testing environment for safe plan changes, with the main differences coming down to flexibility and sandbox breadth.
Varicent (5.0) leads the way, offering the only sandbox that spans the entire platform. Combined with version control across both runtime and testing environments, it gives admins complete confidence when experimenting with changes.
Xactly (4.0) also performs well, with multiple testing environments and version control. While its setup isn’t quite as robust as Varicent’s, it provides reliable safeguards for modeling new plans.
Performio (3.0) includes multiple sandboxes and version control across both runtime and testing environments, but its sandboxes have gaps in flexibility compared to Varicent and Xactly.
Xactly vs. Varicent vs. Performio on custom reporting
Accurate reporting is essential for verifying payouts, resolving disputes, and equipping leadership for forecasting and budget planning. ICM platforms should allow admins to generate custom reports in-tool, without requiring workarounds or advanced technical expertise.
Performio (4.0) comes out on top with a powerful, user-friendly report builder. Admins can build and run reports on demand with minimal technical lift, making it easy to deliver accurate insights when they’re needed.
Varicent (2.0) technically supports in-tool custom reporting, but the functionality comes with a steep learning curve. It requires expert-level expertise and can take years for users to fully master.
Xactly (2.0) sits at the same level as Varicent, offering custom reporting in-tool but with similarly high technical demands that limit accessibility.
If reporting is important to your organization (and it should be), Performio is the best ICM option for you.
Xactly vs. Varicent vs. Performio on out-of-box complexity support
While every ICM solution can handle basic plan components, many fall short when it comes to more advanced mechanisms. Without broad out-of-the-box coverage, admins are forced to rely on coding, formulas, or vendor services—or worse, simplify their plans just to fit the tool.
Performio (4.8) provides the most comprehensive out-of-the-box support. SPIFs, custom hierarchies, multiple crediting models, participation changes, and rate management are all included, and most are easy for admins to adjust directly without vendor support.
Varicent (4.0) supports the same mechanisms, but making changes is far more difficult. Admins face a steep lift when adjusting any of these complex plan components.
Xactly (4.0) again matches Varicent score and limitations. It covers the same plan components, but adjustments typically require extra coding, advanced logic, formulas, or vendor intervention.
Xactly vs. Varicent vs. Performio on common-sense workflows
Workflows save time by automating routine tasks while preserving human oversight where needed. The most effective platforms make it easy to configure workflows for approvals, disputes, and exceptions, without requiring advanced technical skills.
Performio (5.0) earns a perfect score with its flexible and accessible workflows. It supports multi-level approvals, single-transaction dispute resolution, and conditional workflows that adapt based on approval status. And writing workflows doesn’t require technical expertise.
Varicent (5.0) matches Performio’s score, offering the same range of workflow capabilities. However, its dispute resolution features are less intuitive in practice, increasing administrative difficulty.
Xactly (3.0) supports multi-level approvals and conditional workflows, but it’s a much greater technical lift to administer them. And Xactly lacks support for single-transaction dispute resolution.
Xactly vs. Varicent vs. Performio on data management & transformation
Compensation data flows in from multiple systems—like sales, finance, and HR—each with its own formats. If an ICM platform requires manual pre-processing before import, it slows operations, drives up costs, and increases the risk of errors. The best ICM solutions streamline the process with tools that handle the heavy lifting.
Performio (5.0) ensures a seamless import process, no matter where the data comes from. It provides built-in ETL capabilities, supports granular batch processing, and allows admins to manage and transform data directly without technical expertise or preconfiguration.
Varicent (5.0) matches Performio’s score, but it takes a different approach to get there. Varicent lacks built-in ETL, and it requires technical expertise for data transformation, but it makes up for it with stable high-volume processing and readiness for ingesting data out of the box.
Xactly (2.0) falls well behind both. It requires preconfigured data before import, demands technical expertise for data management and transformation, and lacks built-in ETL. But it does support granular batch processing.
