Project Estimator vs ActiveCollab

Likelihood to Recommend

If you are considering purchasing this (very expensive) software, there is a 100% chance you are doing so because you have been awarded a Government contract that dictates you use 4Clicks Project Estimator. There are plenty of easier to use estimating packages out in the world, but you can't use any of them if you have a contract that requires 4Clicks.

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Tim Corbett

General Manager

Infinite Energy Construction, incConstruction, 51-200 employees

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Scenarios where ActiveCollab works well1) ActiveCollab works well for small teams specifically T&M teams.Its invoicing feature is unique & can make your life easy.2) It is very easy to use & posses good range of filters like on the task list, we can drag/drop tasks, Filter by assignee's,
tasks lists, due dates, or completed tasks. 3) It has some simple but awesome features like when you're in
the middle of writing something i.e a comment on story and get interrupted,
it retains what you wrote.4) It allows you to tag team members in threads of comments to grab their attention, its really needed when teams are distributed. Thus helping team members to collaborate easily & stay on same page.5) It integrates pretty well with other web apps like quickbooks , Slack, Trello, HubSpot, Zapier etcScenarios where ActiveCollab did not work well1) Tasks can not have multiple assignee's here so if two members are working on same task it did not allow you to reflect that.2) Sorting capability is not their under invoicing3) It did not work well for larger teams4) Search option is not very detailed & you may end up wasting lot of time searching one particular bug or issue.

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Sourav Singla ,Safe Agilist, CSP, ICP-ACC, CSM, CSPO, SSM, LSSG

Enterprise Agile Coach

Tata Consultancy ServicesInformation Technology and Services, 10,001+ employees

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Feature Rating Comparison

Project Estimator

5.2

ActiveCollab

—

Takeoff tools

5.0

—

Job costing

2.0

—

Cost databases

7.0

—

Cost calculator

6.0

—

Bid creation

6.0

—

Project Estimator

—

ActiveCollab

7.2

Task Management

—

8.8

Resource Management

—

7.3

Gantt Charts

—

5.8

Scheduling

—

6.6

Workflow Automation

—

7.0

Team Collaboration

—

8.4

Support for Agile Methodology

—

6.8

Support for Waterfall Methodology

—

7.0

Document Management

—

9.0

Email integration

—

8.0

Mobile Access

—

6.6

Timesheet Tracking

—

8.5

Change request and Case Management

—

4.9

Budget and Expense Management

—

6.8

Project Estimator

—

ActiveCollab

5.9

Quotes/estimates

—

5.3

Invoicing

—

5.7

Project & financial reporting

—

7.8

Integration with accounting software

—

4.8

Pros

The estimates it produces are simple and easy to follow. The formatting is good.
The tech support provided is very attentive.

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Tim Corbett

General Manager

Infinite Energy Construction, incConstruction, 51-200 employees

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Great for project and task assignments, project workflow and communications.
Solid web-based platform that doesn't require software downloads, also includes great mobile platform.
Great reporting tools for managing billing, estimating, project workflow and other essential project details.
Allows for both the agency and its clients to interact on a single platform using role-specific permissions.

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Jorden Beatty

Digital Marketing Director

LGD CommunicationsMarketing and Advertising, 11-50 employees

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Cons

The software feels 20 years old. It has not kept up with modern times, and practically functions like an old DOS program.
Clunky interface, arcane commands.
Even their training info focuses on hotkeys like this is 1995. Even though I am of an age to remember computers in 1995, the younger generations of managers/estimators are not. It is time to bring the software into the new century!

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Tim Corbett

General Manager

Infinite Energy Construction, incConstruction, 51-200 employees

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It is confusing when a review is made, before buying the product.
It lacks animation and pleasant forms for the user.
Does not allow effective communication when activities are reported. Since it does not provide a direct message chat.
The reports that are generated are basic, they do not have personalization characteristics.

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Daniel Pacheco

Consultor ADF

Innova4JProgram Development, 201-500 employees

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Alternatives Considered

WinEst uses much the same database (RS Means/Gordion type) and has a similar interface. It is a bit cheaper.

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Tim Corbett

General Manager

Infinite Energy Construction, incConstruction, 51-200 employees

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We chose Active Collab overall because we liked its easy to use user interface, project management suite and agency/vendor/client interaction capabilities. We also chose it primarily because it was offered as a web-based platform that offered very clean and easy mobile access for our off-site users as well as clients and third-party vendors. Mavenlink and Basecamp, at the time, were more suited to specifically be used for project management on a more granular scale for project managers, not necessarily the whole team, including vendors and clients collaboration.

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Jorden Beatty

Digital Marketing Director

LGD CommunicationsMarketing and Advertising, 11-50 employees

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Return on Investment

As stated before, if you are buying this software, it is because you have a contract forcing you to. While it does work, it is clunky, awkward, and very expensive.
The price of the software and databases has always been high, but with the fairly recent acquisition of 4Clicks by Gordion (who also bought RS Means for their databases), there is literally no competition. Prices will continue to be very high, with no check on how high they can go.
Again, can't fault 4Clicks tech support, as I think it is the best in the industry. They know their product and they respond to issues immediately. Considering what we spend a year for this product, however, you would expect nothing less.

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Tim Corbett

General Manager

Infinite Energy Construction, incConstruction, 51-200 employees

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We began to finish projects on time, which undoubtedly will influence the return of customers

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Иван Шайхисламов

CEO

Remeslo Branding agencyDesign, 1-10 employees

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Member annually	6.25¹
Addition - Get Paid Bundle Annually	$3¹
Addition - Get Paid Bundle Monthly	$4²
Member monthly	$7²