A competitive analysis template compares your company with the other options your buyer weighs, on the same criteria, so you can see where you win and where you lose. This one has three parts: a profile grid (who each option targets, its claim, price, features, proof and what AI assistants say about it), a weighted scorecard, and a deal record with your win rate against each option. Download the Excel file with a filled example and a blank sheet, or copy the grid straight into Google Sheets. No signup.
Download the template (.xlsx, Excel and Google Sheets)
Most competitor analysis templates that rank are blank SWOT boxes and feature checklists, and several sit behind an email form. They compare you with other vendors and stop there. In B2B software you often lose to a spreadsheet or to no decision at all, and the analysis that matters ends with your own win rates. This template adds both.
What should a competitive analysis template include?
Profile grid
Eleven rows for each option: target buyer, main claim, pricing, features, integrations, proof, AI answers, sales motion, strengths, weaknesses and how you win. Each row says where to find the answer.
Weighted scorecard
Score each option 1 to 5 on the criteria your buyers care about, with weights that add up to 100%. The sheet calculates the weighted score.
Deal record
From your CRM: how often each option shows up in your deals, your win rate against it, and the main reason you lose.
Two actions
Where you lose, why, and the two things you will change next quarter. That paragraph is what sales and leadership read.
Copy the competitive analysis grid
The grid below is tab-separated. Copy it, click cell A1 of a blank Google Sheet or Excel file and paste: each criterion lands in its own row. The .xlsx adds the scorecard with formulas, the deal record and the filled example.
Criterion Where to find it [Your company] [Competitor A] [Competitor B] [Alternative: spreadsheet, in-house, do nothing]
Who they target Homepage hero, customer logos, case studies
Main claim, in their words Homepage headline and meta description
Pricing model and entry price Pricing page (date it); sales call if not public
Key features Product pages, docs, demo videos
Integrations that matter to our buyer Integrations page, app marketplaces
Proof Case studies, review sites (note date and count)
What AI assistants say Ask ChatGPT and Perplexity your buyer's question
Sales motion Free trial or demo only, who calls you back
Strengths Win notes, reviews, your sellers
Weaknesses Loss notes, 1-3 star reviews, churned customers
How we win against them Your best won deals against this option Why include "doing nothing" and AI answers in a competitive analysis?
Because that is how B2B buyers decide now. In Crayon's 2026 State of Competitive Intelligence report, an annual survey of competitive intelligence, sales and revenue leaders, seven in ten teams say at least half of their sales opportunities are competitive, and teams rate how prepared their reps are for those deals at 6.3 out of 10. Crayon's 2025 edition put head-to-head competition at 68% of deals. That leaves about a third of deals where the buyer is not comparing you with a named competitor, and the real alternative is the status quo, an in-house build or an option nobody tracked. Crayon sells competitive intelligence software, so read these as a vendor's numbers.
Buyers also do the comparison before they meet you. A Gartner survey of 632 B2B buyers published in June 2025 found that 61% prefer a rep-free buying experience, and in 6sense's 2025 survey of nearly 4,000 B2B buyers, 94% said they used large language models during their purchase. If ChatGPT names two competitors and not you when a buyer asks for options, that belongs in the analysis next to price and features. The template's "What AI assistants say" row records it. All figures in this section were re-checked on 2 November 2026.
What does a filled competitive analysis look like?
Illustrative, not a benchmark. Every company and number is fictional.
