Easy to switch. Better to work with.
The free converter brings your Crystal Ball models across, optimisation models too. In ModelRisk every input is an Excel formula anyone can read. Every licence includes the Optimizer and Turbo simulation.
Every ModelRisk licence includes a free Crystal Ball converter. It writes a ModelRisk copy of each workbook and brings optimisation models across too. See what changes ↓
16
=VoseTriangle(14,16,19)
Each input is an Excel function in its cell, drawn from 136 distributions, 34 time series models and 14 copulas. Every licence adds the Optimizer and multi-core Turbo simulation.
ModelRisk costs at most €1,550 per user per year, with simulation and optimisation in the same licence. What each licence includes ↓
Crystal Ball editions as listed on oracle.com, retrieved October 2026. ModelRisk: published maximum per user per year, before volume and multi-year discounts.
In Crystal Ball, a cell such as Marketing costs holds a plain number. Crystal Ball keeps the distribution in its own data and enters a random value into the cell on every trial. The converter writes that distribution into the cell as a ModelRisk function, in a converted copy of the workbook.
14.8
=VoseNormal(14.8,1)
=C3-C4-C5
=VoseOutput("Net profit")+C3-C4-C5
Kept by Crystal Ball, outside the formula
Written in the cell’s formula
Triangular, minimum 14, likeliest 16, maximum 19
You don’t have to move everyone on the same day. Models can travel both ways while you switch.
Convert any Crystal Ball workbook a colleague sends you. The converter makes a ModelRisk copy and leaves their original as it was.
The SWAP tool sends a copy where every ModelRisk function becomes a fixed, annotated value, so anyone can open it in plain Excel.
In ModelRisk every method is an Excel function. A reviewer reads the model where it sits, and Excel’s own auditing tools trace it like any other formula.
Crystal Ball column: Oracle’s Crystal Ball page and the feature overviews on its technical information page, retrieved October 2026. Where Oracle doesn’t publish something, we say so rather than guess. All of ModelRisk’s methods: ModelRisk key features.
Switch Turbo on and they often run many times faster than on ModelRisk’s classic engine. ModelRisk analyses the workbook once, compiles only the cells that change between iterations and runs them on every processor core, without Excel recalculating. Turbo is included in every ModelRisk licence.
Crystal Ball used to offer Extreme Speed, a faster run mode from PSI Technology. Oracle removed it in May 2017, in release 11.1.2.4.850, so Crystal Ball now runs simulations at normal speed. Oracle’s note on the change
Press Run both to start the two engines together.
Simulation phase only: 89 models from our internal test library, same workbook, 1,000 iterations, Turbo against ModelRisk’s classic engine. Excludes the one-time model analysis and opening the workbook. The gain depends on the model’s structure. How Turbo works
Crystal Ball users who optimise need Decision Optimizer, an option for Crystal Ball, or the Suite that has both. In ModelRisk the Optimizer is part of every licence.
ModelRisk Optimizer searches for the decision with the best simulated result, such as the highest mean profit or the lowest chance of a loss. The converter brings Crystal Ball optimisation models across, and the whole optimisation can run on the Turbo engine.
Want to compare them yourself? Our ten optimisation test models come in ModelRisk and Crystal Ball versions, with OptQuest already set up, so you can run them in both. Download the test models
For decision trees, Vose Software’s ModelChoice add-in draws the tree right on the worksheet. It also tests how robust the best choice is, and weighs choices on several criteria.
ModelRisk costs at most €1,550 per user per year, and the price is on our website. Oracle sells Crystal Ball in editions, with optimisation as an option, and lists prices in the Oracle Store.
Prices: the Oracle Store, linked from Oracle’s Crystal Ball page.
Crystal Ball is still version 11.1, the version Oracle released in July 2008. In more than 18 years there has been no new minor version, no 11.2 and no 12, only updates to 11.1. The latest came in August 2024. ModelRisk gets new releases through the year.
for more than 18 years. No Crystal Ball 11.2, no Crystal Ball 12: only updates to 11.1.
