ActiveCollab vs. Calamari

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ActiveCollab
Score 4.4 out of 10
N/A
Active Collab is a project management solution built around features such as task management, collaboration, time tracking, and invoicing.
$8
per member/per month
Calamari
Score 9.2 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
Calamari is a workforce management software system offered by Chrobrus.
$10
per month
Pricing
ActiveCollabCalamari
Editions & Modules
ActiveCollab Project Management
$8
per member/per month
Self-Hosted Plan
$999.00
license
Leave Mgmt
Starting at 10
per month
Clock In/Clock Out
Starting at 20
per month
Leave Mgmt + Clock In/Clock Out
Starting at 30
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ActiveCollabCalamari
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesNo
Entry-level Setup Fee$6.25 per member, per month, annual billingNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Features
ActiveCollabCalamari
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCollab
3.7
13 Ratings
68% below category average
Calamari
-
Ratings
Task Management5.912 Ratings00 Ratings
Resource Management1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Gantt Charts3.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Scheduling1.011 Ratings00 Ratings
Workflow Automation7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Team Collaboration6.513 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for Agile Methodology7.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Support for Waterfall Methodology7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Document Management3.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Email integration4.09 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile Access1.510 Ratings00 Ratings
Timesheet Tracking2.09 Ratings00 Ratings
Change request and Case Management1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
Budget and Expense Management2.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Professional Services Automation
Comparison of Professional Services Automation features of Product A and Product B
ActiveCollab
5.7
8 Ratings
26% below category average
Calamari
-
Ratings
Quotes/estimates6.97 Ratings00 Ratings
Invoicing6.96 Ratings00 Ratings
Project & financial reporting1.07 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with accounting software7.94 Ratings00 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ActiveCollabCalamari
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Score 8.3 out of 10
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When I Work
Score 8.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
SAP Ruum
SAP Ruum
Score 9.0 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Quickbase
Quickbase
Score 9.2 out of 10
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Calabrio Teleopti WFM
Score 7.8 out of 10
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User Ratings
ActiveCollabCalamari
Likelihood to Recommend
3.7
(13 ratings)
9.1
(4 ratings)
Support Rating
7.1
(3 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
ActiveCollabCalamari
Likelihood to Recommend
ActiveCollab
Scenarios where ActiveCollab works well 1) 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 etc Scenarios where ActiveCollab did not work well 1) 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 invoicing 3) It did not work well for larger teams 4) Search option is not very detailed & you may end up wasting lot of time searching one particular bug or issue.












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Calamari
Calamari is constantly striving to account for and provide useful, practical, and simple solutions to its employees that everyone can use without significant inconvenience. Always seeking to be in an active business environment that allows them to manage the various labor policies that exist in each region and company where they work.
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Pros
ActiveCollab
  • 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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Calamari
  • Complex rules to define each team member's PTO allowance.
  • Overview of remaining allowance and when it is has been requested for.
  • Easy login options.
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Cons
ActiveCollab
  • It isn't possible to set members of staff as part time, so if someone is unavailable on certain days you must manually enter them as OOO every single day that they are not in, that other teammates work. Hours also can't be edited individually - everyone is treated as working the same hours in a day, rendering capacity planner useless for flexi working teams
  • Subtasks cannot be assigned their own hours and deadlines, meaning the To Do list view can't be seen in actual date order and capacity planner does not reflect all time allocated to an individual's schedule unless every task is set up as a separate task rather than subtask
  • There is no way to see all tasks of a certain type across multiple campaigns (e.g all copywriting tasks vs all technical tasks) - support team suggested exporting data and making spreadsheets
  • Kanban view isn't available for people's own task lists ('board' view here shows a list)
  • Not possible to have one task be assigned to more than one person
  • Notifications are not sent when tasks are updated, so you have to leave comments and tag people each time
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Calamari
  • Lack of a mobile app.
  • A little tricky at first to use.
  • Need HR-friendly features to add.
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Support Rating
ActiveCollab
We have not required support for ActiveCollab as it works pretty seamlessly. We didn't have any issues with using the platform or with any billing issues. The self-service aspect of the platform is robust and easy to navigate so we have not encountered any errors that required assistance from the support team.
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Calamari
Working with my rep is so easy and has been the selling point on this platform. I like that I don't have to think about it much, love the Slack integrations for my team and how easy it was to transition from our old process into Calamari. It's simple, clear, and for a small team, it has everything I need. The customer support team has always responded promptly when I need anything, and we were even able to extend our trial period in the beginning and converted to a paying customer shortly after.
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Alternatives Considered
ActiveCollab
ActiveCollab is easier to use and simpler in its setup. It has the right mix of features and simplicity. It's also project-oriented which is important for our workflow. Other tools are often too task-oriented, making it hard to track projects. Overall, ActiveCollab has a great mix of simplicity with good features.
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Calamari
Our HR department used Excel and paper request forms for our vacation management, and tracking working hours didn't exist. We were only obliged to sign a list when we were entering the office. Calamari is a huge improvement in every aspect of time tracking and vacation management for your company. We're loving it!
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Return on Investment
ActiveCollab
  • Allows our team to stay organized and keep conversations on tasks.
  • The To-Do List email every morning helps me mentally prepare and know exactly what I should be doing as soon as I start work.
  • Powerful and useful integrations save lots of time (Google Drive, Slack, Dropbox, Zapier and more!).
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Calamari
  • It is quick and simple to provide application training to employees.
  • When there are problems with the connection, it is possible to record that the user does not mark their exit or accounts for extra time.
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ScreenShots

ActiveCollab Screenshots

Screenshot of the dashboard with an overview of projects.Screenshot of multiple task views currently showing a Kanban view of the tasklists and tasks.Screenshot of Overview of all recent activity.Screenshot of Calendar view with task dependencies.Screenshot of Permission settings (owner, member, client, client+).Screenshot of List of available Add-ons.

Calamari Screenshots

Screenshot of Calendar with detailed information about upcoming absences, holidays, and remote work.Screenshot of Online Timesheets with all the details about employees' working time. Employees can clock in/out, call a break, add projects, and take notes.Screenshot of Clocking in/out and displays all the details about the work day.Screenshot of team management features.Screenshot of the integrations that are possibile using the Calamari API.Screenshot of company document management features.