Introduction
If you’re familiar with the world of SaaS management tools, you definitely know about Productiv. But while Productiv is a popular option used by hundreds of companies, it’s not the only game in town and it’s definitely not the best fit for every company. There’s a lot of Productiv alternatives out there that can mete out your exact needs.
These alternative tools offer many of the same features as Productiv, such as the ability to track and manage your SaaS subscriptions. But they also have some unique features that set them apart, such as SaaS procurement and contract negotiation. But the very best of these tools offer something no business can afford to result – they only charge you if they save you money. This means that you can try them out without worrying about upfront costs.
In this article, we’ll introduce you to some of Productiv’s top competitors, explain why they might be worth considering, and talk about their pros and cons, so you can leave this article knowing which SaaS management tool is the best for your business. So whether you’re looking to switch from Productiv or are simply starting your search for a SaaS management tool, this article has you covered.
Key points
- Productiv is one of the most popular SaaS management tools, but it comes with many downsides, such as high price or lack of advanced automatic workflows. On top of that, this tool is mostly targeted toward businesses in the IT industry – meaning it’s not ideal for other industries.
- There are lots of Productiv alternatives on the market – but do they have the same downsides as this tool?
- Productiv alternatives include Quolum, Torii, Cledara, Cyclr and Blissfully (Vendr).
- If ROI is a concern, and savings on SaaS is the endgoal, Productiv is not the best fit, and you’d rather have a product with a guarantee like Quolum. If operations management is the only goal, Productiv and Torii are similarly placed.
SaaS management tools in a nutshell
SaaS management tools like Productiv track SaaS app usage, manage contract renewals and streamline cumbersome manual processes. Basically, they allow companies to keep track of their SaaS libraries. You can think of them as expert advisors that can help your company to put more efficient processes in place, automate manual tasks, optimize SaaS spending and maximize productivity.
Among all of the SaaS management tools out there, Productiv might be the most popular one. Thanks to its user-friendly interface and great strategic insights, it has become one of the worldwide SaaS leaders.
Is Productiv right for my company?
But as it turns out, Productiv is not for everyone. To start with, there are other SaaS management platforms that offer more value for money and will save you more cash in the long run. As a matter of fact, the best SaaS management tools will only charge you if they save you money.
You heard that right – if you don’t save, you don’t pay. It’s a win-win situation.
Unfortunately, it’s not like that with Productiv. In fact, Productiv is one of the most expensive SaaS management platforms there are. Sure, you might get great value from it in the first few months. But in the long run? If you ask us, there are better options. Here’s why:
The biggest cons of Productiv
- One of the biggest cons of Productiv is its high price. There’s no way around this.
- This tool offers only quote-based pricing – meaning the entire pricing process is less transparent than with other Productiv alternatives.
- With Productiv, there’s too much room for human error – you’re still the one who has to review your SaaS subscription contract details and renewal terms.
- Several users have pointed out that there are many issues with the reporting dashboards – meaning users are often left in the dark without knowing how to solve a certain bug.
- Productiv isn’t ideal for smaller start-ups, as it requires too much manual effort – according to some reviewers, some tasks can only be automated with third-party software.
- Onboarding and offboarding are done through manual processes that are very cumbersome.
- The number of automated SaaS workflows you can have in place is very limited.
- Productiv misses some more recent SaaS tools, meaning some of your shelfware can go under the radar.
- It’s mostly an IT-oriented tool that might not be the best option for other industries.
Top 5 Productiv alternatives
If Productiv doesn’t quite fit the bill with your company, you need an alternative. However, there is a problem. With so many SaaS management tools available on the market, choosing the wrong one can cost your company thousands of dollars in missed savings, extra fees and undetected shelfware.
But don’t worry – to help you get the most out of your SaaS management platform, we’ve compiled a list of the best Productiv competitors and explained their pros and cons:
1. Quolum
When it comes to saving money and time, no SaaS management tools can compare to Quolum. Extremely easy to use, this SaaS management platform includes a single dashboard for all your SaaS needs – from purchases and transaction details to aggregated invoices and cash flow. On top of that, Quolum can even negotiate renewal contracts for you to get you the best possible deal. It also allows you to reclaim unused capacity.