Xactly vs. Varicent vs. Performio on scalability
As organizations grow, their incentive compensation systems must scale with them. That means being able to add new payees, reorganize territories, and bring in new data sources without slowing operations or relying heavily on vendor services.
Performio (4.5) scales smoothly, with partially automated payee onboarding, in-tool creation of new data points, self-service Salesforce connector management, and territory reorganizations that don’t require vendor assistance.
Varicent (4.5) matches Performio with the same set of scalability features. However, adding new payees is more challenging in Varicent than Performio.
Xactly (2.0) is far less scalable than both Varicent and Performio. New payees must be added manually, additional data points can’t be created in-tool, and Salesforce management depends on paid professional services.
Xactly vs. Varicent vs. Performio on agility
Sales strategies and market conditions are always shifting, and incentive compensation plans have to keep pace. An agile ICM platform lets admins prepare next year’s plan in advance, introduce new incentive mechanisms, and make mid-cycle adjustments—without requiring major system changes or vendor intervention.
Performio (5.0) leads with in-tool support for both future-effective planning and mid-cycle adjustments. It also offers “build now, activate later” functionality, allowing admins to prepare changes ahead of time and activate them when needed. And none of this functionality requires tweaks to the platform.
Xactly (4.5) supports future-effective planning as well “build now, activate later” functionality for both new plans and mid-cycle adjustments. But it lacks in-tool support for certain adjustments to the current plan, making changes more difficult to implement.
Varicent (3.0) includes features for future-effective planning, mid-cycle adjustments, and “build now, activate later” functionality, but implementing any of them requires major changes to the system.
Xactly vs. Varicent vs. Performio on onboarding momentum
All ICM solutions come with a lengthy onboarding process, but some vendors deliver much faster results than others. Slow rollouts, limited training, and gaps in support delay ROI and frustrate users. The best ICM vendors provide clear timelines, tailored training, and a fast path to value after go-live.
Performio (3.5) provides reliable onboarding with a fixed implementation fee, complimentary break-fix consulting, and bespoke training included by default. Implementation averages about 4 months according to G2, and time-to-value is around 8 months.
Varicent (3.2) takes around 8 months for implementation, with the time-to-value stretching to 23 months. It provides fixed fees and enterprise readiness, but lacks break-fix consulting and default bespoke training.
Xactly (2.7) also provides fixed implementation fees and enterprise readiness, while lacking break-fix consulting or default bespoke training. And its onboarding process is technically slightly quicker than Varicent, with implementation averaging 5 months, and time-to-value 17 months. However, users frequently report a sloppy implementation process that ends up needing more work after the fact.
Xactly vs. Varicent vs. Performio on customer service quality
Quality vendor support is essential, no matter how reliable the platform may be. Admins inevitably face unexpected issues or complex scenarios, and without responsive support, small challenges can escalate into costly delays.
Performio (5.0) leads with best-in-class support. It defines time-sensitivity requirements, accounts for nonscaling workarounds, and offers guaranteed resolution times for premium support customers. Performio also stood out in the 2025 Forrester Wave report as the only vendor to earn a halo for above-average customer feedback.
Varicent (4.3) performs well with some of the fastest SLA response times across all severity levels and coverage for nonscaling workarounds. However, it doesn’t define time-sensitivity requirements or provide guaranteed resolution times.
Xactly (3.8) delivers fast response times for the highest- and lowest-severity issues, with average times for everything in between. But like Varicent, it doesn’t define time-sensitivity standards or offer guaranteed resolution times.
The bottom line
Performio dominates the field in accessibility, custom reporting, support for complexity, and customer service, while delivering consistently strong performance across all categories. Varicent stands out with its comprehensive sandbox testing, but is held back by steep technical requirements, long onboarding timelines, and limited reporting. Xactly provides solid agility and testing capabilities, but lags in most other areas while imposing heavy technical demands.
Bottom line: Performio is the most balanced choice, combining usability, flexibility, and reliable customer support. It’s the clear choice for organizations that want the best of all worlds.
Ready to see what Performio can do for your organization? Schedule a demo today.
Read the full buyer’s guide here.
