Introduction

Let’s face it – the SaaS management market is flooded. From Productiv and Vendr to BetterCloud and Zluri, there are many alternatives out there. And that is why it can be hard to know which one’s best for your company. 

So, how are all these SaaS management platforms trying to differentiate themselves from their peers? By targeting specific niches. For example, Vendr firmly places its focus on streamlining the procurement process, whereas Quolum is all about reducing costs.

But not every SaaS management platform specializes in a specific area. If you’re in the know when it comes to SaaS, you’ll likely have heard of Zylo, a SaaS management tool launched in 2016. Zylo’s biggest USP? That it claims to be the most comprehensive SaaS management tool there is.

There’s no doubt that Zylo covers a lot of ground – but it does so at a price. If reducing SaaS costs is what you’re looking for, Zylo might not be the one for you. In that case, you want some Zylo alternatives – like the ones we’re showing below. 

Key points

• Thanks to its fame as an all-in-one tool, Zylo is one of the most popular SaaS management platforms on the market. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most expensive – which is why you might want an alternative.
• In a nutshell, the main negative of Zylo is that it only becomes a comprehensive management tool if you pay for all the add-ons that it offers. Suffice it to say that this costs a lot of money.
• We review three different Zylo alternatives (Quolum, Zluri, and Productiv) and see how they compare to Zylo. The key differentiators are all below.

Why look for an alternative to Zylo?

It’s no secret that SaaS license costs are skyrocketing. Companies all over the world are asking the same question: “how to save on SaaS?” And they have all found the same answer: by investing in a SaaS management platform that trims down their unnecessary SaaS spend. 

So, how does Zylo fare when it comes to saving cash? Not very well. Here’s the thing about Zylo. Sure, it covers a lot of ground – but only via add-ons. And as you can imagine, those add-ons cost money.

For example, let’s look at SaaS procurement. Nowadays, a lot of SaaS management tools include procurement as a baseline feature. It’s a priority, not an extra. But that’s not the case with Zylo. If you want to add procurement to your plan, you’ll have to pay for its Managed Services add-on.

And there’s more. Zylo is extremely reliant on third-party integrations. What does this mean? First, that it doesn’t run as smoothly as it should. Second, that it’s more expensive than it should be. After all, those third parties also have to get paid.

Speaking of third parties, Zylo’s transparency around the use of customer data for commercial use is far from ideal. In a world where data has become a valued commodity, you would expect your SaaS management platform to clarify what they’re doing with your personal information.

To make things worse, Zylo lacks expertise in SaaS procurement. It might have access to data, but does it know how to use that data to push prices down? Not really.

That is also the issue with Zylo’s automation processes. Unfortunately, Zylo still requires you to input a lot of data manually, so it’s just not as efficient as other competitors.

So, what if you’re not convinced by Zylo? Are there Zylo alternatives that will help you save money? Let’s have a look.

The best Zylo alternatives on the market

As previously mentioned, SaaS management tools are often known for one or two specific features. For instance, Zluri is all about SaaS app discovery and integrations. BetterCloud focuses on maximizing operational efficiency. And Quolum offers an unbeatable savings guarantee to its clients. 

With this in mind, we’ve chosen the best Zylo alternatives on the market. Let’s see how they compare to Zylo.

1. Quolum

Like Zylo, Quolum is a comprehensive SaaS management tool. It takes care of every single process in SaaS management – from shadow IT discovery to SaaS procurement. There is one crucial difference, though. Although Quolum doesn’t overlook productivity or security, it fundamentally focuses on saving money. On average, Quolum has saved its clients around 30% on SaaS costs. Suffice it to say – that is a lot of money.