Did we also mention that you don’t have to pay a single penny if Quolum doesn’t save you money? Basically, it’s a money-saving SaaS wonder. And there’s more:
Pros
- On average, Quolum saves companies 30% on their SaaS spending and shaves 10 hours off the amount of time an average finance team spends on SaaS management every week.
- Quolum proactively removes shelfware (purchased software that’s not in use or underutilized).
- It offers automated insights – meaning you’ll have all the right tools to make smart business decisions in real time.
- It includes integrated payments and invoice aggregation.
- Quolum syncs seamlessly and rapidly with all GSuite applications.
- Quolum can renew and cancel SaaS subscriptions on your behalf as well as negotiate the best possible deals for your company based on data-driven insights.
- It significantly trims down the volume of manual work.
- This platform offers deep feature-level integrations and data analysis from over a hundred popular SaaS tools, including Zoom, Slack, Asana, Jira, and others.
Quolum is truly a great fit for any company. But, like with everything else, there are also a few downsides. Let’s have a look at some of the biggest cons of Quolum.
Cons
- Unfortunately, Quolum does not offer automated employee onboarding yet.
- Similarly, it doesn’t include automated offboarding features.
- It’s desktop only.
- It’s a holistic tool that requires that the entire organization buys in – not just one department.
If Quolum sounds like what you’re after, don’t waste a single second and speak to a savings expert today.
2. Torii
Thanks to its capacity to uncover shadow IT and automate time-consuming manual processes, Torii is one of the leading SaaS management tools on the market. It offers direct integrations with many SaaS tools – from Asana and Zoom to Slack and SalesForce, making it a great choice for companies in all industries. However, all that glitters is not gold…
Pros
- Torii is very easy to use and features one of the best UX in the SaaS management tool sector.
- It includes great automation features to save you lots of time.
- Torii is renowned for its great customer service, always going the extra mile to help the client.
- It seamlessly integrates with a wide range of popular tools.
As great as all these features are, Torii is not quite there yet in other areas:
Cons
- Torii doesn’t offer procurement (a term used to refer to the entire purchasing process of SaaS tools) – meaning it won’t save you that much money.
- Software recognition is still a work in progress – some more recent SaaS apps go under the radar.
- It’s not optimized for mobile use.
- Employee offboarding and onboarding are far from being smooth. Additionally, this feature only applies to select customers and tools.
- Onboarding is a challenge
Torii is great at what it does – which is identifying shadow IT and providing companies with in-depth stats and reports. But when it comes to reducing costs, it’s not quite there yet.
3. Cledara
Cledara was formed in 2018 by a team of experts in financial services and startups.
Today, it is one of the go-to SaaS management tools for finance start-ups all over the world. Cledara is renowned for helping companies to get compliance and risk management right. It also automates invoice capture, bookkeeping and payment reconciliation to save you from spending hours sending email chasers for payments.
Pros
- Although it focuses mostly on financial services, Cledara offers great compatibility with a good range of different SaaS.
- Unlike other SaaS management tools, Cledara is extremely easy to cancel.
- It’s very cashback-heavy – meaning you’re always in control of your finances.
- It allows companies to stay on top of their SaaS contract renewals.
However, it might be argued that the negatives outweigh the positives:
Cons
- It’s not as convenient as other SaaS management tools – topping up processes are quite cumbersome, and files cannot be renamed.
- In spite of being very finance-focused, it is known to occasionally miss automated invoices.
- Gmail integration is still a work in progress – too many bugs at the moment.
- There are privacy concerns surrounding Cledara, as it uses a Chrome extension and doesn’t connect with APIs.
- Cledara does not have a team of experts optimising cost for you on contracted spend, which forms the bulk of your heavy usage tools.
- Cledara does not have deep utilisation tracking of features
- Cledara does not have onboarding and off-boarding of employees built in.