11.1.1.0
11.1.3.0.100
New releases come out through the year. Recent ones added the Optimizer to every licence, extended the Turbo engine, gave Tornado charts new options and sped up multivariate time series.
Sources: the Crystal Ball compatibility matrix on Oracle’s technical information page, Oracle’s Crystal Ball downloads page and Oracle’s Crystal Ball new features, retrieved October 2026.
Not hard. The 15-day trial is long enough to convert your key models and run both tools side by side before you decide.
Fifteen days, fully functional, converter included.
The converter writes a ModelRisk copy of each workbook and leaves the original as it was.
Run both on the same models and compare the results. For optimisation, start with our ten test models.
The main Crystal Ball alternatives for Monte Carlo simulation in Excel are ModelRisk (136 distributions, a published price and a free converter for Crystal Ball models), Lumivero’s @RISK (long-established, priced above ModelRisk), Frontline’s Analytic Solver, low-cost add-ins such as RiskAMP for simple models, and Python or R for teams that work in code. Which fits depends on how complex your models are and who has to read them.
Yes. Every ModelRisk licence includes a free converter for Crystal Ball models. It makes a copy of the workbook that uses ModelRisk functions and leaves your original as it was. It brings optimisation models across too: objectives, adjustable cells, constraints and groups.
Crystal Ball keeps each assumption’s distribution in its own data and enters a random value into the cell on every trial. In ModelRisk the distribution is the cell’s formula, such as =VoseTriangle(14,16,19), and an output is marked with VoseOutput in its formula. Anyone who opens the workbook can read the model in the formula bar.
Yes. The SWAP tool makes a plain-Excel copy where every ModelRisk function becomes a fixed, annotated value, so anyone can open it in Excel.
ModelRisk has 136 probability distributions, 34 time series models and 14 copulas. Each is an ordinary Excel function. Oracle’s Crystal Ball overviews describe a gallery of distributions plus custom ones. So check that the ones your models use are on ModelRisk’s list.
Yes, where Turbo supports the functions the model uses. Run it from Start Turbo Simulation, or make Turbo its default. Before the first Turbo run, ModelRisk offers to check that Turbo reproduces the classic engine on that workbook. Across 89 of our test models, Turbo’s simulation phase ran a median of about 200 times faster than the classic engine. The gain depends on the model.
For optimisation under uncertainty, yes. ModelRisk Optimizer is in every ModelRisk licence, so there is no separate edition to buy, and the converter brings Crystal Ball optimisation models across. Our ten optimisation test models come in ModelRisk and Crystal Ball versions, so you can compare the two yourself.
ModelRisk costs at most €1,550 per user per year, published on our price list, with volume and multi-year discounts. Every licence includes the Optimizer and Turbo. Oracle sells Crystal Ball, Crystal Ball Decision Optimizer and the Crystal Ball Suite, which combines the two, and lists their prices in the Oracle Store, linked from its Crystal Ball page.
Oracle still sells Crystal Ball and offers a free trial, but it has seen very little development for years. It is still version 11.1, as it was in July 2008: in more than 18 years there has been no Crystal Ball 11.2 or 12, only updates to 11.1, the latest in August 2024. ModelRisk has been developed continuously since 2008 and gets new releases through the year.
Yes. Oracle offers a free Crystal Ball trial from its Crystal Ball page, downloaded after signing in with an Oracle account. ModelRisk has a fully functional 15-day free trial, Crystal Ball converter included.
Download the free 15-day trial, convert a model you know well and compare the results. If you’d rather see it first, we’ll walk you through it on a call.
Oracle and Crystal Ball are registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates. OptQuest is a trademark of OptTek Systems, Inc. @RISK is a trademark of Lumivero, LLC. Vose Software is not affiliated with Oracle. Crystal Ball details are from oracle.com, retrieved October 2026, and may change.