These are the reasons why Quolum is one of the fastest-growing SaaS management tools out there:

The biggest pros of Quolum

• It is a genuine all-in-one SaaS management and procurement platform.
• Unlike other SaaS management tools, Quolum doesn’t require you to have an in-house SaaS expert to deal with things like procurement or security.
• It provides you with great in-depth insights into your SaaS usage to empower your decision-making.
• It streamlines SaaS workflows.
• Quolum can send you tailor-made recommendations for SaaS tools that can help your business processes.
• Quolum will never overlook security, and it has a firm focus on minimizing the risk of shadow IT and removing shelfware.
• It can cancel SaaS licenses for you – no more worrying over how to stop automatic renewals.
• It’s known to have saved its customers around 30% in SaaS costs.
• It can reclaim unused SaaS seats for you – meaning you’ll get your money back.
• Quolum uses expert insights and market data to negotiate SaaS contracts to get you the best possible deals.
• Unlike Zylo pricing, Quolum offers transparent quotes – two different customers using the same service will always pay the same fees. 
• Perhaps most importantly, Quolum has a savings guarantee – if it doesn’t help you save money, you don’t have to pay for it.

How to save on SaaS? It’s a no-brainer – go with Quolum. 

Cons of Quolum

• Unfortunately, Quolum is a desktop-only application for now. Unlike other SaaS management apps, there’s no mobile version yet.
• It doesn’t automate the onboarding and offboarding of employees, so those processes have to be handled manually.
• It’s a holistic platform that needs to be used by all departments to reach its potential.

As far as Zylo alternatives go, it doesn’t get much better than Quolum. Not only will Quolum make your SaaS workflows more effective, but it will save you money in the process.

2. Zluri

Born in 2020, Zluri is a SaaS management platform that boasts one of the best app discovery engines on the market. That means that it will significantly reduce the chances of any shadow IT applications going under the radar during your security surveys. On top of that, Zluri is also known for automating employee onboarding and offboarding – a feature that not a lot of SaaS management platforms include.

These are the reasons why Zluri has become one of the most popular SaaS management tools out there:

The biggest pros of Zluri

• Like Quolum or Zylo, Zluri monitors your subscription renewals to make sure that you don’t renew them by mistake.
• Zluri provides you with in-depth data on your SaaS usage – so you know which apps are essential and which ones are expendable.
• It drastically minimizes the risk of shadow IT thanks to its great app discovery engine.
• It automates onboarding and offboarding, which is a huge plus for companies with flexible job roles.
• It provides efficient workflows for provisioning and deprovisioning, streamlining the license revoking process.
• Zluri also offers SaaS procurement – but you have to pay extra for it.

Cons of Zluri

• Because Zluri is new, its design is still a work in progress – many users have found it too cumbersome and confusing to use.
• The Zluri app is known for freezing at times.
• Similarly, some users have found that Zluri sometimes requires too much manual effort.

• Because it focuses mostly on app discovery, It only saves you money in the short term. Once you’ve deleted your redundant apps, it won’t help you trim down costs.
• While it’s true that you’re given a wealth of data, these numbers are sometimes shown in isolation – meaning different departments struggle to make sense of it.
• Unfortunately, usage data is not always reported in real-time, so usage reviews will always be slightly inaccurate.
• Onboarding is long and complex, which is why Zluri often does long-term deals.

To sum things up, Zluri can be extremely helpful for companies that need flexible onboarding and offboarding. And there’s no question that its app discovery engine can help you to reduce SaaS costs in the short term. But where Zluri fails to deliver is in long-term money-saving. Because it doesn’t specialize in procurement, you won’t be getting amazing deals on your SaaS licenses.

3. Productiv

Without a doubt, Productiv is one of the most popular SaaS management tools on the market. Boasting hundreds of customers, Productiv is known for aligning IT, procurement, finance, and management into a single centralized app. Like Quolum, it’s an app that needs every department to buy in for it to truly work.