Is Cledara a good SaaS management tool? Maybe. Is it the best one for saving companies money? Far from it.
4. Cyclr
One of the most intuitive SaaS integration tools on the market, Cyclr is known for being particularly useful for growth SaaS and software startups. It includes a bunch of low-code tools to design and build integrations, as well as an API that allows you to create any UI or UX that you like. It also helps companies to be completely GDPR compliant.
Pros
- Cyclr offers great customization features, so it feels like you’ve built your own tool.
- It’s quite easy to use once you’ve mastered it, thanks to its drag-and-drop dashboard.
- Good for complex SaaS workflows and for simplifying cumbersome tasks.
- It offers extensive reports on consumption and usage patterns.
- It offers real-time reporting and usage breakdowns – allowing you to make better managerial decisions.
Unfortunately, there are a few negatives that need to be mentioned:
Cons
- It’s an iPaaS (integration platform as a service) rather than a SaaS management tool – so it’s not really built for license management or procurement.
- For the same reason, it’s not particularly helpful when it comes to trimming down costs.
- It has a very steep learning curve.
- Known to miss notifications and cause other errors.
There’s no doubt that Cyclr is great at what it does – integrating platforms. But does it hold its own as a Productiv competitor? Not really.
5. Blissfully/Vendr
Recently acquired by Vendr, Blissfully offers end-to-end SaaS management to companies struggling with wasted SaaS spend, security risks, and an overabundance of manual tasks. It offers a wide range of spend analysis and optimization features, which makes it great for cost-cutting. It’s also one of the few Productiv competitors that allows you to seamlessly onboard and offboard employees.
Pros
- Blissfully/Vendr is great at detecting shadow IT.
- It offers fast employee onboarding and offboarding features.
- Very easy to use once you’ve mastered it.
- It offers a holistic SaaS procurement workflow and team.
As far as Productiv alternatives go, Blissfully/Vendr is up there with the best. However, there are a few red flags:
Cons
- Unfortunately, Vendr isn’t very cost-effective – it’s known to be quite time-consuming and it often delays negotiations to drive its own savings. If your goal is to save money, there are definitely better options out there.
- You can’t reclaim unused capacity – meaning it’s not as good for cost-cutting.
- Jarring UI that is known to slow down systems significantly.
- Not the best app discovery features – it misses a few recent SaaS apps.
Those were 5 of the main Productiv competitors – now, it’s time to reach a verdict.
What is the best Productiv alternative?
Choosing an alternative for Productiv comes down to your goals as an organisation. If your goals are limited to IT operations and management, both Productiv and Torii remain good options.
That said, if the end goal is to manage SaaS such that it drives results to your bottom line, you should look at a more holistic solution. Here are some key factors we would consider:
- SaaS procurement- So you can focus on your business goals.
- A savings guarantee- Ensuring ROI
- Detects all shadow IT applications to ensure you remain compliant.
- Automatically collects your SaaS spending data so you can visualize your SaaS expenses across users, departments and organizations.
- Offers a wide range of different integrations.
Of all the above-listed SaaS management platforms, only one of them does all of the above – Quolum. It really is a no-brainer. If you want your company to make the most out of SaaS software without spending thousands of dollars every year on shelfware, redundant apps and overpriced licenses, start joining forces with Quolum today. And remember – you’ll only have to pay if Quolum saves you money.
If you want to start saving money as soon as possible, get a free savings consult today.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is Productiv?
Productiv is a SaaS management platform that is designed specifically for IT companies. It automates your SaaS portfolio to enhance efficiency and discovers shadow IT and shelfware applications to ensure compliance and reduce unnecessary spending.
What is a SaaS management platform?
A SaaS management platform is a type of application that manages a company’s Software-as-a-Service portfolio by taking care of purchasing software, licensing, contract renewals and shadow IT detection.
How does an IT manager manage SaaS applications?
The most effective way to manage a wide array of SaaS applications is to use a SaaS management platform that automates manual processes, analyzes SaaS spend and keeps on top of your contract renewals.