Quillstack sells contract approval software to legal teams of 2 to 10 people at companies with 200 to 2,000 staff. Its buyers weigh two rivals and the shared drive they already use. Part of its profile grid:
| Criterion | Quillstack (us) | Clausewise | DocHarbor | Shared drive + email |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who they target | Mid-market legal teams | Enterprise legal departments | Sales teams that send contracts | Whoever drafted the contract |
| Pricing | Per user, $45 a month, public | Annual contract, not public | Per user, $25 a month, public | Free (time is the cost) |
| Proof | 3 case studies, 24 reviews | 40+ case studies, 600+ reviews | 12 case studies, 300+ reviews | n/a |
| What AI assistants say | Not named | Named first in 2 of 3 answers | Named in 1 of 3 answers | n/a |
| Weaknesses | Little proof, unknown in AI answers | Long rollout, expensive for mid-market | Thin approvals, no clause library | Lost versions, no audit trail |
The scorecard, with weights set from what Quillstack's won customers said mattered:
| Criterion | Weight | Quillstack | Clausewise | DocHarbor | Shared drive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fit for mid-market legal teams | 25% | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Pricing clarity | 15% | 3 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Integrations | 20% | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| Ease of rollout | 20% | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| Proof (case studies, reviews) | 10% | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| Presence in AI answers | 10% | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Weighted score (out of 5) | 100% | 3.25 | 3.55 | 3.45 | 2.65 |
And the deal record from its CRM: Clausewise appears in 40% of deals (Quillstack wins 35%), DocHarbor in 25% (wins 50%), and the shared drive or no decision in 35% (wins 20%).
The read-out: Quillstack ties for the best fit and scores well on rollout, and still scores lowest of the three products because buyers cannot find proof and AI assistants do not name it. Its worst win rate is against doing nothing. Next quarter it will publish two case studies and build pages that answer the buyer's question for AI search, and sellers will open every call by showing the hours lost chasing approvals by email.
How do you do a competitive analysis with this template?
- List three or four options. Two or three competitors from your lost-deal notes, plus the spreadsheet, in-house build or doing nothing.
- Fill the profile grid from public sources. Homepages, pricing pages, review sites and product docs. Date every price and review count.
- Ask the assistants. Put your buyer's question to ChatGPT and Perplexity, such as "best contract approval tool for a small legal team", and record who is named.
- Score and weight. Ask your sellers and two won customers which criteria decided the deal. Set the weights from that, not from your feature list.
- Pull the deal record. If your CRM has no "competitor" field on opportunities, add one now. You will have usable win rates in a quarter.
- Write the read-out and repeat every quarter. Two actions, each with an owner.
What comes after a competitive analysis?
The analysis tells you where you stand. Positioning decides what you say about it: our competitive positioning framework turns the competitive alternatives and win rates into a positioning statement, and the value proposition canvas maps what each buyer role needs against what you offer. Our sales battlecard template turns each competitor in the grid into a one-page card for sellers. For the proof gaps the analysis finds, our case study template is the next file to open. Our positioning and messaging service does this work once, from your calls and customer interviews.
Frequently asked
What is a competitive analysis?
A structured comparison of your company with the other options your buyer weighs: competitors, adjacent tools, a spreadsheet, an in-house build or doing nothing. It covers who each one targets, what it claims, its price, features, proof and strengths and weaknesses, and it ends with where you lose deals and what you will change.
What are the 5 steps of a competitive analysis?
One: list the options your buyer weighs, including doing nothing. Two: fill a profile grid from public sources. Three: score each option on the criteria your buyers care about. Four: pull your win rate against each option from the CRM. Five: write a read-out with two actions for next quarter, and repeat the analysis every quarter.
What are the four Ps of competitive analysis?
Product, price, place and promotion, from the marketing mix. For a B2B software company they map to features and integrations, pricing model and entry price, sales motion and channels, and the main claim and proof each competitor uses. The profile grid in this template covers all four, plus AI answers and your deal record.
Is a competitor analysis template the same as a competitive analysis template?
Yes. Both names describe the same document. Some teams use "competitor analysis" for the profile of each rival and "competitive analysis" for the full comparison and read-out, but the template is the same: a grid, a scorecard and the decisions that come from them.
Should I use Excel, Google Sheets or Word for a competitive analysis?
A spreadsheet. The analysis is a grid of options against criteria, and the scorecard needs formulas. The .xlsx on this page opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers, with a filled example sheet and a blank sheet. Use a document or slide for the read-out you share with sales.
How often should you update a competitive analysis?
Every quarter, and whenever a competitor changes its pricing, launches a major product or starts appearing in more of your deals. Date every price and review count in the grid, so the next person knows which cells are stale.