This is why Productiv keeps amassing happy customers many years after it first launched:

The biggest pros of Productiv

• Because it has a huge focus on usage and competition data, it offers great strategic insights.
• It helps you streamline your SaaS workflows.
• Productiv has one of the most user-friendly interfaces in the SaaS management platform sector.
• It retrieves data from all applications and centralizes it in a single dashboard – meaning usage and spend reviews are streamlined.
• It identifies SaaS spend and gives visibility on this side of things without the need for finance to run a report every month.
• It is very helpful for tracking SaaS license renewal – meaning you don’t have to worry about learning how to stop automatic renewals.
• It includes a rightsizing feature to help you decide whether you should downgrade or upgrade your SaaS subscription.
• Productiv identifies software overlap from the very beginning, helping you to get rid of redundant apps.

Cons of Productiv

• At the moment, Productiv is one of the most expensive SaaS management platforms on the market. 
• Because of its high price, it might not be ideal for small-to-medium businesses without a big budget.
• Productiv can be hard to use outside IT.
• Unlike Quolum, it doesn’t review your contract details and renewal terms for you – you’ll still need to do this in-house. 
• It doesn’t entirely substitute procurement – you’ll still need to hire an in-house SaaS expert, which only adds to the overall cost.
• Its recent App Catalog function is not fully developed yet.

• When it comes to tracking recently-released SaaS tools, Productiv is not as effective as Quolum, Zylo, or Zluri. 
• Certain tasks, such as employee onboarding, require a lot of manual effort.
• One of the biggest flaws of Productiv is that pricing isn’t transparent – it’s only quote-based, so you’ve got no benchmarks to compare your plan to.

Let’s be clear – Productiv is one of the most well-known SaaS management tools for a reason. But is it perfect? Far from it. To start with, Productiv can be very expensive. Its pricing will entirely depend on the add-ons that you include in your plan and on the quote that Productiv’s sales team gives you.

Unfortunately, Productiv also lacks some oomph when it comes to long-term savings. Like Zluri, its app discovery features and SaaS license management will save you money in the first few months. But once you’ve done away with your redundant apps, there’s not a lot that Productiv can do for you in terms of saving.

Now that we’ve reviewed three of the most popular Zylo alternatives, let’s see who our winner is.

The verdict is in – the best Zylo alternative is…

In order to truly be the best Zylo alternative on the market, a SaaS management tool needs to offer the following things:

• Data-driven SaaS license negotiations and renewals.
• Constant liaison with SaaS experts.
• The ability to reclaim unused seats.
• An easy-to-use dashboard that centralizes all your SaaS data while giving it context.
• Active approach to eliminating shelfware and shadow IT.
• Expert SaaS procurement with tailored software recommendations.
• Guaranteed savings on SaaS tools.

So, which of the SaaS management apps we’ve discussed can do all of the above?

If you ask us, it’s Quolum. In a nutshell, Quolum can do everything that Zylo, Zluri, and Productiv can do – but saving you tons of money in the process. At Quolum, we know all the ins and outs of Software-as-a-Service. Our industry expertise allows us to help our clients to reduce SaaS costs and make more effective use of their cloud software.

For example, ask GetMega, who saved a whopping $18,000 on their Figma subscription thanks to us. How? Because we immediately identified a SaaS license dark pattern that was bleeding them dry.

And we don’t just offer short-term savings. At Quolum, we’re so convinced that we can help you shave your SaaS costs that we offer a one-of-a-kind savings guarantee. In the rare scenario that Quolum doesn’t save you money, we won’t charge you a single penny.

Sounds good, right? If you want to start helping your business now, speak to a SaaS Savings Expert today for a consultation.

FAQs

How can I reduce my SaaS spend?

The best way to reduce your SaaS spend is to invest in a SaaS management platform that flags your redundant apps and unused seats. It also needs to offer SaaS procurement so you can save on SaaS licenses and renewals.

Is SaaS cost-effective?

It depends on the kind of license that you sign up for. Usually, people who claim that SaaS isn’t cost-effective haven’t worked with a group of SaaS management experts that can help them get the most out of their SaaS spend.

What is Quolum?

Quolum is an all-in-one SaaS management platform that offers procurement, SaaS security, management, and contract renewals. Basically, it’s your one-stop shop for all your SaaS needs.